DALLAS, TX – The Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA) commends the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) for denying Norwegian Air International (NAI) a temporary foreign air carrier operating authorization. NAI is a subsidiary of Norwegian Air which is located in Norway. NAI has sought to operate service to the U.S. as an Irish airline where it has no operating flights or history of operations.

“The denial of a temporary operating authorization is applauded by the pilots of Southwest Airlines,” said SWAPA Governmental Affairs Chair Captain Paul Jackson. “We agree with Secretary Foxx’s assertion that the application of Norwegian Air International is not in the public interest.”

This denial is only for the temporary application and is not a denial of the full application approval for a foreign carrier exemption with the DOT by NAI. The pilots of Southwest Airlines have opposed the application of NAI from early in the process due to the company’s “flag of convenience” strategy that locates the airline away from their home country of Norway. The NAI application for a foreign carrier operating authorization has been on file with the DOT since early this year. It is opposed by airline employees and management across the U.S. and the EU.

“We encourage Norwegian to join the marketplace under the labor laws and rules of their home country and not seek a scheme to avoid them,” Captain Jackson continued. “We strongly believe that our product and the work of our industry can stand up to any competitor if they play by the rules in place and do not seek to lower costs at any price.”