Pilot sickie may sink sale talks

FRANKFURT, 15 September 2017: Insolvent Air Berlin cancelled dozens more flights, Wednesday, as pilots again called in sick, despite warnings from the airline that the wildcat action could jeopardise rescue talks.

The mass “sick-out” comes ahead of a Friday deadline for potential investors to submit bids for Air Berlin assets.

“More than 30 flights” had to be scrapped early Wednesday as some 150 pilots handed in sick notices for a second day, an Air Berlin spokeswoman said. Read more

Air Berlin pilots call in sick

BERLIN, 13 September 2017: Bankrupt Air Berlin said it was forced to cancel dozens of flights on Tuesday, after “an exceptionally high number” of pilots called in sick.

“We regret the inconvenience for our passengers,” said the airline on its website.

Both domestic and international flights were affected, including links between Berlin and Los Angeles or Dubai. Read more

Demand for pilots grows

NEW YORK, 26 July 2017: Airlines will need 637,000 new pilots over the next 20 years to keep pace with the growth of global air traffic, Boeing reported Tuesday in an annual report on the subject.

Its latest estimate of the pilot requirements is up 3.6% from last year’s report.

Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region alone will need 253,000 new pilots, a third of the total, according to the report, which was prepared by Boeing’s Global Services Division. It put North America’s requirement at 117,000 new pilots and Europe’s at 106,000 for the period from 2017 to 2036. Read more

Row brews over new airline

THE HAGUE, 26 July 2017: Air France’s new lower-cost subsidiary Joon could harm its Dutch partner KLM, a leading Dutch work’s committee member warned Tuesday, adding to an acrimonious atmosphere between the two airlines.

“Joon is supposed to be the solution to all the problems. It’s totally unrealistic,” Jan-Willem van Dijk, the president of the work’s committee told the Volkskrant daily.

The plan was “not economically prudent and potentially may be damaging to KLM”. Read more

Green light for low-cost

PARIS, 19 July 2017: A lengthy dispute between Air France management and pilots ended Monday after the pilots backed the establishment of a lower-cost subsidiary to try to compete with budget airlines and Gulf carriers.

Air France-KLM CEO, Jean-Marc Janaillac, praised the pilots’ “spirit of responsibility” after they agreed to the creation of a cheaper medium- and long-haul service on condition they would receive the same pay and conditions.

The hiring of stewards, hostesses and part of the ground personnel for the new Boost service will, by contrast, be outsourced. Read more

Flying days end at 65

LUXEMBOURGE, 6 July 2017: A European Union law that forces passenger airline pilots to retire at 65 is valid, the EU’s top court said on Wednesday.

German flight instructor Werner Fries took his case to a German labour court in 2013 after his employer, Lufthansa, ended his contract when he turned 65, in line with EU law.

The German court referred the case to the European Court of Justice, the EU’s highest court, which ruled that the action was legal. Read more

Lufthansa ends wage battle

FRANKFURT, 16 March 2017: German airline group Lufthansa and pilots’ union Cockpit said Wednesday they had struck a new deal to end a years-long battle over pay, pensions and jobs.

Under the agreement, some 5,400 pilots flying for Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo, and low-cost subsidiary Germanwings will enjoy a salary increase of 11.4% over a period from May 2012 to June 2022.

The airlines will also pay flight crew a one-off bonus of 1.8 months’ salary. Read more

Lufthansa bows to pay demands

FRANKFURT, 16 February 2017: German airline Lufthansa said Wednesday it had agreed to boost pilots’ salaries by 8.7% over four years, hoping to end years of disputes and costly strikes by air crew.

Pilots’ first pay increase will be backdated to 1 January, 2016 and the last is slated for 1 January, 2019, while the agreement will remain valid until the end of that year, Lufthansa said in a statement.

Pilots will also receive a one-off bonus payment of between 5,000 and 6,000 euros under the deal, or “around half a month of salary” per person, pilots’ union Cockpit noted in its own statement. Read more

Lufthansa offers new pay deal

BERLIN, 1 December 2016: German airline Lufthansa on Wednesday said it had offered striking pilots a fresh pay deal in a bid to end a long-running and crippling dispute.

Six days of industrial action over the past week have forced Lufthansa to cancel 4,461 flights, grounding more than half a million passengers.

On Wednesday, around 98,000 customers were affected by 890 cancellations. Read more

Lufthansa bid to end dispute fails

BERLIN, 28 November 2016: Germany’s flagship carrier Lufthansa on Friday offered pilots a new wage deal to end a crippling three-day strike that has led to mass flight cancellations affecting over 300,000 passengers.

However the pilots’ union Cockpit swiftly rejected the new offer.

The airline said it had been forced to cancel more than 2,700 flights since the start of the walkout, which was called by the pilots’ union and is set to last through Saturday. Read more

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