EU plans to relax rules on airlines' transatlantic wet leasing deals

The EC wants to scrap restrictions placed on EU airlines leasing planes and crew from US carriers, to resolve a long-standing dispute between the two sides. The leasing of crewed planes from another airline - known as wet-leasing - is a common practice in the industry and the 10-year-old EU-US Open Skies aviation services agreement envisaged a liberal regime for wet leasing. But a dispute arose after the EU separately in 2008 imposed a seven-month duration limit, renewable once, on European airlines wet-leasing from non-EU carriers. The US retaliated by imposing similar duration limits on EU carriers wet-leasing from other EU carriers on their routes to and from the US, making it hard for European airlines to plan routes as they would not know if the wet-leased crews and planes would have permission to fly. The Commission is now seeking a mandate from EU member states to negotiate an unrestricted wet-leasing agreement with the United States - the first such agreement the EU would have - to resolve the impasse, but that has raised fears among some critics that airlines could use wet-leasing as a way to operate regular services with cheaper crews. But supporters say this is unlikely to happen as pay levels are similar on both sides of the Atlantic and while Germany has opposed a liberalized wet-lease regime with the United States, most other member states are in favor.<br/>