United pilots pressure President Trump over Norwegian Air

United pilots want tough action from President Donald Trump. Captain Todd Insler, chairman of the United Airlines pilots' Master Executive Council, fired off a letter to Trump late last week asking him to make good on what 12,500 United pilots who belong to the Air Line Pilots Association maintain were grossly wrongheaded moves made by the Obama administration. Specifically, Insler requested that Trump immediately set about strictly enforcing the text of the Open Skies agreement with the EU that was inked in 2007 during the George W. Bush presidency presumably to create a level playing field among US-based and European airlines. In particular, United wants to squelch growth in the US by upstart Norwegian Air Shuttle, a fast-growing, Norway-based carrier that United pilots argue has circumvented the Open Skies agreement with low-ball labor contracts not available to US carriers. Those Norwegian Air labour contracts, as United pilots know all too well, have allowed Norwegian to substantially undercut trans-Atlantic fares available on United, as well as other US-based competitors and most European carriers. The former Obama administration allowed Norwegian to gain a foothold in the US. Insler believes Trump's campaign message trumpeting his desire to represent American workers and US-based companies in trade policies will help the president see the Norwegian Air threat in a different light than did Obama.<br/>