Category: Top Stories

Struggling SAS averts further strike as pilots agree to new pay deal

SAS ©AirTeamImages

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has managed to avert further damaging strike action as Norwegian, Danish and Swedish members of the pilots’ unions have voted to accept a collective bargaining agreement that was reached last month. In July the loss-making Scandinavian carrier had to cancel 3,700 flights during a financially disastrous 15-day strike which is estimated to have cost SAS over US$145 million during what would normally be one of the most profitable periods of the year. While the new deal involves lower wages and longer hours for pilots, SAS has agreed to rehire pilots that were laid off during the COVID-19 Read more

Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

Atlas Air Worldwide to be acquired by investment consortium for US$5.2 billion

©Atlas Air

Atlas Air Worldwide, a leading global provider of outsourced aircraft and aviation operating services and parent company of Atlas Air, Inc. and Titan Aviation Holdings, Inc., has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an investor group (the Consortium) led by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo together with investment affiliates of J.F. Lehman & Company and Hill City Capital in an all-cash transaction with an enterprise valuation of approximately US$5.2 billion. Atlas Air Worldwide shareholders will receive US$102.50 per share in cash, which represents a 57% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average trading Read more

Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

Airbus pulls plug on entire remaining Qatar Airways A350 deal

Qatar Airways Airbus A350 ©AirTeamImages

With Qatar Airways refusing to take delivery of any further Airbus A350s until the European planemaker makes good on what the Gulf carrier calls premature surface damage, Airbus has finally had enough of the situation and has revoked the existing order for what stood at 19 aircraft as at the end of June, according to REUTERS news agency. The book value of these aircraft stands at US$7 billion. This contract revocation comes six months after Airbus revoked the contract for 50 of the smaller A321neo jets which Qatar Airways also had on order. That revocation was seen as a retaliatory Read more

Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

BA temporarily suspends sale of all short-haul tickets from Heathrow

©British Airways

In a bid to minimise ongoing travel chaos, British Airways (BA) has announced that it has suspended the sale of all short-haul flight tickets from Heathrow International Airport until August 8, in a bid to mitigate problems travellers are encountering with flight delays and cancellations. The move has also been taken to enable existing travellers who have had their flights cancelled to more easily rebook their flights. The decision will affect all domestic and European flights out of Heathrow. This move by BA comes on the heels of a recent announcement by Heathrow Airport that to avoid baggage delays and Read more

Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

Australia’s new LCC airline Bonza takes delivery of first of seven 737 MAXs on order

Bonza has taken delivery of the first of seven Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft ©Boeing

Australia’s new low-cost-carrier (LCC) Bonza has confirmed it has taken delivery of the first of seven Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft it has committed to receiving during 2022. The arrival ceremony was held at the Sunshine Coast Airport, 90km north of Brisbane, where the LCC will be based. The new airline, owned by Miami-based investment firm 777 Partners, and founded by its CEO and former Virgin Blue Administrator Tim Jordan, expects to commence operations in late September this year. The domestic carrier will, initially, operate on 27 routes, serving destinations in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. Bonza’s operating model Read more

Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

Further trouble looms at Lufthansa – this time it’s the pilots who may strike

©Lufthansa

On Wednesday last Week, Germany’s flag carrying airline Lufthansa was forced to cancel over 1,000 flights as a consequence of one-day strike action taken in protest at ongoing wage negotiations relating to a 9.5% wage hike for 20,000 ground crew. Now pilots with Germany’s leading airline have voted in favour of considering the option of strike action according to their Vereinigung Cockpit union. Pilots are not just looking for an immediate 5.5% pay increase, but they also want an adjustment made for inflation to start next year. The union is claiming that after six rounds of talks, Lufthansa is yet Read more

Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

IAG firms up on orders for 37 Airbus A320 neo-family jets, with option for a further 50

©IAG

In addition to firming up on an order for 12 Airbus A320neo-family aircraft which were part of an options order back in August 2013, International Airlines Group (IAG) has confirmed that it has also placed a firm order for a further 25 of the family of jets, while also placing an option for 50 additional aircraft. IAG has its corporate headquarters in London, UK and its registered office in Madrid, Spain. The group comprises Aer Lingus, British Airways, IAG Cargo, Iberia, Iberia Express, LEVEL, Vueling and Avios Group. The latest jets on firm order will be delivered between 20025 and Read more

Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

FAA wants all new planes fitted with second barrier to flight deck entry

©AirTeamImages

Since the hijacking of four American planes on September 11, 2001, subsequent regulations have made access to the flight deck on commercial passenger aircraft resistant to intrusion and forceable entry. By 2007 regulations demanded that there be a set of rules in place for when the cockpit door was opened, whist also stipulating that the door must remain locked while a plane was in operation unless to allow access for an authorised person. In 2019 the FAA was supposed to have adopted new rules under a 2018 federal law, but the implementation of these regulations has been delayed by what Read more

Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

Rolls-Royce appoints Tufan Erginbilgic as CEO to succeed Warren East

Tufan Erginbilgic

Rolls-Royce has announced that as of January 1, 2023, Tufan Erginbilgic will take over the role Chief Executive Officer from Warren East. East announced in February his intention to step down from the position at the end of 2022. Erginbilgic has a background in engineering, having built his career in international business including over 20 years with BP, including five years as part of its executive team. Before leaving in 2020, in his last post he led BP’s downstream business, which included Refining, Petrochemicals, Service Station Network, Lubricants, Midstream operations and the Air BP jet fuel operation. During Erginbilgic’s tenure, Read more

Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

Verdi announces up to 20,000 Lufthansa ground staff to strike this Wednesday

©Lufthansa

German union Verdi, which is representing approximately 20,000 Lufthansa ground staff, has called on them to strike for one day on Wednesday to add leverage to ongoing salary negotiations. The peak season planned walk out will last from 3.45 a.m. until 6.00 a m. on the Thursday following. The German airline has yet to confirm how many flights will be affected by what it has called an “unreasonable” walkout. Lufthansa believes that the offer made to the ground staff offered a socially high and balanced increase. The carrier is also reluctant to increase pay further while it is facing tense Read more

Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend