BEFORE THE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

________________________________________

)

Application of )

)

NORWEGIAN AIR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED )

) Docket No. OST-2013-0204

for an exemption under 49 U.S.C. § 40109 and )

a foreign air carrier permit pursuant to )

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

_________________________________________ )

MOTION OF NORWEGIAN AIR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED FOR LEAVE

TO FILE AND EXPEDITED TREATMENT

Communications with respect to this document should be addressed to:

Josh Romanow

Peter Nelson

PILLSBURY WINTHROP SHAW PITTMAN LLP

1200 Seventeenth Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20036

Tel: (202) 663-8000

Fax: (202) 663-8007

E-mail: romanow@pillsburylaw.com

E-mail: peter.nelson@pillsburylaw.com

June 1, 2015 Counsel for NORWEGIAN AIR 

INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
BEFORE THE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

________________________________________

)

Application of )

)

NORWEGIAN AIR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED )

) Docket No. OST-2013-0204

for an exemption under 49 U.S.C. § 40109 and )

a foreign air carrier permit pursuant to )

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

_________________________________________ )

MOTION OF NORWEGIAN AIR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED FOR LEAVE

TO FILE AND EXPEDITED TREATMENT

Pursuant to Rules 6 and 11(e) of the Department’s Rules of Practice, 14 C.F.R. 

Part 302, Norwegian Air International Limited (“Norwegian International”) moves for 

leave to file and expedited processing of Norwegian International’s application for a 

foreign air carrier permit in the above referenced docket. 

It has now been over 15 months since Norwegian International’s application was 

complete and over 18 months since the application was first filed on December 2, 2013. 

The average processing time for similar applications is 55 days,

1 consistent with the 

United States’ international legal obligation under the U.S.-EU-Iceland-Norway open 

skies Air Transport Agreement of 2011 (the “Open Skies Agreement”) to “grant 

appropriate authorizations and permissions with minimum procedural delay.” 2

 

Notwithstanding formal notice by the EU delegation that it considers the U.S. in breach 

 1 As of May 2015, 57 EU licensed carriers have applied for and received DOT authority after the March 

31, 2008 effective date of the Open Skies Agreement. The average time between completed 

application/additional pleadings and the grant of the exemption authority was 55 days. 2 Open Skies Agreement, at art. 4.
of the Open Skies Agreement, three Joint Committee meetings at which the EU 

delegation expressed its concerns, a meeting called by the Department and requests from 

European Commission, Irish and Norwegian officials for the Department to act, the 

application remains pending. Norwegian respectfully submits that no further basis exists 

to delay a decision in the above referenced proceeding, and urges the Department to grant 

Norwegian International’s application.

As outlined in the letter attached hereto as Exhibit 1, while vigorously disagreeing 

with its opponents’ legal and factual assertions, Norwegian is committing “to use only 

European and U.S. pilots and crews on Norwegian International transatlantic flights 

(except if compelled by extraordinary and unforeseen operational reasons).” 3 While 

voluntary and not legally required, Norwegian International submits that this 

commitment addresses the core concerns raised by opponents to Norwegian 

International’s permit.

 3 Exhibit 1 at 2.
Norwegian International respectfully requests that the Department act in 

accordance with its well-established precedents and grant the foreign air carrier permit 

requested in its application without delay.

Respectfully submitted,

Josh Romanow Peter Nelson

PILLSBURY WINTHROP SHAW PITTMAN LLP

1200 Seventeenth Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20036

Tel: (202) 663-8000

Fax: (202) 663-8007

romanow@pillsburylaw.com

peter.nelson@pillsburylaw.com

June 1, 2015 Counsel for NORWEGIAN AIR 

INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
EXHIBIT 1



CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

The undersigned certifies that on June 1, 2015, a true and correct copy of the 

foregoing letter was served by electronic mail on the individuals identified below:

Dan Weiss

United Airlines

dan.weiss@united.com 

Sascha Van der Bellen

Delta Airlines

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com

Malcolm L. Benge

Counsel for North 

American/World Airways

mlbenge@zsrlaw.com

Russell E. Pommer

Atlas Air Inc.

rpommer@atlasair.com

Russell Bailey

Jonathan A. Cohen

Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l

russell.bailey@alpa.org

jonathan.cohen@alpa.org

Edward Wytkind

Transportation Trades 

Department, AFL-CIO

edw@ttd.org

J. Christopher Lytle

Port of Oakland

clytle@portoakland.com

Kent George

Broward County Aviation 

Department

kgeorge@broward.org

Mark Richardson

Southwest Airlines Pilots’ 

Association

mrichardson@swapa.org

Robert Wirick

Francis Heil

Howard Kass

American Airlines, Inc.

U.S. Airways, Inc.

robert.wirick@aa.com

francis.heil@aa.com

howard.kass@aa.com

Airline Info

info@airlineinfo.com

Nick Tsokris

Jesse Elliot

John Chen

FAA New York IFU

jesse.elliot@faa.gov

nicholas.tsokris@faa.gov

john.chen@faa.gov

John M. Allen

Director, Flight Standards

Federal Aviation Administration

john.allen@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

David Berg

James L. Casey

Keith A. Glatz

Airlines for America

dberg@airlines.org

jcasey@airlines.org

kglatz@airlines.org

Celine Canu

European Cockpit Association

cc@eurocockpit.be

Edgar N. James

Allied Pilots Association

ejames@jamhoff.com

Thomas S. Engle

Department of State

EngleTS@state.gov

Steve Shur

Travel Technology Association

sshur@traveltech.org

Eugene Alford

Department of Commerce

eugene.alford@trade.gov

Matthew Baldwin

Director of Air Transport

European Commission

Matthew.Baldwin@ec.europa.eu

Emmanuelle Maire

DG MOVE

European Commission

Emmanuelle.Maire

@ec.europa.eu

David Batchelor

SESAR Joint Undertaking

Delegation of the European 

Union to the USA

David.Batchelor@sesarju.eu

Ottar Ostnes

Director General, Norwegian 

Ministry of Transport and 

Communications

Ottar.Ostnes@sd.dep.no 

John Hanlon

European Low Fares Airline 

Association

John.Hanlon@ELFAA.com 

Paul Gretch

Robert Finamore

Brian Hedberg

U.S. Department of 

Transportation

paul.gretch@dot.gov 

Robert.Finamore@dot.gov

Brian.Hedberg@dot.gov

Charles Leocha

Travelers United

Charles.Leocha@travelersunited.org

Keith Meurlin

Washington Airports Task Force

keith@washingtonairports.com 

Paul Ruden

American Society of Travel Agents

pruden@asta.org 

Roger Dow

U.S. Travel Association

rdow@ustravel.org

/s/ Peter Nelson

Peter Nelson