‘Assurance on pay could unlock Cork-US flight dispute’

A US pilots’ union which is at loggerheads with Norwegian Air International over plans for a transatlantic flight out of Cork said that the airline could swiftly unlock the near three-year-old dispute by offering US regulators an assurance over its pay plans.

The Washington-based Air Line Pilots Association opposes final clearance by the US authorities because it says that the airline’s Cork proposal breaks the Open Skies agreement and threatens to shred existing airline pay and conditions on both sides of the Atlantic.

Tim Canoll, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, said the pilots have secured the support of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, but stressed it wants to secure agreement because the Government and the Cork region have staked so much on the route.