One rule for US another for the rest

[TWApilot]

I am an Omni Air pilot, and I'd just like to throw in a bit of information.
First, it is true that the US DOD contracts with Russian companies to fly equipment into Iraq in Antonov cargo airplanes. I see this happen frequently, and I talk with those Russian crew members in our hotel in the Middle East.

To say that the US DOD would not hire a carrier from another country is false.

Also, I can confirm that Omni Air was NOT the lowest bidder on the Brize Norton - Falklands flying. Omni was selected because of the reliable service record we have provided the British MOD during numerous other flights we've operated for them during the past year or two. They were happy with our performance, and selected us over competitors because they felt we could get the job done best.

There is no cabotage in this case, as alluded to previously, because this is a charter flight. All seats on the airplane are purchased as a group by the MOD, and as a result it becomes an British MOD flight, not a US airline flight. The MOD can then carry whoever or whatever they want, as it is their flight.
Omni would be prohibited from selling tickets on airline flights within the UK, and we are not doing that, nor have we ever done that.

I can also tell you that our maintenance is excellent -- Any time I've written up a problem with an airplane it has always been fixed and fixed correctly. We do not operate airplanes with shoddy maintenance.

Also, our small airline has been more profitable than almost every other airline I can think of in the USA for the last couple years. It is not a little company on a shoestring budget.

BALPA can feel free to protest our winnning of this contract if they like. But, I must say, had the British MOD been happier with the performance of another carrier, they would have chosen another carrier. If a British carrier would like to pick up this contract next time around, perhaps those interested British carriers should improve their own performance enough to make the MOD happy. Omni has lost out on contracts in the past. It happened to win this one. Thats the sort of thing every charter airline goes through.

No airline should ever win a contract because of the Flag it flies. A contract should be won based on good, solid performance, reputation, and of course price will be a factor too. All airlines are free to compete for such contracts. It would be unfortunate if an airline is chosen to do anything just because of it's Flag. Service would definitely suffer if that is the most important criteria.