Connecticut’s aviation workers face a new threat

Here in Connecticut, our aviation industry supports nearly 90,000 jobs — dedicated workers who help transport some of the 2.3 million passengers who fly every day across our country.

Our state and our country are home to some of the most experienced pilots in the world, yet our aviation industry faces an existential threat: a new business scheme that allows airlines to skirt the high aviation standards we’ve come to expect.

If these schemes — known as “flags of convenience” — are allowed to proliferate, they would deal a devastating blow to American aviation workers and jeopardize the safety of American passengers.

Under flags of convenience, airlines can choose to register their operations in countries with lax regulatory environments in order to evade the strong labor regulations and safety rules that keep our industry strong and passengers safe. Under this approach, airlines can headquarter in virtually any country despite having no tangible connection to that nation.

This scheme also enables airlines to hire contract pilots from all corners of the globe to fly their jets, even if those pilots lack the experience that we’ve come to expect in the U.S.

We’ve seen flags of convenience decimate American labor before — in our shipping industry. In 1955, U.S. maritime vessels carried 25 percent of the world’s tonnage. Then, ship owners began to “flag” their vessels in countries that offered the least restrictive regulatory environment.

The result? Wages plummeted and working conditions deteriorated as the U.S. maritime shipping industry all but collapsed. Today, the U.S. shipping industry accounts for just 2 percent of world tonnage.

There’s too much at stake. If flags of convenience are allowed to take root, it will create a race to the bottom in the American airline industry. That’s why more than 160,000 of my fellow pilots, along with the flight attendants of major U.S. carriers, are urging the U.S. Senate to stop flags of convenience before this approach takes hold here in America.

This spring, nearly 400 members of the U.S. House of Representatives passed a funding bill that includes H.R. 2150, the Flags of Convenience Don’t Fly Here Act, which would prevent airlines from cutting corners, ensure they play by the rules and preserve a level playing field across the airline industry.

In Connecticut, our senators, Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, both D-Conn., have an opportunity to take a similar stand for American workers by ensuring that the Senate’s upcoming FAA Reauthorization Act prevents flags of convenience in the U.S. Connecticut’s aviation workers depend on it.