Feb2019 Schiphol: Kalitta wants US Gov to punish Netherlands

[Stratofreighter]

https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news ... etherlands

Kalitta Air asks DOT to sanction the Netherlands

31.01.2019 - 15:28 UTC

Kalitta Air (K4, Detroit Willow Run) has filed a complaint with the US Department of Transportation (DOT)
asking it to sanction or impose "other appropriate measures" against the Netherlands,
Amsterdam Schiphol airport operator, and Stichting Airport Coordination Netherlands (ACNL)
for allegedly wrongfully withholding the American cargo specialist's slots.

"As a result of Respondents' actions,
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol - long one of the greatest aviation gateways to the world -
has become closed to competitive entry by U.S. carriers,"
Kalitta said in its complaint filed on January 29, 2019.

The carrier said that starting in the Summer 2017 season,
the slot coordinator ACNL denied it the desired slots
due to the high level of misuse,
a charge that Kalitta Air is now partially challenging.

The cargo specialist has operated a twice weekly New York JFK-Amsterdam Schiphol service for the last fifteen years
as the only American cargo airline.

In Summer 2017, the airline was only allocated two slots instead of the historically held four.

At that time, the ACNL started enforcing the 80/20 "use-it-or-lose-it" rule,
which allows it to strip carriers of their slots if they fail to utilise at least 80% of them.

The reason for the tightening of the rules is the congestion at Amsterdam
as the airport is nearing its legal cap of 500,000 operations per year,
imposed due to environmental concerns.

Subsequently, Kalitta Air only received two slots for the Winter 2017/8 season,
although it managed to add a further two from the ad hoc slot pool.

It received the requested four slots for Summer 2018 but
now it has received no slots for the Winter 2018/9 season.

Kalitta Air said that while it had indeed operated less than 80% of times within the slot time,
this was due factors outside its control,
namely the fact that most of its Amsterdam services
operate on the return leg from services on behalf of the US military to the Middle East.

As such, Kalitta Air argues it has no power over the scheduling as it is dependent on military authorisations.

The carrier also underlined that it operates 85-90% of scheduled services through Amsterdam,
although frequently at other times than the allocated slots.

The airline further said that it failed to resolve the dispute directly with the ACNL.
It argues that the coordinator's actions can be seen as
discriminatory, illegal, and in violation of the US-EU air traffic agreement.

Kalitta Air said it believed that it was "deliberately targeted ... for harmful and discriminatory treatment".

However, it concluded that the current situation
favours its direct competitors KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and its cargo subsidiary Martinair and
as such asked for sanction from the US government.

https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news ... etherlands

[Stratofreighter]

https://aircargoairports.com/freighter- ... llocation/

Freighter movements fall at AMS, while Kalitta Air files complaint over slot allocation
January 31, 2019

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) reported a 2.5% decline in freight volumes and 10.4% drop in full freighter movements year-over-year for 2018,
as freighter traffic at the airport has been challenged since 2017,
when AMS began enforcing a rule requiring operators
to keep to scheduled operational time “slots” 80% of the time or risk losing them.

One North American cargo carrier is particularly displeased with operations at the airport.

On 29 January, US-based ACMI and charter operator Kalitta Air filed a complaint
against The Netherlands, AMS, and Stichting Airport Coordination Netherlands (ACNL) with the US Department of Transportation,
seeking sanctions or “other appropriate measures” and
alleging that the parties named wrongfully withheld slots for Kalitta’s scheduled cargo services.

While Kalitta has continued to operate its US service to AMS without assigned slots,
in late November 2018, AMS issued a cease and desist notice to the carrier.

In the filing, Kalitta argued that ACNL is required to allocate necessary slots for bilaterally-guaranteed operating rights under the US-EU Transport Agreement,

and that ACNL “wrongfully failed to accord Kalitta historic slot status,”
given that Kalitta has operated scheduled twice-weekly cargo operations between AMS and New York aboard 747 freighters for the past fifteen years.

The filing noted that Kalitta is the only US all-cargo carrier operating between AMS and the US,
and asserted that denial of slots during the Winter 2018 season amounts to “harmful and discriminatory treatment.”

Documents attached to the filing also note that
Dutch carrier KLM and its Transavia subsidiary have historically operated the most flights outside of its assigned slots –
162 and 145 total, respectively, in 2017 –
and have not been subject to enforcement action that Kalitta has.

The filing concludes by requesting the DOT
“restrict or suspend cargo air transportation by Dutch carriers
until the current anticompetitive situation has been equitably resolved.”

AMS, ACNL, and Cozen O’Connor, the law firm representing Kalitta Air,
have not yet returned request for comment.

https://aircargoairports.com/freighter- ... llocation/