iceman49

Norwegian?s Ambitions Test Open Skies Deal

captjns

Was this plea made by Richard Anderson? Any essays penned by Richard on the inside cover of Delta Sky Miles magazine?

Reality Check.... Bigger guns are needed if an attempt even cause the NAI application to go to committee. That may prove to be a costly dog and pony show for the tax payers which will probably have the same end result.... Granting NAI's application.

Bottom line a coalition of US carrriers is required. They have the money to enlist an army of lobbyists, if that's what they have in mind.

BigGuns

Delta, United, and AA/UsAir legal fillings with the DOT:
http://www.alpa.org/LinkClick.aspx?f...8231&mid=24026
I don't how many US carriers you want in you coalition!

gloopy

This is a check the box stratedgy. Fine, try and get them denied. But they will get approved, bank on it. We all need to be proactive and management needs to abandon their unsustainable MBA crackberry day trader fantasy of autocapacity asphyxiating themselves to drive up quarterly margins. Those days are rapidly coming to an end and I've yet to see an exit stratedgy from the so called best and brightest.

NAI is a filth and a cancer, literally worse than clotted blood and puss on a dirty wound, whatever that's called. The only way to counter that stain is to capacity dump and yield trash until they go away. Every market they open has to be an instantaneous money loser. We can afford to do it on scale and they can't. Its as simple as that. But the tired mantra of each city pair having to prove its individual profitabilty is a failed model going forward because with scum like NAI, the only way to adhere to that model is to yield them our marketshare as fast as they want to grow into it.

We need to dump on them hard and force them into liquidation and the back stabbers that fly for them need to be sent to the street. Its them or us.

LeineLodge

Your colorful run-on sentences usually lose me half-way through, but this one made me laugh. You should consider volunteering for the comm committee. FTB can do the artwork

gloopy

Poor sentenence structure aside, I doubt I could pen a single piece of anything that would get past the gatekeepers.

captjns

Its a start... However, it's a document that will sit on someone's desk, then reviewed, duly noted, and put in the DOT'S NAI file.

At the end of it all... if so objectionable and threatening, to the industry, and livelihood, it's up to the Board of Directors and Officers of the Companies to get the message across and out there. Airline magazines with a pre-stamped tear-away envelope so, encouraging their passengers to sign in protest of the NAI application, and mail it to the DOT.

Put the message out there in USA Today... NY Times... LA Times... Washington Post... WSJ to name a few.

Or is it the BoDs and Officers really don't give a hoot.

THEBRICK

I think ALPA needs to go park itself in front of CBS 60 minutes office and try to get attention on this issue quickly. Scott Pelley loves to cover government waste and abuse. If this is such a huge deal to ALPA and our careers, they have nothing to loose by doing this, but everything to loose by not trying.

gloopy

It could just end up being a 60 minute commercial for low fares.

BigGuns

**Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) just became #39...

Senators Ask DOT to Protect U.S. Airline Jobs, Reject Gaming of U.S.-EU Open Skies Agreement

Thursday, March 13, 2014

WASHINGTON, DC—A bipartisan group of 38 Senators today urged the Department of Transportation to ensure U.S. airline jobs are protected, and U.S. law and aviation trade agreements are not violated, when considering Norwegian Air International’s application for a foreign air carrier permit.

Led by Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Roy Blunt (R-MO), the Senators conveyed their employee protection concerns to DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx. “The U.S.-EU Open Skies Agreement was a historic agreement that not only expanded opportunities for consumers and businesses, but protected our high labor standards,” said Senator Schatz. “NAI’s permit application to the DOT is concerning, and we need to uphold the integrity of the bilateral agreement and the labor standards that protect American jobs,” he said.

“NAI’s structure raises several serious questions about what employment protections will apply to NAI’s workforce,” the Senators wrote. “We strongly urge you to examine this arrangement to ensure its full compliance with the U.S.-EU Open Skies Agreement labor provisions and consistency with U.S. law.”

TTD President Edward Wytkind, who will testify today before the Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee on this and other global aviation issues, thanked the Senators for taking a stand. “I appreciate the efforts of 38 Senators who have joined us in raising concerns about the NAI application and its far-reaching implications for U.S. airlines and employees,” he said. “Clearly momentum is on our side as we build opposition to this flag of convenience airline scheme that has no place in our aviation trade relationship with Europe.”

NAI will be a Norwegian company by name only as it will register its aircraft in Ireland, evade the laws of Norway and hire crews based in Thailand under individual contracts governed by the laws of Singapore. NAI’s operating plan, as detailed in its application to the DOT, would violate the terms and clear intent of the labor provisions (Article 17 bis) embodied in the U.S.-EU Open Skies Agreement that embrace “high labor standards.”

“If NAI is the face of liberalized U.S.-EU aviation trade, we’ll take a pass,” Wytkind said. “The Obama Administration must reject NAI’s application as it violates our laws and circumvents the U.S.-EU trade agreement.”