Rory Conan Williams set out from Alaska more than 25 days ago, intending to sail down the coast to his mother in San Diego. But the experienced 45-year-old sailor headed out on a boat with an engine that didn't work — and hasn't been seen since.
27.07.2023 - 18:38 / smartertravel.com
Pilots from Southwest and American Airlines are rallied at the White House today in the hopes of blocking Norwegian Air’s planned expansion in the U.S., reports the Dallas Business Journal.
The unions contend Norwegian will “hire less expensive Asian flight crews instead of Americans and will use an Irish subsidiary to circumvent labor and safety regulations.”
Chip Hancock, the governmental affairs chairman for the Southwest union, told The Dallas Morning News that “the unions were engaged in conversations with the Trump administration throughout the transition,” and were working to get the president’s attention on the matter.
Related:Coming: Cheaper Flights to Europe, but Mind the RestrictionsThe unions are clearly counting on Trump’s populist tendencies, and perhaps on his desire to sell himself as some kind of job-saving miracle worker.
“We are hearing that the message is getting through,” Hancock told the Morning News. “We feel like … if we can just get through the noise, that this issue is an easy win for the president and American workers that falls right in line with what he’s done so far.”
As we noted last week, the dispute over Norwegian’s service focuses on language from the Open Skies agreements the U.S. negotiates with other countries, which states that “opportunities created by the agreement are not intended to undermine labor standards.”
The argument against Norwegian is that setting up a subsidiary in Ireland allows the airline to do exactly that. Of course, Norwegian already serves the U.S. through its Norway-based subsidiary, and would not necessarily begin flying U.S. routes with the Ireland one. The DOT recently approved service via the Ireland subsidiary, but opponents are trying to get that decision overturned.
“We’re very encouraged by President Trump’s outreach to labor yesterday, and we look forward to him taking a look at this issue and the mantra he ran on of taking care of the American worker and American jobs,” said Mike Panebianco, vice president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association.
It’s not clear if, or how, this expansion would harm the American worker. In October, Norwegian said it would look to hire U.S. pilots and claimed it would be the first European airline to do so. The airline also says setting up a subsidiary in Ireland isn’t about cheating labor or tax laws, but simply granting access to far more destinations than one based in Norway, since Norway is’nt a member of the EU.
“There is no validity whatsoever to our opponents’ claims that Norwegian’s expansion will lead to fewer American jobs as the real facts show the complete opposite,” Norwegian Air spokesman Anders Lindstrom said in a statement. “In short, no other foreign airline invests more in
Rory Conan Williams set out from Alaska more than 25 days ago, intending to sail down the coast to his mother in San Diego. But the experienced 45-year-old sailor headed out on a boat with an engine that didn't work — and hasn't been seen since.
In a first for a U.S. airline loyalty program, Alaska Airlines is offering members of its Mileage Plan program the option to redeem miles to pay for TSA PreCheck service.
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Alaska Airlines is justly lauded for its Mileage Plan loyalty program, which among other features boasts 17 airline partners, allowing program members to earn and redeem miles for flights throughout the world.
Until yesterday, American Airlines customers dismayed at the airline’s August 1 pivot to a spend-based mileage program had a fallback option: Earn miles for their American flights in Alaska Airlines’ Mileage Plan program, which still awards miles the old-fashioned way, according to the distance flown.
By traditional measures, Alaska Airlines is a carrier of decidedly modest size, even after its acquisition of Virgin America. Its own flight network is small, compared to those of American, Delta, and United. And it’s not a member of one of the three global airline alliances.
When American Airlines merged with US Airways, American’s disgruntled unions were unanimous in their support for what amounted to a hostile takeover of the much-larger American by Doug Parker and his mid-sized US Airways.
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You probably saw (or experienced) the airport protests and delays this weekend following President Donald Trump’s executive order to ban nationals traveling to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority nations. But what do the American people think of the new travel measure?