The United States Department of Transportation, USDOT, has sanctioned Ethiopian Airlines, ET, for flouting the rules of engagement binding on the codeshare agreement it entered with United Airlines hence, a penalty of $.425mUSD was slammed on the Africa’s leading airline, ET.
According to a statement issued over the weekend, the USDOT said it had fined ET the sum of $425,000.00 for operating flights carrying the United Airlines designator code, in regions which the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA.
The FAA, had issued flight prohibition orders which were in force for U.S. operators.
Recall that the USDOT routinely issues restrictions barring US commercial airlines from operating in air space deemed as unsafe.
Also, various reasons informed the issuance of flight restrictions such as armed conflict, or unregulated airspace areas where its forces are in active combat abroad.
Moreover, the modus operandi of these flight restrictions often binds on other airlines that are already in a subsisting codeshare agreement with any US airlines.
In the same vein, the restriction also applies to a particular geographical area or specific flight level within a designated zone.
However, any airline flying while using US flight code, such as ET and Etihad, technically becomes U. S’. operator and automatically bound by the restrictions in the same manner as the restrictions would have applied to the original owner of the code.
Succinctly put, flying while using U.S. flight code, ET and Etihad technically become U.S. operators and were automatically bound by the restrictions in the same manner as they would have applied to the original owner of the code.
Other airlines found culpable include Air Canada which in September 2024 was fined $250,000 for operating in Iraqi airspace while flying on a codeshare with United Airlines and Emirates which was fined $1.5m earlier this year for incursion into restricted flight levels over Baghdad while flying on Jetblue codeshare.
Emirates said the pilot was forced to descend into the banned flight levels because of bad weather at the assigned altitudes.
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