THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON , D

. C

. 20590

The Honorable Albio Sires U.S. Hou se of Representatives Was hington , DC 205 1 5 Dear Congressman Sires: April 03, 2014

Thank you for yo ur le tte r re gardin g th e appl ication ofNorwegian A ir I nternationa l Limited (NA I) for a uthority to conduct U.S. ser v ic es. G ive n th at a numb e r of interested p arties have fi led re s pon s ive pleadin gs t o NA I 's applic ation and thi s m atter is currently pendin g b efore the Department , I am s ure you und e rs tand that I canno t co mme nt on the merits ofNA I 's app lic ati on. I ass ure you , ho wever , th at we will g ive full and careful co n s ideration to a ll of the pl ead in gs fil e d on th e reco rd before we reac h a de termination in thi s m att er. As is our s tandard practice , I am p lac in g a copy of you r lette r a nd m y res pon se in Docket DOT-OST- 201 3- 0204, as a contact o uts ide th e reco rd of thi s case . You may track the progress of t hi s case and v ie w th e publicl y avai lab le docume nts fi led in the docket b y accessing the Fe dera l Docket Manage m e nt System at www . reg ul ati o n s.gov a nd searchin g for Docke t DOT-OST-2013-0204. I hope this inform at ion i s he lp fu l. S in ce r e l y ,

Anthony R
. FoxxALBIO SIRES 8TH D I STRICT, N EW JERSEY CO MMITIEE ON FOREIG N AFFAIRS SUBCOMMITTEE S: WESTERN HEM IS PHERE, RANKING MEMBER EUROPE , EURASIA, AND EMERGING THREATS COMMITIEE ON TR ANSPORTATIO N AND INF RASTRUCTURE SUBCO MMITTE ES : H I GHWAY S AND T RANS IT RAILROAD S, PIPELINE S, AND

HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 

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. GOV The Honorable Anthony R. Foxx Secretary U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Ave SE, Washington , DC 20590 D ear Secretar y Foxx: February 6 , 2014 2342 R AYBURN H OUSE OF FICE B UI L DING W ASH INGT ON, DC 20515 (202) 225 - 7919 5500 PALISADE AVENUE, SUITE A

WEST New YORK , NJ 07093 (201) 558 - 0800 121 NEWARK AVENUE, SUITE 200 JE RS E Y CI TY , NJ 07302 (201) 309 - 0 301 800 ANN A STREET ELI Z ABETH, NJ 07201 ( 908 ) 820-0692 BAYONNE CITY H ALL 630 AVENUE C. ROOM 9

B AYONNE, NJ 07002

(201) 823-2900

I am writing to express my concerns about the application by Norwegian Air International Limited (NAI) for exemption authority and a foreign air carrier permit. As you know , approval of this application would permit NAIto conduct commercial air transportation operations into and out of the United States. I believe that there are several reasons why approva l ofNAI ' s app lic ation is not in the public interest.
NAI employs a global outsourcing business model for its pilots and flight attendants that risks putting U.S. airlines and their employees at an economic disadvantage
. Furthermore , NAI's application provides only scarce information about their company and their plan s . Based on reports in the media , it appears to be in the same corporate family with Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS), a rapidly-growing low-cost airliner. My concern is that the publicly stated desire ofNAS is to circumvent Norw e gian labor law. NAS has stated that it will seek to register its aircraft in , and receive an operator ' s certificate from a European Union country whose labor laws , unlike Norway's , will allow outsourcing of aircraft crew beyond the EU. NAS has stated that they will operate out oflreland , where they will fly from Norway and other EU points to the United States with outsourced , low-wage aircrew , based in Southeast Asia. This will be done under individual employment contracts governed by Singapore law. 

### It appears that NAS may now intend to use NAI as its Irish afilliate to bring its plan to fruition
.


### 510-140220-018In addition to harming fair wages and work ing conditions , NAIINAS's model would put U.S. carriers in direct competition at a competitive disadvantage
. Accordingly, approval ofNAI's application for authority would be inconsistent with the Congressional-established public interest , set forth in the aviation statutes.
I thank you for your consideration of my request , and look forward to working with you on this issue.

lbio Sires, Member of Congress



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