THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20590 

The Honorable Roger Williams 

U.S. House ofRepresentatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

Dear Congressman Williams: 

April 04, 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 ofthis 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 
ROGER WILLIAMS 25TH DISTRICT , T EXAS 

C OMMmEE ON T HE B UDGET 

C OMMITTEE ON 

TRANSPORTATION AND 

INFRASTRUCTURE 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON RAILROADS, PiPELINES, 

AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 

SuBCOMMITTEE ON 

H IGHWAYS AND TRANSIT 

~ongress of tbe Wniteb ~tates 

J!,Jouse of il\epresentatibes 

'[mfasfJington, tiHlt 20515 

The Honorable Anthony Foxx 

Secretary 

U.S. Department ofTransportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

Dear Secretary Foxx: 

February 11,2014 

WASHINGTON OFFICE: 

1122 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING 

WASHINGTON, DC 20515 

TEL: (202) 225-9896 

FA><: (202) 225-9692 

DISTRICT OFFICES: 

1005 CONGRESS AVENUE, SUITE 925 

AUSTIN, TEXAS 78701 

TEL: (512) 473-8910 

FAX: (512) 473-8946 

1 WALNUT STREET, SUITE 145 

CLEBURNE, TEXAS 76033 

TEL: (817) 774-2575 

FAX: (B17) 774·2576 

williams.house.gov 

I write to express deep concern over the application before your Department by Norwegian Air 

International Limited (NAI) to operate into the U.S. as a foreign air carrier. Approval of this application 

would not be in the public interest. 

The NAI application proposes a global outsourcing business that will put U.S. airlines and their 

employees at a competitive disadvantage. Indeed, this airline bearing the name "Norwegian" describes 

itself in the application as "a foreign carrier of Ireland's" application provides little information about 

itself or its plans, but it appears to be in the same corporate farrtily with another carrier, a rapidly-growing 

low-cost airline, Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS). For one thing, the CEO ofNAI, named in the application 

as Asgeir Nyseth, is the Chief Operating Officer ofNAS. For another, NAI is seeking an operating license 

from Irish aviation authorities, a step that NAS previously signaled it would take. 

NAS has stated that to conduct its new long-haul operations it will seek to register its aircraft and receive 

an aii operator's certificate from a European Union country whose labor laws will allow outsourcing of 

aircrew beyond the EU. NAS/NAI has chosen Ireland and stated that it plans to operate this Irish 

subsidiary-registered aircraft to fly from Norway and other EU points to the United States. These flights 

will be operated by outsourced lower-wage aircrew, based in Southeast Asia, under individual 

employment contracts governed by Singapore law. It is clear that NAS intends to use NAI as its Irish 

affiliate to bring its plan to fruition. 

This business model is designed expressly to underrrtine fair wages and working conditions. It would also 

put U.S. carriers who have to compete against it at a competitive disadvantage. Finally, approval ofNAI's 

application for authority would be inconsistent with the Congressionally-established public interest as set 

forth in the aviation statutes and runs afoul of the current EU-U.S. Air Transport Agreement. 

I hope you will reject this misguided application and thank you for your consideration of this critical 

matter. 

s 10-140220-016 

oger William 

ember of Congress 

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