Bloomberg British Airways (BA) faces a coordinated campaign for bigger salary increases from pilots, cabin crew and ground staff in a challenge to its efforts to beat down costs. The British Airline Pilots Association, Unite and GMB unions are seeking BA’s first-ever joint pay deal, they said in a statement. The three-year plan would feature settlements above inflation, bonuses that ...
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US discount-airline mogul steps in to rescue Wow Air
Bloomberg US private-equity firm Indigo Partners agreed to invest an undisclosed sum in Iceland’s Wow Air Hf, breathing new life into the discount carrier just hours after another suitor walked away. Indigo is led by William Franke, who has founded or invested in low-fare carriers around the globe. Terms of the preliminary agreement weren’t disclosed in a statement from the ...
Read More »Brexit uncertainty starting to hurt bookings, say airlines
Bloomberg After two years of insisting that Brexit has had no impact on flight bookings, UK airlines are starting to see the first evidence to suggest sales are taking a hit. Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. and discount operator Jet2 have said demand is being depressed by the weaker pound, a trend that could deepen as UK political opposition threatens to ...
Read More »Airlines’ stocks jump as Spirit Air boosts optimism
Bloomberg Airline stocks extended this month’s rebound, outperforming the broader market after Spirit Airlines Inc.’s upbeat outlook suggested the industry’s turnaround may be gaining momentum. Spirit surged as much as 22 percent, the most on record, and the S&P Supercomposite Airlines Industry Index was up nearly 2 percent. The S&P 500 Index was little changed. The airline index, which does ...
Read More »Faulty Lion Air jet sensor not fixed before crash, finds report
Bloomberg A malfunctioning sensor at the centre of the investigation into the October 29 crash of a Lion Air jetliner into the Java Sea wasn’t repaired before the fatal flight even though it had failed on the plane’s previous trip, according to a preliminary investigative report. A mechanic worked on other sensors and equipment during a night shift before the ...
Read More »South African suppliers slash payment periods
Bloomberg South African Airways’s suppliers are slashing payment periods to reduce the risk of losing out from a collapse of the troubled state carrier, which is struggling to pay lenders 5 billion rand ($361 million) due by the end of this month. Companies with contracts with SAA are cutting settlement terms to seven days from 21 days as the creditor ...
Read More »Airbus may drop jetliners position, concentrating power in new CEO
Bloomberg Airbus SE could opt to drop the role of commercial aviation chief when incumbent Guillaume Faury is promoted to lead the entire company next year, simplifying the group’s structure amid an ongoing fraud probe. The move would concentrate power in the hands of Faury as chief executive officer and reinforce the idea that the jetliners arm — where most ...
Read More »Winter storm snarls post-Thankgiving travel in midwest US
Bloomberg A winter storm moving across the Central Plains towards the Great Lakes disrupted air travel in Chicago and other cities on the busiest travel day of the year. The storm has blizzard-like conditions and is bringing gusty winds and 6 to 10 inches of snow that will stretch from Kansas City to Chicago, said Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster ...
Read More »Lion Air pilots battled confusing malfunctions before crash
Bloomberg The Lion Air pilots whose plane nosedived into the Java Sea in October, killing all those aboard, were battling multiple malfunctions almost as soon as the doomed flight began, according to a trove of new data released by Indonesian investigators. They faced a cacophony of warnings that started seconds after takeoff and continued for the remaining 11 minutes before ...
Read More »China mulls tax cut for parts to aid home-built aircraft
Bloomberg China is discussing a plan to cut tariffs on plane parts imported for domestically developed commercial aircraft, a person familiar with the matter said, a move that may also benefit suppliers such as General Electric Co. and Honeywell International Inc. The Finance Ministry proposal, being reviewed by the State Council, could win approvals in a few weeks, the person ...
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