Jonathan Ornstein, Call Your Office

It’s a refrain we’ve heard many times before, but Richard Branson says he wants to start a low-fare carrier in the U.S.


Silly U.S. laws limit foreign ownership of U.S. carriers to 49% and voting control to 25%. The much-maligned (by me) Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta wants to increase voting control to 49%. That would encourage Branson in his quest.

But there’s still no reason that ownership should be limited at all.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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