The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), which represents the crew of 17 airlines, has entered into a pre-hire agreement with Norwegian budget airline Norse Atlantic Airways for at least 700 flight attendant jobs in the US.
Airlines are ramping up the hiring of pilots and flight attendants ahead of an expected boom in air travel, as economies open up and vaccination efforts expand.
The contract with Norse Atlantic includes job protection, healthcare and 401k retirement accounts, among other key benefits, the US-based union and the company said in a joint statement.
Norse will maintain these jobs in the US and protect against furloughs if flight attendants are also employed outside of the US, the contract, subject to ratification by the flight attendants, stated.
Norse said that the deal with the union will give it "even more urgency" to seek all regulatory approvals to start operations "as soon as possible".
Hoping To Fill The Gap Left By Norwegian Air
Norse Atlantic hopes to fill a gap left by Norwegian Air, which offered low-cost transatlantic flights but was forced to trim down its operations due to mounting debt in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic leaving it to focus on Nordic and European routes.
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