The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) recent decision to deny Norwegian Air UK’s (NAUK) foreign air carrier permit exemption was certainly a milestone in ALPA’s drive to ensure fair competition for U.S. airlines despite foreign airlines repeat attempts to use unfair business practices, but the fight is far from over.

The key to ALPA’s long-term success in defending a free marketplace? The extraordinary commitment of our members, airline passengers, and air cargo shippers to holding the U.S. government accountable for enforcing U.S. international agreements; and both NAUK and NAI, subsidiaries of Norwegian Air, conflict with U.S. agreements. 

The facts are as follows:  Norwegian Air already has authority to serve the United States. NAUK has not supplied adequate information to DOT about its employment plans so its potential effect on U.S. jobs cannot be evaluated. For these reasons, ALPA opposed NAUK’s application for a foreign air carrier exemption, which would allow it to fly while DOT considers its permit application, and we continue to oppose its application for a permit.

As we celebrate Independence Day and Canada Day, the U.S. Department of Transportation has taken a strong stand in defending a fair marketplace for U.S. airlines and their workers by denying Norwegian Air UK’s (NAUK) foreign air carrier permit exemption application.

NAUK’s employment structure for its pilots and flight attendants is unclear as is its potential effects on U.S. jobs and the international airline industry.

The United States and Canada must continue to enforce their international aviation trade policies to make certain that foreign airlines’ business plans will not threaten fair competition in the future.

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.