On Thursday Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.), Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), and Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) introduced in the House, bipartisan legislation (H.R. 5090), that directs the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to require foreign airlines to meet the standards agreed to in U.S. air transport agreements before allowing them to fly to the United States. This legislation (H.R. 5090) is a clear signal of strong congressional opposition to Norwegian Air International’s (NAI) foreign air carrier permit application.


Without the work from ALPA Government Affairs Staff and the support we have from you from your Call To Action participation and the access granted by your ALPA PAC contributions this bipartisan legislation would not have been possible.

I know that some of you may be uncertain if your Call to Action sign off really did much. You may be looking for something more tangible to see what that action did in this fight. The bottom line is your participation matters and yes, it does help, a lot. Each Congressional Office tracks the amount of correspondences that each respective Congressman gets during the week from their constituents. They then take the top handful of issues and make sure the Congressman is up to speed on that issue and what their constituency is saying on that issue. Numerous Congressional Offices are reporting that their top constituent issue from the last two weeks is the Call to Action to #DENYNAI. They are noticing this and in turn, it makes it easier for them to support legislation such as H.R. 5090.

To those who have signed the Call to Action already, thank you! Please continue to stay engaged and make sure others have signed it. If you haven’t had a chance to sign the Call to Action please do. No matter if you have 30 months or 30 years until retirement your participation matters.

Any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Thank you!


Council 171 Legislative Affairs Chair