THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, DC 20590 

The Honorable Peter A. DeFazio 

U.S. House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

Dear Congressman DeFazio: 

July 10, 2014 

Thank you for your letter regarding the application ofNorwegian Air International Limited 

(NAI) for authority to conduct U.S. services, in which you reference a letter sent from the Irish 

Aviation Authority (IAA) to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), dated April17, 2014. 

The referenced letter expresses concern about the possible commercial damage to NAI owing to 

the length ofNAI's FAA approval process. 

As you note in your letter, a number of interested parties have filed responsive pleadings to 

NAI's application and the matter is currently pending before the Department. While I cannot 

comment on the merits ofNAI's application, I assure you once again that, in reaching a 

determination in this matter, we will give full and careful consideration to all of the pleadings 

filed on the official record, and that any decision we reach will be based on the merits of the case 

as determined on that record. 

As is our standard practice, I am also placing a copy of your letter and my response in the Docket 

as a contact outside the record of this case. You may continue to 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. 

Anthony R. Foxx 
PETER A. DEFAZIO 

4TH DISTRICT, OREGON 

NATURAL RESOURCES 

RANKING MEMBER 

TRANSPORTATION AND 

INFRASTRUCTURE 

SUBCOMMITTEES: 

AVIATION 

HIGHWAYS AND TRANSIT 

RAILROADS 

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The Honorable Anthony F oxx 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Ave, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Dear Secretary Foxx: 

May 8, 2014 

PLEASE RESPOND TO: 

0 2134 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING 

WASHINGTON, DC 20515-3704 

(202) 225-6416 

0 

0 

0 

0 

405 EAST 8TH AVENUE, #2030 

EUGENE, OR 97401 

(541) 465-6732 

1-800-944-9603 

125 CENTRAL AVENUE, #350 

Coos BAY, OR 97420 

(541) 269-2609 

612 SE JACKSON STREET, #9 

ROSEBURG, OR 97470 

(541) 440-3523 

defazio.house.gov 

I first wrote to you in December to express my deep concern over the application before 

your Department by Norwegian Air International Limited (NAI) for exemption authority and a 

foreign air carrier permit. I am concerned by recent actions by proponents of this application 

(Docket DOT-OST-2013-0204) and believe its approval would not be in the public interest. 

It has been brought to my attention that the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) sent a letter to 

the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) dated April 17, 2014 expressing concern about the 

length of FAA's approval process and the commercial damage it is apparently causing NAI. It 

also urges Administrator Heurta to "use [his] good office to address this issue with a view to 

positively resolving the matter as soon as possible." 

This type of communication from an Irish safety regulator to their U.S. counterpart 

regarding a pending Department of Transportation (DOT) process is misguided and appears to 

indicate a fundamental misunderstanding of the requirements in place to ensure foreign air 

carriers maintain the high standards necessary to operate within the U.S. 

NAI's application to serve the U.S. is the subject of a pending- and contestedproceeding at the DOT. NAI's application is opposed by a host of transatlantic stakeholders, 

including Delta, United, American, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines System, the AFL-CIO, the 

Air Line Pilots Association and a range of other airline labor groups. As you are well aware, a 

significant number of my colleagues have also expressed concern about NAI.' s application. 

The "exceptional delay" to which the IAA letter refers is the statutorily-mandated 

proceeding at DOT, and the timing of that proceeding is an inappropriate issue to raise with 

FAA. Equally inappropriate is the IAA' s suggestion that the FAA should lobby DOT in support 

of a foreign air carrier permit applicant. I urge you to make your decision based on the merits of 

the case and all the input received, and not to be pressured by proponents of the application. 

Thank you for your consideration of this request. 

Sincerely, 

P~(!J~ Member of Congress 

s 1 0-140508-028 THIS STATIONERY PRINTED ON PAPER MADE WITH RECYCLED FIBERS