BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.

Application of

NORWEGIAN AIR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

for an exempti on under 49 U.S.C. § 40109 and a foreign air carrier permit pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 41301 (U

. S

. - EU Open Skies) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Docket DOT

- OST

- 201 3

- 0 204

JOINT REPLY OF DELTA AIR LINES, INC

., UNITED AIRLINES, INC., AND AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC

.

Communications with respect to this document should be addressed to:

Howard Kass

Vice President

-- Regulatory Affairs

American Airlines

, Inc. 1401 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20005

202

- 326

- 5153 Howard.Kass@ aa .com

Robert A. Wirick Managing Director, Regulatory and International

Affairs

American Airlines

, Inc. P.O. Box 619616, MD 5635 DFW Airport, Texas 75161 (817) 963

- 0394 robert.wirick@aa.com

Hershel I. Kamen

Senior Vice President

– Alliances, Regulatory and Policy

Daniel A. Weiss Managing Director

– International Affairs and Regulatory
UNITED AIRLINES, INC.

233 South Wacker Drive

10th Floor

– HDQIZ Chicago, IL 60606 (872) 825

- 6828
hershel.kamen@united.com

dan.weiss@united.com Alexander Van der Bellen Managing Director

– Regulatory and International

Affairs & Associate General Counsel Christopher Walker

, Regional Director

– Regulatory and International Affairs DELTA AIR LINES, INC.
1212 New York Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 842

- 4184 sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com

February 21 , 2014BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.

Application of

NORWEGIAN AIR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

for an exempti on under 49 U.S.C. § 40109 and a foreign air carrier permit pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 41301 (U

. S

. - EU Open Skies) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Docket DOT

- OST

- 2013

- 0 204

JOINT REPLY OF DELTA AIR LINES, INC

., UNITED AIRLINES, INC., AND AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC

.

Delta, United and American (the “ Joint Carriers”) submit this Reply to the Answers

received in response to the DOT’s Notice regarding NAI’s permit application. 1

The Answer filed by PARAT, a Norwegian Trade Association representing 32,000

members, including 2,000 employees of Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS) lays bare any claim

that NAI’s decision to form in Ireland is anything other than a brazen effort to evade

Norway ’s labor laws. Attached to PARAT’s assertions is a letter from the Royal Norwegian

Ministry of Transport and C ommunications which states: “NLH has . . . been very clear about

that the company’s planned moving of its long haul activity to Ireland is due to that the

Norwegian immigration [work permit] legislation was not amended.” (PARAT appendix 1).

This new evid ence submitted by PARAT is fully consistent with the other evidence of record, As evidenced

by the numerous Answers filed in this proceeding, NAI’s request is not a routine fitness

application

. The Department’s decision on this application implicates the carefully

negotiated U.S

- EU air service agreements and should be carefully considered.

1 The terms NAI (Norwegian Air International), NAS (Norwegian Air System) and NLH (Norwegian Long Haul) have the same meanings as the defined terms in the Joint Carrier’s December 20 , 2013 Reply.Norwegian Joint Reply Page 2

including the Netskar Declaration, NAS’s public statements, and other documentary

evidence provided by ALPA.

NAS’s unsubstantiated claims of alternative “sound business reason s” (NAI Ans. at

3) ring hollow, and the limited information relayed from NAI to the Joint Committee does not

provide the Department or interested parties with sufficient evidence to know which version

of events is true. In order to effectively exercise it s public interest mandate, and to uphold

the express provisions of U.S.

- EU Agreement which is “not intended to undermine labor

standards or the labor

- related rights and principles contained in the Parties’ respective

laws,” 2

The first five years of implementation of the U.S.

- EU Agreement have been a

resounding success, sparking additional transatlantic services, opening restricted airports to

new competition, and benefitting the traveling and shipping public. Contrary to the claims of

NAI and its supporters, requiring carriers to abide by the terms of the agreement is not

“protectionist.” The Joint Carriers welcome competition, so long as it is fought across a level

playing field. NAI’s transparent effort to gain a competiti ve advantage by escaping Norway’s

labor laws is contrary to the public interest and the express terms of Article 17 bis

. we urge the Department to requi re NAI to answer interrogatories and produce all

relevant corporate documents

. Given the questions raised by the conflicting and

inconsistent record in this case, the Department has more than adequate basis for concern

to r equest this information.

2 Article 17 bis

.Norwegian Joint Reply Page 3

For the foregoing reasons, and those contained in the Joint Carrier’s prior Answers,

NAI’s application is deficient.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Alexander Van der Bellen Managing Director, Regulatory and

International Affairs

& Associate General Counsel
Delta Air Lines, Inc.

/s/ Robert A. Wirick Managing Director, Regulatory and International

Affairs American Airlines

, Inc.

/s/ Dan Weiss Managing Director

– International Affairs and Regulatory

United Airlines, Inc.C ERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

A copy of the foregoing Reply has been ser ved this 21 st day of February

, 2014 , upon the following persons via email:

romanow@pillsburylaw.com peter.nelson@pillsburylaw.com Russell.Bailey@alpa.org steve.morrissey@united.com

dan.weiss@united.com

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com howard.kass@usairways.com

robert.wirick@aa.com

francis.heil@aa.com rpommer@atlasair.com mlbenge@zsrlaw.com jesse.elliot@faa.gov douglas.schwab@faa.gov nicholas.tsokris@faa.gov john.allen@faa.gov

anita.mosner@hklaw.com jennifer.nowak@hklaw.com nssparks@fedex.com dberg@airlines.org jcasey@airlines.org paul.gretch@dot.gov brian.hedberg@dot.gov esta.rosenberg@dot.g ov brett.kruger@dot.gov urskr@state.gov CristinaSA@state.gov eugene_alford@ita.doc.gov

info@airlineinfo.com