American carriers up in arms as Emirates adds more U.S. flights

These are particularly tough times for the major American carriers, particularly American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, as leading Middle East carrier Emirates Airline continues to aggressively expand in the United States.

Media reports recently said that Emirates Airline, which has succeeded in attracting business travelers in a big way, is ready to launch its fourth flight to Dubai International Airport (DXB) from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The new service to be operated daily will start operating from March 8, 2015.

The continued expansion plans by Emirates Airline and other two Middle East carriers Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways have spurred the American carriers into action and fight-back mode.

The action of the leading Gulf carriers have petrified the three major U.S. carriers so much that they have been prompted to approach the Obama administration with a 55-page document openly attacking and strongly protesting the government’s largesse to reigning Gulf carriers in the form of huge subsidies. 

These American carriers now want that the new flights by their Middle East rivals should be effectively curbed as it is seriously impacting their profitability and forcibly plunging them into aggressive competition never seen before. 

Emirates Airline was founded in 1985, but it could enter the U.S. commercial aviation market only in 2004 with the launch of its nonstop flights to New York JFK. The airline has ever since transported above 4.5 million passengers on Dubai-New York JFK route. The airline is presently operating three flights services between the two cities. The airline is utilizing its Airbus A380 aircrafts to provide two nonstop flights to New York JFK from Dubai, while the third service is being operated on Dubai-Milan-New York JFK route with the help of a Boeing 777 aircraft. Among other nine destinations in the U.S. being served by Emirates Airline include Washington D.C., San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The American carriers are quite worried as they widely believe that their Middle East rivals are eating into the profitability on both the U.S. and European routes.