NAI is Approved

SpiceWeasel said:
Uh... what? You've been non-union way too long dude. Disappointing.

Guys fight to improve your pay and benefits, and you think that a joke about working at a flag-of-convenience carrier is appropriate???
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He's right, though. People will.

Like it or not, they'll staff partly with American pilots who see it as a raise or a possible shortcut to their dream job
 
I don't think he's advocating it, just saying it will happen. Same with me, it's an inevitability should it pass, doesn't mean I like it
 
Ajax said:
I don't think he's advocating it, just saying it will happen. Same with me, it's an inevitability should it pass, doesn't mean I like it
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Then do something to stop it. If we continue to sit around complaining on the internet then nothing will change. Protect what is important to your future. Doing the right thing requires hard work. Help others by contacting your rep.
 
amorris311 said:
I thought you became a "rep" so you could make things better?
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That's right.

Make no mistake, I'll be papering the various offices as outlined above. Flag of convenience is probably the biggest threat to our collective asses, in a large stack of threats, and they've got no bloody business in the sky.

I think you're missing my point, however poorly made: the labor economics side of this equation do not strike me as any different from that which created the regional sector. It's just an order - possibly several orders - of magnitude uglier.
 
amorris311 said:
Then do something to stop it. If we continue to sit around complaining on the internet then nothing will change. Protect what is important to your future. Doing the right thing requires hard work. Help others by contacting your rep.
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Yeah, I'm not advocating it at all.
 
Autothrust Blue said:
I think you're missing my point, however poorly made: the labor economics side of this equation do not strike me as any different from that which created the regional sector. It's just an order - possibly several orders - of magnitude uglier.
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I agree with this
amorris311 said:
Then do something to stop it. If we continue to sit around complaining on the internet then nothing will change. Protect what is important to your future. Doing the right thing requires hard work. Help others by contacting your rep.
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And, to both of you. I've got a good friend of mine who works with a congressman, I'll call him up to discuss it with him personally
 
Ajax said:
He's right, though. People will.

Like it or not, they'll staff partly with American pilots who see it as a raise or a possible shortcut to their dream job
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They won't staff with Americans unless those Americans have an EASA license and the right to live and work in the EU.

.....and not that I'm really in favor of Norwegian, but did anyone see the article about China Eastern planning a 240 aircraft expansion in the next 4 years primarily to "boost long haul traffic to and from the United States". Norwegian's threat pales in comparison to that. That threat is one the DAL pilots might actually be able to do something about since DAL is an equity holder in China Eastern and they'll obviously be expecting a lot of DAL codeshare for any new flights. That's a battle that is winnable, Norwegian, not so much.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-eastern-expand-fleet-over-094144904.html


Typhoonpilot
 
This is only the beginning. Wait until NAS announces the alliance with Ryanair on the longhaul and Ryanair starts working as the feeder for NAS.

Edit: They are in negotiations since last year and Ryanair will do the first interlining test this summer.
 
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Didn't get a call to action email but its on the main page of alpa.org

I am writing to express my strong opposition to the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) tentative decision to grant Norwegian Air International’s (NAI) application for foreign air carrier permit. This decision ignores the letter and spirit of the U.S.-EU/Norway/Iceland Open Skies agreement, as well as the public interest of the United States. I am concerned because it threatens my job and those of my colleagues in the U.S. airline industry.



Labor unions and airlines from both sides of the Atlantic have weighed in in opposition to this decision. Additionally, more than 200 Members of Congress signed letters calling on the DOT to deny NAI’s application. This outcry is based on NAI’s flag-of-convenience business model which forum shops for the lowest possible wages and regulations by country. NAI, a subsidiary of a Norwegian-based airline, has been set up outside of Norway explicitly to take advantage of Ireland’s labor laws, enabling the company to hire flight crews through a third-party, Asian-based contracting firm, and to base those crews in Asia.



Article 17 bis of the U.S.-EU/Norway/Iceland Air Transport Agreement (ATA) demands that “the opportunities created by the Agreement are not intended to undermine labour standards or labour-related rights and principles”. The DOT’s tentative finding in this case completely ignores this essential part of our Open Skies agreement. This reinterpretation of our ATA calls into question the Administration’s commitment to enforcing the standards in our international trade agreements.



Furthermore, in executing its work on behalf of the American people, the DOT has been directed by Congress to consider: “fair wages and working conditions”; “preventing unfair, deceptive, predatory, or anticompetitive practices in air transportation”; and “strengthening the competitive position of air carriers to at least ensure equality with foreign air carriers”. On all of these counts, NAI’s application fails on its face to meet an acceptable minimum.



I am calling on DOT to reverse its decision and deny this application for failing to meet the standards of Article 17 bis and U.S. public interest law. I am also calling on my elected officials to join me in this effort. Thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to hearing back from you on this critical issue.
 
ian said:
Didn't get a call to action email but its on the main page of alpa.org

I am writing to express my strong opposition to the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) tentative decision to grant Norwegian Air International’s (NAI) application for foreign air carrier permit. This decision ignores the letter and spirit of the U.S.-EU/Norway/Iceland Open Skies agreement, as well as the public interest of the United States. I am concerned because it threatens my job and those of my colleagues in the U.S. airline industry.



Labor unions and airlines from both sides of the Atlantic have weighed in in opposition to this decision. Additionally, more than 200 Members of Congress signed letters calling on the DOT to deny NAI’s application. This outcry is based on NAI’s flag-of-convenience business model which forum shops for the lowest possible wages and regulations by country. NAI, a subsidiary of a Norwegian-based airline, has been set up outside of Norway explicitly to take advantage of Ireland’s labor laws, enabling the company to hire flight crews through a third-party, Asian-based contracting firm, and to base those crews in Asia.



Article 17 bis of the U.S.-EU/Norway/Iceland Air Transport Agreement (ATA) demands that “the opportunities created by the Agreement are not intended to undermine labour standards or labour-related rights and principles”. The DOT’s tentative finding in this case completely ignores this essential part of our Open Skies agreement. This reinterpretation of our ATA calls into question the Administration’s commitment to enforcing the standards in our international trade agreements.



Furthermore, in executing its work on behalf of the American people, the DOT has been directed by Congress to consider: “fair wages and working conditions”; “preventing unfair, deceptive, predatory, or anticompetitive practices in air transportation”; and “strengthening the competitive position of air carriers to at least ensure equality with foreign air carriers”. On all of these counts, NAI’s application fails on its face to meet an acceptable minimum.



I am calling on DOT to reverse its decision and deny this application for failing to meet the standards of Article 17 bis and U.S. public interest law. I am also calling on my elected officials to join me in this effort. Thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to hearing back from you on this critical issue.
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Thanks for posting, took a few tidbits for the letter to my congressman

Dear Congressman _______-
The Department of Transportation recently approved Norwegian Air International to fly trans-atlantic routes from the EU to the United States. NAI is a Norwegian owned airline flying under an Irish flag of convenience to undermine their home state's strict labor laws, allowing them to employ the operation with lower cost labor sourced from an Asian staffing agency. This directly undermines the tone of the US-EU-Norway-Iceland Open Skies agreement, which states in Article 17 of that Air Transport Agreement "...the opportunities created by the Agreement are not intended to undermine labour standards or labour-related rights and principles." The Department of Transportation is charged by Congress to "consider fair wages and working conditions; prevent unfair, deceptive, predatory, or anticompetitive practices in air transportation; and to strengthen the competitive position of (American) air carriers to at least ensure equality with foreign air carriers."
In the interest of American jobs, and to protect the US airline industry, I would ask you to investigate this matter and recognize the precedent this may set for the global air transportation industry.
Sincerely,
_______

Any edits I should make before I send it?
 
I see the Moak Group wasn't successful...

Or TC

Or the C2A

Or the grassroots advocate program

Or the Legislative Affairs field trips to the Hill

It's a global economy.

The fight isn't over, it seems, so we shall see but I have little faith in the institution to reverse this one.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Actually @surreal1221 the fact that it has taken over two years to be approved shows the success of the strategy against NAI. Usually these requests for permit are just rubber stamped. This is obviously not the case with this application so what has been done has worked.

Sign the Call to Action again and make your opinion heard again.
 
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