A little more anyway. Last year, I wrote about a battle between U.S. airlines and three aggressive Middle East competitors: The charge from this hemisphere was that the state-owned airlines — Etihad Airways, Emirates, and Qatar Airways — were violating and exploiting the “Open Skies” agreement by spending a whopping $50 billion to undercut the U.S. carriers and unfairly compete via expanded routes and services in the U.S.


Unchecked, the trio’s efforts were projected to result in a major loss of U.S. aviation-related jobs. Well, there seems to be a little good news to share: The association for the embattled U.S. carriers, Partnership for Open and Fair Skies, announced last week that, courtesy of State Department intervention, Qatar would start to end it wicked ways. Years late and a few billion bucks short, sure. But still, things just got a little more fair. So, that makes it one airline down, two to go. Chop chop Rex!