TELL THE DOT TO #DENYNAI (ttd.org)

On April 15, the Department of Transportation (DOT) tentatively approved a  Norwegian Airline’s request for a foreign air carrier permit to allow it to operate flights to the United States. Here’s the catch: That airline, Norwegian Air International (NAI), is registered in Ireland and will employ flight crews under Singaporean or Thai employment contracts and […]


April 29, 2016

ITF and ETF call on US president to stop unfair labour practices by Norwegian Air International

Despite massive opposition both from the United States and Europe, the US Department of Transport (DOT) issued last Friday an order that would tentatively grant Norwegian Air International (NAI) a foreign air carrier permit, unless disapproved by the President of the United States. The international Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and the European Transport Workers’ Federation […]


April 21, 2016

U.S. DOT Order on Norwegian Air Case, Unless Reversed, Threatens Thousands of U.S. Airline Jobs (ttd.org)

Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issues this statement in response to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s ill-advised order regarding Norwegian Air International’s application for a foreign air carrier permit: “We are strongly opposed to today’s show cause order issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation that could pave the way […]


April 18, 2016

Aviation unions discuss industry liberalisation threat in Latin America

Argentinean cabin crew union the Asociación Argentina de Aeronavegantes (AAA) and the ITF held a regional seminar on 22 March to discuss union responses to the threats posed to aviation workers and their industry in Latin America by increasing liberalisation and deregulation. The main focuses of discussion were Europe’s ‘open skies’ policy and the growth […]


March 30, 2016

New video for aviation unions and workers to challenge aviation FOCs

The Civil Aviation Section of the ITF has produced a new video to help its affiliates organise around the growing trend of flags of convenience (FOCs) in aviation. The video was launched at the Aviation FOCs Conference, which took place in 25-26 June 2015, in London. The film aims to create awareness among civil aviation […]


July 8, 2015

Civil aviation unions plan fight against damaging impact of FOCs

Forty-one of the ITF’s civil aviation affiliates from 22 countries agreed on 26 July to develop a global union strategy with strong national and regional pillars to fight against the damaging impact of the growing use of flags of convenience (FOCs) in the aviation industry. The previous day, they had participated in an industry-wide conference […]


July 2, 2015

Zero-hour pilot contracts threaten air safety, says study (euractiv.com)

Airlines are increasingly using zero-hour contracts, pay-to-fly schemes, and temporary employment agencies based outside the EU to hire pilots and cut costs, practices which undermine passenger safety and social standards, a report by the University of Ghent has found. According to the report, which was financed by the European Commission, airlines have turned to “creative […]


February 18, 2015

DOT should reject Norwegian Air’s foreign air carrier application (thehill.com)

By John A. Logan The Department of Transportation (DOT) will soon decide whether or not to grant controversial low-cost airline Norwegian Air International (NAI) a foreign air carrier permit to fly to the U.S. NAI is seeking to establish a “flag of convenience” model in transatlantic aviation, just as has been done in merchant shipping […]


January 28, 2015