Says It Is How The Open Skies Agreement Is Supposed to Work

The Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association (SWAPA) has released a statement commending the U.S. DOT for granting an exemption to Dreamjet, a startup airline based in France.

"The rapid approval of Dreamjet's application is applauded by the pilots of Southwest Airlines," said Captain Paul Jackson, SWAPA Governmental Affairs Chairman. "We agree with the DOT that Dreamjet is fit to serve the EU-US market under the terms of the Open Skies agreement."

This approval for Dreamjet is in contrast to the application for a foreign carrier exemption on file with the DOT by Norwegian Air International (NAI).  The pilots of Southwest Airlines have opposed the application of NAI from early in the process based on their flag of convenience strategy and usurping of labor laws with the offshoring of crews.

"We continue to oppose NAI and at the same time applaud the DOT for recognizing EU carriers that comply with the rules and grant them entry to a fair and equitable market," Jackson continued.

Dreamjet is set to launch five weekly flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and New York Newark Liberty airport on July 11 with a Boeing 757-200 configured with 74 business class seats.

FMI: www.swapa.org