United Airlines will drop its Washington DC – Dubai route next month, in an apparent huff over the US government awarding a government travel contract to rival JetBlue Airways.
JetBlue does not fly the route itself but relies on code share partner Emirates.
United said Emirates ‘will be carrying an estimated 15,000 US government employees, including active duty military personnel, whose official travel is funded by US taxpayers,’ on the route.
"It is unfortunate that the General Services Administration awarded this route to an airline that has no service to the Middle East and will rely entirely on a subsidized foreign carrier to transport US government employees, " said Steve Morrissey, United’s regulatory and policy vice president.
"We believe this decision violates the intent of the Fly America Act, which expressly limits the U.S. government from procuring commercial airline services directly from a non-US carrier. JetBlue merely serves as a booking agent for Emirates," Morrissey added.
United is part of a trio of US legacy airlines accusing Etihad Airways, Emirates and Qatar Airways of being heavily subsidized by their governments.
"We continue to call on the Obama administration to request consultations with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to ensure Open Skies agreements are being enforced," United said.
United will end service on the route on January 25, 2016
