Category: Top Stories

British Airways (BA) is seeking a high court injunction to stop a potential pilots’ strike with a hearing due in the high court on Tuesday morning. The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) has rejected a pay offer for BA pilots of 11.5% set over three years, despite Unite and GMB trade unions acting for BA in other roles recommending its acceptance. 93% of the carrier’s 4,000 pilots voted in favor of strike action which has been penciled in to commence August 7, peak summer holiday period for travelers. Legally, BALPA must give BA at least two weeks’ notice of any Read more

British Airways announced on Saturday that it was canceling all flights to Cairo with immediate effect for a period of seven days “as a precaution to allow for further assessment.” The U.K.’s Foreign Office has warned travelers to Egypt that “There’s a heightened risk of terrorism against aviation. Additional security measures are in place for flights departing from Egypt to the U.K.” Though no further and more specific reasons were given for the flight cancelations, Lufthansa, which operates flights from Cairo to Munich and Frankfurt, said it was also suspending flights until Sunday, citing “an unclear security situation”. On Friday, Read more

Low-cost Irish carrier Ryanair has announced it is halving its growth plans for 2020 as a consequence of the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX jet. As one of Boeings largest customers, Ryanair was anticipating having 58 of the single-aisle jets delivered and operational by summer next year. However, in a statement by company CEO Michael O’Leary, Ryanair anticipates that deliveries of the jet, grounded since March after a second fatal air crash, would be unlikely to recommence before December. As the carrier can only process five to six new aircraft per month and does not accept deliveries during the Read more

Having previously cut the Boeing 737 MAX from its schedule until September 3, United Airlines (United) announced on Friday it has now removed the grounded jet from its operational schedule up until November 3, a month longer than several other North American carriers whose fleets include the troubled jet. “United has gone to great lengths to minimize the impact on our customers’ travel plans,” the airline commented. “We’ve used spare aircraft and other creative solutions to help our customers, who had been scheduled to travel on one of our MAX aircraft, get where they are going.” When the grounding first Read more