Fellow ALPA Pilots,

A few weeks ago I wrote to you about our significant ongoing efforts in working with Congress to prohibit the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from establishing a CBP preclearance facility at Abu Dhabi International Airport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

We knew that our work could easily be undone if we didn’t move swiftly and strategically to ensure our victory. As we continued to climb this steep hill, we learned that the administration is nevertheless moving forward with this misguided plan. How does the administration defy the clear intent of Congress? Well, this is Washington. This is hardball. And when you have an efficient and well-funded government like the UAE, almost nothing is impossible.

Today, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi is in Washington, D.C., to meet with the president of the United States. On the agenda: the development of the Customs and Border Protection preclearance facility. If that isn’t enough, the facility will be paid for with a mix of U.S. taxpayer dollars and funds from the UAE under a vague fee-reimbursement program. Talk about a stretch.

The administration claims they are proceeding with the facility in the interest of “national security.” The United States is “pushing out its borders,” they said to us. What does this mean for us? Once again, sound aviation policy is traded away for something else—in this case, giving an allied nation in the Gulf a significant economic boost to their state-owned airline.

We’ve seen this trade-off playbook before with the continued tax burden imposed on U.S. airlines and wide-body aircraft financing at favorable rates to our competitors by the Export-Import Bank. The establishment of a preclearance facility in Abu Dhabi is one more action that puts U.S. airlines at a disadvantage to its international competitors.

ALPA, individual airlines, Airlines for America, Regional Airlines for America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department, Airports Council International-North America, the Global Business Travel Association, and Consumer Travel Alliance have all spoken out—with one voice—in opposition to the Abu Dhabi preclearance facility.

To all of us, the concept of building a facility and staffing it with U.S. workers in a foreign country where no U.S. airline flies is baffling. However, the visit by the crown prince indicates that this concept is one step closer to becoming reality.

Your union is not giving up on this fight. We should not hand one of the fastest-growing international airlines in the world, Etihad Airways, the ability to offer its passengers the convenience of clearing U.S. Customs and Immigration while still in the UAE. This gives them a significant competitive advantage over U.S. airlines in attracting customers seeking to fly from Asia or the Middle East to the United States. And, if the administration is ultimately successful in opening this facility in Abu Dhabi, we can anticipate them doing the same in Dubai, Qatar, Jordan, and other major Middle Eastern allied nations as well.

We need every ALPA member to step up and help us in our fight. Here are three actions you can take right now:

• If you haven’t already, please join ALPA’s Call to Action opposing the administration’s CBP preclearance facility in Abu Dhabi and leave no doubt that this must be stopped.
• Support ALPA-PAC, one of our best tools to help halt this misguided plan on Capitol Hill, where we must take and win this fight.
• Visit www.DrawTheLineHere.com to sign a petition urging the White House to end the Abu Dhabi preclearance facility plan. Forward the petition to your family and friends to get them involved.

I will keep you informed of this situation and our efforts as the days and weeks unfold. We will continue to focus on what is best for our airlines and our jobs.

Respectfully,