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Airline Mismanagement

The Nine Freedoms of the Air actually define more the lack of freedom than the actual freedoms enjoyed by international airlines.

Gradually they are being superseded by 'Open Skies' agreements, although these new agreements do not necessarily give all freedoms to all airlines.

 
 
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Freedoms of the Air

A standard set of definitions for international airlines
 

Some are the result of international treaties, some are merely conventionally understood, and in total they comprise the 'Freedoms of the Air'.

 

 

Delta Air Lines, now merged with Northwest Airlines, has become the world's largest airline.  Biggest isn't necessarily best, but with its Business Elite class cabin and service, Delta definitely offers one of the very best business class experiences of any airline, closely approaching the first class offered by three and four class airlines.

Many people have decried US carriers as providing inferior service, compared to foreign carriers, on international routes.  Based on the consistent high quality experience I enjoyed on my two recent flights, that is not the case with Delta.  I unhesitatingly recommend Delta for your next business class international flying.

How the 'Freedoms' Evolved

Air transportation is different to most other forms of commerce, not only because of its international components but also because of its governmental participation and the fact that many national airlines or 'flag carriers' are either in large part government owned, or, even if not, are felt by the government to reflect the prestige of their nation.

In addition, nations often feel that they can only rely on their locally owned carriers to have a commitment to providing service to their own country. This is unimportant if you're a small country in Europe with excellent road and rail service to other countries, but if you're a remote island in the Pacific, air service is essential.

And so, for reasons variously good or bad, international air travel has long been subjected to all manner of complicated restrictions and bilateral treaties between nations. One of the main treaties that sets out the fundamental building blocks of air transportation regulation - the 'rules of the road' - is the Chicago Convention in 1944.

These 'building blocks' are widely referred to as the "freedoms of the air", and they are fundamental to the international route network we have today. The first two are basic freedoms that are, more or less, recognized by all countries, the next three are at least widely understood, and accepted to varying degrees. Then the last four become much less common - two are less widely accepted, and the last two are hardly accepted at all.

Each is subject to specific conditions, such as establishing the frequency of flights, that are determined through bilateral agreements between any two of the countries that are parties to the Convention.

First Freedom

 The right to fly and carry traffic over the territory of another partner to the agreement without landing. Almost all countries are partners to the Convention but some have observed this freedom better than others. When the Korean airliner lost its way over Soviet air space a few year ago and was shot down, the Soviet Union (among other offenses!) violated this First Freedom.

Second Freedom

The right to land in those countries for technical reasons such as refueling without boarding or deplaning passengers.

Third Freedom

The right of an airline from one country to land in a different country and deplane passengers coming from the airline’s own country.

Fourth Freedom

The right of an airline from one country to land in a different country and board passengers traveling to the airline’s own country.

Fifth Freedom

This freedom is also sometimes referred to as 'beyond rights'. It is the right of an airline from one country to land in a second country, to then pick up passengers and fly on to a third country where the passengers then deplane. An example would be a flight by American Airlines from the US to England that is going on to France. Traffic could be picked up in England and taken to France.

Sixth Freedom

The right to carry traffic from one state through the home country to a third state. Example: traffic from England coming to the US on a US airline and then going on to Canada on the same airline.

Seventh Freedom

The right to carry traffic from one state to another state without going through the home country. Example would be traffic from England going to Canada on a US airline flight that does not stop in the US on the way.

Eighth Freedom

This is one form of cabotage (or sometimes 'true cabotage) and is rare. Airline cabotage is the carriage of air traffic that originates and terminates within the boundaries of a given country by an air carrier of another country, and for purposes of the Eighth Freedom, is in the context of an airline that started or ended the flight series in its home country, even if the passenger only travels within the foreign country. An example of this would be an airline like Virgin Atlantic Airways operating flights between London, Chicago and New Orleans and carrying passengers between only Chicago and New Orleans.

Ninth Freedom

This is similar to the Eighth Freedom, and is the right to operate flights within a foreign country but without continuing or prior service to or from the carrier's home country. This is the rarest of the freedoms, although it can be seen, more or less, operating within the EU (although these days the EU considers itself to be one big country for such purposes).
 

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Originally published 12 Nov 2002, last update 30 May 2021

You may freely reproduce or distribute this article for noncommercial purposes as long as you give credit to me as original writer.

 
 
 

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