FAA Employees Say “NO” to NAI

Details: Published: May 22, 2014

On behalf of the 11,000 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees represented by the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS), I urge the denial of Norwegian Air International’s (NAI) application for a foreign air carrier permit. The convoluted scheme to register the airline in one country, contract pilots from another, and operate out of yet another is, quite simply, a recipe for disaster. NAI’s plan will no doubt create regulatory headaches as this country attempts to monitor the use of such an airline in this country. More importantly, the concept robs this country of its ability to participate in fair competition.

I am greatly concerned that if NAI’s application is approved, a precedent will be set for other foreign carriers to manipulate cheap labor, reduce or eliminate collective bargaining, and find a way to work around important regulations that govern this country’s aviation system. By registering in Ireland despite not serving Irish airports, NAI is circumventing Norway’s labor and tax laws. By contracting a flight crew from Thailand through a recruitment firm based in Singapore, NAI is stacking the deck against U.S. airlines and their employees. NAI is responding to criticism by saying that this country is afraid of competition and wants to deny Americans the right to inexpensive travel. In reality, we are trying to protect the hundreds of thousands of people employed by the aviation industry and ensure the integrity of flights operating in this country.

For these reasons, PASS fully supports the petition sponsored by the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA) urging the Department of Transportation to deny NAI’s application.

Mike Perrone, PASS National President