Comments

1. Castration followed by deportation…

2. “ integrity of American research”

   Those words don’t belong together under this administration. They have no integrity.

3. A second case of a Chinese researcher at UM smuggling a biological agent into the country?

4. How could it be illegal for Turkish Airways to not allow use of their points to book flights to Israel? They are a Turkish company, and in general are allowed to set whatever restrictions on the use of the points as they want.

   Now, it could easily be against Star Alliance partner rules, but that’s not a matter of law…

5. @Ray
   Lefties have no brains or right to life.

6. @Walter Barry — If that’s really how you wish to be treated once the pendulum swings back… I don’t recommend it.

7. So the D.O.T. is supposed to dictate to foreign airlines where they can fly and how their frequent flyer miles can be used? That sounds like something you say when you’ve just had a stroke.

8. The DOT prohibits discrimination based upon political factors and nationality, so, yes, Turkish Airlines is violating the law and can be fined or denied landing rights in the US.

9. @1990 – He must’ve slept through the government part of Government Studies in school as well as missing out on that whole United States Constitution thingie. Ironic that someone who can’t comprehend the basics of the document that is the foundation of our system says that people who do understand the Constitution have no brains. With this guy’s deep understanding of logic, intellect, and governmental workings he is perfect to be in a Cabinet position in this administration.

10. @Common Sense – Source?

11. Reposting from Mr. Eleff:

    ”
    Crucially, United States law forbids airlines from engaging in discriminatory or politically biased service practices, especially if they operate to/from the U.S. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) enforces federal statutes that require carriers to remain essentially “apolitical” in providing air transport. For instance, 49 U.S.C. §41310 explicitly states that “an air carrier or foreign air carrier may not subject a person, place, port, or type of traffic in foreign air transportation to unreasonable discrimination.” . This means an airline cannot arbitrarily deny service to a particular city or country (a “place” or “port”) in its international network without a valid, non-discriminatory reason. Likewise, 49 U.S.C. §40127 prohibits U.S. and foreign carriers from discriminating against any person in air travel on the basis of “race, color, national origin, religion, sex, or ancestry.” . In plainer terms, if an airline is serving the U.S. market, it cannot refuse service to people or routes solely for prejudicial or political reasons – such behavior is deemed “unreasonable and illegal discrimination” under U.S. law  .

    American regulators have interpreted these laws to bar airlines from boycotting destinations or passengers for political motives. A noteworthy precedent occurred in 2015: the DOT found Kuwait Airways in violation of U.S. law when it refused to sell a ticket to an Israeli passport-holder for a flight from New York to London. DOT’s investigation concluded the airline was engaging in an unlawful boycott, reiterating that by choosing to operate international routes touching the U.S., the carrier “must comply with [U.S.] laws forbidding unreasonable discrimination in foreign air transportation.”  Then-Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx underscored the zero-tolerance policy: “we will not tolerate discrimination of any kind in our skies.”  The U.S. government deemed such “commercial boycotts” of Israeli travelers to constitute unreasonable and illegal discrimination  . Ultimately, Kuwait’s national airline had to either cease the discriminatory practice or stop the route – it chose to drop the JFK-London service rather than continue an Israel boycott . This case illustrates DOT’s willingness to enforce regulations against airlines imposing political agendas on their route networks or ticketing policies. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer noted at the time: “American law prohibits discrimination by air carriers on the basis of national origin…. Any air carrier that refuses to fly an individual based on nationality is in violation of American law and should be fined, plain and simple.”  .

    Anti-boycott regulations bolster this stance. The U.S. Commerce Department’s Office of Antiboycott Compliance can penalize companies (primarily U.S. companies or their affiliates) that participate in unsanctioned boycotts against friendly nations. In fact, federal officials have warned that it is “imperative” to end such discriminatory practices in aviation, and noted that Commerce “has the ability to stifle other countries’ efforts to boycott the state of Israel… by imposing penalties on companies that propagate efforts to boycott Israel.”  While these anti-boycott laws (originating from the Export Administration Act and related provisions) mainly target U.S. entities, they underscore a broader legal policy: air carriers operating in U.S. airspace are expected to remain neutral and not enforce foreign political boycotts”

12. Folks, we may have bigger issues; Israel just attacked Iran. Gonna be a lot of flight plans that need some changes. Yikes. Might wanna update the ole doomsday clock a few more seconds closer to midnight…

13. @1990: Doing nothing would have been much worse. This should have been done years ago.