Originally Posted by
Jaded N Cynical
I got a response from my senator. My take is that isn't a done deal by any stretch.....Durbin from Illinois writes....
"Thank you contacting me regarding a Norwegian airline foreign air carrier permitting issue, and the subsequent legislation to address it. I appreciate hearing from you.
Norwegian Air International recently submitted a foreign air carrier permit application to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to operate within the United States. If approved, Norwegian Air International could be in violation of the U.S.-European Union (EU) Open Skies agreement that increased access to U.S. and European markets for commercial airlines while promoting strong safety, labor, and working condition standards for airlines and their employees.
Opponents argue that the Norwegian Air’s subsidiary carrier would employ third-party pilots through individual employment contact that will contain wages and working conditions that put our domestic carriers at a labor cost disadvantage. In addition, this situation would raise serious questions about the training, safety, and experience of airline pilots that would be operating within the United States.
To address these economic and safety concerns, Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Brian Schatz of Hawaii have introduced Amendment #3262 to the Senate appropriations bill for various federal agencies, including the Department of Transportation (H.R. 4660). The proposed amendment would not allow the U.S. DOT to approve Norwegian Air’s permit until the airline complies with the labor and safety requirements in the US-EU Open Skies agreement. A similar legislative provision was included in the U.S. House of Representatives appropriations bill in June 2014."
Glad to hear this. Nice to hear that we do have some "friendlies" in Washington politics. Keep em coming guys!!