Delta Airlines wants to stop Ex-Im help on big jets

(Reuters, Seattle, 22 May 2013) - Delta Air Lines Inc wants the U.S. Export-Import Bank to stop helping state-owned foreign airlines buy wide-body jets from Boeing Co , and would be willing to forgo such support for its own purchases if all such subsidies were eliminated, its chief executive said on Wednesday. "We would be perfectly willing, if we had a total moratorium on narrow-body and wide-body financing, to forego" export credit help on narrow-body jet purchases from Bombardier, said Delta CEO Richard Anderson. Delta's chief legal officer has noted: "We don’t think the US government should subsidize widebody sales to our solvent competitors. ExIm subsidizes them by providing US government guarantees, which lower their borrowing costs and gives them a competitive advantage over US airlines on international routes. This harms US airlines and our employees. The Bank’s subsidization of our foreign competitors has tripled since 2008, and now is about 60% of the dollar amount of the Bank’s financings."