Every June 14, the United States celebrates Flag Day, which commemorates the adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the country’s official flag. Throughout the years, the flag has been a symbol of freedom, patriotism and exceptionalism. In the aviation industry, it represents the high safety standards we demand here in the United States.
Some air carriers choose to fly under a different flag – a “flag of convenience” – business model in an attempt to avoid taxes, labor laws, and safety regulations. These operators establish airlines in countries other than the home country of the majority of the company’s owners in order to decrease labor costs and undercut established markets.
We’ve already seen these schemes destroy the U.S. ocean-going maritime shipping industry. These kinds of businesses, if allowed to take hold, would seriously disadvantage U.S. airlines and American workers. These flag-of-convenience schemes, if allowed to proliferate in markets to or from the U.S., threaten the jobs of the 151,000 hardworking Americans who currently work for the airline industry, which contributes about $95 billion in revenue to the U.S. economy.
On this Flag Day, let’s do what we can to protect the jobs of the U.S. pilots and crew who are Trained for Life to make sure your business and vacation flights, as well as your cargo, remain the safest in the world. Let’s work together to tell Congress that flag-of-convenience schemes won’t fly under the Stars and Stripes.