Republic of Ireland regulators last week gave approval to Norwegian Air Shuttle to base a long-haul subsidiary in Dublin to service trans-Atlantic destinations in the U.S.
The move was expected.
So was the reaction.
Norwegian has not only drawn the ire of U.S.-based airlines over its plans, but its home country of Norway is less than thrilled as well.
Here are five ways Norwegian Air isn't exactly everybody's airline buddy right now.
5. Norwegian will be basing its long-haul operations in Dublin. It has no interest in actually flying into or out of Dublin. The move, critics say, is generally seen as a safe harbor that allows the airline to circumvent labor laws in Scandanavian countries, hence Norway's displeasure.
4. And what labor laws are those? Well, Norwegian is a low-cost carrier and it plans to employ that strategy on its new trans-Atlantic flights by hiring "freelancers" - pilots and crew based in the U.S. and Thailand that can and will work for far less money than union pilots. More than one critic has dubbed Norwegian Air "Air WalMart."
3. As a result, the Air Line Pilots Association and other union groups are angry. And Delta, American and United airlines, respectively, have already written the Department of Transportation claiming that Norwegian is skirting labor laws.
2. In the end, though, this all comes down to money. U.S. airlines are claiming a competitive disadvantage could result from Norwegian implementing more trans-Atlantic flights to U.S. cities than it does now. In fact, a recent New York Times story found that the cheapest flight on a U.S.-based carrier between New York and Oslo in May was $895 on United. Norwegian has the same flight for $599.
1. Even more competition could emerge for the trans-Atlantic flight dollar. The decision regarding Norwegian could set a precedent and challenge the Open-Skies Aviation Treaty between the United States and the European Union. When you start throwing around words like 'monopoly', everybody gets a little skittish.
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