Skift Take
Norwegian's critics say it is overstretched and unprofitable. So how does the airline counter this? By ramping up its expansion, of course.
Last year was very, very bad for Norwegian Air. The airline swung from a pre-tax profit of $194 million in 2016 to a loss of $137 million in 2017.
“We are not at all satisfied with the 2017 results,” CEO Bjorn Kjos said earlier this week.
Despite operating since the early 2000s, Norwegian is still acting like a start-up: burning lots of cash on an aggressive expansion plan with the hope of achieving sufficient scale later.
Part of the problem last year for Norwegian was that it needed to bring in more people to fly its ever-increasing number of planes.
"Obviously you need to build up a network and it takes time, and there aren’t any certified and available 787 pilots – it means that you have to train them. Last year we took in more than 600 pilots and that is not free… you have to do it," Kjos told journalists at a media event in London before the r
