THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20590 

The Honorable Frederica S. Wilson 

U.S. House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

Dear Congresswoman Wilson: 

June 20, 2014 

Thank you for your letter regarding the application ofNorwegian Air International Limited 

(NAI) for authority to conduct U.S. services. 

Given that a number of interested parties have filed responsive pleadings to NAI's application 

and this matter is currently pending before the Department, I am sure you understand that I 

cannot comment on the merits ofNAI's application. I assure you, however, that we will give full 

and careful consideration to all of the pleadings filed on the record before we reach a 

determination in this matter. 

As is our standard practice, I am placing a copy of your letter and my response in Docket 

DOT -OST -2013-0204, as a contact outside the record of this case. You may track the progress 

of this case and view the publicly available documents filed in the docket by accessing the 

Federal Docket Management System at www.regulations.gov and searching for Docket 

DOT -OST-2013-0204. 

I hope this information is helpful. 

Sincerely, 

Anthony R. Foxx 
COMMIITEE ON 

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FREDERICA S. WILSON 

C ONGRESS OF T HE U NIT ED STATES 

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The Honorable Anthony Foxx 

Secretary 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

* 

. 

- . 

May 19,2014 

Re: Norwegian Air International Limited, Docket DOT-OST-2013-0204 

Dear Secretary Foxx: 

I write to express my concern regarding the application of Norwegian Air International Limited 

(NAI) for a foreign air carrier permit. As you are aware, this permit would allow NAIto conduct 

commercial flights to and from the United States. I believe there are numerous issues that the 

Department of Transportation (DOT) should consider during NAI' s permit application process. 

NAI holds an Air Carrier Certificate from Ireland, but is a subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle 

(NAS), a Norwegian airline. NAS appears to have certified NAl in Ireland in order to avoid the 

application of Norwegian labor laws to NAI's flight crews. Instead, NAI flight crews are 

employed by a Singapore company, governed by lenient Singapore labor law, and as a result cost 

NAI less to employ. 

This appears to raise issues regarding the U.S.-European Union Air Transport Agreement, which 

states that "the opportunities created by the Agreement are not intended to undermine labour 

standards or the labour-related rights and principles contained in the Parties' respective laws." 

NAI's arrangement appears to undermine fair wages and working conditions, and also puts U.S. 

carriers at a competitive disadvantage. The arrangement is raising concerns with several U.S. 

caniers, the Airline Pilots Association, and Airlines for America, among others. They believe 

NAI's actions are also inconsistent with a key objective of the DOT's public interest standard to 

make "the competitive position of [U.S.] air carriers to at least ensure equality with foreign air 

carriers" (49 U.S.C. §§ 40101(a)(l5) and (e)(l)). 

For these reasons I am concerned that approval of NAI's application would be inconsistent with 

Congressionally-established public interest standards and the U.S.-European Union Air 

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Transport Agreement. I therefore ask you to carefully weigh these issues as you review NAI's 

application for a foreign air carrier permit. Thank you for your consideration of my request. 

Please keep me apprised of any developments with NAI's application, and feel free to contact me 

if you have any questions. 

Member of Congress 

s 10-140528-048 
U.S. HOUSE 0 1 

WASHINGTC 

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PUBLIC DOCUMENT 

OFFICIAL BUSINESS 

Secretary Anthony Foxx 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE 

Washington, D.C. 20590