Aviation Chiefs Ask EU Leaders to Halt Carbon Row.
European aviation bosses have urged political leaders to stop an escalating global row over an EU carbon levy, warning it is threatening their industry and has already led to $12 billion (7 billion pounds) worth of orders being suspended.
Airbus CEO Tom Enders said 2,000 positions were at risk after China -- at the forefront of opposition to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) - had suspended orders for Airbus aircraft worth $12 billion.
Alongside Enders, eight chief executives of airlines and engine makers wrote to the leaders of Britain, France, Spain and Germany saying they expected "suspensions, cancellations and punitive actions to grow as other important markets continue to oppose ETS".
"The aim must be to find a compromise solution and to have these punitive trade measures stopped before it is too late," the CEOs wrote in the letter, seen by Reuters. "We have always believed that only a global solution would be adequate to resolve the problem of global aviation emissions."
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/03/13/business/13reuters-aviation-tax-eu.html?hp