Agency Says There Was 'No Avenue To Reject The Application'

The U.S. DOT has approved Norwegian's license to operate as a foreign carrier in the United States, causing concern for pilots' and flight attendants' unions.

The license application has been the subject of much discussion over the past several years, with many U.S.-flagged carriers and unions representing pilots and flight attendants opposing the approval.

The Department of Transportation said it had little legal grounds to deny approval of the license. "Regardless of our appreciation of the public policy arguments raised by opponents, we have been advised that the law and our bilateral obligations leave us no avenue to reject this application," the agency said in a statement cited in the Wall Street Journal.

Norwegian said in a statement that it welcomes the news, which it said was "long overdue."

"This approval finally makes it possible for us to plan the Cork to the U.S. routes we, and many others, have been looking forward to. We also now look forward to our foreign carrier permit for Norwegian Air UK (NUK) being approved next," the airline said in the statement posted to its website.

“We would like to thank the many airports, airlines, industry and business groups, politicians and members of the public in Europe, the US, and Ireland in particular who have offered us their continued support over the last three years.

“While the delays Norwegian have faced have been unfortunate and unnecessary, ultimately the decision now made by the U.S. DOT finally paves the way for greater competition, more flights and more jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.

"Above all, it is a victory for millions of passengers who will benefit from more choice and lower fares. We now look forward to working on our plans for Norwegian's continued expansion in the US, delivering the flights, jobs and economic boost we always promised we would.”

But the move was blasted by several unions, including ALPA, which said in a statement that it is "extremely extremely disappointed by the Department of Transportation’s decision to run roughshod over the U.S. Open Skies agreement and allow Norwegian Air International to fly to and from the United States," said Capt. Tim Canoll, ALPA’s president (pictured). "This flawed action is a lasting legacy of the Obama administration and demonstrates an egregious lack of support for working men and women in this country. ALPA would never have supported this Air Transport Agreement if we had known how our government would apply it. Given this decision, why should anyone trust the U.S. government to enforce its own trade agreements?"

"This decision is an affront to fair competition and will ultimately result in the loss of U.S. jobs and, potentially, significant losses for the U.S. international aviation industry," continued Canoll. "ALPA is considering all options to reverse this action."

In spite of the fact that Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS), NAI’s parent company, centers its operations in Norway and currently enjoys the authority to operate to the U.S., NAS established its subsidiary NAI as an Irish carrier expressly to avoid Norway’s employment laws. NAI’s business plan indicates that it plans to use flight crews hired on Singapore and Thai employment contracts with compensation substantially below that of Norwegian’s Norway-based employees.

In June 2016, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Porcari, who oversaw the U.S.-EU negotiations for DOT, affirmed that the ATA labor provision known as Article 17 bis applies to NAI’s foreign air carrier permit application. This provision directs that the access created by the agreement is not intended to undermine labor standards.

NAI’s business plan has also generated an outpouring of concern from Congress. Bipartisan legislation (H.R. 5090) has been cosponsored by 175 members of Congress. The bill would have prevented NAI from operating in the United States under its current business model by ensuring that grants of operating authority to European airlines under the ATA be consistent with the intent of Article 17 bis of the ATA.

"We are pleased with U.S. President-Elect Donald J. Trump’s stand on trade, and we look forward to working with the next administration to safeguard U.S. jobs," said Capt. Canoll. "ALPA will take appropriate action to overturn this decision and block the NAI business model from spreading. While NAI is the first, it is not likely to be the last attempt to flout U.S. policy and labor standards to gain an unfair competitive advantage."

Similarly, flight attendant's union AFA called the approval a "double cross" on the part of the DOT, and that the decision fails to acknowledge the labor protections of the U.S.-EU Open Skies Agreement and sets a precedent that risks hundreds of thousands of U.S. aviation jobs.

“This decision must be reversed immediately by the Obama administration. It is a betrayal to hundreds of thousands of aviation workers. The DOT decision overrides carefully negotiated worker rights and designs a new playbook that rolls out the red carpet for foreign corporations by trampling workers’ rights," said AFA International President Sara Nelson (pictured) in a statement. "This decision puts a rubber stamp of approval on the ‘flag of convenience model’ that destroyed over a hundred thousand U.S. shipping jobs.

“The U.S.-EU Open Skies agreement contains the only labor provision in all 120 Open Skies agreements. Labor provisions in trade agreements apparently mean nothing to this administration.

“Aviation was born in the U.S. and built faithfully by the workers who make our airlines fly. Flight Attendants, Pilots, Mechanics, Ramp Service, Agents and thousands of workers who support aviation have fought hard for good U.S. jobs, the highest standards of aviation safety and security, the critical service to each of our small communities and the networks that allow the United States direct connection to the rest of the world. We have sacrificed and our families have been hurt to keep our airlines flying and our nation in business. These are the people the administration is double-crossing.

“Congress must be prepared to act next week. President Obama must reverse this harmful decision and stand up for working people all across the country. We will not accept this. We will act. We will never stop. We will never accept abrogation of our rights."

SWAPA described the move as short-sighted, and said the approval was done "under cover of darkness."

“By approving NAI’s application despite it being in direct violation of Article 17 bis of the EU-US Open Skies Agreement, the Obama Administration has unilaterally undermined every trade agreement the U.S. has ever signed – including the Open Skies agreements we have with more than 100 countries across the globe,” said SWAPA President, Captain Jon Weaks. “In the process, President Obama and Secretary Foxx have turned their backs on the tens of thousands of American workers employed in the aviation industry.”

(Source: news releases. Image from file)

FMI: www.norwegian.com, www.dot.gov, www.alpa.org, www.afa.org, www.swapa.org