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In a case that has labor and trade policy implications, the Obama administration on Tuesday rejected a request that would have immediately permitted a low-cost air carrier to begin flights between the U.S. and Europe while the government is still reviewing its application for new service.
The Transportation Department turned down a request by Norwegian Air International that would have allowed the carrier to offer new service between London’s Gatwick Airport and New York, Orlando, Florida, and other U.S. cities. Officials for the airline said they hoped to charge as little as $150 each way. Such exemptions are usually granted European carriers under a U.S.-European Union aviation agreement.
The airline’s spokesman added: “It’s ironic that elected officials in a country where capitalism and the free market are celebrated are not making a decision based on the facts that show how we are bringing in competition, lowering prices and creating jobs. The Obama administration has been pretty outspoken about the fact that it wants more tourism coming to the U.S., and this is what we are doing.”
A comparison of flights offered by the big three airlines that dominate transatlantic services—United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines—with the services NAI launched last year shows their new competitor is cheaper.
On American, for instance, a round-trip ticket June 2 and 9 from New York-JFK International Airport to Oslo cost about $1,440. The same flight on Norwegian went for around $862. That’s a $578 difference.
Norwegian currently has 300 U.S. employees, including 150 cabin crew members in Fort Lauderdale, and 150 in New York.
“We are absolutely hiring more U.S. employees,” Sandaker-Nielsen said. “So why would Congress want to shut down something that benefits its own constituents?”
The airlines and their unions helped kill this, aided by a criminally complicit POTUS's appointed czar.
The airlines and their unions helped kill this, aided by a criminally complicit POTUS's appointed czar.
Pay up.
Why are you failing to tell the entire story? Doesn't fit with your agenda? Since when is the House dominated by Democrats or Obama?
“As you know, in June, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed an amendment that would require the DOT to ensure that any foreign air operators' applications follow the terms of the U.S.-EU Open Skies Agreement and U.S. law,” the lawmakers continued. “That amendment was driven by the belief that NAI's flag-of-convenience business model does not comply with U.S. and international law, and would be detrimental to the future of the U.S. aviation industry, aviation workers and our national economy.”
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