Why is the Civil Aeronautics Industry so special?

July 17, 2015 6:56 AM

A piece on NPR this morning about the Iran sanctions being removed noted that most US companies nevertheless will NOT be allowed to do business in Iran. Notable exception is the civil aeronautics industry ... Boeing is going to be allowed to sell some umpty-bajillion dollars worth of aircraft stuff to/in Iran. Why would that one industry get to be exempt from the rules? Is this as simple as "Boeing has the best lobbyists" or is there something more going on here that I don't understand? Just curious ...
posted by mccxxiii to Law & Government (3 answers total)

Best answer: I don't have any information specific to the latest deal, but it has been a longstanding issue that Iran's lack of access to new aircraft and parts for their old aircraft is a tremendous safety issue. Broadly speaking, every part of an aircraft has a specific lifetime over which it can be certified to operate properly and safely, but beyond that (either in terms of hours flown, or cycles, etc) such safety cannot be assured. Iran has been locked out of any official access to the parts required for the continual upkeep and maintenance required to keep an aircraft operating, and there has been a concern that should an accident occur as a result, the blame will be placed directly on the sanctions.
posted by kiltedtaco at 7:11 AM on July 17, 2015 [6 favorites]

Additionally, the supply of aircraft systems and parts are almost always subcontracted by the aircraft manufacturer, and can come from anywhere in the world. With a large number of American suppliers of these parts and subsystems, this doesn't just affect Boeing planes, but pretty much any plane built in the West.
posted by cardboard at 7:22 AM on July 17, 2015

Beyond the above reasons, in my opinion, "Boeing has the best lobbyists" is not a bad explanation. Boeing is the largest exporter in the US by dollar value and it has generally been government policy to facilitate its foreign sales.

For instance, the Export-Import Bank, a government agency that finances exports (or should I say, financed exports, as Congress has refused to reauthorize it) had 82% of its loan guarantees in 2012 go to companies purchasing Boeing aircraft. Boeing enjoys a somewhat "special" position when bidding for US military contracts: there was the saga of the KC-767 in the 2000s; and Airbus didn't bother to bid for the Air Force One replacement project, as it knew an award to a foreign company would be impossible. Boeing receives substantial federal tax breaks and has negotiated billions of dollars in state and local tax credits by threatening to pull jobs if they aren't granted (and then pulling the jobs even if they are).

Anyway, all of this is to say that Boeing does enjoy a pretty cozy relationship with our government at every level and so it's not super surprising to see it given special treatment.
posted by zachlipton at 9:18 AM on July 17, 2015