Alaska Airlines, a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, announced on Friday that it has renewed its request for the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to open to the public its ongoing review of Virgin America’s current and prospective citizenship status.
This filing follows two petitions from the airline earlier this year, requesting a public inquiry into whether Virgin America complies with US foreign ownership and control restrictions on domestic airlines.
According to Alaska Airlines, federal law requires that US-based airlines are US ‘citizens’. To qualify, the outstanding voting interests of the airline must be a minimum of 75%-owned by US citizens and the airline must be effectively controlled by US citizens.
