Norwegian Air's NAI gets tentative US rights as common sense prevails. Objectors: time to move on

On 15-Apr-2015 Norwegian's Irish-registered subsidiary Norwegian Air International (NAI) received tentative Department of Transportation (DoT) approval of its Dec-2013 application for a US foreign air carrier permit. NAI faced strong opposition from labour organisations and a number of US and some European legacy airlines, which led to the unprecedented delay.

The main weapon deployed by NAI's opponents was Article 17 bis of the US-EU open skies agreement, aimed at upholding labour standards. Unions representing airline employees (overwhelmingly at airlines other than Norwegian) claimed concern that NAI's business model undermines labour rights. In a peculiar alliance with these unions, airlines led by the US big three used the same arguments in a thinly veiled attempt to restrict competition from a new, dynamic, and more flexible long haul low cost model.

The DoT now concludes that Article 17 bis cannot be used to deny NAI, a conclusion reached after consultation with its own legal counsel, that of the US Department of State and the Office of Legal Counsel. Opponents have 21 days from 15-Apr-2015 to raise objections, without which the DoT's approval will switch from tentative to final. It's not over yet, but the DoT's conclusion looks like a - very belated - triumph for common sense.