Finally, after more than two years, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has done what it should have done in the first place — allow Norwegian Air International (NAI) to freely operate transatlantic flights.
The approval was delayed at DOT because of airline and airline-union coordinated double-speak.
When all is said and done, DOT decided the new service is legal under the terms of America’s Open Skies Treaty. Finally, the US network airlines can get a strong dose of what they claim makes the airline market work — competition.
Whether or not the airline service is in “the public interest” doesn’t seem to have factored in their decision. This is a sad commentary on Department of Transportation’s focus on airlines, not the American public.
The holdup of this approval at DOT was been caused by questionable tactics employed by airline unions claiming that Norwegian is offering substandard working conditions and lower pay. Plus, airlines claim that NAI will be flying under a “flag of convenience,” headquartering themselves where taxes and regulatory law are favorable.
However, airline unions never decried the current airline labor contracts that see regional pilots getting paid close to minimum wage for flying planes between major airline hubs and smaller airports.
Norwegian Air International will grow competition
The real reason for the long delay was avoidance of new transatlantic competition. The scramble by the US airlines to figure out a way to respond to NAI and its long haul, low cost model is still underway, now even more so.
Now, the real airline games can begin.
The use of fuel efficient Boeing 787 aircraft makes travel between Europe and the US affordable and profitable. Some analysts are suggesting that the new service may bypass the slot controlled by major international gateways. NAI may offer direct service from airports that have been ignored by US carriers. Already, a sister airline of Norwegian Air International has begun service into Oakland, eliminating air traffic congestion at the San Francisco International airport. Get ready for more such routes.
Norwegian Air International service will grow US jobs
Expanding international travel will provide thousands of jobs to airport workers, flight attendants (who will be hired and based here in the US), hotel and restaurant workers, Boeing, and many others associated with travel and tourism. Some of the pilots now flying at poverty wages for regional carriers may even have an opportunity to work for NAI.
Preventing this transatlantic competition has cost the American public millions of dollars every day that service was delayed. The approval of this application will not only increase aviation jobs in the United States, but it will add dramatically to travel and tourism jobs here in the US.
The increase in economic activity will improve the balance of trade — another benefit for the US. Norwegian Air International is one of Boeing’s biggest customers, incoming tourism dollars go right to the bottom line of our balance of trade, and our European Union allies all support the increase in transatlantic travel.
Basically, every sector of the travel stakeholder community that deals with travel and tourism supported the NAI application — local Chambers of Commerce, airports, travel agencies, tour operators, airport support workers, hotels, and rental car operators.
Travelers United applauds the approval of Norwegian Air International foreign carrier permit.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
