BEFORE THE 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

__________________________________________ 

 ) 

Application of ) 

 ) 

DREAMJET SAS ) 

 ) Docket No. OST-2014-0063 

 ) 

for an exemption pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 ) 

and a foreign air carrier permit pursuant to ) 

49 U.S.C. § 41301 (US-EU Open Skies) ) 

__________________________________________) 

REPLY OF AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION (ALPA), 

TRANSPORTATION TRADES DEPARTMENT, AFL-CIO (TTD) 

AND EUROPEAN COCKPIT ASSOCIATION (ECA) TO 

ANSWER OF NORWEGIAN AIR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED 

 Communications with respect to this document should be addressed to: 

Edward Wytkind, President 

Transportation Trades Department, 

 AFL-CIO 

815 – 16th Street NW 

Washington, DC 20006 

Phone: 202-628-9262 

Fax: 202-628-0391 

Email: edw@ttd.org

May 9, 2014 

Russell Bailey 

David Semanchik 

Air Line Pilots Association 

1625 Massachusetts Avenue NW 

Washington, DC 20036 

Phone: 202-797-4086 

Fax: 202-797-4014 

Email: Russell.Bailey@alpa.org

Email: David.Semanchik@alpa.org 

 

Counsel for Air Line Pilots Association 

Philip Von Schöppenthau, Secretary General 

European Cockpit Association 

Rue du Commerce 20-22 

B-1000 Brussels 

Belgium 

Phone: 32-2-705-3293 

Fax: 32-2-705-0877 

Email: pvs@eurocockpit.be
BEFORE THE 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

__________________________________________ 

 ) 

Application of ) 

 ) 

DREAMJET SAS ) 

 ) Docket No. OST-2014-0063 

 ) 

for an exemption pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 ) 

and a foreign air carrier permit pursuant to ) 

49 U.S.C. § 41301 (US-EU Open Skies) ) 

__________________________________________) 

REPLY OF AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION (ALPA), 

TRANSPORTATION TRADES DEPARTMENT, AFL-CIO (TTD) 

AND EUROPEAN COCKPIT ASSOCIATION (ECA) TO 

ANSWER OF NORWEGIAN AIR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED 

ALPA, TTD and ECA (“Joint Parties”) hereby reply to the Answer of Norwegian Air 

International (“NAI”) in support of the application of Dreamjet SAS (“Dreamjet”). 

 NAI first states that it “fully supports the prompt grant” of Dreamjet’s applications for an 

air carrier permit and exemption in accordance with the provisions of the U.S.-European Union 

Air Transport Agreement (“ATA”) and the Application Procedures for Foreign Air Carriers of 

the European Union. NAI then argues that it, too, is entitled to a prompt grant of its own permit 

request that is subject to consideration in Docket No. 2013-0204. While the Joint Parties do not 

oppose the prompt grant of Dreamjet’s requested authority, we believe that NAI’s 

application raises materially different and more complex issues than those posed in this 

proceeding and thus warrants a more comprehensive review by DOT. 

 

DISCUSSION 

 

NAI asserts that applications “similar” to its own have been granted in an average of one 

month after the answer period expires and that five months have elapsed since its application has 
2 

been filed. NAI then argues that since the adoption of the ATA, that it “is the only EU carrier to 

be subjected to such unprecedented scrutiny and delay” and that “no basis exists for the 

Department to subject any EU carrier that complies with the requirements under the [ATA] and 

the Department’s streamlined procedures to the types of unprecedented delays” that NAI has 

experienced. 

The short answer to NAI’s assertions is that the reason its application has been subjected 

to “unprecedented scrutiny and delay” is that the issues presented by that application are 

unprecedented and that, because of the nature of these issues, a number of airlines and employee 

organizations on both sides of the Atlantic have opposed that application. 

 In particular, a substantial record has been developed in connection with NAI’s 

application that demonstrates that approval of that application would be inconsistent with the 

ATA and the public interest. That record shows that NAI’s parent company, Norwegian Air 

Shuttle (“NAS”), did not wish to have Norwegian employment laws apply to its long-haul 

operations and, accordingly, sought to establish a subsidiary (i.e., NAI) outside of Norway to 

conduct those operations. Ultimately, it decided to establish the subsidiary in Ireland, which has 

granted NAI an Air Operator Certificate. The record also shows that this establishment of NAI 

in Ireland appears to allow NAI to use pilots who are contracted from an Asian hiring company 

that employs them on short-term individual contracts on terms and conditions substantially 

inferior to those of the pilots employed by NAS. The opponents to NAI’s application argue that 

this use of an opportunity created by the ATA in a manner that undermines the labor standards 

and principles contained in the laws of Norway -- and potentially those of the U.S. -- means that 

grant of NAI’s application would be inconsistent with the ATA and the public interest as 

expressed in the U.S. aviation statutes. 
3 

 

In short, NAI’s application is a far cry from that presented to the Department by Dreamjet 

and by the many other unopposed applications that have been presented to the Department by 

European carriers following implementation of the ATA.1

 It is appropriate that DOT carefully 

consider the record that has been developed in connection with NAI’s application and it may be 

appropriate for the Department to further develop that record by seeking additional information 

on why NAI was established outside of Norway and which laws apply to the various aspects of 

the employment of the flight crew who work on NAI’s aircraft. 

 

CONCLUSION 

 

For the foregoing reasons, the Department should decide the application of Dreamjet in 

this docket on a time table appropriate for consideration of its merits and the application of NAI 

in Docket No. 2013-0204 on a time table appropriate for consideration of its own 

separate merits. 

Respectfully submitted, 

[signatures on following page] 

 

 

1 See Consolidated Reply of NAI at 6 n.15 (Docket No. 2013-0204, entered Jan. 2, 2014) and 

Joint Reply of ALPA, TTD and ECA to Reply of NAI at 10-11 (Docket No. 2013-0204, entered 

Jan. 8, 2014). 
4 

______________________________ 

/s/ Edward Wytkind 

Edward Wytkind, President 

Transportation Trades Department, 

 AFL-CIO 

815 – 16th Street NW 

Washington, DC 20006 

Phone: 202-628-9262 

Fax: 202-628-0391 

Email: edw@ttd.org 

Russell Bailey 

David Semanchik 

Air Line Pilots Association 

1625 Massachusetts Avenue NW 

Washington, DC 20036 

Phone: 202-797-4086 

Fax: 202-797-4014 

Email: Russell.Bailey@alpa.org 

Email: David.Semanchik@alpa.org 

Counsel for Air Line Pilots Association 

May 9, 2014 

/s/ Philip Von Schöppenthau 

Philip Von Schöppenthau, 

 Secretary General 

European Cockpit Association 

Rue du Commerce 20-22 

B-1000 Brussels 

Belgium 

Phone: 32-2-705-3293 

Fax: 32-2-705-0877 

Email: pvs@eurocockpit.be 
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

The undersigned certifies that on May 9, 2014, a true and correct copy of the 

foregoing Reply of Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), Transportation Trades 

Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) and European Cockpit Association (ECA) to Answer of 

Norwegian Air International Limited was served by electronic mail on the individuals 

identified below: 

Josh Romanow 

Peter Nelson 

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw 

Counsel for Norwegian Air 

romanow@pillsburylaw.com 

peter.nelson@pillsburylaw.com 

Steve Morrissey 

Dan Weiss 

United Airlines 

steve.morrissey@united.com 

dan.weiss@united.com 

Sascha Vanderbellen 

Chris Walker 

Delta Airlines 

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com 

chris.walker@delta.com 

Malcolm L. Benge 

Counsel for North American 

mlbenge@zsrlaw.com 

Russell E. Pommer 

Atlas Air Inc. 

rpommer@atlasair.com 

Robert Wirick 

Howard Kass 

American Airlines, Inc. 

robert.wirick@aa.com 

howard.kass@aa.com 

Nick Tsokris 

Harvey Siegel 

FAA New York IFU 

nicholas.tsokris@faa.gov 

Havey.siegel@faa.gov 

Anita Mosner 

Jennifer Nowak 

Counsel for UPS 

Holland & Knight 

anita.mosner@hklaw.com 

jennifer.nowak@hklaw.com 

Nancy S. Sparks 

Bailey Leopard 

Federal Express Corporation 

nssparks@fedex.com 

gbleopard@fedex.com 

Krishna Urs 

Department of State 

urskr@state.gov 

Eugene Alford 

Department of Commerce 

eugene.alford@trade.gov 

Paul Gretch 

Robert Finamore 

U.S. Department of 

Transportation 

paul.gretch@dot.gov 

Robert.Finamore@dot.gov 

Matthew Baldwin 

Director of Air Transport 

European Commission 

Matthew.Baldwin@ec.europa.eu 

Dr. Felix Leinemann 

First Secretary 

Delegation of the European 

Union to the USA 

Felix.LEINEMANN@eeas.euro 

pa.eu 

David Batchelor 

SJU Liason Officer 

SESAR Joint Undertaking 

Delegation of the European 

Union to the USA 

David.Batchelor@sesarju.eu 

Michael Goldman 

Counsel for DreamJet 

Silverberg, Goldman & Bikoff 

mgoldman@sgbdc.com 

Kevin Commy, Deputy Chief of 

Mission 

Alan Gibbons, First Secretary 

Economics 

Embassy of Ireland 

Kevin.conmy@dfa.ie 

Alan.gibbons@dfa.ie 

Donal Handley 

Head of Corporate Affairs 

Irish Aviation Authority 

donal.handley@iaa.ie 

Mark W. Atwood 

Cozen O’Connor 

Counsel for Kalitta Air 

matwood@cozen.com 

John L. Richardson 

Counsel for Amerjet 

International 

jrichardson@johnlrichardson.com 

Joan Canny 

jcanny@amerijet.com 

John R. Mietus 

Law Office of John Mietus LLC 

Counsel for Centurion Air Cargo 

and Trade Winds Airlines 

john@mietuslaw.com 

Marshall S. Sincik 

Squire, Sanders & Dempsey 

Counsel for Florida West 

International Airways 

msinick@ssd.com 

Aaron Goerlich 

Garofalo Goerlich Hainbach 

Counsel for Southern Air 

agoerlich@ggh-airlaw.com 

Charles Hill 

Air Transport International 

chuck.hill@airtransport.cc 

Bradley Rubinstein 

Manager, Industry and 

Regulatory Relations 

Port Authority of New York and 

New Jersey 

brubinst@panynj.com 

Deputy Director 

Flight Standards Service 

Federal Aviation Administration 

john.s.duncan@faa.gov 

/s/Louise Fawbush 

Louise Fawbush