:00:07. > :00:18.Will open skies stay open under President Trump?
:00:19. > :00:22.US airline bosses take their grievances to the White House today.
:00:23. > :00:29.Top of the list, their fast-growing rivals from the Gulf.
:00:30. > :00:34.Could the President's love of Twitter stop the rot
:00:35. > :01:06.Some of you are going, what is he doing, it isn't even Friday? I will
:01:07. > :01:08.tell you what, give me a minute and I will give you a snapshot of the
:01:09. > :01:10.world of business and money. We start in Washington,
:01:11. > :01:13.where the bosses of America's top airlines and airports are due
:01:14. > :01:15.to meet President Trump There are some major issues
:01:16. > :01:20.on the table that could affect As we know from his inauguration
:01:21. > :01:25.speech, Mr Trump said That could mean a major
:01:26. > :01:37.boost for Boeing. If he leans on US airlines
:01:38. > :01:40.to buy from them. European rival Airbus also operates
:01:41. > :01:46.factories in the US, and buys billions of dollars worth
:01:47. > :01:57.of US components, like engines. It claims to support
:01:58. > :01:59.245,000 US jobs. Then there's the issue of foreign
:02:00. > :02:05.airlines operating in the US. This one, Norwegian,
:02:06. > :02:07.was given a foreign carrier licence, allowing them to expand their routes
:02:08. > :02:11.to and from the US, as one of the last acts of
:02:12. > :02:14.the Obama administration. This caused howls of protest from US
:02:15. > :02:22.airlines and unions. Norwegian says its creating at least
:02:23. > :02:27.150 new US jobs and has ordered more than $18 billion worth
:02:28. > :02:33.of planes from Boeing. So, what about the whole
:02:34. > :02:35.question of open skies, the deals that mean countries
:02:36. > :02:38.open their routes to each other? The US currently has 120
:02:39. > :02:48.open skies agreements. US airline bosses are particularly
:02:49. > :02:54.unhappy about the expansion of Emirates, Etihad Airways,
:02:55. > :03:01.and Qatar Airways in the US. Last week they wrote
:03:02. > :03:04.to the government claiming Gulf carriers have received $50 billion
:03:05. > :03:07.in handouts from their governments over the past decade,
:03:08. > :03:14.something the Gulf airlines deny. The President of Emirates has long
:03:15. > :03:16.argued that an attack on their business by Washington
:03:17. > :03:39.would only damage the US economy. It is far too important for the US
:03:40. > :03:43.economy for multiple reasons - for the activities of the Gulf carriers
:03:44. > :03:47.to be cut back, because once you do that and you close the open skies
:03:48. > :03:52.that you have today it has enormous ramifications. The US economy would
:03:53. > :03:55.be severely affected by a closure, a shutting down of the open skies
:03:56. > :04:01.arrangement, which has manifestly produced huge amounts of wealth for
:04:02. > :04:05.Aerospace, Boeing, General Electric as well as everything else.
:04:06. > :04:11.You and I know him quite well, Tim Clark, he is a big figure in the
:04:12. > :04:11.industry. John Strickland, director of JLS
:04:12. > :04:20.Consulting, joins me now. Thank you for coming in at this
:04:21. > :04:24.horrid hour. You always do it, you need a medal. So, Tim Clark has a
:04:25. > :04:28.point, doesn't he, and it is interesting because he is the boss
:04:29. > :04:36.of the airline Emirates which is the one the US airlines are gunning for,
:04:37. > :04:40.are they? Yes, the big airlines put in a complaint about the Gulf
:04:41. > :04:44.carriers. They wanted to go to Congress. They made allegations of
:04:45. > :04:49.unfair competition, these carriers from the Gulf came into the market,
:04:50. > :04:54.and the document originally produced, which was about 50 pages,
:04:55. > :04:58.the three Gulf carriers issued rebuttals into the hundreds of
:04:59. > :05:01.pages, evidence countering the arguments, these carriers have
:05:02. > :05:08.increased their services, the boss of Kata Airways told me last year, I
:05:09. > :05:11.have at world US mayors in my office imploring me to start services to
:05:12. > :05:15.the US -- Qatar Airways. The key beyond the end services and what it
:05:16. > :05:19.means for access to major US cities which of course is all part of the
:05:20. > :05:22.economy and job creation and so on is these guys by large numbers of
:05:23. > :05:26.Boeing aircraft and a massive customers for Boeing. If there is
:05:27. > :05:31.any poster boy for jobs it is Boeing. You are right that all three
:05:32. > :05:37.are fast-growing and Emirates has been around since the 1980s but they
:05:38. > :05:41.are all fast-growing and they purchase a lot of aircraft, they
:05:42. > :05:44.seem to have the money compare to others, but is it at a point where
:05:45. > :05:48.the worry is if President Trump says, OK, you know what, I am
:05:49. > :05:59.scrubbing the open skies with the UAE and the Gulf regions, they will
:06:00. > :06:04.save goodbye to Boeing and go to Airbus. With the buyback and jobs
:06:05. > :06:08.for America, the aerospace industry, not only Boeing, sub suppliers and
:06:09. > :06:13.engine manufacturers, are a massive part of the economy and support jobs
:06:14. > :06:16.at home. We don't have a unified view in the airline community. The
:06:17. > :06:21.D3 might lobby against Gulf carriers but others like Federal Express have
:06:22. > :06:27.the reverse ID and they say the open skies agreements which allow the
:06:28. > :06:31.Allied in our positive -- idea. They are positive for job creation. The
:06:32. > :06:36.message is not even united in the industry. And the irony of it is
:06:37. > :06:42.open skies, which many countries use, is a US concept. I have to ask,
:06:43. > :06:46.if President Trump listens to airline bosses and rips up the open
:06:47. > :06:51.skies with parts of the Gulf area, that will have a huge ramifications
:06:52. > :06:55.for the global aviation industry. It could have a massive effect because
:06:56. > :06:59.the US is the origin of these open skies agreement and they have been
:07:00. > :07:03.seen as positive to global trade, positive to economic development in
:07:04. > :07:07.tourism and airlines from the US and other countries, in whichever
:07:08. > :07:11.partnership of open skies the US has formed, have developed air services
:07:12. > :07:16.in part of a 21st-century economy. Aviation is so fundamental not only
:07:17. > :07:19.directly for what it creates but how it supports and catalyses economic
:07:20. > :07:22.growth more broadly so it will be a very interesting meeting today.
:07:23. > :07:27.Indeed, we are going to be watching it closely. Thank you for coming in.
:07:28. > :07:29.We appreciate it. Let's move on quickly.
:07:30. > :07:36.It has been struggling to grow its user base and to make
:07:37. > :07:40.Those are the main reasons why Twitter shares are down by almost
:07:41. > :07:45.But could the election of avid Twitter user Donald Trump be giving
:07:46. > :07:49.Analysts have been pointing out a rise in people
:07:50. > :07:59.They say that could help Twitter finally find a buyer.
:08:00. > :08:01.James Erskine is director of the online marketing company
:08:02. > :08:13.It is good to see you and thank you for coming in. Let me ask you,
:08:14. > :08:17.Twitter, you know, we are here again, Facebook when it went public
:08:18. > :08:22.with were saying the same thing, it has to learn how to make money, it
:08:23. > :08:26.has to learn how to make money from the users and it has done that.
:08:27. > :08:31.Twitter still hasn't done that. It hasn't, no, and there are a number
:08:32. > :08:35.of reasons we see for that, social circle, it is our job to see how
:08:36. > :08:39.people engage with content across lots of different social media
:08:40. > :08:45.platforms and Twitter, we are starting to see people see authentic
:08:46. > :08:49.content from real people, and slowly they are starting to engage, so
:08:50. > :08:52.Twitter before was having a problem with people using it more like a
:08:53. > :08:56.newsfeed rather than a social network. One thing you need from a
:08:57. > :09:03.social network is engage in it. Things to engage with. I have to
:09:04. > :09:07.ask, talking of engaging, President Trump has been very engaged on
:09:08. > :09:12.Twitter. Do you think that could actually give the company a boost?
:09:13. > :09:16.You know, I think it could not necessarily because of him
:09:17. > :09:22.specifically but more what it is indicative of, so fierce political
:09:23. > :09:25.discourse and debate amplified in an online environment. We also saw it
:09:26. > :09:31.with Brexit as well, Twitter have lots and lots of opinions around the
:09:32. > :09:36.key political issues and I suppose the next step is what else people
:09:37. > :09:40.can debate, so, does it go beyond politics, to other niche communities
:09:41. > :09:46.where they can have those back and forth opinions? OK, will they find a
:09:47. > :09:50.buyer, yes or no, I have to go, will they? Eventually, yes, it is all
:09:51. > :09:55.about the content on Twitter to allow them to do that. We appreciate
:09:56. > :09:59.your time, short and sweet, thank you very much, and I will be back to
:10:00. > :10:01.look at the papers from around the world. Follow me on Twitter. I will
:10:02. > :10:10.see you shortly. A new law designed to help protect
:10:11. > :10:14.people in England from so called revenge evictions by rogue
:10:15. > :10:16.landlords isn't working. That's according to senior MPs
:10:17. > :10:19.and housing lawyers.