BAD NEWS FOR RJ

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 003654

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

PLEASE PASS TO SECRETARY'S PARTY
USDOC 4520/ITA/MAC/ONE/PTHANOS
DEPARTMENT FOR E FOR LARSON
DEPARTMENT FOR EB FOR WAYNE
ATHENS FOR TSA FOR MONTGOMERY
FRANKFURT FOR TSA FOR HARRIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAIR ETRD JO
SUBJECT: BAD NEWS FOR RJ

REF: A) STATE 162415

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Ambassador Gnehm followed up with Royal
Jordanian Airlines (RJ) CEO Majali on recent Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) visits and meetings in
Washington between RJ officials and DAS John Byerly. The
Ambassador stressed to Majali the importance of taking
seriously TSA guidance and directives, the need to decouple
RJ's prospective purchase of Boeing jets from bidding on
service rights to Baghdad, and the likelihood that any
decision on the composition of Iraqi Air will have to wait
for an interim Iraqi government. END SUMMARY

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TSA: STRAIGHTEN UP AND FLY RIGHT

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2. (SBU) Ambassador Gnehm, accompanied by Econoff, called on
Royal Jordanian Airlines (RJ) CEO Samer Majali on June 16.
The Ambassador took advantage of the meeting to reinforce the
strong messages on security and cooperation with TSA that
were delivered to RJ by visiting TSA officials in Amman in
early June and in Majali's recent meetings in Washington
(ref). He stressed the need for RJ to take TSA directives
seriously and to implement them as quickly as possible.
Majali said that he had received a letter from Minister of
Transport Dahabi stating that RJ was "basically not in
compliance" with TSA policy and that the airline needed to
fulfill TSA directives according to deadlines agreed during
the visit.


4. (SBU) Majali, however, said "TSA did not take proper
minutes or give us a report telling us how we are expected to
comply." Noting that the Minister's letter (which had been
prepared by Civil Aviation Authority staff) served this
purpose by clearly outlining four important deadlines agreed
to by RJ and the TSA, the Ambassador told Majali that RJ's
credibility was on the line. It was critical that all RJ and
other security staff take TSA's requirements extremely
seriously. He said it was important that RJ and TSA maintain
frank and open channels of communication through which they
could address each others' concerns.


5. (SBU) The Ambassador stressed that TSA has the final
word on whether or not RJ is in compliance with U.S.
regulations and thus able to continue to fly to the U.S. If
TSA decided to suspend RJ flights to the U.S., no one in the

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U.S. Government would or could overrule them. Majali replied
that all deadlines would be met, and added that the airline
was appointing one person to be responsible for all safety
and security issues.

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IRAQ-BOEING LINKAGE: A MISTAKE
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6. (SBU) Also following up on reftel conversation, the
Ambassador told Majali that he had made a mistake in seeking
to link RJ's initiative on helping establish air service in
Iraq to its decision between Boeing and Airbus for RJ's
acquisition of new short-term jets. Majali called this a
"misunderstanding" of RJ's intent. His point was that the
economic advantage of RJ expanding its activities to Iraq
would help offset what he said was the $25 million additional
cost of 737's versus A320s. Since he assumed that any Iraqi
airline would go with Boeing, this could also lead to
"greater commonality" with RJ. The Ambassador advised Majali
to separate the jet purchase from service to Baghdad since
decisions on Iraq's civil aviation regime could be a long
time coming.

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Comment
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7. (SBU) Comment: The DCM had previously covered similar
ground on the security issues with Transportation Minister
Nader Dahabi and CAA Director General Hanna Najjar. We
believe the airline and the government have got the message
that TSA is serious and that they can not afford to waste
Jordan's good reputation on security issues.


8. (SBU) The Jordanians clearly made a serious tactical
mistake in allowing the perception to persist that they are
linking a decision on aircraft replacement to their
initiative on Iraq. Disturbingly, we understand that Majali
continued to pursue this tack in a meeting with Boeing CEO
Phil Condit this week in Paris. Condit and senior Boeing
executives will be in Jordan over the weekend for the World
Economic Forum meeting at the Dead Sea, where they will
undoubtedly meet senior Jordanians including the King. We
will convey this message to others in the decision-making
chain on the aircraft decision. Senior U.S. officials who
are here for the WEF meetings, including Secretary Powell and
U/S Larson, may also wish to reinforce that now is the time
to make a decision and that Boeing is the most qualified
provider.
GNEHM