Norwegian Air Will Hire U.S. Pilots After Accusations of Flouting Labor Standards
Photo Credit: Norwegian Air, which has long had U.S.-based flight attendants, will soon hire U.S. pilots. They will fly the Boeing 787, and they will be based in Fort Lauderdale. Norwegian Air
Skift Take
Considering how tight the labor supply is, and how much U.S. pilot unions dislike Norwegian Air, it will be interesting to see how many applications the airline receives. Then again, pilots love flying big modern jets, and the Boeing 787 is about as good as it gets.
Norwegian Air Shuttle has a new defense against critics such as the Air Line Pilots Association, which criticize it for flouting U.S. and European labor practices. The carrier said Monday it soon will hire U.S. pilots, basing them in Fort Lauderdale.
Plans call for the airline to start small, first hiring enough pilots to staff one Boeing 787. Norwegian said it seeks to hire nine captains, five relief captains and nine first officers, plus one pilot to handle administrative duties. Norwegian said it will pay to help pilots meet European standards, and suggested it plans to hire many more American pilots eventually. Norwegian already hires Americans as flight attendants, and they are based in Fort Lauderdale and New York.
>> Related: Norwegian Air CEO Interview: Regulators and Airlines Are Afraid of Us
Norwegian claims it will be the first European airline to hire U.S.-based pi
