Introduction
Norwegian Air International’s permit from the United States government to fly to the US directly is beneficial for both governments and their people. While there are arguments against their operations in the United States and the larger global airlines business, these operations are bound to benefit all parties involved. That includes the United States, Europe, and the customers in general. The US Airlines and US Pilot Unions may be against the presence of an airline with a foreign name in their country,y but the step by the Obama administration to grant the Norwegian carrier a permit to operate in the US is set to benefit the United States more than any other country. As Norwegian Air International argues, everything it is doing is in line with the vision of the American economy (Belko, 2017). In the long haul, the tough stance from the American populace against the Norwegian carrier will fade once it realizes the benefits of allowing Norwegian Air International to operate in the United States.
The Open Skies Agreement
The Open Skies Agreement is an agreement between the United States and the European Union in the aviation industry. According to the Open Skies Agreement, any airline from either the European Union or the United States can fly between any point in the two regions. The Obama administration cited this agreement in permitting Norwegian Air International to fly between the two regions. Given that Norwegian is not in violation of any of the provisions of the Open Skies Agreement, the idea that the permit should be withdrawn is baseless. It thus follows that the parties alleging that Norwegian violates the Open Skies Agreement are simply making speculations as far as the entry of this airline into the United States market goes (Bloomberg, 2017).
Building America
The biggest fear expressed by those against the permit given to Norwegian Air International and Norwegian Air Shuttle to operate in the United States has been that it will take away American jobs by introducing practices that have protected American airlines for a long time. However, this point of view has been mostly based on speculation and nothing substantial (Daugherty, 2017). First off, Norwegian Air International uses everything American. Its crew and staff are all American, its flight is all Boeing (which is an American company), and it is playing by the American rules. According to Lars Sande, the senior vice president of sales for Norwegian, the airline is strictly adhering to the laws of the American state and doing what the Trump administration wants. Trump hit the road campaigning with the slogan of building America through using products from local companies and hiring local employees. To both needs, the airline has met them even better than some natively American firms.
More Flights
Upon securing the permit to operate from the United States, Norwegian Air International quickly sought to increase the number of flights between the European Union and the United States. The first route to be introduced was that between Rhode Island and New York to Norway. Many other routes are to be opened up by the new entrant. This has many benefits to the United States, the European Union, and the business community as a whole. It will open up new destinations where business people and tourists alike can fly directly to and from. The result is that new business opportunities between the two main regions will be easier to exploit due to accessibility (Higgins, 2017). Transport in general will be improved immensely. The notion that the new entrant will mess up the American economyist thus an erroneous one at best.
Lower Fares
The one advantage of having more players in any given market is the reduction in the prices of the commodity in question. It is thus obvious that customers will have more options to choose from with the presence of Norwegian in the American skies. For this reason, prices are bound to go down as much as economically possible (Lieberman, 2017). Norwegian Air International has already demonstrated that lower prices in the aviation industry are possible. Soon after having its permit to operate in the US was approved, it introduced flights of just $65 from the United States to the European nations of Ireland and the United Kingdom. WOW Air, which is based in Iceland, quickly matched the prices with $69.99 fares between Europe and California. Other airlines will follow suit with this routine, with the customer being the biggest beneficiary. As long as the competition is based on fair practices, Norwegian should not be denied its permit to continue operating in the United States and beyond.
Improving the Aviation Industry
Most of the American parties that are opposed to the issuing of a permit to Norwegian Air International think that the new entrant will play foul and thus destroy the American aviation industry. They say that the introduction of lower fares will, in the long term,m lead to the loss of employment for American citizens and erode any profits previously enjoyed by American Airlines. The truth is that the entry of Norwegian Air into the competition fray means that it will force American Airlines to restructure so that it can keep its profits flowing. To begin with, Norwegian Air is a smaller player compared to the likes of Delta, American Airlines, and other American airline giants (Mouawad, 2016). If the new entrantmakese their operations more efficient, the move is a welcome one.
Major Government Shakeups
The biggest fear for American airlines is that new entrants such as Norwegian will have an upper hand in the race for customers (and profits) because their home countries have imposed fewer regulations than those in the United States (Mulliga & O’Donovan, 2017). The first step was thus seeking the withholding of the permit awarded to Norwegian Air by the Obama government. However, after the Trump administration found no basis to revoke the permit, it found out that the solution was not fear of competition but making the playground for American airlines to compete favorably as well. The result has been that the Trump administration has chosen to provide tax relief, lower the amount of regulation, and generally improve the infrastructure. While the aim will be to help the aviation industry stand its ground against the competition, the result of these steps will be the improvement of the economy as a whwhole all thanks to the entry of Norwegian Air into America.
Legal Backing
American unions in the aviation industry went to court to have the permit issued to Norwegian Air withhe,ld with the reason that the new airline would lower working conditions for the cabin crew and pilots by introducing lower wages and other aspects. The parties have so far failed to prove their point before the US Department of Transportation (DOT) in court proceedings (Peterson, 2017). The US DOT released a statement to the effect that the American unions were basing their argument on assumptions that cannot be proven at all. It should be remembered that this is a statement coming from the Trump administration, which, compared to the Obama administration that issued the permit to Norwegian Air, is more protectionist in nature. As such, there is nothing to fear since the argument from the American unions largely reads of the intent to protect their profits under the pretense of protecting the economy.
Opening Up America
Each country has the right to protect its own industries from unfair competition from companies in other nations. Most companies from foreign nations have the routine of employing practices that help them gain an advantage over the local firms. When Norwegian Air International made its entry into America, this was the general perception. The main opposition was that it would bring about practices that would undermine the progress made by American Airlines in terms of quality and pricing. However, Norwegian Air has so far played by the American rules and managed to offer more flights and at lower prices than the local firms (Silk, 2017). If any other foreign airlines enter the United States and play by the government regulations and still manage to provide better air transport to and from the country, it will only serve to open up America to the rest of the world at lower costs. Even American citizens will agree that there is no problem with lower air fares, more routes, and a more liberal aviation industry.
Conclusion
The case of the Norwegian Air International firm and the American aviation industry is an intriguing one, given the many ways in which it underlines the relations and differences between the United States and the European Union. On one hand, it is a perfectly legal move for the United States Department of Transportation to issue a permit to Norwegian Air to operate from the United States (Zamona, 2017). On the other hand, it is a regional issuethath may face many hurdles given the many differences between the two regions. Economically and legally, however, the move is a positive one since it opens up both regions and shakes up the aviation industry, which is dominated by a few large players.
References
Belko, M., 2017. As Norwegian Air invades the U.S., Pittsburgh sees its chance for flights to London.
Bloomberg, 2017. Trump promises airlines new infrastructure and less regulation.
Daugherty, A., 2017. Airline pilots want Donald Trump’s help to stop European competition.
Higgins, S., 2017. Trump meets with pilot unions on permit for Norwegian Air.
Lieberman, M., 2017. Norwegian Air Just Got U.S. Approval, and That Could Mean Cheaper Flights to Europe.
Mouawad, J., 2016. Norwegian Airlines Gets Initial Approval for More U.S. Flights.
Mulligan, J. & O’Donovan, D., 2017. Trump team backs Norwegian Air in row over US flights.
Peterson, B., 2017. Norwegian Air to Launch Flights from U.S. to Rome for $189.
Silk, R., 2017. DOT approves Norwegian Air’s U.K. permit.
Zamona, M., 2017. Aviation groups sue Obama ad over Norwegian Air decision.
