Airline agrees not to use cut-price contracts on US flights

Both Norwegian Air International and the aviation regulator have confirmed the airline has guaranteed not to hire crew on cut-price contracts to man transatlantic flights from the Republic and Europe.

The airline, an Irish-registered subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle, wants to run services from Cork and Shannon to Boston as part of a plan to offer flights from Europe, the US and Far East from €300.

However, the US Department of Transportation has delayed granting the airline a licence, for two years, as unions and politicians there fear that it will hire Asian crews, so it can pay them far less than American and European staff.

Employment contracts

Norwegian Air Shuttle’s chief executive

Tore Jenssen

and flight operations director,

Godfrey Higgins

, wrote to Cork South-West TD

Jim Daly

, this week saying that all crew will be hired under employment contracts governed by the laws of the European countries in which they are based.

The Irish Aviation Authority's (IAA) head of corporate affairs, Donal Handley, also wrote to Mr Daly saying that in June Norwegian Air International guaranteed the US Department of Transportation that it will only hire US or European citizens as cabin crew on all transatlantic services.

Similar concerns

Norwegian and the IAA were responding to a letter from the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) which raised similar concerns to its US counterparts. Pilot unionpresident

Evan Cullen

, said the IAA’s letter was the first his organisation had heard of Norwegian’s guarantee to the US department.

If Norwegian Air Shuttle gets approval, it will begin flights from Cork and Shannon to Boston this year .