US carrier JetBlue has filed a complaint with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) against the Netherlands and the European Union in opposition to the upcoming reduced flight caps at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.
Schiphol is due to reduce the number of permitted flights from the current annual limit of 500,000 to 460,000 from 31 March 2024 when the Dutch government's highly criticised experimental scheme to reduce noise pollution comes into effect.
Airlines have already vowed to continue flighting this plan after losing an initial legal battle to stop the government’s policy on Schiphol’s flights being implemented.
Now JetBlue is complaining to the US DOT because it believes the Dutch government is violating the US-EU Air Transport Agreement and has requested that the DOT impose countermeasures on Dutch airlines.
This isn't the first objection that JetBlue has raised against the Dutch government – it filed a complaint with the DOT about being unable to secure slots at Schiphol in February 2023.
The carrier was eventually granted two slot pairs at Schiphol for the summer 2023 season and has now started services from Amsterdam to New York and Boston. JetBlue also received two slots for the winter 2023-2024 scheduling season.
In its new complaint, JetBlue said it "reasonably expects that it will not be allocated any slots at all for the summer 2024 scheduling season" at Schiphol.
JetBlue wrote in a statement: “New entrants such as JetBlue are facing a completely closed market and 100 per cent expulsion from the market. This is not a fair or proportional outcome despite Dutch government assurances otherwise.”
The airline also noted that the "expulsion threat necessitates the department's more immediate imposition of targeted and impactful countermeasures”, such as forcing Dutch airlines, such as KLM, to reduce their scheduled services to the US.
“JetBlue does not suggest these countermeasures lightly,” the carrier added in its complaint. “We simply want to ensure our two daily flights at [Schiphol] can remain.”
The airline is also asking the US government to initiate formal talks with the Netherlands and EU to attempt to find a solution to what it referred to as "the Dutch violations".
“If no resolution is found, then we have asked the US government to take steps against Dutch carriers, including KLM, to ensure that they are treated in a similar manner to the way US carriers are being treated,” added JetBlue.