### BEFORE THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C. Application of Docket No. OST-2013-0204 NORWEGIAN AIR INTERNATIONAL LI~nTED for an exemption under 49 

### U.S.c. § 40109 

### and a foreign air carrier permit pursuant to 49 U.S.CO § 41301 (U.S.-E.U. Open 

### Skies)
ANSWER OF THE ASSOCIATION OF FLIGHT ATTENDA 1 ~TS-CWA, AFL-CIO T O APPLICATION OF NORWEGIA 1 ~ AIR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED FOR AN

EXEMPTION AND FOREIGN AIR CARRIER PERMIT
The As s ociation of Flight Attendant s - CW A , AFL-CIO (AFA), rep resentin g nearly 60 , 000 Flight Attendants at 19 international, domestic, regional and charter 

## u.s. airlines s ubmit s the s e comme nt s i n oppo s ition to Norwegi an Air Shuttle ASA's (NAS) Ap p lication to the Department of Transportation ( DOT) to operate it s s ubsidiary, Norwegian Air International (NAI or Norwegian), between the United States and Europe under a foreign air carrier permit exemption. The proposed Application which i s mi s leading and contradi c tory to labor s tandard s s hould not be granted. AF A supports comment s s ubmitted by the Air Line Pilots A s sociation (ALPA) , the Tran s portation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) , Airlines for America ( A4A) , the Allied Pilots Association (APA) , and the Southwest Airline Pilots Association (SW APA ) as well a s the jo i nt reply of Delta Air Lines, Inc ., United Airlines , Inc. , and American Airlines , Inc./US 1Airways, Inc. Labor and management strongly agree that NAI is seeking to circumvent current

air s ervices agreements and that NAI service will degrade labor standards. A s the world's largest Flight Attendant union, AFA i s uniquely positioned to addres s conc e m s with NAI' s comments on cabin crew requirements and re gulations. In support of its application, NAI purports to be: (1) using hiring agents to minimize investment costs , (2) hiring and training cabin crew members who will be based in the U.S. and follow U.S. law, and (3) paying cabin crew members $ 37,497.16 and $34,384.75 , respectively , for Senior Cabin Crew and Junior Cabin Crew members. (Dkt. DOT-OST-2013-0204 at 2 (Application of Norwegian Air International Limited» . This Application is mi s leading and undermines the career path for U . S. Flight Attendants, and fails to adhere to the minimum labor standard s contained in Article 17 his of the U.S.
- EU agreement. In it s Application, NAI purport s to hire domestic crews and establish crew domiciles out s ide of Europe and enforce the labor laws of those countries. (Dkt. OOT-OST-2013-0204 at 2 ). However, in reality, all NAI U.S. cabin crew will be employees of a hiring company , OSM Aviation Inc. (OSM), and not NAI. C " OSM Aviation Management Cabin Crew [ Ilnformation [T]erms and [Clonditions" at 1-5) (Attached). Thus, flight crew members will not actually be employed by an airline. In s tead, cabin cre w hired by OSM wiJl be hired and governed by oneyear renewable contracts. C"OSM Aviation Management Cabin Crew [l]nformation [T]erms and [Cjonditions" at 1). This appears to be a scheme simply intended to keep pay low and re f u s e recognition for experience or longevity . The OSM incentives and pay at rates above the one year rate are merely speculative, s ince at this lime no U.S. based Flight Attendant employed by OSM has earned or be e n guaranteed any earnings beyond the fir s t year pay rates. A second is s ue with the NAI application's limited in f ormation is that NAI cannot o perate under U.S. law, as it states in its comments. (Dkt . DOT-OST-2013-0204 at 2)( " It is currently training cabin crew members who will be based in the United State s . under 

# u . s. law. " )(ItaJics added). Pursuant to federal law, U.S . Flight Attendant s mu s t be FAA certified. 49 U.S.c. § 44728. Flight 2Attendants employed by NAI through their hiring agent OSM are not certified to U.S. FAA

standards, and regardless cannot be certified because NAI will operate under the authority of the Republic of Ireland. Nicola Clark. New York Times, With 

# u.s. in Sights. Nonvegian Airline Wins Irish License February 12, 2014. Ireland is a Member State of the European Aviation Safety Agency Agreement ("EASA"), and NAI cabin crew should therefore be regulated under Irish authority. Therefore , it is AFA's understanding that the U.S. FAA will not be providing any guidance or oversight for cabin crew training or certification. This appears to be an attempt to circumvent the U.S . safety standards for cabin crew - a very slippery slope for U . S. aviation. The delegation's response is specifically vague and does not specify which Member State's authority will apply to NAI cabin crew. The first U.S. cabin crew members have already completed initial training. So, which Member State ' s Cabin Crew Attestation (CCA) was applied ? Did they obtain Norwegian or Irish CCA ? In it" response , the delegation' references establishment of crew domiciles outside of Europe and s pe c ifically mentions Thailand. (Dkt. DOT
- OST-2013-0204 at 2) ( " Currently, long-haul pilots are employed by Global Crew Asia (Singapore) and cabin crew member s are employed by Adecco (Thailand) " ). Questions compound: which cabin crew regulations apply to the cabin crew based in Thailand? All of these confusing references to different National Aviation Authorities should alert the U.S. DOT that even the applicant is either unclear or intentionally vague on certification and training standards. Without clearly stating which member state has the oversight authority how can one be certain the standards are to be applied and whether they are being met? This could ultimately reflect poorly on the cabin crew performance in an actual emergency event.

I Docket DOT
- OST
- 2013-0204 , Re s ponse 10 wri tten s ummary of the Januar y 8 , 2 ·· 14 U

. S.-EUAir Tran s

port Agr ee ment held in Washing ton DC 3A third is s ue with NAI's applic ation is th e ir mis represe ntatio n of g ro ss s alary o ff ered . Not abl y, the O S M pay r ates are lo w er than the pote nti al earni n gs o f the Fl ight Atte n d ant s w h o wo rk intern ati onal routes at U.S . carri er s . In re cently adopted EASA regul atio n s regardi n g f l ight times an d duty peri od limi ts , th e maximum number o f fli g ht hours per y ear th at a Flight Attendant c an f ly i s 900 hour s in a c alend ar y ear , or 1,000 ho ur s in any 12 con s ecuti v e cal e nd ar month s, w hich provides guidel i ne s for re futing the pay ass ertion s o f NAI. The salary calculati on s propo s ed in the written s tate me nt , (Dkt, DOT-OST-2013-0204 at 2 ) (Senior Cabin Crew $37 , 497.16 and Junior Cabin Crew $3 4 ,384.75 in " gro ss payments . ") are o v erstated. Ba s ed upon 1st year hourly pay o f $21.1 3 plu s purser pre mium o f $ 3.50 x 9 0 0 hours, th e Senior Cabin Cre w p ay would be c los er to comp ensation amounts to $22,167 i n a calendar y e ar or $2 4, 630 in a con se cuti v e 12 month p eriod ( 1 s t ye ar hour p ay rate in c lu di ng p ur s er pay at 1 , 000 hour s ) . Th e maximum that a "Juni or" OSM f light attendant co uld earn in a gi v e n c ale n d ar y ear would only amount to $ 21 , 113 ( hourl y rate $21.13 at 1,000 hour s p er year) far le ss than wh at NAI ha s c laime d. M o reo v er , to get eve n c l os e to th e s alary p ut f o rth i n NAI's comment s, it i s n e c ess ary to i n c lude a p e r die m for an 18 d ay trip at $ 2 . 00 per h o ur, whi c h equate s to a paltry $48 per d ay . Thi s obfu s cation is mis leadin g becau s e you can onl y i nclude the p e r di e m r ate if cabin cre w me mber s are actually utilized. Moreover , it is mi s leading when p e r diem pay i s i n cluded as p art o f gross sal ary. It is nec essary f or an airline to provide cabin crew with per diem payment s in order to offs et the often si g nificant expense of travelin g for work. But, this i s money that l arg e ly goes to s upporting cabin crew s' trip s - which i s a necessary p art of their job . H e n c e, it i s extraordinarily mi s l eading to attempt to include per diem pay under the au s pice s of "gro ss p ayment s." Furthermore , ac c ordin g to OSM , cabin c re w w i ll only be g u ar anteed 71 hours o f f li g ht time per mo nth (" OSM Aviati on Management C abin Crew [ l ] n f orm ati on [ Tjerms and [ Cj o ndi tion s' Yattac hed) . It fol l ow s, there fore , that any addition al comp e n sati on , whi c h w ould

4result in more equitable wage s, is not guaranteed and is purely speculative i n nature.

In comparison, most Flight Attendants employ e d by U . S. c arriers flying i nternational route s al s o receive international premium 

### pay and other incentiv e s such as higher pay for languag e qu ali f ication. If allowed to proceed, the NAIIOSM framewo rk could undermine our e fforts to maintain the international premium pay standard s for U.S. workers. Further, this European s tandard is below the U.S. s tandard , which currently has no limitation on the number of Hight hours a Flight Attendant can work in a year. NAI's Application is also in stark contra s t to Article 17 , bis of the U.S.-E. U . Air Transport Agreeme nt because it undermines labor standards enjoyed by U.S . Flight Attendants. Pursuant to the public interest factor th at the DOT is charged to uphold, the DOT Secretary must con s ider

" strengthening the competitive po s iti on of air carrier s to at lea s t en s ure equality with foreign air carri ers, including the attainment of the opportunity for air carriers to mai ntain and increa se their profitab i lity in foreign air transportation." 49U.S.C. 40101(15). Further, the U.S.-E.U. Air Transport Agreement prov i des that: 1. The opportunities cre ated by the Agreement are not intende d to undermine labour s tandards or the labour-related ri g hts and principles contained in the Parties' re s pectiv e law s . 2. The principles in paragraph 1 shal l guide the Parties as they implement th e Agreement. Article 17, bis ("Social Dimension"). Based solely on the incomplete information NAI s ubmitted, the wages propos e d are not competitiv e with the pay and benefits pro v ide d by U.S. airlines to U . S. cabin crew operating internationally. As a result, U.S. compani e s will s truggle to compete with a foreign carrier o f fering tickets that are nearly fifty percent cheaper than U.S. carriers on certain routes. lad Mouawad

, New York Times, Long-Haul Expansion bv a Non v egian Carrier Upsets U . S. Airline s,
5

### F

e bruary 6,2014. Flight Attendants, who are in most cases U.S. citizens, will certainly be forced to bear th e brunt of s uch foreign competition. This dynamic is contrary to the "social dimen s ion " provision o f the U.S.-E.U. Air Tran s port Agreement. In this case, NAI is putting forth a cla ss ic model of the " race to the bottom " practi c e , where the company with the lowe s t wages and b e nef i t s pros per s, whereas other companie s of fering fair wages and benefit s are harmed, especially in the ab s ence of s trong l abor laws mandating paid s ick and maternity leave , vac ation , health care and retirement b e ne f it s . S i nce thi s s cheme contravenes the "social dimension" agreement, and the U.S. and E.U . are required to b e guided by the " social dimen s ion" language, NAI mus t not be permitted to be e s tabli s hed i n the Uni ted States and render U . S . -based c ompanie s uncompetitive and cau s e Fl i ght Attendant s to s u f f er as a re s ult. If the NAl application i s grante d , we believe the Flight Attendant profes s ion will be compromi se d . We also be l ie v e the NAI model will inc e ntiv i z e other carrier s toward creati ng short
- term Flight Attendant job s rather than build f ulfilling careers as av iation' s fir s t re s ponders .

Stephen Sch e mb s Director of Government Affair s A ss ociation of Flight Attendants
- CW A 501 3rd Street NW , 10th Floor Wa s hington , DC 20001

6

### CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify that I have, on this 14th day of F ebruary, 2014, served the foregoing Answer of Association of Flight Attendants
- CWA to DOT Notice by caus i ng a copy to be sent by electronic mail to the addresses identified below: romanow @ pillsburylaw.com peter .nelsone s pillsburylaw.com edw@ttd.org steve.morrisseyenmited.com dan . weiss@united . com sascha.vanderbellensrdelta.com howard.kass@usairways.com robert. wirickcsaa.com francis.heil@aa.com michael. w hi taker @ faa.gov jesse.elliotsfaa.gov douglas.schwabsfaa.gov nichoias.tsokris@faa.gov john.allen@faa.gov urskr @ state.gov westphalkl@state.gov pvs @ eurocockpit.be leo@washingtonairports.com 

### russell.bailey@alpa.org john.hanlon@elfaa.com dbergeairlines.org jcaseyseairlines.org kgla tz @ airlines.org c lytle@portoakland.com kgeorge@broward.org mrichardson@swapa.org ejames@jamhoff.com eugene.aiford @ trade.gov matthew.baldwin@ec.europa.eu felix.leinemann @ eeas.europa.eu dav i d.batchelor@sesarju.eu ottar .ostnes@sd.dep.no paul.gretche s dot.gov robert.finamore ® dot.gov nssparks@fedex.com dpdeanejarnhoff.com vegard.einan @ parat.com thore .selstad.hal vorsoncsparat.com 

### ministererdttas.ie

### OSiVj Aviation Management 

## Cabin Crew information terms and conditions

Abo u t O SM Aviat

i on 

### Inc. OSM Aviation is a part of The OSM Group . The OSM Group is a provider of high quality offshore, ship and aircre w manageme nt services with operations worldwide. The Group of f ers a broad range of services, and has customers in all shipping, offshore and av iation segments. We aim to deliver the best v alue money can buy . OSM Group employs more than 10000 

### crew members . At OSM our people are our highest priority. W e place g reat emphasis on teamwork and on creating an environment in which our seagoing and aircrew staff fee l valued and a part of the company. We also strive to reflect our values and vision throughout the organization in order to provide the best possible serv i ce for our ciient s. By making ail our empioyees feel 

### p art of the OSM family, and by fully s upporting their continuing education, competence buildi ng and career development, we intend to attract the "new generation" of aircrew. Emp loyment con tr

ac t 

### The employment contract is 1 

### year non - binding and renewable. Pay s chedule 

### Flight Attendants ' monthly wages based on 71 

### hour s minimum : All currencies in USD



### ~ ear 

# I 1500 I [2f- = - ~n """ d< "; :' ; ; " 

### yea - "-r-
-- - + !
- =1: . . : c S - = -9- = - O
- - - - 1 i 3 rd 

### year

_ . 11685 i 4th 

### ear 1 7 87 ~ I !, 5 t h 

### year I 1965 

### In addition to the above rates o f pay, a Fl ight attendant shall be pai d the following f or each credited flight hour in excess of seventy one (71) 

### hours per month. 

## i 1s t 

### year 21,13

~ 

### Znd year 22,39



### . 2 J:dyear 23 , 74

, 4th vear , 2516

Pur sers 

### will receive USD 3 . 50 for each credited flight hour in additi on to the above 

### rates. 1

## OSM Aviation Management Cabin Crew information terms and conditions Holidays Work during Holidays will be compensated with USD 5 pr Duty Hour during the following days: January 1- New Years Day May
- Memorial Day September
- Labor Day 

### No vember
- Thanksgiving Day D ecember 25
- Christmas Day Pea -diem 

### Per diem rates are USD 2 per hour away from homebase starting at Block off until Block on Insurances Health insurance
- OSM will pay 50% of premium towards health insurance Disability insurance Probation Six months
- begins from the first day of training. Notice period during probation is one week. Notice period after probation is 14 days. Scheduling/Roster All crewscheduling will be regulated by Norwegian's Operational Manual which is based on EASA regulations. .; : 

### f ' )i Annual/eave After 1 year of employment each Crew Member is entitled to 10 days of paid vacation per year. The Crew Member accrues 10 

### vacation days per 12 months . Vacation will be allocated subjectto Norwegian's fostering system and vacation periods. Training Training will commence on November 18. Uniforms and Identification: All uniforms/regalia and ID cards will be provided for each crew member by Norwegian. OSM Aviation Inc. will assist with ordering and facilitating uniforms and ID cards. 2

### OSM Aviation Management Cabin Crew inforrnati or 

## terms and conditions Travel Benefits: Norwegian shall make ID travel benefits available to the Crew M e mb er and hi s/her qualifying famil y member s, inc ludi n g ID tr avel, acc o rdi ng to th e c urrent Norw eg i an polic i es . Ground Transportation: D uring Line Training and operational duty, Norwegian shall provide ground transportation to the Crew Members at layover stations. Ac commodation at layover stations: Norwegian shall provide single room accommodation at layover stations other than Base. Medical Facilities: 

### N orwegian shall make its best effort to assist in the provision of contact with medical f acilities should the need arise .

3AVfATJOf'! 

### OSM Aviation Management Cabin Crew information terms and conditions

NORWAY Of f icially the Kingdom of Norway , is a Scandinavian unitary con s ti tutional monarchy w hose territo ry comprise s the wes tern portion o f th e Scandin avian Pe ni ns ul a , [an Mayen, the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of 385 , 252 square kilometers (140 , 747 sq. mi) and a population of about 5 mi llion . It i s the second le a st dense ly populated country i n Europe. Th e country s hares a long e astern border w i th S weden (1,61 9 km or 1 , 00 6 mi l ong) , which is th e l ong e st uninterrupted border within both Europe and the Schengen Area. Norway is bordered b y Finland and Russia to the north-east, and the Skager ak Strait to the south. with De nm ark o n th e oth er side. It sh ares maritime border s with Ru ss i a b y th e B are nts S ea; Greenland , the Faroe Islands , and I c eland by the Norweg i an S e a ; and Sw e de n , Denm ark, and the Uni ted Kingdom by the North S e a. Norway 's exte nsiv e coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea, is laced w i th fjords, a reno w ned part of its land s cap e. Th e capita! c i ty O s lo i s the larg e st in the n ation, w ith a pop u lation of n earl y 1 millio n . In 1949, it abandoned n eutrality becomi ng a f ounding member of NATO . Di s covery of oil and g as in adj ac e nt water s in th e late 1 96 0 s b oo ste d No rw ay 's ec onomi c fortu n e s. In refere nda h e ld in 1972 and 1994, Norway rejected joining the European Union. Ki ng Harald V i s Norw ay ' s h e ad o f s tate and Ern a Solb erg i s the prime minis ter a s of the middle of Octob er 201 3 , rep l acin g [ e ns S toltenberg. i t h a s adminis trativ e subdi vis io ns o n two levels known as counti e s (fylke) and municipaliti es (kommuner). The Sami p eople have a certain amount of self
- determination and influence over traditional territori e s through the Sami Parliament and th e Finnmark Act. Although hav i ng re j e cte d Europe an Union membership in two re fere nda, Norw ay maintains clo s e ties with th e union and it s member countrie s, as we l! as with th e Unite d St ate s . No rway i s a fo u ndi ng memb er of th e United Nations, NATO, the Council of Euro p e , and the Nordic Council ; a member of the European Economic Area, the WTO and the OEeD; and is also a part of the Schengen Area . N o rw ay ha s extensive re serves of p etroleum , natural ga s, mi n er al s , lu mb er , seafo o d , f re sh w ater , and hy dropower . The c ountry h as th e f o urth -hi g h e st per capita in c ome i n the world. On a per-capita basis , it is the world's large s t producer of oil and natural gas outside the Middle East, and th e petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the c ountry's gro ss domestic pro duct The c ountry maintains a welfare model w i th uni v ersal h ealth care, subsi di z e d hig h er e du c atio n. an d a c omprehe nsive so cial se c urity system . From 2001 to 2 006, and then ag ain from 2009 to 2012, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. From 2010 to 2012, Norway also topped the L egatum Pro s perity Inde x. Al s o from 2010 to 2012 , Norw ay had the highe s t ranking on the D emocracy Index. The O ECD r ank s No rw ay third i n s ocial mobi lity and fo urth o n th e 2 01 3 Better Life Index Forbe s rank Norway fourth in th e ir list The World 's riche s t 

### countries, whi c h compare s countri es b y GDP. Norway wa s the first independent c ountry to introduce women's suffrage in 1913. 44VfATl(JN (\S \! Ii' \li 

### ation [> . /" I' . ..•. J(\!~, ~'n t

.. I ., 1 . H .. 1 , . . . J h.~ I CtJ'J

_ , .lll . ~ ~; 

### Cabin Crew information terms and cnnditions 

## I Capital 

# I Osl o ~ . 

# l National Day 

## ! 17 th o f M ay , 

### ! Royal Family 

# I King Harald , Queen Sonja, Crownprince Haakon, Crownprincess M ette 

## I 

# ! Mari t 

# - l I Prime ~ I 

### Minister Erna Solberg 

# I i Political . N

o rway is a constitutional monarchy with a parliament ary demo c r ati c 

# i I I . . 

### stem ' s ste m of overnance. . ! . . 

### :~;9i~ ~ . _. 

# I ~~:;;~~h( e :a~~~~tio ~~~~ n g s to~ ~e st ate EVangel . ~ al ~~

_theran 

## r Time 

# i UTe + Lh r - Day light Sav i ng s Time U Te + 2 hcs



### . International i

~ ~1Iing code 

# I +47 

### ! Currency 

# -- l Norwegian Krone
- N

_O

_K . _ i Climate i Summer i 

### I i I Late June to early Augu s t is when the weather i s w arme s t and the day s 

# I are long and bright. T e mperatures in July and August can re ach 25 ° C
- 

## 1 30 o e. At the same time there i s hardl y any humidity i n th e air. 

# I Autumn 

# I In the autumn the land s cape is painte d in golden colors . Th e 

# I te mperature drops slow l y through S eptember, making for g ood berry 

# I and mushroom p i cking weather. 

# I Winter 

# I In winter much o f Norway i s usually tran s formed into a sno w -cl ad 

# i p ar adi se . i 

# I The low er inland areas, both in the s outh ern and northern parts of I No rway, can have very low me an temp eratures in winter. 

# I T e mperatures c an re ach beiow

- 4 0 c C in the i nn er area s o f Finnmark, I Troms, Trendelag and Eastern Norway. even if this do e s not happen 

## I every wi nter. I I 

# I Spring l 

# I May to mid-lune is when the sc e nery in Norw ay is at its most s p e ctacular , with trees and flowers wakin g to lif e, snow in the I I mountains and melt water sw e ll i ng the waterf alls. Orch ards of flowering fruit trees along the Hardangerfjord in May are i mages of

. p ar adi se. i Language

. ! Nonw:gian 

### -il·1ost peC ? ple are able to iead, Wille am! speak English 

### 5