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Posts Tagged ‘Airline industry’

Hoax plan to pave over Central Park

July 24th, 2009 | No Comments

Is the hoax campaign to concrete over NYC’s favourite green space and build an airport a satire on incompetent transport policy or another product viral? Watch this space

“Environmentalists rally in support of Manhattan airport”. That got your attention, didn’t it? And that was precisely the intention of the Manhattan Airport Foundation, a mysterious organisation that has outlaid its proposals to bulldoze Central Park in New York city and build an airport instead.

The foundation put out a press release earlier this week saying that the “Triborough Association for Fair Treatment” – a group it says lobbies to get legislation drafted to help protect migratory birds from aircraft strikes – was putting its full support behind the building of a new airport in the heart of Manhattan as it would reduce the kind of bird-related incidents that brought down US Airways Flight 1549 back in January causing it to bellyflop into the Hudson.

It’s all nonsense, of course. The whole thing is a hoax – one that’s been getting plenty of attention all week and managing to snare a few suckers along the way, too. The Manhattan Airport Foundation is pure fiction, as are its plans for an airport. Only a few nanoseconds of consideration lead you to realise the last place on earth that would ever be concreted over to make way for an airport would be Central Park.

But who is behind the hoax? And why have they spent a considerable amount of time and effort (and, presumably, money) creating such a professional-looking website? Chances are the site will soon morph into an advert for something or other, as has happened with other web hoaxes in the past. Or it could be some web-savvy comedians looking for some viral marketing?

No one yet, though, seems to have undercovered the real identity of those behind the Manhattan Airport Foundation, or their motive. The website’s domain name was registered back in April (even though the foundation claims to have been founded in 2006), but the identity of the domain’s owner has been withheld. The foundation’s Twitter page has only been live since 8 June, and its address is listed as being on the 58th floor, 233 Broadway. Yet the building only has 57 floors.

A press release dated April of this year says the foundation is to receive “significant financial backing over the next five years” from the “Waalwijk Charitable Trust”. In addition to this, the “Tokyo-based holding company Yamanote Ltd” will be making a “substantial gift”. Again, both these organisations are fictional – Waalwijk is the name of a town in the Netherlands and Yamanote is an affluent area in Tokyo.

The only person’s name mentioned anywhere on the site is a press officer called “Audrey Cortlandt”. Again, nothing of note shows up online for that name, although it does throw up some interesting anagrams – “Lady Dancer Tutor” being one of them. Not that this really helps us, though.

The plot thickens.

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US singer pens revenge ode to airline

July 23rd, 2009 | No Comments

Dave Carroll couldn’t get compensation for damage to his guitar – until he named and shamed the airline in a YouTube video

Next time an airline loses or breaks your luggage, try shaming them with a song and a video. That’s what a little-known Canadian country and western singer did after he claimed that his Taylor acoustic guitar had been damaged by baggage handlers at Chicago’s O’Hare airport last year.

United Breaks Guitars has become a YouTube sensation and provided Dave Carroll with the biggest hit of his career. The song – which chronicles his vain year-long attempt to win compensation from United – has had almost 4m hits on YouTube and fans have been clamouring for the song at gigs where his band, Sons of Maxwell, has performed.

Once the video appeared and became a YouTube hit, United sat up and took notice. It offered to pay the cost of repairing his guitar and flight vouchers worth $1,200 (£700) but he told the airline to donate the sum to charity. “They definitely want this to go away,” he said.

Sales of Sons of Maxwell’s eight albums and Carroll’s solo disc have increased from “one or two a day online to probably hundreds,” he says, thanks to the viral smash. Other airlines have offered him free trips to experience their customer service and Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars personally telephoned, offering two guitars of Carroll’s choice and props to use in a second video.

Yes, Carroll plans two more songs about his experience with United. The second song is about Ms Irlweg, the “unflappable” customer service rep at United who said last December that the “matter was closed.” Carroll says the song will not be unkind to her. The third song in the trilogy, which will be about the outcome, is not yet written.

United, which has seen its share price tumble, could have spared itself this public relations humiliation if it had followed its own policy on customer service. United’s website says: “In the air and on the ground, online and on the telephone, our customers have the right to expect – to demand – respect, courtesy, fairness and honesty from the airline they have selected for travel.”

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Tourists bowled over by £215 flights

July 20th, 2009 | No Comments

British Airways and Qantas offer dramatically reduced tickets based on Ashes first innings scores

Capitalising on an upsurge in national happiness following England’s victory over Australia this afternoon, British Airways and Qantas have teamed up to offer fares to Australia based on the first innings scores of the second npower test, with the number of seats determined by the amount of runs scored by the opposing team.

As Australia were all out for 215 in their first innings reply to England’s 425 on Saturday, both British Airways and Qantas will be giving away 425 flights to Sydney for £215 – an amazing reduction on a typical fare of £730. The offer is available tomorrow (21 July, 2009) on British Airways flights from 10am, and Qantas flights from 8am.

In the previous Ashes in 2005, British Airways offered 367 seats at £373 when Australia scored 367 runs for 373 against England in the final test. Flights were sold out within 30 minutes.

For terms and conditions please check each airline’s website from 21 July. For further information visit ba.com and qantas.com . Offer is subject to availability.

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BAA reels as Gatwick buyer pulls out

July 15th, 2009 | No Comments

BAA fights to keep debt reduction strategy on track after planned airport sale left with only one potential buyer

BAA is fighting to keep its debt reduction plans on track after the planned sale of Gatwick airport, a key option in curbing borrowings of around £12bn, was left with only one would-be buyer following the withdrawal of a consortium led by Manchester Airports Group (MAG).

MAG pulled out of the bidding yesterday after refusing to meet BAA’s final price of £1.5bn – £100m more than the owner of Manchester airport was willing to offer. The departure of MAG leaves BAA dependent on one suitor whose involvement in the process has been shrouded in uncertainty for months.

The US-based investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) remains interested in Gatwick, but it is not known whether it is in formal talks with BAA. It was angered by the airport group’s decision in May to appeal a Competition Commission ruling that it must sell Gatwick, Stansted and either Glasgow or Edinburgh airports over the next two years.

BAA’s new price tag of £1.5bn could be a block as well, with GIP’s offer believed to be in the same range as the MAG consortium, which includes Canadian infrastructure investor Borealis.

The Gatwick sale is a key plank in BAA’s drive to whittle down debts of around £9.5bn that are secured against its London airports, including Heathrow. A £4.4bn refinancing facility within the debt structure created to house BAA’s London assets, BAA (SP), requires payments of £1bn a year up to 2013. The first payment is due in March next year and BAA has earmarked the proceeds from the Gatwick sale for that purpose.

Failure to sell Gatwick by March next year will leave BAA with the option of raising new debt in order to meet the payment schedule. BAA is saddled with total borrowings of around £12bn after a consortium led by Ferrovial, the Spanish infrastructure group, loaded the business with debt in order to finance its acquisition for £10.3bn in 2006.

However, the option of raising new debt is also shrouded in doubt because the government has proposed a “special administration” regime which, in the event of BAA going bust, would give ministers powers over the group’s airports. BAA’s creditors have expressed concerns over proposals that would deny them the right to sell Heathrow in order to recover their loans.

In a submission to the Department for Transport last month, BAA indicated that the credit market was alarmed by the plans. It said: “Creditors have indicated that certain of the reforms would, if implemented in their current form, adversely affect their existing rights and materially shift the balance of risk and reward from the basis upon which they invested.”

Douglas McNeill, analyst at Astaire Securities, said BAA’s hopes of raising £1.5bn would be damaged by the withdrawal of MAG. “Selling Gatwick is an important part of BAA’s debt reduction plan, and it needs to keep as many bidders as possible interested in order to maximise price,” he said.

BAA’s valuation of Gatwick is underpinned by a formula called the regulatory asset base – or RAB – which gives the airport a value of just under £1.6bn. BAA had initially targeted a sale at a premium to the RAB price, but it is becoming increasingly likely that it will have to settle for around £1.4bn or scrap the sale process entirely.

BAA said it would not comment on the bidding process in public. However, one source close to the discussions said MAG’s exit could be a negotiating tactic to force BAA into accepting a bid of around £1.4bn. MAG declined to comment but it is understood the consortium is still interested in Gatwick, albeit at a lower price.

BAA is expected to cite the protracted sale process, launched in September last year, when it attends an appeal tribunal against the Competition Commission ruling in October. Colin Matthews, BAA’s chief executive, described the imposition of a partial break-up as “flawed” earlier this year and indicated that the group might struggle to sell three airports by the middle of 2011.

“Two years suggests a long time but it is not necessarily a long time to complete three transactions in a difficult market environment,” he said.

The tribunal is expected to deliver its verdict before Christmas.

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BAA reels as Gatwick buyer pulls out

July 15th, 2009 | No Comments

BAA fights to keep debt reduction strategy on track after planned airport sale left with only one potential buyer

BAA is fighting to keep its debt reduction plans on track after the planned sale of Gatwick airport, a key option in curbing borrowings of around £12bn, was left with only one would-be buyer following the withdrawal of a consortium led by Manchester Airports Group (MAG).

MAG pulled out of the bidding yesterday after refusing to meet BAA’s final price of £1.5bn – £100m more than the owner of Manchester airport was willing to offer. The departure of MAG leaves BAA dependent on one suitor whose involvement in the process has been shrouded in uncertainty for months.

The US-based investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) remains interested in Gatwick, but it is not known whether it is in formal talks with BAA. It was angered by the airport group’s decision in May to appeal a Competition Commission ruling that it must sell Gatwick, Stansted and either Glasgow or Edinburgh airports over the next two years.

BAA’s new price tag of £1.5bn could be a block as well, with GIP’s offer believed to be in the same range as the MAG consortium, which includes Canadian infrastructure investor Borealis.

The Gatwick sale is a key plank in BAA’s drive to whittle down debts of around £9.5bn that are secured against its London airports, including Heathrow. A £4.4bn refinancing facility within the debt structure created to house BAA’s London assets, BAA (SP), requires payments of £1bn a year up to 2013. The first payment is due in March next year and BAA has earmarked the proceeds from the Gatwick sale for that purpose.

Failure to sell Gatwick by March next year will leave BAA with the option of raising new debt in order to meet the payment schedule. BAA is saddled with total borrowings of around £12bn after a consortium led by Ferrovial, the Spanish infrastructure group, loaded the business with debt in order to finance its acquisition for £10.3bn in 2006.

However, the option of raising new debt is also shrouded in doubt because the government has proposed a “special administration” regime which, in the event of BAA going bust, would give ministers powers over the group’s airports. BAA’s creditors have expressed concerns over proposals that would deny them the right to sell Heathrow in order to recover their loans.

In a submission to the Department for Transport last month, BAA indicated that the credit market was alarmed by the plans. It said: “Creditors have indicated that certain of the reforms would, if implemented in their current form, adversely affect their existing rights and materially shift the balance of risk and reward from the basis upon which they invested.”

Douglas McNeill, analyst at Astaire Securities, said BAA’s hopes of raising £1.5bn would be damaged by the withdrawal of MAG. “Selling Gatwick is an important part of BAA’s debt reduction plan, and it needs to keep as many bidders as possible interested in order to maximise price,” he said.

BAA’s valuation of Gatwick is underpinned by a formula called the regulatory asset base – or RAB – which gives the airport a value of just under £1.6bn. BAA had initially targeted a sale at a premium to the RAB price, but it is becoming increasingly likely that it will have to settle for around £1.4bn or scrap the sale process entirely.

BAA said it would not comment on the bidding process in public. However, one source close to the discussions said MAG’s exit could be a negotiating tactic to force BAA into accepting a bid of around £1.4bn. MAG declined to comment but it is understood the consortium is still interested in Gatwick, albeit at a lower price.

BAA is expected to cite the protracted sale process, launched in September last year, when it attends an appeal tribunal against the Competition Commission ruling in October. Colin Matthews, BAA’s chief executive, described the imposition of a partial break-up as “flawed” earlier this year and indicated that the group might struggle to sell three airports by the middle of 2011.

“Two years suggests a long time but it is not necessarily a long time to complete three transactions in a difficult market environment,” he said.

The tribunal is expected to deliver its verdict before Christmas.

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Pets-only airline makes maiden flight

July 15th, 2009 | No Comments

Pet Airways offers jet-set pets travel with furry frills, from boarding lounge and pre-flight walks to onboard lunch and loo breaks

One trip for their Jack Russell terrier in a plane’s cargo hold was enough to convince Alysa Binder and Dan Wiesel that pet owners needed a better solution for transporting their animals from one location to another.

Yesterday, the first flight of Pet Airways, the service devised by the married couple, and the first-ever all-pet airline, took off from Republic airport, in Farmingdale, New York.

Binder and Wiesel used their background in consulting and their business know-how to found Pet Airways in 2005 and have spent the last four years designing their fleet of five planes to suit the animal travellers, as well as dealing with Federal Aviation Administration regulations and setting up the airport schedules.

The couple say they have been “overwhelmed” with the response to the new service with flights on the airline already booked up for the next two months.

Pet Airways serves New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles, and charges from $149 (£91) for a one-way fare, which is comparable to pet fees charged by the largest US airlines.

Some commercial airlines allow a limited number of small pets to fly in the cabin, but some animals are required to travel in the cargo hold.

Pet Airways says it offers a quite different service. Dogs and cats will fly in the main cabin of a freight plane that has been re-arranged and lined with carriers in place of seats. The animals, up to 50 a time, will be escorted to the plane by attendants who will check them every 15 minutes during the flight.

The pets get pre-boarding walks and “bathroom breaks”. And at each of the five airports it serves, the company offers a pet lounge for animals waiting to board.

The company will operate out of smaller, regional airports in the five cities, which will mean an extra trip for most people due to fly themselves. And stops in cities along the way mean the pets will take longer to reach the destination than their owners. A trip from New York to Los Angeles, will take about 24 hours, said Pet Airways. On that route, pets will stop in Chicago for a loo break, playtime and dinner, before bunking down for the night and arrival the next day.

Amanda Hickey, of Portland, Oregon, is one of the new airline’s first customers. Her seven-year-old terrier-pinscher mix, Mardi, and Penny, a two-year-old puggle (a pug crossed with a beagle) were soon to take their first flight. Hickey said the service would be a welcome alternative to flying her dogs in cargo from Denver to Chicago to stay with her family while she and her fiance go to Aruba to get married. “For a little bit more money, I have peace of mind,” she said.

It was the stressful experience of transporting their Jack Russell, Zoe, in a cargo hold, that spurred Binder and Wiesel to start their airline. Binder said it was worrying not being able to check on the dog at all. “One time in cargo was enough for us,” she said, walking through an airplane hangar as Zoe trotted in front of her. “We wanted to do something better.”

The company, which will begin with one flight in each of its five cities, might add more flights and cities. In the next three years, Binder hopes the schedule will expand to 25 destinations.

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Pets-only airline makes maiden flight

July 15th, 2009 | No Comments

Pet Airways offers jet-set pets travel with furry frills, from boarding lounge and pre-flight walks to onboard lunch and loo breaks

One trip for their Jack Russell terrier in a plane’s cargo hold was enough to convince Alysa Binder and Dan Wiesel that pet owners needed a better solution for transporting their animals from one location to another.

Yesterday, the first flight of Pet Airways, the service devised by the married couple, and the first-ever all-pet airline, took off from Republic airport, in Farmingdale, New York.

Binder and Wiesel used their background in consulting and their business know-how to found Pet Airways in 2005 and have spent the last four years designing their fleet of five planes to suit the animal travellers, as well as dealing with Federal Aviation Administration regulations and setting up the airport schedules.

The couple say they have been “overwhelmed” with the response to the new service with flights on the airline already booked up for the next two months.

Pet Airways serves New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles, and charges from $149 (£91) for a one-way fare, which is comparable to pet fees charged by the largest US airlines.

Some commercial airlines allow a limited number of small pets to fly in the cabin, but some animals are required to travel in the cargo hold.

Pet Airways says it offers a quite different service. Dogs and cats will fly in the main cabin of a freight plane that has been re-arranged and lined with carriers in place of seats. The animals, up to 50 a time, will be escorted to the plane by attendants who will check them every 15 minutes during the flight.

The pets get pre-boarding walks and “bathroom breaks”. And at each of the five airports it serves, the company offers a pet lounge for animals waiting to board.

The company will operate out of smaller, regional airports in the five cities, which will mean an extra trip for most people due to fly themselves. And stops in cities along the way mean the pets will take longer to reach the destination than their owners. A trip from New York to Los Angeles, will take about 24 hours, said Pet Airways. On that route, pets will stop in Chicago for a loo break, playtime and dinner, before bunking down for the night and arrival the next day.

Amanda Hickey, of Portland, Oregon, is one of the new airline’s first customers. Her seven-year-old terrier-pinscher mix, Mardi, and Penny, a two-year-old puggle (a pug crossed with a beagle) were soon to take their first flight. Hickey said the service would be a welcome alternative to flying her dogs in cargo from Denver to Chicago to stay with her family while she and her fiance go to Aruba to get married. “For a little bit more money, I have peace of mind,” she said.

It was the stressful experience of transporting their Jack Russell, Zoe, in a cargo hold, that spurred Binder and Wiesel to start their airline. Binder said it was worrying not being able to check on the dog at all. “One time in cargo was enough for us,” she said, walking through an airplane hangar as Zoe trotted in front of her. “We wanted to do something better.”

The company, which will begin with one flight in each of its five cities, might add more flights and cities. In the next three years, Binder hopes the schedule will expand to 25 destinations.

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Airlines suffering ‘annus horribilis’

July 14th, 2009 | No Comments

British Airways chairman Martin Broughton ruled out turning to its existing shareholders for cash, saying the time was not right for a rights issue

British Airways admitted today that it must raise its cash reserves if it is to survive the crisis sweeping the airline industry, following an “annus horribilis” in which it suffered a record loss.

At the start of its annual general meeting at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London, the UK national carrier said it would increase its liquidity levels by raising fresh capital from the City. BA also admitted its pensions deficit was higher than expected, adding to the pressure on the company.

“We believe it to be in the interests of our shareholders to look at options to increase our own liquidity. Our current liquidity is above our desired minimum of 15% of revenues. However, an extended economic downturn would be stretching,” said Martin Broughton, the chairman of British Airways.

But Broughton ruled out turning to its existing shareholders for cash, saying the time was not right for a rights issue.

He also referred to one of Queen Elizabeth II’s most famous sayings to sum up the last year.

“This has indeed been an ‘annus horribilis’ for the aviation industry,” Broughton said.

Angry staff congregated at the AGM to call on chief executive Willie Walsh to resign.

Inside the centre, Walsh emphasised the state of the crisis facing BA, which made a record pretax loss of £401m last year.

Walsh said “there has been a structural shift in our premium markets”, adding that expecting the business class market to return to its former state was “the road to oblivion”.

For years, business class travel has been a crucial part of BA’s revenue stream. But it has been ravaged by the global downturn.

“Corporate travel budgets have been cut back severely and consumers are determined to reduce their debt,” BA admitted.

Broughton admitted that BA’s pension deficit had increased since last September, when it was calculated at £1.74bn. The value of its two funds is currently being calculated, but BA today ruled out increasing its own contribution.

“In the past three years, the company has paid £1.8bn into the two schemes, in an effort to eliminate the deficit. It is a sobering thought that this level of contribution is far in excess of our cumulative profits, which have been £1bn, over the same period,” said Broughton.

“To make up the shortfall, the company and trustees will need to agree a revised funding plan after the actuarial review is completed.”

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We will protect air travel – Miliband

July 14th, 2009 | No Comments

Mass air travel will be preserved even in a low-carbon Britain because the government will find deeper emissions cuts in other areas, the climate change secretary Ed Miliband said today.

Dismissing demands for punitive sanctions to curb flying, Miliband said the government was determined to ensure that airline travel remains affordable for ordinary people.

In a Guardian interview, ahead of the publication of a white paper on climate change, Miliband said air travel would become more expensive as Britain tries to meet a G8 target to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 80% by 2050. But he said it would be wrong to impose the target on airlines, which will be covered by the European Emissions Trading Scheme from 2012 if they fly to and from the EU.

“Where I disagree with other people on aviation is if you did 80% cuts across the board, as some people have called for on aviation, you would go back to 1974 levels of flying,” he said. “I don’t want to have a situation where only rich people can afford to fly.”

Miliband spoke of the importance of flying for his constituents in Doncaster which has benefited after an RAF airbase was turned into an international airport in 2005. “People in my constituency have benefited from being able to have foreign travel which, 40 years ago, the middle classes took for granted,” he said. “There are sacrifices and changes in lifestyle necessary. But the job of government is to facilitate them and understand people’s lives and what they value.”

The pledge by Miliband echoes remarks by Tony Blair in 2007 who said it would be wrong to impose “unrealistic targets” on airline travellers. Britain has pledged to bring its aviation emissions down to 2005 levels by 2050.

Miliband’s remarks are designed to illustrate the government’s overall approach to meeting the 2050 target which will not involve imposing a blanket 80% cut on all areas of the economy. The white paper is expected to build on government plans to tolerate relatively high emissions in one area if action is taken in other areas by, for example, lagging lofts and driving less. Carbon levels have already been brought down from 1990 levels, the benchmark for global climate talks. So far they have been reduced by 22% and are due to come down by 34% by 2020, with a target of at least 80% due in 2050.

The government has already announced that will be achieved by dividing the economy into a series of sectors. The biggest is power, with others including transport, homes, work places and agriculture.

Miliband will outline on Wednesday how much carbon Britain is emitting in each area and will suggest steps to bring them down. He refused to outline the details of his white paper out of respect to John Bercow, the new Commons speaker, who has demanded ministers make announcements first to parliament. But he said his philosophy is to outline a vision of “green hope” – with jobs in green technology and a safer country – not “green despair”.

“If Martin Luther King had come along and said ‘I have a nightmare’ people would not have followed him,” Miliband said, quoting someone he met at the Guardian’s recent Manchester climate change summit. “You have to persuade people that, yes, there are costs of not acting but also there is a vision of society at the end of this: more secure, more prosperous, fairer better quality of life. All those things are crucial to persuade people to take the leap.

“All our research indicates that people in Britain are not climate change deniers. But now they are persuaded it is a problem, you have to start offering them a vision about how you tackle the problem.”

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BA pilots vote for 2.6% salary cut

July 13th, 2009 | No Comments

• Pilots agree to take salary cut and work longer hours
• Chief executive expected to be barracked at AGM

Willie Walsh, the embattled chief executive of British Airways, faces a mauling from shareholders and his own staff at the airline’s annual meeting, tomorrow despite securing a crucial pay deal with the fleet’s pilots, which will see them accept a pay cut and longer hours as management tries to slash costs.

Unions representing baggage handlers, cabin staff and ground crew will mount a protest outside the AGM in London over management plans to lay off thousands of workers. Shareholders are also expected to barrack Walsh during the meeting over the dramatic downturn in the flag carrier’s fortunes, which has already seen the company stop paying dividends and looks set to result in an emergency cash call.

Walsh, who has agreed to forgo his £61,000 wage for the month of July to show he means it when he says BA is battling for its survival, is looking to stem the airline’s losses, which are running at nearly £3m a day. In May, BA revealed that the recession has turned record profits of £992m two years ago into a record pretax loss of £401m last year.

A deal with BA’s 3,200 pilots is a small victory for Walsh, but his battle to reduce the company’s overheads as it suffers a plunge in lucrative business travel is by no means over. Management is still locked in talks at the conciliation service Acas after a self-imposed deadline of 30 June passed without any deal with cabin staff and ground crews.

BA’s bosses want unions to agree to a deal that would freeze pay for two years and result in the loss of 3,700 jobs – or almost 10% of the workforce – including 2,000 voluntary redundancies from its 14,000 flight attendants. They also want staff to agree to wide-ranging changes to their terms and conditions.

Management this year asked staff to consider working for free or taking unpaid leave, and nearly 7,000 employees applied for voluntary pay cuts, including 800 who said they would work for nothing for up to a month. The move, which will save the carrier up to £10m, was attacked by some union leaders who feared staff were being bullied into signing up.

Unions will hand out letters to shareholders outside today’s meeting pointing out that staff are proud to work for BA and it is bosses who are out of step, making doom-laden pronouncements about its future just a year after it produced record-breaking profits.

“All BA employees are ready and willing to pull together to secure a vibrant future for the company, but they desperately need to see that BA senior management want to work with them towards this objective, not blame them for a situation which is not of their making,” the letter reads. “The staff are willing to listen and respond, but feel under pressure to agree to measures – like working for free – that they simply can’t afford. There is also no merit whatsoever in management adopting unrealistic and intransigent positions during discussions with staff representatives.”

Protesters will have a dozen live lemmings with them outside the meeting and placards bearing slogans including “British Airways deserves better than to be led by lemmings” and “Willie, time to head to the departure gate?”.

Walsh, however, is likely to take heart from his success in persuading BA’s pilots to accept a pay cut. The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) said that 94% of its members who voted were in favour of accepting a 2.6% salary cut to help the cash-strapped airline save £26m. As part of the deal, BA’s pilots have agreed to an increase in annual duty hours, a cut in turn-around times on short-haul flights and reductions in the flight-crew arrangements on certain long-haul routes. There will also be 78 redundancies. In return, pilots will be able to pick up BA shares in two years’ time worth about £13m.

Balpa’s general secretary, Jim McAuslan, admitted that it was “an unaccustomed position” for a union to be calling on members to support a drop in pay but said: “We are satisfied that this step is necessary to help BA recover its position as one of the world’s most successful airlines.”

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Airport passenger numbers fall 5.9%

July 10th, 2009 | No Comments

• 12.7m passengers pass through company’s seven airports
• Lowest figure for nine months
• Edinburgh bucks the trend

The number of travellers using major UK airports declined to its lowest level for nine months in June, BAA said today.

The airport operator said a total of 12.7m passengers passed through its airports last month, a reduction of 5.9% on the same period last year.

But the firm, which saw a 7.3% fall in May, said this was the best underlying figure since last September.

BAA had posted a 2.3% decline in passenger numbers in April but this rose to 6.8% when the effect of a late Easter was stripped out.

Heathrow recorded a comparatively modest fall of 3.1% because of its large number of transfer flights.

Stansted, the base for several low-cost carriers including Ryanair and easyJet, was the worst affected airport, falling 11.5%.

In the six months to June 2009, the Essex airport is down 14.4%, compared with the same period last year, as carriers have slashed capacity at the airport.

Domestic traffic was down 8.1% in June, European scheduled flight passengers were reduced by 2.8% and travellers on North Atlantic routes were 9.4% lower.

Long-haul flights were the most resilient sector, almost flat on last year at a 0.2% reduction.

Edinburgh was the only airport to register an increase in traveller numbers, at 1.4% – its third month of growth.

Gatwick had 7.6% fewer passengers in June, while Glasgow and Aberdeen dropped 10.9% and 9.8% respectively.

BAA is embroiled in a battle against the Competition Commission’s decision to make it sell three of its airports.

The commission ruled earlier this year that BAA’s ownership of seven UK airports was anti-competitive and ordered the firm to sell Gatwick and Stansted airports as well as either Glasgow or Edinburgh.

BAA had already decided to sell Gatwick in West Sussex and said last month the sale process was continuing.

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British Airways staff reject cost-cutting plan

July 6th, 2009 | No Comments

Cabin crew, baggage handlers and check-in workers refuse to accept plans to axe thousands of jobs and freeze pay

British Airways workers have rejected management plans to cut costs through thousands of job losses and a two-year pay freeze.

A union spokesman said feelings among the airline workers were “running high” at a meeting held today of more than 2,000 employees, close to Heathrow airport. “They have sent a very clear message that they don’t want us to make any further concessions that would lead to an assault on their terms and conditions,” he said.

BA is struggling to cope with the downturn in air travel and in May reported losses of £401m.

It has already stirred controversy by asking staff to take unpaid leave, reduce hours or even work for nothing for up to a month to conserve cash, a request that unions branded “insulting”.

Fresh talks with BA are due to be held on Wednesday.

There is no threat of strike action but disruption over the summer is a clear possibility. BA was hit by an unofficial strike in 2003 over terms and conditions and was grounded again in 2005 by a dispute over catering staff.

BA pilots reached a deal last month that will see them taking a 2.6% pay cut and save the airline £26m. The current talks cover other workers including cabin crew, baggage handlers and check-in staff. It is believed there are still wide differences between the management and unions.

The carrier had hoped to reach a deal by a self-imposed deadline of the end of last month, but has now called in the arbitration service Acas.

BA said last month that 7,000 staff had applied for voluntary pay cuts, including 800 who agreed to work for nothing for up to a month. BA chief executive, Willie Walsh, who has given up his pay for July, said it had been a “fantastic” response. Unions, though, have accused the airline’s managers of putting workers under pressure to accept a cut, which the airline denies.

Unions have also noted that Walsh is far better placed to work without pay for a month – his monthly earnings of £61,000 are twice the average annual salary for cabin crew.

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Virgin Atlantic to cut 600 jobs

July 1st, 2009 | No Comments

Firm announces it will reduce capacity over winter as rival BA asks Acas to mediate in pay and jobs dispute with unions

Virgin Atlantic has announced plans to axe almost a tenth of its services this winter with the loss of up to 600 jobs as the recession continues to bite into the airline industry.

The Richard Branson-led company said it would not run its daily service from Heathrow to Chicago this coming winter and was suspending one of its two daily services between Heathrow and Hong Kong.

It added that there would be additional frequency reductions on some other routes throughout the winter, with a total capacity cut of 7% compared with last winter.

Rival British Airways has been badly hit by the slump and announced that it had asked the arbitration service Acas to mediate in its pay and job cuts dispute with unions after negotiations collapsed yesterday.

Virgin said that it would shortly start consultations with staff “about the possibility of up to 600 redundancies across the business”.

Promising to avoid making compulsory redundancies, Virgin Atlantic’s chief executive, Steve Ridgway, said: “The outlook for the industry is as bleak as ever and all airlines are having to shrink their businesses. The fittest will survive and be in a stronger position when the economy grows.”

It comes just days after Virgin boss Richard Branson declared that British Airways was virtually worthless. But any schadenfreude felt by BA’s chief executive Willie Walsh will be tempered by his ongoing row with unions.

The two sides have missed BA’s self-imposed deadline to reach an agreement on the restructuring by the end of June. Yesterday night, talks broke down with the two sides unable to make any progress, despite the fact that negotiations had been going on for several weeks.

Union representatives ended talks at a Heathrow hotel at about 6pm yesterday, some hours before the midnight deadline, but were prepared to continue the meeting today. It is understood that BA decided not to attend. A spokeswoman for the airline would only confirm that no talks were currently under way. No date had been set for the Acas talks.

There are fears that the continuing dispute could result in strikes taking place during the peak holiday season.

Unite, the union representing most of BA’s staff, said that it acknowledged the airline needed to cut costs. But it said it was opposed to BA’s plans to replace workers – particularly cabin crew – with new staff on lower pay because of fears it would create a “two tier” workforce.

The airline wants unions to agree to a deal that would freeze pay for two years. The airline is also looking to cut 4,000 jobs, or about 10% of its workforce, and has not ruled out making compulsory redundancies. It also wants staff to agree to wide-ranging changes to their terms and conditions to reduce costs.

BA says the cuts are essential to ensure its survival. The airline is making heavy losses, burning through cash at nearly £3m a day. It posted a £401m deficit last year. Walsh told BA’s in-house newspaper that it had set the 30 June deadline for agreement with unions because “we were disappointed by the pace of progress” and because “time is running out”. “The sooner we face up to the challenges the better it will be for everyone,” he added.

Unite, which represents most of BA’s workforce, has accused Walsh of trying to intimidate staff into accepting new terms. Last week, unions said the airline had undermined the negotiations after it announced that 6,940 staff had volunteered for a temporary pay cut, including 800 employees who will work for nothing for up to a month.

Andy Cook, managing director of industrial relations consultancy Marshall-James , said that BA was paying the price for missing opportunities in the past to renegotiate workers’ terms and conditions. He added that the possibility – however unlikely – that the government could step in to bail out British Airways may embolden workers to resist new terms.

“Willie Walsh may be using the recession as an excuse to cut more costs, but I don’t thing he is crying wolf. It’s quite possible that employees who have been around a long time and who are perhaps very resistant to change feel that the government would bail them out if it came to the crunch.”

Walsh and his chief financial officer, Keith Williams, have attempted to lead by example by waiving their wages for July.

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ID card trial for airline staff scrapped

June 30th, 2009 | No Comments

• Home secretary says ID cards will remain voluntary for Britons
• Pilot scheme to run in north-west England early next year

A compulsory identity card trial for pilots and 30,000 other airport workers due to start in September has been abandoned by the new home secretary, Alan Johnson. But he intends to accelerate other elements of the scheme, including plans to issue £30 voluntary ID cards to young adults across north-west England. Johnson is also looking at making ID cards free for over-75s.

Longer-term plans to make ID cards compulsory for critical workers at railway stations have also been dropped.

British citizens would not be forced to carry ID cards, the home secretary insisted. Johnson said: “Holding an identity card should be a personal choice for British citizens – just as it is now to obtain a passport.

“Accordingly, I want the introduction of identity cards for all British citizens to be voluntary and I have therefore decided that identity cards issued to airside workers, planned initially at Manchester and London City airports later this year, should also be voluntary.” Asked if the cards would ever be made compulsory he said “No”, adding: “If a future government wanted to make them compulsory it would require primary legislation.”

Johnson said he still believed the cards would help improve security at airports. But he admitted the government had allowed the perception to develop that the cards would be a “panacea” that would stop terrorism.

Listing the benefits of the scheme at a press conference in central London, he did not at first mention tackling terrorism. Instead, he said the cards would help stop illegal working, people-trafficking and ID fraud.

Johnson said he was an instinctive supporter of ID cards and wanted to accelerate their delivery.

A pilot scheme covering Greater Manchester would be extended to the whole of the north-west of England from early next year, he added. Everyone who wants a card, or a biometric passport, will have their details stored on the national identity register.

Civil liberties groups said this amounted to a compulsory scheme. Isabella Sankey, director of policy for Liberty, said: “The home secretary needs to be clear as to whether entry on to the national identity register will continue to be automatic when applying for a passport. If so, the identity scheme will be compulsory in practice. However you spin it, big ears, four legs and a long trunk still make an elephant. And this white elephant would be as costly to privacy and race equality as to our purses.”

The shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, accused the Government of an “absurd fudge”. He said: “They have spent millions on the scheme so far – the home secretary thinks it has been a waste and wants to scrap it, but the prime minister won’t let him.”

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