In America’s DOT bureaucracy the buck never stops — who is responsible?

Has anyone wondered just who is in charge at DOT? It seems that some problems are stretching out endlessly, with no end in sight. Even problems that should be settled quickly like the Norwegian Air International approval for service to the US from Europe and the acknowledgment that the US is a signatory to the Open Skies treaty.

These issues are cut and dried, but some lobbyists have found a way to make them so complicated that the DOT is tied up in knots about whether or not approvals that should have been all but perfunctory are taking more than a year to settle.

In the case of Norwegian Air International’s operating permit, everyone in legal circles except for paid labor and airline lawyers have noted that the permissions should have been granted almost two years ago.

What the heck is going on? This administration, that has been called one of the most consumer-friendly, is anything but when it comes to aviation. Two-and-a-half years waiting for an approval from the DOT is shameful. Absolutely shameful.

The European Commission has already said that this delay constitutes a breach of the Open Skies air traffic agreement between the European Union and the US. And, even though everything has been done by the book and according to the treaty, this administration is refusing to allow this airline to serve American consumers with rock bottom prices.

With the Norwegian Air International issue, this administration has been absolutely anti-consumer and anti-free market.

In the case of the Middle East airlines, a cabal of three big airlines, together with their foreign alliance partners, which control more than 70 percent of all international flights, have claimed that Middle East airlines are unfairly subsidized. They argue that these subsidies violate the Open Skies agreements in some way.

Of course the Middle East airlines — Emirates, Etihad and Qatar — have all denied such subsidies and have presented in-depth analysis debunking the American, Delta and United airlines’ arguments. Plus, every other stakeholder in the aviation world except labor associated with the Big 3 American Airlines have all declared that they are on the side of the current Open Skies treaties.

The lineup of those urging the enforcement of the Open Skies treaties include consumer organizations like Travelers United, every other airline in the country other than the Big 3, cargo airlines such as FedEx and UPS, the US Chamber of Commerce, the US Travel Association, and a score of travel associations. Still, the administration has held up full endorsement of the Open Skies treaty and the right of these airlines to expand their network in the US.

But, again, as with the Norwegian Air International issue, this administration has ignored the overall good for consumers, the bulk of airlines, the travel and tourism market and our economy by refusing to take definitive action.

Harry Truman would be embarrassed by this kind of pass-the-buck non-action.

We have an administration that loves to hide behind the reluctance of its departments in order to claim an inability to make a decision. In these aviation cases when international treaties and the good of the flying public are involved, this lack of action is flat-out shameful.

Someone needs to make a decision and say the buck stops here. At least, the public will know where they stand and our international partners in trade, travel and tourism will know whether the country stands behind their efforts to increase tourism and international trade.

Right now, the administration is not doing its job.