May 2, 2014 Secretary Anthony Foxx Office of the Secretary U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey

Avenue, SE Washington, D.C. 20590 Dear Mr. Secretary

Foxx,
I am writing to you in response to the Norwegian Air International application and in regards to the numerous communications that have been placed in the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) docket number OST

- 2013

- 0204. As a citizen of the United States Ifeel it necessary to respond about the matter at hand.
Recentl y, AL PA and other unions have expressed their concern about Norwegian Air International and their application through the open skies agreement. Recently , Norwegian halted talks with Boeing in regards to an order of Dreamliner’s’. AL PA is stating that this is a “coercion ploy ” b y Norwegian in order to gain approval for their permit. I t is m y concern that AL PA’s concern has not merit. Why would a company

place an order for a product that they might not be able to use?
The Unions have stated public ly that No rwegian is undercutting labor laws by utilizing cheap labor, the Thai crews. However they fail to mention that Norwegian has hired Scandinavian and US crews at competitive wages and that these crews have been working the flights between the US and Scandina via. Unfortunatel y the delay in the permit is threatening the US jobs as well as Scandinavian jobs. This week also the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) wrote a letter urging the denial of the application stating that it would undermine the thousands of Flights Attendants that would be employ ed by the “New” American Airlines pending the finalization of the merger between American Airlines and US Airway s. Itis hard to believe that Norwegians expansion plans would undermine them. As a fli ght attendant my self, working for 14 years in different carriers like Delta and American A irlines to name a few, the compensation packages offered to the Cabin Crews by Norwegian far excels those offered b y s ome US carriers. The starting wages for the US C abin Crew members is far better than that of a starting Flight Attendant at a US carrier , $3.61 more at Norwegian to name. The unions have been comparing the starting pay of Norwegian with those of Flight Attendants who have been fl ying for 15+ ye ars.
APF A has also stated that the “New” American is try ing to stay competitive against other foreign carriers. However, how are they not being competitive when they have alliances where they sell seats in each other’s flights, thus still creating profit between themselves.In addition Norwegian has been creating jobs in an econom y where it has been

getting harder and harder to find a job. As of now they have created over 300 jobs for cabin crew position alone in the US without counting the pilot jobs that they are creating. If the application is denied now all those people who finally found a job will be unemploy ed and for some this is their only source of income and insurance. The fact is that they

are scared of the competition that Norwegian will bring in a
m arket that has been dominated for ye ars b y the major carriers. Now with the mergers happening ticket prices have been sky rocketing and Norwegian is offering prices at much lower costs thus providing affordable travel to those who would never had though of being able to travel to Europe and who could not afford the tickets. However if Norwegian’s application whether approved or not, what is going to stop other carriers like Ry an Air who have alread y showed interest in transatlantic travel, from starting serv ice?
It is m y belief that AL PA and APFA do not know wha t they are fighting for any more, as they

have been providing information without merit to each other. Their arguments should not hold merit in the decision of the DOT for Norwegians application. I
u rge you Secretary Foxx to approve Norwegian’s application. If the company has fulfilled all the requirements for the permit the n it should be granted without any further delay . This delay

is not just affecting now The US Cabin Crewmembers for Norwegian but also the fly ing public who are looking forward to their dream vacations.
Sincerel y, E.S.A