US: House panel votes to clip wings of future airline deals like Norwegian

Norwegian Air International might not have won approval to serve the US under legislation a House panel approved Tuesday. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee agreed by voice vote to add a provision dealing with foreign airlines to a bill governing the FAA. The provision would prohibit the transportation secretary from approving any foreign airline service to the US if the carrier is established in a country other than its majority owner. Rep. Frank LoBiondo said the provision "would fix a terrible decision made by the Obama administration" by clarifying the enforcement of existing law governing foreign airline service to the US. The DoT approved Norwegian's application to serve the US in December after an unusual 3-year review. <br/>