Air France CEO resigns
ATW online reported the resignation last month of Air France CEO, Jean- Marc Janaillac.
The resignation follows the rejection by a majority of employees of a pay proposal during staff-wide consultations in a bid to prevent the airline from a high-cost labour relations crisis.
Janaillac said he would be held personally responsible for the outcome of the proposal, for which voting for or against began in April. By May 4 the result was in, with all staff on French contracts who work for Air France allowed to have their say on the pay proposal.
The ‘growth pact’ proposal promised a wage increase of 7% over four years, as well as individual increases. From 46,771 staff, with a participation rate of 80.33%, the result was 55.44% of employees voted against the proposal.
The Air France strikes have so far cost the company around €300 million.
For more information, read HERE.
Near miss with a drone at Heathrow
An Airbus narrowly avoided being hit by a drone at Heathrow Airport earlier this year, it was recently reported.
BT News reported that in January the Airbus A319 was taking off from Heathrow airport with approximately 160 passengers on board when a drone passed about 20 feet from the plane.
The incident happened at 4,800ft – 10 times the maximum legal height for drone operators in England. The pilot said he had little time to consider careful action.
Like their NZALPA counterparts and in other jurisdictions around the world, the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) has been calling for action over the use of drones, following the rising number of near misses. They want better education and more effective prosecution of offenders.
For more, read HERE.
Support for continued open skies agreement
Air Cargo News reported the United States and the United Arab Emirates have decided to retain their Open Skies arrangement agreements that they had in 2002. US Airlines for Open Skies (USAOS) coalition have welcomed the decision.
“This resolution is a clear victory for American workers, travellers and exporters and reaffirms the US commitment to Open Skies,” the USbased industry said.
The USAOS is a coalition of FedEx, Hawaiian Airlines, Atlas Air Worldwide and JetBlue Airways, four passenger and cargo carriers.
For the full story, please visit HERE.
International Pilots' Association issues warning over "soft spots"
The International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Association (IFALPA) issued an alert to their members following soft ground conditions at Suvarnabhumi
Airport in Bangkok put aircrafts at risk, the Bangkok Post reported.
These soft ground conditions, known in the aviation industry as ‘soft spots’ have been known at the airport since 2008.
All flight crews were asked to report all occurrences of soft spots to air traffic control immediately so that Airports of Thailand staff can investigate and assist as necessary.
For the full story, please visit HERE.
United Arab Emirates and United States sign deal after "bitter spat"
The New Zealand Herald reported that after months of negotiations, the United States and the United Arab Emirates have signed a deal “resolving a years-old spat over alleged Emirati government subsidies to its airlines and accusations of unfair competition in the US.”
Both sides reached an agreement that allowed them both to claim a victory.
The article highlighted the more sensitive issue related to so called “Fifth Freedom flights” in which passengers can fly to or from the United States to third countries without ever setting foot in the UAE.
“Those flights have long been the bane of the U.S. carriers, who argue such routes undercut their own flights between the U.S. and destinations in Europe and Asia.” Dubai-based Emirates and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways agreed to open their account books and publish annual financial statements to consist with the internationally recognised accounting standards.
For the full story, please visit HERE.
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