OREANDA-NEWS. Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today issued the following statement:

“As the Export-Import Bank of the United States conducts its annual conference in Washington, D.C., we urge Bank officials, speakers and panelists to take the opportunity to discuss and debate the full range of the impact of the Bank’s actions, both positive and negative.

"U.S. airlines want to compete on an even playing field, but Export-Import subsidies are giving our foreign competitors a competitive advantage that endangers American jobs, undermining whatever value the Bank might provide to other sectors of the U.S. economy.

“By providing taxpayer-backed guarantees to foreign airlines for widebody aircraft purchases, the Bank is helping companies who are often heavily subsidized by their home governments and have access to commercial financing. Those airlines can then deploy those Ex-Im-backed aircraft against U.S. carriers at a significant cost advantage on routes to and from the United States. This finger-on-the-scale approach is unfair to American workers and has to change.

“Delta, as well as the Air Line Pilots Association, has been urging Congress to enact reforms to address the negative impact the Bank’s activities have on U.S. airline employees and help level the global playing field for U.S. carriers.”