Association of Flight Attendants-CWA

Washington, D.C. (May 12, 2016) – Flight Attendants and hundreds of aviation workers rallied in front of the White House, calling on the Obama administration to enforce trade agreements and deny Norwegian Air International's (NAI) foreign air carrier permit. NAI's model is designed with the sole intention to avoid strong labor laws.

"This tentative decision by the Department of Transportation threatens thousands of aviation jobs and creates a race to the bottom in the industry," said Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA). "The DOT's failure to enforce labor provisions in the U.S.-EU Open Skies agreement sends a message to workers: everything matters except you. The White House needs to fix this now for 300,000 aviation workers, our families and the communities where we live and work."

The DOT's public comment period on the NAI application is open through May 16. Additionally, bi-partisan legislation in the House (H.R. 5090) aims to enforce the high labor standards negotiated in the E.U.-U.S. Open Skies agreement.

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The Association of Flight Attendants is the world’s largest Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for 70 years. Serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working conditions. Nearly 50,000 Flight Attendants come together to form AFA, part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org.