US Airways spent $430K lobbying government in 2Q

WASHINGTON - US Airways Group Inc. spent $430,000 lobbying in the second quarter on the cap-and-trade energy proposal and oil price issues, according to a disclosure report.

The Tempe, Ariz.-based airline lobbied on domestic and international environmental issues, including climate change and proposals for a cap-and-trade system aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Airlines have fought cap-and-trade, saying it would amount to a new tax on them.

The airline also lobbied on bills "intended to moderate the impact of excess speculative investment on the price of oil," according to the disclosure, which covers the April-June period. Airlines blamed the summer 2008 jet fuel price spikes on oil speculators, and have supported measures that would curb what they say are bets on oil prices by traders who don't need energy futures to hedge actual petroleum use.

US Airways also lobbied on a House bill that would allow additional flights beyond the currently restricted area around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. That issue is getting even more important for US Airways. Earlier this month it traded 125 of its operating slot pairs at LaGuardia Airport in New York to Delta Air Lines Inc. for 42 more slot pairs at Reagan.

Besides Congress, the airline lobbied the departments of Homeland Security, Transportation and others in the April-June period, according to the July 20 report with the House clerk's office.

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