Setting the record straight on Norwegian Air and the US-EU Open Skies Agreement (huffingtonpost.com)

June 28, 2016

By John D. Porcari
Former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, 2009-2013

Expanding global connectivity through aviation only succeeds when the playing field is level and the rules are both universally understood and scrupulously enforced. That was the core principle behind our government’s negotiation of an amended air services agreement with the European Union (EU), known as the U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement (ATA). I know this because I was in those discussions while serving as Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT).

Today, some basic facts about this agreement and the applicability of its provisions have been twisted beyond recognition in the pending case involving Norwegian Air International (NAI), an Irish subsidiary of Norwegian Air, which seeks USDOT approval of a foreign air carrier permit application to fly to the United States. Let’s set the record straight.

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Tags: aviation FOCs, DOT, FOCs, John D. Porcari, Norwegian, open skies