Allied Pilots Association urges support for bill addressing Norwegian Air International service

FORT WORTH, TX – The Allied Pilots Association, certified collective bargaining agent for the 15,000 pilots of American Airlines, urged support for newly introduced HR 5090.

FORT WORTH, TX – The Allied Pilots Association, certified collective bargaining agent for the 15,000 pilots of American Airlines, urged support for newly introduced HR 5090.

If enacted, the bipartisan legislation would direct the Secretary of Transportation to refrain from issuing a foreign air carrier permit to Norwegian Air International absent certain conditions. The Department of Transportation announced on April 15 that it had granted tentative approval to Norwegian Air Internationalโ€™s permit application.


The DOT decision is now open for public comment before the department makes a final decision. If the DOT decision stands, Norwegian Air International would be able to fly to and from the United States in direct competition with U.S. carriers on long-haul international routes.

โ€œWe applaud Representatives Peter DeFazio, Frank LoBiondo, Rick Larsen and Lynn Westmoreland for sponsoring H.R.5090. By doing so, theyโ€™ve stood up for fair competition and drawn the line against labor forum shopping,โ€ said APA President Capt. Keith Wilson. โ€œNorwegian Air International โ€” an Irish subsidiary that wonโ€™t serve Ireland and hires most of its crews in Thailand through a Singapore-based recruitment firm โ€” is a blatant flag-of-convenience scheme, pure and simple.

โ€œAPA urges lawmakers to support this bill and do what must be done to preserve open markets and fair play among airlines that fly trans-Atlantic routes.โ€

H.R.5090 emphasizes the need to comply with the intent of Article 17 bis of the United States-European Union-Norway-Iceland Air Transport Agreement, which stipulates that โ€œopportunities created by the Agreement are not intended to undermine labour standards or the labour-related rights and principles contained in the Partiesโ€™ respective lawsโ€ and that โ€œthese principlesโ€ฆshall guide the Parties as they implement the Agreement.โ€

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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