(Reuters) - The chief
executive of Norwegian Air Shuttle rejected arguments by U.S. airlines
and unions that his efforts to build a low-cost, long-haul airline
serving the United States would undermine U.S. wages and working
standards.
Instead, CEO Bjorn Kjos
said U.S. airlines arguing for labor fairness actually fear his cheap
ticket prices. A round-trip flight from New York to London in December
costs as little as $483 on Norwegian, compared with $835 on Delta or
$832 on American, according to prices posted on the airlines' websites
on Wednesday.
Kjos, a former fighter
pilot, said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday that his airline
pays competitive wages everywhere its crews are based, including New
York, and that he supports employees' right to form unions.
"We don't care if they're unionized," he said. "That is up to the crew to decide themselves."
The comments came as
dozens of pilots visited Capitol Hill on Wednesday to press lawmakers to
oppose Norwegian's efforts to get broader permission to fly to the
United States. Kjos is slated to speak to International Aviation Club in
Washington on Thursday.
While Norwegian Air
Shuttle already flies from Oslo to New York, Florida and other
destinations, its Ireland-based subsidiary, Norwegian Air International,
does not have permission to fly to the country.
U.S. airlines and labor
unions are lobbying the U.S. Department of Transportation to deny the
subsidiary's application for a foreign air carrier permit.
The opponents include
airline labor unions and big carriers such as American Airlines Group,
Delta Air Lines Inc and United Continental Holdings Inc.
They say Norwegian will
dodge U.S. labor laws by using its Irish subsidiary to take advantage of
labor laws that are weaker than in Norway, threatening U.S. jobs.
Kjos said the Irish
subsidiary is necessary to obtain access for all of Norwegian's aircraft
to fly between the United States, Europe and Asia. If the company is
only incorporated in Norway, it does not have access to many countries
in Asia, since Norway is not part of the European Union. That would
leave Norwegian running two airlines that separately serve the United
States and Asia, and not able to shift aircraft from one region to the
other.
"It would be a logistical nightmare," Kjos said. "We can't have one airline flying east, one airline flying west."
If the Transportation
Department approves Norwegian's application, Kjos said, he plans to
establish crew bases in Los Angeles, New York and other locations, and
likely will hire American pilots.
Norwegian is one of the
first airlines trying to bring low-cost flying to long-haul flights. It
has a fleet of 17 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and plans to order at least
five to 10 more.
- Source: http://www.reuters.com
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