### 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 yo u for your letter re ga rding the appl icati on ofNorwegian Air International Limited (NAI) for authority to conduct U.S. services. Given that a number of intereste d parties have filed responsive pleadings to NAI's application and thi s matter is currently pending befo re the Department, I am sure you understand that I cannot comment on the merits ofNAI's app lication. I assure you, however, that we wi ll give fu ll and careful consideration to a ll of the pleadings filed on the record before we reach a determination in this matter. As is our s tandard practice, I am pl ac in g a copy of yo ur letter and my response in Docket DOT-OST-2013-0204 , as a co ntact outside the record of this case. You may track the progress of this case and v iew the publicly avai lable documents filed in the docket by acce s sing the Federal Docket Management System at www.regulation s.gov and searching for Docket DOT-OST- 2013-0204. I hope this information is helpful. Sincerely ,

Anthony R. FoxxCOMMIITE E ON E DUCATION AND THE WORKFORCF .>URCO.\IMITIII S EARLY CIHWIIOOJ>. Elf..\11 N"IARY, Al'll SECONll.\RY [OUCA llON 

### FREDERICA 

## S. WILSON C ON GRESS O F T HE U N I T E D S TAT ES 24TH DISTRICT, FlORIDA Cow. u r r EE ON SC I ENCE, SPACE, AND T EC H NOLOGY**SL!iiUl~IMITIH .'i** **~\.\;KINt, MU.tnl** **~-** T RIINOLOGY SI'A(J (f um**11. ~\IPI**  OYMEI'-'T, l .ABOH. AN I > f' FJ'I.\IllNS



### The Honorable Anthony Foxx Secretary U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE Washington , D.C. 20590 

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# . 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) s hould 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 law s 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 i s sues regarding the U
. S.-European Union Air Tran sport 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 action s 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 reason s I am concerned that approval of NAI' s application would be incon sis tent with Congres sionally-established public interes t standards and the U.S.

-Europ e an Union Air

WA!>IIINGTON. DC OI+ I C I 208 C1NNON H OUS I: OF II< T HU ll DII"C WA\ 1 11:-IGION, D.C. 20515 (202) 225-4 506 

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

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PUBLIC DOCUMENT OFFICIAL BUSINESS

S ec r e tary Antho ny Fox x U.S. Departme nt o f Tran sportatio n 1200 New Jers ey Ave nu e S E

Wa shing t o n , D .C. 2059 0