Living in the shadow of Norwegian (Copenhagen), having been directly affected by Norwegian business practices (my wife was one the hundreds of SAS employees in Copenhagen who lost their job due to the encroachment of Norwegian) and knowing two pilots in my neighborhood who have worked for Norwegian, I feel I can provide a little input about the "Red Nosed Devil" (as the SAS folks call it).
Norwegian is actually many difference companies. The "airline" itself is actually three different companies, with three separate operating certificates, but they all share the same branding under the Norwegian Air Shuttle banner. "Classic" Norwegian Air Shuttle is the 737 short haul LCC operator. Norwegian Long Haul is a Norwegian registered 787 operator which is currently operating the international flights. Norwegian Air International is an Irish registered 787 operator that is proposing to operate the bulk of the 787 flights. The reason for the Irish registration is to take advantage of future EU/USA agreements. Norway is not part of the EU, though it is part of the EEA, and thus a Norwegian airline would not be fully covered by any agreements with the EU and USA. Norwegian also consists of multiple staffing corporations which actually employ the pilots, flight attendants, ground staff and other personnel. Some employees are employed through a wholly owned Polish company, some through a Swedish company, some through a Danish company and some through another Norwegian subsidiary. One of my neighbors who flew with Norwegian for a short while after Cimber Sterling died, was originally contracted on through the Swedish subsidiary and based in Gatwick. He was offered the opportunity to be hired by the "real" Norwegian (really the Norway based staffing company) and be based back home in Copenhagen. But at the same time he was offered a class with SAS and he took that instead. I could spend a day writing about all the ins and outs of what I have heard about Norwegian but the Reader's Digest version is this - Norwegian has as many different subsidiaries as it does so it can play the ultimate game of whipsaw. If flight attendants through the Swedish subsidiary want more money, their contracts are terminated and more flight attendants are contracted through the Danish subsidiary. If pilots in Norway want more money, or the Norwegian government says they need more benefits, they airlines dumps them and hires more through the Singapore agency. If the EU strikes more beneficial agreements for routes, more aircraft get transferred to Norwegian International. If EU taxes get too high, they move airplanes back to Norwegian Long Haul. Smart moves from a management perspective, but it is horrible for the employees. It gets even more dubious for the flying public because it gives them a lot of loopholes around regulatory authorities - eg. how can the Irish CAA conduct inspections on an airline that never flies into Ireland.