August 26, 2014 

The Honorable Anthony R. F oxx 

Secretary · 

Department of Transportation · 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

. t, 

RE: Norwegian Air International- Docket No. OST-2013-0204 

. ' 

Dear Secretary Foxx: 

As pilots working for Norwegian Air International and its 

affiliates, we are writing in support of Norwegian Air 

International's (NAI) exemption and foreign air carrier permit 

applications currently pending before the U.S. Department of 

Transportation. We urge the Department to grant NAI's 

applications without further delay to allow us to bring this 

exciting new service to U.S. markets. 

As pilots for Norwegian, we can assure you that the allegations 

made by pilots unions and others calling into question 

Norwegian's labor practices and safety records ·have no basis in 

fact or reality. 

First, our salaries are competitive with our peers around the 

globe. As you know, operating a 787 Dreamliner requires 

thousands of hours of pilot experience, and our experience is 

very much in demand around the world. This competitive 

advantage for pilots redounds no matter where we are based. 

Indeed, pilots based in Asia and Europe with our levels of 

experience, often make far more than their unionized pilots in 

the U.S. 

Second, our working conditions are good. We have the 

flexibility to fly schedules convenient to us. We enjoy 

competitive working conditions wherever we are based, which 

are subject to local employment laws and labor standards. 

Indeed, in the U.S. our pilots have the right to unionize just like 

pilots in other bases across the world, subject to local and 
country laws in effect. 

Third, we are fully licensed and qualified pilots. NAI's pilots 

are subject to the oversight and licensing requirements of Ireland 

- one of the most robust aviation safety oversight organizations 

in the world. The company fully complies with European safety 

standards (EASA) and all its crews are trained according.to EU 

standards and the company's own additional training programs. 

We have well-trained and experienced pilots on long-haul with 

several thousand flight hours from major airlines all over the 

world. 

Fourth, to suggest that any of us would compromise safety 

simply because of our employment arrangements and risk our 

lives or those of our passengers, or risk our licenses offends us 

personally and professionally. Not to mention that to suggest a 

lesser level of safety based on our particular employment 

arrangement would fly in the face of establish norms under the 

Chicago Convention and the U.S-EU Open Skies Agreement. 

This criticism does not only hit the company, but also all of us, 

who every day have our passengers' and co-workers' safety as 

our main priority. We, pilots hired by Norwegian, would 

strongly urge DOT to renounce the misleading information 

about our operations and the false claims about our safety 

standards. 

We are among a growing cadre of pilots (including Americans} 

working for Norwegian and are anxiously awaiting the launch of 

NAI's transatlantic service. Our work environment is positive, 

cooperative and energetic. We appreciate the opportunity to 

work in the state-of-the-art Boeing 787 aircraft with its many 

outstanding features, making the overall flying experience 

extremely pleasant for both customers and crew. 

We urge the U.S. Department of Transportation to swiftly 

approve NAI's exemption and foreign air carrier permit 

applications. Let us continue to fly- in accordance with the 

Open Skies regime. 

Sincerely, 

Name ::r~AtJ ·C~~<;ICJ~~ ~r&JFTP~- 'rl~'L 

CPT ~ 1 <g 1 KJAT