Kalitta Air (K4, Detroit Willow Run) has filed a complaint with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) asking it to sanction or impose "other appropriate measures" against the Netherlands, Amsterdam Schiphol airport operator, and Stichting Airport Coordination Netherlands (ACNL) for allegedly wrongfully withholding the American cargo specialist's slots.
"As a result of Respondents' actions, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol - long one of the greatest aviation gateways to the world - has become closed to competitive entry by U.S. carriers," Kalitta said in its complaint filed on January 29, 2019.
The carrier said that starting in the Summer 2017 season, the slot coordinator ACNL denied it the desired slots due to the high level of misuse, a charge that Kalitta Air is now partially challenging.
The cargo specialist has operated a twice weekly New York JFK-Amsterdam Schiphol service for the last fifteen years as the only American cargo airline.
In Summer 2017, the airline was only allocated two slots instead of the historically held four. At that time, the ACNL started enforcing the 80/20 "use-it-or-lose-it" rule, which allows it to strip carriers of their slots if they fail to utilise at least 80% of them. The reason for the tightening of the rules is the congestion at Amsterdam as the airport is nearing its legal cap of 500,000 operations per year, imposed due to environmental concerns.
Subsequently, Kalitta Air only received two slots for the Winter 2017/8 season, although it managed to add a further two from the ad hoc slot pool. It received the requested four slots for Summer 2018 but now it has received no slots for the Winter 2018/9 season.
Kalitta Air said that while it had indeed operated less than 80% of times within the slot time, this was due factors outside its control, namely the fact that most of its Amsterdam services operate on the return leg from services on behalf of the US military to the Middle East. As such, Kalitta Air argues it has no power over the scheduling as it is dependent on military authorisations.
The carrier also underlined that it operates 85-90% of scheduled services through Amsterdam, although frequently at other times than the allocated slots.
The airline further said that it failed to resolve the dispute directly with the ACNL. It argues that the coordinator's actions can be seen as discriminatory, illegal, and in violation of the US-EU air traffic agreement.
Kalitta Air said it believed that it was "deliberately targeted ... for harmful and discriminatory treatment". However, it concluded that the current situation favours its direct competitors KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and its cargo subsidiary Martinair (Netherlands) and as such asked for sanction from the US government.
