NAI

Norwegian Air Shuttle is a low-cost carrier, and the third largest one in Europe. Norwegian air has a non-stop flight from the US to Scandinavia.  They have 416 routes to 126 different destinations ranging from Europe, Africa, Middle East, USA, and Asia. Their fleet consists of Boeing 737’s and 787’s currently.

US carriers are opposed to NAI operating in the US, because they are simply trying to undercut and fly routes for cheap.  They are “scabbing” the industry and if they get a hold of routes in the US, it could eventually drive US carriers flying US routes to become extinct and only be done by foreign airlines.  That is an extreme condition but it’s possible that it could happen if NAI is able to operate within the US.

I absolutely agree with the decision of the DOT to deny NAI to operate in the US.  It would drive “our” airliners out of business and become a major problem.  These companies have employees willing to work for little pay, have different regulations ranging from rules to maintenance, etc. Not only would a company like NAI be stealing our routes, but they would also need to start having hangars, mechanics, and bases over here in the US, driving out other US companies besides just airlines. If NAI was granted permission to fly in the US a major ramification that would happen to our industry is US Airliners would have a very difficult time competing, rules and regulations would have to be changed.  The industry would start from a slow change to a major change as more foreign airlines came and gained US routes until no US airliner was able to fly a route.

http://www.norwegian.com/us/about-norwegian/our-company/

UAVs

           UAVs are currently being used with our military for spying airstrikes.  I don’t exactly know if UAVs are regulated but after looking up some information I found that UAVs are restricted to fly in certain areas only by the government and are highly regulated only to be used by the military on the scale of bigger bomb equipped drones. 

            I do see UAVs being integrated into the NAS, it’s just a matter of time to see when it will exactly happen in the future.  Problems I see resulting from this are simple issues that may have to be worked out in the beginning like communications with ATC which I don’t see as that big of deal.  What I find to be a big deal and an issue are the “what ifs”.  What if the aircraft loses signal or malfunction and someone needs to control it from the plane.  What if the aircraft gets hijacked through our defense system, etc. People and the general public will really have to be trusting to hop on an airplane that is controlled by a guy sitting in a basement.

            UAVs have transformed military strategy by not risking a well-invested military pilot for risky missions.  UAVs, though expensive, can be spared over an American pilot and his fighter jet or bomber.  UAVs are also a lot smaller, therefore giving them the possibility to be able to fly a lot quieter and higher in the air making them less recognizable. Their consideration has been beneficial I would say.  UAVs do coast a lot of money, yes, but from a financial reason, they may be cheaper by the time you compare all the training coasts invested into an F16 pilot and the coasts invested into a UAV and Pilot for that.  UAVs I find to be ethical as well, I don’t see why they wouldn’t be.  They can perform missions and if something goes wrong, it’s better then losing a human being.

            Most UAV jobs that I found were all for the military, but there were a few UAV jobs with major companies like Grumman, Lockheed, Boeing, and Airbus on the internet that I found.  I don’t know if they were exactly for UAV pilots but they requested UAV pilot experience.  They seemed to be more geared towards research and development jobs.

https://ngc.taleo.net/careersection/ngc_pro/jobdetail.ftl?job=671247&src=JB-10200