February 26, 2009
Airlines
The Finnish Airline Pilots’ Association has cancelled a ban on overtime work that it was using as leverage in negotiations with employers. The union’s chair Timo Willberg says that they want to continue talks in a positive and voluntary spirit, and hopes that employers’ representatives will respond in kind. An all-out pilots’ strike which was [...]
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February 26, 2009
Aviation
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced international scheduled traffic results for January showing a deepening year-on-year demand slump.
International passenger demand fell by 5.6% in January 2009 compared to the same month in 2008. It is also a full percentage point worse than the 4.6% year-on-year drop recorded in December. The January fall in demand is the fifth consecutive month of contraction.
The 5.6% drop in passenger demand outpaced capacity cuts of 2.0% driving the load factor to 72.8% – 2.8% below what was recorded for January 2008.
The alarming collapse in cargo markets in December (-22.6%) worsened in January 2009 with a 23.2% year-on-year demand drop. This is the eighth consecutive month of contraction for freight traffic.
“Alarm bells are ringing everywhere. Every region’s carriers are reporting big drops in cargo. And, aside from the Middle East carriers, passenger demand is falling in all regions. The industry is in a global crisis and we have not yet seen the bottom,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
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