Electronics ban targetting specific airline companies
The West has been trying to politically isolate Turkey and to marginalize President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government with the impact of the far-right wave that has been on the rise in the West for a while.
Unfortunately, the world has entered a period in which countries are withdrawing into themselves and ethnic, nationalist and far-right movements are gaining strength. This spirit is also influencing the economy under the pretext of security concerns.
One typical instance of this is the U.S. and U.K.'s cabin ban on laptops and tablet computers on inbound flights from several Muslim-majority countries, including Turkey. Although they are striving to justify the ban by basing it on the intelligence centered on al-Qaeda's "successful development" of compact battery bombs that fit inside laptops or other devices in Yemen, it does not have a reasonable cause and effect relationship to justify the action taken.
First of all, now that there is the same intelligence, why are the U.S. and U.K. implementing the ban in different ways? Why has the U.S. cited Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in the U.S.'s ban list, while the U.K. has included Turkey, but excluded the two other countries in the list? Why are they implementing such a ban, although all the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) inspections have proved positive and the same aviation authority has registered Istanbul Atatürk Airport to have tighter and more efficient security controls than many other international airports?
Turkey's flag carrier, Turkish Airlines (THY), has achieved one of the greatest success stories in Turkey in recent years. It has expanded its flight network to a significant extent and become one of the best airline companies in the world that offers the best in-flight comfort, making Istanbul a major flight hub.
The Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways have similar success stories in their own countries and are among the best companies in the international airline transport sector.
While they were on the rise, Western airline companies gradually collapsed because of strikes and bad and insufficient services. Moreover, American airline companies offer a nightmarish flight experience.
So, to what extent can this flight ban, which may seriously affect companies like the THY and Emirates, be independent of Western air carriers that are looking to disguise their failure?
Let us note that Emirates had decided to initiate direct flights to Newark, New Jersey in the U.S., from Athens shortly before this ban was introduced. Following this, three large American air carriers, United, Delta, and American Airlines, directly addressed U.S. President Donald Trump via a giant newspaper advertisement on March 16, stating that if Emirates' direct flights start, some 1.2 million American aviation industry employees would be dismissed, and requested that Trump prevent this.
This is a typical instance of economic protectionism. Despite their poor performance, these airline companies have not cut staff, but expanded their operations by two to three times in recent years. They achieved this rise through oppressive policies.
What can Turkey do at this stage? First, it can try to restrict the ban to a short period of time through one-on-one talks with its addressees pursuing silent diplomacy. As far as I know, Turkey is incessantly making efforts to this end.
Meanwhile, both presidents Erdoğan and Trump are scheduled to meet in May. If the ban remains in force until then, it will be addressed during the bilateral meeting as well.
On the other hand, THY has been named the second-best airline company in the world in terms of on-board entertainment services after the Emirates. Now, THY is trying to further improve its in-flight entertainment systems and it has begun to offer internet on many business-class flights.
Following the ban, it has accelerated technical studies to offer this service in economy-class flights as well.
In short, the Turkish flag carrier is studying a range of steps to boost customer satisfaction. Those who fly often know that THY's flight quality is high when compared to what United Airlines, Delta or Lufthansa offer on long-haul flights. Therefore, passengers must resist oppressive policies and continue to fly with companies like THY and Emirates. If they insist on preferring these two air carriers, the West will see that they will not be able to achieve the desired result and abandon their protectionist policies.
Unfortunately, the world has entered a period in which countries are withdrawing into themselves and ethnic, nationalist and far-right movements are gaining strength. This spirit is also influencing the economy under the pretext of security concerns.
One typical instance of this is the U.S. and U.K.'s cabin ban on laptops and tablet computers on inbound flights from several Muslim-majority countries, including Turkey. Although they are striving to justify the ban by basing it on the intelligence centered on al-Qaeda's "successful development" of compact battery bombs that fit inside laptops or other devices in Yemen, it does not have a reasonable cause and effect relationship to justify the action taken.
First of all, now that there is the same intelligence, why are the U.S. and U.K. implementing the ban in different ways? Why has the U.S. cited Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in the U.S.'s ban list, while the U.K. has included Turkey, but excluded the two other countries in the list? Why are they implementing such a ban, although all the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) inspections have proved positive and the same aviation authority has registered Istanbul Atatürk Airport to have tighter and more efficient security controls than many other international airports?
Turkey's flag carrier, Turkish Airlines (THY), has achieved one of the greatest success stories in Turkey in recent years. It has expanded its flight network to a significant extent and become one of the best airline companies in the world that offers the best in-flight comfort, making Istanbul a major flight hub.
The Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways have similar success stories in their own countries and are among the best companies in the international airline transport sector.
While they were on the rise, Western airline companies gradually collapsed because of strikes and bad and insufficient services. Moreover, American airline companies offer a nightmarish flight experience.
So, to what extent can this flight ban, which may seriously affect companies like the THY and Emirates, be independent of Western air carriers that are looking to disguise their failure?
Let us note that Emirates had decided to initiate direct flights to Newark, New Jersey in the U.S., from Athens shortly before this ban was introduced. Following this, three large American air carriers, United, Delta, and American Airlines, directly addressed U.S. President Donald Trump via a giant newspaper advertisement on March 16, stating that if Emirates' direct flights start, some 1.2 million American aviation industry employees would be dismissed, and requested that Trump prevent this.
This is a typical instance of economic protectionism. Despite their poor performance, these airline companies have not cut staff, but expanded their operations by two to three times in recent years. They achieved this rise through oppressive policies.
What can Turkey do at this stage? First, it can try to restrict the ban to a short period of time through one-on-one talks with its addressees pursuing silent diplomacy. As far as I know, Turkey is incessantly making efforts to this end.
Meanwhile, both presidents Erdoğan and Trump are scheduled to meet in May. If the ban remains in force until then, it will be addressed during the bilateral meeting as well.
On the other hand, THY has been named the second-best airline company in the world in terms of on-board entertainment services after the Emirates. Now, THY is trying to further improve its in-flight entertainment systems and it has begun to offer internet on many business-class flights.
Following the ban, it has accelerated technical studies to offer this service in economy-class flights as well.
In short, the Turkish flag carrier is studying a range of steps to boost customer satisfaction. Those who fly often know that THY's flight quality is high when compared to what United Airlines, Delta or Lufthansa offer on long-haul flights. Therefore, passengers must resist oppressive policies and continue to fly with companies like THY and Emirates. If they insist on preferring these two air carriers, the West will see that they will not be able to achieve the desired result and abandon their protectionist policies.