AirlinesAlaska Airlines brings personal touch to Virgin America integrationAlaska Airlines took the extra step of contacting affected passengers individually when it moved to using smaller aircraft out of Dallas Love Field on flights to New York, Washington, D.C.; and San Francisco. The change comes as a result of the recent acquisition of Virgin America, which had been operating the affected flights. "We actually called everyone personally," said Alaska executive Shane Tackett, who added that the responses from customers were "super positive."
LinkAlitalia delays shareholder meetingItalian flag carrier Alitalia has delayed a crucial meeting of its shareholders, as it teeters on the brink of insolvency. The Rome-based airline’s workforce earlier this week rejected an agreement hammered out between union leaders and the company that would have seen staff numbers and salaries cut at the loss-making carrier.
LinkBlame Alitalia’s employees for this latest scary scenario for the airlineA weird story has been told for years among Alitalia’s employees. In the 1980s, women cabin crew who were pregnant didn’t tell the company and instead would board the Tokyo flight (the furthest destination for Alitalia) and then suddenly fall ill. There they would go to the ER where doctors would discover the pregnancy and not allow them to fly back to Italy. So flight assistants would stay for months in Tokyo, until they gave birth, fully covered by the Alitalia health insurance plan.
LinkAmerican Airlines boosts pay for pilots, flight attendantsAmerican Airlines has announced pay increases of 8% and 5% for pilots and flight attendants respectively. "As our industry has rapidly evolved and pay increases at other airlines have accelerated, some of our colleagues have fallen behind their peers at other airlines in base pay rates," said CEO Doug Parker, who noted that didn't feel right or reflect American's new commitment to its employees.
LinkAmerican pushes out A350s to 2020American Airlines has again deferred deliveries of its Airbus A350-900s, and will now take the first two in late 2020 instead of 2018. The Fort Worth-based carrier has 22 A350-900s on order, and will receive them from 2020 through 2024, after an average deferral of about two years.
LinkAmerican orders four more Embraer E175sAmerican Airlines has placed a firm order for four more Embraer E175 aircraft, adding to the 60 E175s the carrier had previously ordered.
LinkAmerican 1Q profit down 67% as fuel costs rise; defends pay increaseAmerican Airlines reported a first-quarter 2017 net profit of $234 million, down 66.6% from net income of $700 million in the 2016 March quarter, as fuel prices rose sharply. American’s first-quarter revenue increased 2% year-over-year (YOY) to $9.6 billion while expenses increased 11.4% to $9 billion, producing an operating profit of $600 million, down 55% from operating income of $1.4 billion in the 2016 March quarter. Mainline aircraft fuel expenses rose 36.2%, or $373 million, YOY and regional fuel expenses rose 45.2%, or $99 million, YOY.
LinkJetBlue's focus on safety, culture keep the business thrivingCEO Robin Hayes and Hoover Institution board member Joel Peterson talk to Peter Robinson about how JetBlue has remained successful, despite all the regulations, competition, and pitfalls of running an airline.
LinkJetBlue working to bolster aircraft technician hiringJetBlue Airways says its in-house apprentice program is a partial solution to the looming maintenance technician workforce shortage, an executive with the airline tells Aviation Week. The median age for maintenance technicians at U.S. airlines is 51 years, or nine years older than the rest of the country’s labor pool, and new technicians are not entering the workforce fast enough to offset retirements. This demographic issue could impair airline maintenance operations, Jeff Martin, JetBlue executive vice president-operations, told Aviation Week at the MRO Americas conference in Orlando, Florida. “We need to be speaking as an industry about the shortage of technicians,” he says.
LinkBearing failure led to Jetstar A320 engine power lossA bearing failure in the right International Aero Engines V2500 powerplant has been identified as the cause behind an engine power loss involving a Jetstar Airbus A320 registered VH-VFY on 22 September 2016.
LinkLufthansa Group posts first quarterly revenue gain since 2008Lufthansa Group recorded a net loss of €68 million ($73 million) for the first quarter of 2017, deepened from the company’s €8 million net loss in 1Q 2016. But first-quarter revenue for the entire Lufthansa Group was a reported €7.7 billion, up 11.2% over €6.9 billion in 1Q 2016. It is the first positive territory quarterly revenue result the German aviation group has posted in nine years.
LinkMalaysia Airlines offers to lease A330s from AlitaliaMalaysia Airlines has offered to lease Airbus A330 jets from Alitalia if the struggling Italian airline is wound up, the Asian carrier’s chief executive told Reuters on Wednesday. Alitalia is preparing for special administration proceedings after workers rejected its latest rescue plan, making it impossible for the loss-making airline to secure funds to keep its aircraft flying. Workers are hoping the Italian government will step in with an alternative rescue deal.
LinkNorwegian posts $173.9 million 1Q lossLow-cost carrier Norwegian’s first-quarter net loss was NOK1.5 billion ($173.9 million), widened 86% from a NOK800.1 million loss in the year-ago period. “In this quarter, we particularly see the effects of higher fuel costs combined with a strengthened krone against the British pound, euro and Swedish krone, which accounts for almost half of our sales," Norwegian CEO Bjørn Kjos said.
LinkQantas to adjust long-haul network with advent of Perth-LondonQantas Airways will drop its daily Melbourne-Dubai-London route in March 2018 when it launches daily Melbourne-Perth-London service. The Oneworld carrier detailed the network change in its announcement that tickets for the Perth-London route have gone on sale.
LinkQatar Airways to launch 12 routes in 2018, signs Inmarsat partnershipQatar Airways plans to launch 12 destinations in 2018 and will begin offering high-speed broadband connectivity in partnership with Inmarsat, using GX Aviation technology on flights from this summer.
LinkRyanair wins European social insurance caseIreland-based low-cost carrier (LCC) Ryanair will reclaim €15 million ($16.3 million) from French authorities following a ruling in the airline’s favor by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The Luxembourg-based ECJ is the highest arbiter of European Union (EU) law.
LinkSIA changes takeoff procedure after 777-300 tail strikeSingapore Airlines has called on its Boeing pilots to use higher thrust and rotation speed for take-off in gusty wind and crosswind conditions, following a 777-300 tailstrike incident at Melbourne airport on 9 October 2016.
LinkSouthwest to enhance maintenance management software solutionsSouthwest Airlines is moving toward a single-solution maintenance management system and will bring on Mxi Technologies' Maintenix software for its fleet of Boeing 737s next year.
LinkSouthwest Airlines to end overbooking, cites United incidentSouthwest Airlines said it will end the practice of overbooking flights at some point in the current quarter. Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly conceded to reporters on an April 27 conference call that the recent United Airlines passenger bumping incident put overbooking “under a bright light” and led Dallas-based Southwest, which had already been considering ending the practice, to move forward with stopping overbooking.
LinkUnited reaches legal settlement with bumped passengerLawyers for David Dao—the passenger violently dragged off United Express flight 3411 nearly three weeks ago—announced April 27 an amicable settlement had been reached with United Airlines. The amount involved will remain confidential as a provision of the settlement, a condition to which Dao and his attorneys have agreed to comply.
LinkUnited announces new, enhanced customer service policiesUnited Airlines has released a "Review and Action Report" stating 10 changes to its policies after the recent incident in which a passenger was forcibly removed from an aircraft. Among the actions taken by CEO Oscar Munoz to ensure the highest levels of customer service are in place include: ensuring customers seated on the aircraft will not be subject to involuntary denied boardings, and the airline will not involve law enforcement unless in case of a safety or security issue. In addition, United enhanced its customer compensation polices, which will take effect this week.
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