A Level Playing Field for "Open Skies"

Overview

This book examines the events that have reshaped the international aviation industry between 1992 and 2012. It critically analyzes the major developments and the regulatory responses, and it highlights some of the incompatible and disjointed regulations that are in effect at either end of international routes. The book proposes that the United States, Canada, the European Union, Australia, and New Zealand form an international organization, to be known as the Open Skies International Aviation Block (OSIAB). OSIAB would be based on expanding the membership of the US-EU Joint Committee foreseen in the 2007 US-EU Open Skies Agreement, as well as expanding its scope to cover every aspect of the regulation of international commercial aviation. The book further argues that such a forum is necessary to ensure that regulations in different countries are aligned so that competitive distortions potentially caused by regulatory disharmony are minimized, thus allowing the international airline industry to compete on a level international playing field that so many international agreements have promised to create. *** Librarians: ebook available *** "...the contribution of Dr. Fitzgerald's book is twofold. The author has meticulously handpicked the information most apposite to the areas addressed, thus producing a highly informative book, yet, without compromising brevity and focus. Further, this book strikes a fine balance between the seemingly antithetical areas of practical regulation and regulatory theory. On the other hand, the theoretical aspects of regulation are also explored through the economic framework of market failure and aviation as a public good. ...an essential read for students, scholars and policy-makers with an interest in international aviation, for it has something very meaningful to offer to each audience. For experienced scholars and policy makers, its proposals provide a novel, innovative and thought-provoking perspective for the continuation of the ongoing, but still relatively underdeveloped, discourse in this area."Ã?Â?-- Marios Seretis, Annals of Air and Space Law, Vol. XL (Series: Essential Air and Space Law [EASL] - Vol. 15) [Subject: International Law, Aviation Law, Transportation Law, Commercial Law]