### THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATIO N WASHINGTON, D
. C
. 20590



### The Honorable Cheri Bu s tos U.S. Hou se of Repre se ntati ves Washington, DC 20515 Dear Congresswo m an Bu stos: April 04, 2014



### Thank yo u fo r yo ur letter regarding the app l ication ofNorweg ian Air International Limited (NA I) for authorit y to conduct U .s : services. G ive n th at a numb er of interested p arti es have filed responsive p leadings to NAI's app li cati on and thi s matter is currently pending b efore the Department, I am s ure yo u und erstand t h at I c annot comment on the merit s ofNAI's ap pli cati on . I assure yo u , ho weve r , that we wi ll g ive fu ll and carefu l consideration to a ll of the p lead in gs filed o n the r eco rd before we reach a determin ati o n in this matter. As i s our standard practice , I am p lac ing a copy of yo ur letter and my r e spon s e in Docket DOT-OST-20 1 3- 0 204 , as a contact outside the r ecord of this case. You may track the progres s of this case and view the publicl y ava il ab le doc ume nt s fi led in the docket by accessing the Federa l Do c ket Management System at www. r eg ul ations.gov an d searchi ng for Docket DOT-OST-2013-0204. I h ope thi s information i s he lp fu l. Si nc ere ly,

Anth o ny R. FoxxC HERI BUSTOS I 7TH D ISTRIC T. ILLJN OIS 

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- 1317 March 17, 2014
The Honorable Anthony Foxx Secretary U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE Washington, DC 20590
Dear Secretary Foxx: W ASH INGTON O FF I CE : ( 202 ) 2 25 - 5905 I LLINOIS O FFICE : ( 309 ) 786- 3 406 HTTP://BUSTOS.HOUSE.GOV

I write to express concerns with Norwegian Air International Limited's (NAI) application for a foreign air carrier permit. As you know, approval of the permit would allow NAIto provide commercial air service to and from the United States. The Department ofTransportation (DOT) is tasked with evaluating the airline's competitive positions to ensure equality with U.S
. air carriers and determining whether such service would be in the public interest. I am concerned that NAI's application seeks to undercut employment laws and gain an unfair advantage over U.S. carriers. It is my understanding that, despite lacking operations in Ireland, NAI intends to operate as an Irish airline in order to circumvent Norway's labor laws. Doing so will allow the airline to outsource pilots and flight crews through a Southeast Asia-based company governed by Singapore law. The arrangement would allow Singapore's inferior wage requirement and working condition standards to apply to NAI's flight crews. Not only would NAI's operating model put U.S. carriers, and their employees, at a competitive disadvantage, it could also jeopardize safety. Without operations through Ireland, it is unclear how the Irish Aviation Authority will provide adequate safety oversight to NAI. It appears as though NAI's intention is to exploit international legal and regulatory loopholes in order to gain an unfair competitive advantage over U.S. airlines. Approval of NAI's application would jeopardize American jobs and safety, and I do not believe it is in the public interest. I respectfully request that DOT fully consider these factors as it reviews NAI's foreign air carrier permit application. Thank you for your attention to this request and I look forward to working with you on this important matter. Sincerely,

Cheri Bustos Member of Congress



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