News / US carriers must get first pick on emergency cabotage flights, says Atlas

A row has erupted over foreign carriers being given emergency cabotage rights in the US, when they haven’t checked the availability of US-certified capacity.

The issue stemmed from the proposed use of a Ukraine Air Alliance (UAA) AN-12 to supply relief equipment to Guam after last month’s Typhoon Mawar.

Atlas Air has written to the US Department of Transportation (DoT) objecting to the use of a foreign carrier to supply a US territory, when a domestic carrier was available, and said it ...