Congress

Air traffic in the United States has steadily grown since the end of the recession, and recent projections by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) predict that it will continue to grow by an average of 2.2 percent each year over the next two decades. By 2034, the FAA forecasts, “U.S. commercial air carriers are projected […]

After years of dysfunction in DC, we may finally be having a moment of clarity on the need to tackle our nation’s shameful infrastructure financing deficit. Spurred by low gas prices and a Highway Trust Fund (yet again) facing insolvency in a few short months, leaders on both sides of the aisle spent the first […]

Norwegian Air Cites Supportive Language In Omnibus As published by Tom Curry in Roll Call Advisors to Norwegian Air International contacted me Wednesday to point out that I had neglected in my post on the omnibus spending bill to note an important paragraph which, they say, supports Norwegian’s argument that the Department of Transportation ought to issue […]

WASHINGTON, D.C.—TTD President Edward Wytkind issued the following statement today about the proposed government funding bill: “Norwegian Air International’s (NAI) attempt to introduce a job-killing ‘flag of convenience’ model in the U.S. aviation market suffered another blow today. Despite lobbying efforts by NAI, Congress included language in the proposed FY 2015 spending bill that ensures […]

On behalf of hundreds of thousands U.S. aviation workers, we ask that you include the House-passed Westmoreland-DeFazio amendment language in any year-end appropriations measure.  This provision, included in the FY 2015 Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD), simply requires the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to ensure that the U.S.-EU Open Skies Agreement is implemented in full accordance with U.S. law and terms and conditions of the agreement.  An identical amendment was also introduced by Senators Klobuchar (D-MN), Blunt (R-MO), Schatz (D-HI) and Moran (R-KS) and other Senators prior to consideration of the Senate FY 2015 THUD bill.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—TTD President Edward Wytkind issued the following statement today on the Howard Coble Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2014: “We are pleased that congressional negotiators have reached an agreement on the Coast Guard’s 2014 Reauthorization bill and urge the House and Senate to approve this legislation before Congress adjourns for the year. This […]

U.S., EU Officials Meet On Norwegian Air Controversy As published by Tom Curry in Roll Call Transportation Department and State Department officials met Tuesday with representatives of the European Union to discuss why the Transportation Department hasn’t yet decided on an application for a foreign air carrier permit from Norwegian Air International (NAI), the Ireland-based […]

How strongly do members of Congress feel that Norwegian Air International (NAI)’s application for a foreign air carrier permit should be denied? Yesterday, on the eve of a U.S.-European Commission (EC) Joint Committee meeting to discuss the NAI case, 188 House members, led by Reps. Chris Collins (R-NY) and Albio Sires (D-NJ), delivered an unambiguous […]

This election cycle, Americans have a decision to make. Either we can choose to elect those who have proven themselves to have the courage and the foresight to make decisions with the long-term benefit of working people in mind, or we can elect those who are too shortsighted and too captive to special interests to […]

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I would like to express our strong support for the Invest in American Jobs Act of 2014 and thank you for your leadership on this critical issue. By strengthening and improving Buy America standards, this important legislation will ensure that investments in our nation’s transportation infrastructure will grow and sustain domestic manufacturing and the millions of jobs the sector supports.