February 2009

Southwest Airlines announces today that the Company has reached a tentative agreement with Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 555, representing Ramp, Operations, Provisioning, and Freight Agents.

Ryanair makes money again ;)

by Mr. Plane on February 27, 2009

in Airlines

Image by Getty Images via Daylife Money does not smell, said the ancient Romans and meant pay toilets. Now the same logic will follow up in the skies.  Suprisingly, the idea is from Europe’s largest low-cost airline, IrishRyanair. It is considering taking the money from travelers who visits the toilet, said the company’s CEO Michael [...]

Pilots’ Union Lifts Overtime Ban

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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Economic Gloom Continues in January Traffic

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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Sad facts about Turkish Airlines

February 26, 2009 Airlines

Image by Pascalg_1991 via Flickr While there are around 500 people killed in Turkish Airlines crashes, let’s see about figures. This post is in no way against Turkish Airlines, just facts. And please remember, not all accidents are airlines faults. In March 1974 when explosive decompression over France led to a TA plane crashing with [...]

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Turkish Airliner crashes at Schiphol, Netherlands (Updated)

February 25, 2009 Airlines

Turkish Airlines Boeing 737 crashed in Schiphol Airport. Plane was carrying 135 passengers according to Turkish media and no-one was killed. Fortunately the plane that went to three pieces didn’t set the fire. Some people got out of plane from split. Turkish Transport Minister announced that the plane was coming to Amsterdam from Istanbul, Turkey. [...]

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Southwest Airlines Adds Best Western Hotels as New Preferred Partner to the Carrier’s Frequent Flyer Program

February 25, 2009 Airlines

Image via Wikipedia What do you get when you put an internationally known hotel chain, a comfy Southwest Airlines airplane, and great Customer Service together? A new Rapid Rewards partnership between Best Western Hotels and Southwest Airlines! The Rapid Rewards program has added “The World’s Largest Hotel Chain®” as the newest preferred hotel partner. Members [...]

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Finnair subsidiary Northport Oy begins YT negotiations

February 24, 2009 Manufacturers

Image via Wikipedia Finnair subsidiary Northport Oy, which provides groundhandling services, will begin statutory negotiations under the Act on Codetermination within Undertakings (YT negotiations) in order to reduce personnel costs. A cost-cutting programme will seek savings of at least 3.5million euros. “Northport Oy’s operations will be directed in future more at peak traffic periods, outside [...]

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