“It has nothing to do with labor costs,” Kjos told the International Aviation Club. “I didn’t even look at the labor laws in Ireland when I was setting up [NAI].”
Veering away from his prepared text, Kjos gave a spirited and free-wheeling defense of NAI’s application to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for a foreign carrier permit to serve the US from the European Union. The application has been pending since February and faces opposition from US airline unions and US and European mainline carriers. Kjos said NAI will offer Americans low fares on transatlantic flights, bring Asian tourists to the US and create jobs in the US.
“You shouldn’t be fighting [NAI],” Kjos said. “We are providing low fares to Americans and we fly [US manufactured Boeing 787] Dreamliners.”
He said Norwegian would continue to aggressively push for DOT to approve NAI’s application. “We know how to fight back against slanderous campaigns,” Kjos said, adding that “it costs us a fortune for every day we don’t get approval.”
He said DOT is going against US economic interests by not approving NAI’s application. Once NAI gains regulatory clearance, it will “need many more [Boeing] aircraft and hire more crews at [New York] JFK. We will need to set up crew bases in Los Angeles.”
Kjos pushed back hard against claims that NAI would be unsafe, saying Norwegian 787 pilots average 13,000 hours of flight time. “We have probably the most experienced crew in the world,” he said. “Are they unsafe?” He added that “Irish [safety] inspectors are very skilled inspectors” and follow all European Union (EU) flight safety regulations.
Kjos reiterated that NAI is based in Ireland because Norway is too isolated to serve as the base for a global long-haul network. “I can’t run an operation with 787s from Oslo,” he said. “That is why I need an EU license. We need a foothold in the EU. I need access to all the cities in Europe. [With an EU base], I can fly Americans cheap to China, to Singapore, to Africa. I can fly Asians to the United States.”
Kjos said US pilots “have nothing to fear” from NAI and US airlines shouldn’t shy away from competition on transatlantic routes. “Competition is the brand-mark of the US,” he said. “That’s why you’re the best nation in the world. So start competing, I say to everyone trying to stop us.”
He added, “I promise you one thing: We will give you low fares across the Atlantic. Right now [the transatlantic market] is dominated by the three alliances. And guess who is trying to stop us.”
(Aaron Karp - ATWOnline News)
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