This week, ALPA submitted two filings with other unions to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) that reveal still more evidence as to why the U.S. government should uphold its air service agreements and defend a fair marketplace by denying Norwegian Air International’s (NAI) and Norwegian Air UK’s (NAUK) applications to fly to and from the United States.

John Porcari, who served as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation during the U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement negotiations, authored an opinion piece published today by the Huffington Post titled “Setting the record straight on Norwegian Air and the US-EU Open Skies Agreement.”

Porcari says, “A decision whether or not to grant operating authority based on compliance with Article 17 is at the heart of implementation of the ATA …This administration should be justifiably proud that appropriate labor provisions were negotiated into this agreement; let’s use them for their intended purpose.” Read more

Recently, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a final rule prohibiting battery-powered portable electronic smoking devices in checked baggage. In addition, the rule bans the charging of these devices (e.g., e-cigarettes, e-pipes, personal vaporizers, etc.) on board an aircraft.

This week, Canada’s transportation regulatory agency, Transport Canada, launched a social media campaign to raise awareness of the dangers associated with shining a laser at an aircraft. Transport Minister Marc Garneau introduced the “Not a Bright Idea” campaign on Tuesday at a press conference in Toronto.