US: White House says airline concerns will focus on US jobs

In a pair of US airline disputes with foreign carriers, the White House signalled Tuesday that President Trump’s focus will be on domestic jobs. The question previewed a meeting Trump scheduled Thursday with the CEs of American, Delta and United airlines. Those legacy carriers have asked the administration to block additional flights from state-owned Emirates, Etihad and Qatar airlines because they received an alleged $50b in subsidies during the last decade, which the carriers deny. The question also touched on Norwegian Air International, which won DoT approval in December to serve the US Airline unions have urged Trump to overturn the approval by arguing Norwegian is skirting labor laws with headquarters in Ireland, which the airline denies. Sean Spicer, the White House spokesman, said Trump wants to talk with the Big 3 airline executives about economic growth and job creation. Spicer noted that Norwegian has hired American-based crews and is buying Boeing planes that provide “a huge economic interest” for the country. “I don't want to get ahead of the president on that, but just to be clear, we are talking about US jobs both in terms of the people who are serving those planes and the person who is building those planes,” Spicer said. “That’s a very big difference.”<br/>