Norwegian Air Shuttle is recruiting and hiring American pilots for its crew base at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
The low-cost airline has stated its goal is to hire a “large pool” of American pilots over the next few years to ensure adequate staffing for its aircraft delivery schedule, which includes 31 Boeing Dreamliner aircraft set to join the fleet. The jobs advertised include Captains, Relief Captains and First Officers on its B787 fleet.
“Hiring American pilots for our long-haul operation has been one of Norwegian’s goals since launching our trans-Atlantic service three years ago, and we are thrilled that we are finally able to do so,” said Asgeir Nyseth, the chief operating officer. “With the delivery of 31 additional Boeing Dreamliners over the next few years, Norwegian is excited to be adding American pilots to our ever-growing workforce.”
Norwegian is currently the only European airline to hire US-based pilots, Nyseth added.
For its Fort Lauderdale pilots’ base, the carrier is aiming to hire a minimum of 24 crew members to support operations of one Dreamliner aircraft, a spokesman Anders Lindstrom said. That will include one base captain, nine captains, five relief captains and nine first officers.
“We will start with a pilot’s base in Fort Lauderdale, but the ambition, of course, is to grow and also have more pilot bases in the U.S.,” Lindstrom said. “Recruitment is already in place, with job ads just out, and we aim to have them working during the first six months of 2017.” The airline has received nearly 100 applications for the pilots’ jobs, which will offer competitive salaries, Lindstrom added.
“Continuing our US expansion is one of the key factors to Norwegian’s global strategy, and we want to be able to support the local market and stimulate those economies as much as we possibly can,” Nyseth said. “We are still looking at opening more crew bases across the U.S., and depending on the success of the American pilots in Fort Lauderdale, we’ll include pilots in each of those new bases as well.”
Information on the pilot jobs can be found here.
