Release #: 14.42
June 02, 2014

ALPA Commends GOP Lawmakers’ Call for DOT to Deny NAI

More than 115 Bipartisan Members of Congress Concerned or Opposed

WASHINGTON––The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), hails 33 republican lawmakers who recently called on Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to reject Norwegian Air International’s (NAI) foreign air carrier permit application.

“U.S. airline pilots salute Rep. Chris Collins, and all these republican lawmakers, for taking this stand to safeguard a fair marketplace for U.S. airlines to compete,” said Capt. Lee Moak, ALPA’s president.

Led by Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), the May 29 letter regarding NAI’s foreign air carrier permit application expressed lawmakers’ “deep concern that this will create a competitive disadvantage for domestic airlines.” The GOP leaders called on Secretary Foxx to “reject this misguided application.”

NAI seeks to operate its long-haul flights as an Irish airline expressly to avoid Norway’s employment laws. NAI’s scheme is to “rent” its pilots through a Singapore employment company and base them in Thailand with wages and benefits substantially below those of the Norway-based pilots who fly for NAI’s parent company.

In total, more than 115 bipartisan members of Congress have expressed serious concern or outright opposition to NAI’s scheme. Last week, more than 100 U.S. airline pilots from across the United States attended ALPA’s second annual Legislative Summit to call on the U.S. government to restore a fair marketplace and deny NAI’s application.

Earlier this month, ALPA launched the Save Our Skies campaign to mobilize the American public to support U.S. airline jobs by opposing actions that are harmful to the industry. More than 30,000 people have signed a petition calling on Secretary Foxx to reject NAI’s application.

In addition, ALPA recently released Leveling the Playing Field for U.S. Airlines and Their Employees 3.0: Survival Mode, a new white paper describing how U.S. government leaders must act from an international, consumer, and one-level-of-safety-and-security perspective to ensure U.S. airlines have a fair opportunity in the marketplace.

“This letter clearly signals that congressional opposition to Norwegian Air International’s scheme is not only profound, it’s intensifying rapidly,” concluded Capt. Moak. “We urge the DOT to heed the escalating objection from lawmakers, the airline industry, airline workers, and passengers and deny NAI’s application.”

-###-