### THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON , D

. C

. 20590



### The Honorabl e Alcee L. 

### Hastin gs U.S. Hou s e of R epres e ntative s Washin g ton, D C 2051 5 De ar Co ngre ss ma n H as tings: Jun e 9 , 201-t

Thank y ou for y o ur lett e r regarding th e applic a ti o n of Norwe gian Air Int e rnational Limit e d (N AI) f o r auth o rit y to co ndu c t U
. S
. se rvi ces . Given that a number of intere s te d parti es h ave fil e d r es pon s ive pl e adings to NAT' s application and th is ma tter i s c urre ntl y p e nd in g b efo re th e Departm e nt , I a m s ur e you unders tand th at I canno t comment on th e merit s ofNAI 's app li c ation. I as s ur e you , howe ve r , that w e will g i ve full a nd c are ful con s id e rati o n to a ll o f th e pl ea din gs fil e d o n th e re c ord b e for e we rea c h a de tem1in ation in this ma tt e r. As i s o ur s tand ard prac ti ce, 1 a m pl ac in g a co p y o f yo ur le tt e r and m y re s po n s e in Doc k e t DOT-O S T-20 13- 0204 , as a cont ac t out s id e th e reco rd o f thi s ca se. You m ay tr ack the progress o f thi s c a s e and v iew th e publi c l y avail abl e do c um e nt s til e d in th e docket by acc ess ing th e F

e de ra l Docket Man age me nt Sys t e m at www. r eg ul ati o ns . gov and se archin g for D oc k et DOT-O S T-201 3- 0204. I hope thi s inf o rmation is he lpful. 

# ) /

# 1,(7~ / Anth o ny R. 

### P o xxALCEE L. HASTINGS 20T H C o uGRES SIOHAL DI STRICT FLOAlOA COMMITT EE ON RULES UNIT E D STATES HE L SINKI COMM I SS I ON RANKING DEMOCRATIC M E M BER FLORIDA D E LEGA T ION CO-CHAIRMAN SENIOR DEMOCRATIC WHIP 

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## ousc of 1ltcprcscutatiucs 11Dlasl1ington, 

# ilQt 20515 - 0H23

The Honorable Anthony Fo xx Secretary U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jer s e y Avenue SE Washington, DC 2 0590 Dear Secretary Foxx: May 15 ,20 14 PLEASE RESPOND TO : 0 2353 RAYB URU B UilDING
0 W ASHit i GTOU, DC 20515 -09 23 TELEPHOUE: (2021 225-1313

FAx : 12021 225- 1171 2701 W

. OAKLAND PA RK BOU LEVARD Sum 200 F T. L AUDE RDAL E, Fl33311 TELEPHONE: 1 9541 733-2800

FAx : 19 541 735 -944 4

www , alcoohastings. house gov

I write to express concern regardin g the application of Norwegian Air Intern ati o nal Limited (NAI) to the U.S. De partment of Tran s portation (DOT) for a foreign air carrier permit. In p a rti c ular , the compan y's bu s in ess m

o d e l undermin es b o th U. S
. a nd Norwegian la bor stand ard s , as we ll as put s U .S. a irline s at an unf a ir competitive disadvantage. NAI, owned by No rweg ian Air Shuttle (NAS) , is a Norweg ian a irlin e that holds a n air o pe rato r 's ce rtificate (AOC) from Ireland. Given that NAI does not operate flights to or from Ireland , it seems that NAS established NA I in Ireland in order to ci rc um ve nt the appli catio n of Norwegian l abo r J aws to NAI ' s fli g ht c r ew. For exa mple , NAI pil ots ar e individu a lly contracted thro ugh a Singaporean company , wh e re co mp e nsation i s s ub st a ntiall y le ss than that of their counterparts at NAS. In ad diti o n , w hile NAI's workforce arrangement for fli g ht attendants co ntinu es to evo l ve, it s d ec i s io n to hir e and ba se it s cabin c re wme mb e rs outside of Norway n ot o nl y shows a di sregard for collective bargaining obligations und er Norweg ian Ja w , but put s pressure o n U.S. flight atte nd a nt s . NAI c urrentl y operates co mm e rcial se rvi ces to the U.S. within the framework of th e U.S.-E.U. Air Transport Agreement , in ap parent co ntradi c ti o n w ith Article 1 7 bis , which s t at es, " th e op po rtunitie s created by the Agreement are not intended to und e rmin e lab o ur standard s or the labour-related ri g ht s a nd principles contained in the Parties' re spect ive Ja ws. " B efo re a final decision i s made regarding NA I ' s applica t i on for a f o re ig n air carrie r permit, I e nc ourage DOT to closely rev i ew NAI's filin gs, determine w hich labo r J aws w ill ap pl y to its flight crew , and consider the potential imp act o n the U.S. av iati o n indu stry as a whole
. Thank you for yo ur attent ion to is imp o rt a nt matte r.



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