U.S. HOUSE PANEL APPROVES ACTION AGAINST EU HUSHKIT BAN
A U.S. House of Representatives panel has approved a non-binding
resolution urging U.S. Commerce, Transportation and State officials to take
action against the European Union if the EU does not scrap a plan to ban
aircraft fitted with noise-muffling "hushkits" form flying in the EU next
year.
The EU had planned to implement the hushkit ban in April, but backed
down in the face of strong U.S. resistance. The House had threatened to ban
Air France and British Airways from flying the Concorde to the U.S.
The EU said it would postpone the ban until May 2000 to pursue a compromise.
House members now say that postponement is no longer good enough.
The House panel agreed to a resolution with language identical to a
Senate resolution that directs the Transportation Department to file an
aviation trade complaint against the EU under the Chicago Convention on
International Aviation.