The European Commission (EC) is set to seek arbitration to settle a dispute between Norwegian Air International (Dublin International) and the United States over the latter's protracted dalliance in awarding the former a Foreign Air Carrier's Permit (FACP).
Sources who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc had sent a letter to US Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx informing him of the EC's decision to resolve the impasse through arbitration.
The Norwegian (Oslo Gardermoen) subsidiary applied for the permit over two years ago with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) only recently giving it a provisional greenlight.
The application has faced stiff resistance from legacy carriers and trade unions on both sides of the Atlantic. Arguments against the awarding of an FACP to the Irish-flagged carrier are based on claims that its practice of employing cabin crew outsourced from a third-party company domiciled in Singapore, rather than directly employing personnel itself, would undermine the terms of the US-EU open Skies treaty and would violate the DOT’s statutory public interest goal of encouraging fair wages and working conditions.
The DOT has, however, countered that that point of argument is insufficient grounds to reject an application for an FACP from an airline that is otherwise qualified, under the terms of the Open Skies treaty, to receive one.
