Airlines
LOT on the ball for EURO 2012
Ten LOT Polish Airlines airplanes are set to receive a special decorative addition in celebration of the upcoming European Football Championship, to be held this year in Poland and Ukraine. The initiative will see the addition of a unique football logo on the rear fuselage and wingtips of the aircraft. Designed in-house at LOT, the logo echoes the style and colour scheme of the company's new graphics, launched at the beginning of April. Last weekend saw the first of the planes, Embraer 175 SP-LIA, receive its decal and, on Sunday, it took off for Odessa flying the "new LOT livery."The other...
Emirates launches official Facebook page
Emirates has officially launched its Facebook page -- attracting more 300,000 fans within the first three weeks. Millions of Emirates fans around the world can now connect and engage with the airline directly through Facebook. Incredibly, in its first two weeks Emirates was also established as the number one airline in Facebook in the MENA region. The Emirates Facebook page soft launch took place March 25 in preparation for the April 2 launch of the airlines' new global brand platform "Hello Tomorrow."A series of teaser quizzes highlighting vignettes from one of the new TV commercials were...
WestJet unveils electric baggage tug
WestJet showcased its newest environmental innovation yesterday (April 22), a baggage tug which runs on rechargeable lithium polymer batteries. The tug, which resembles a small tractor, pulls baggage carts to and from the aircraft and is the first of its kind to operate on this type of battery. As part of a pilot project, the airline worked alongside Corvus Energy, a Richmond-based technology company, to re-engineer the tug to be powered by lithium polymer batteries, removing the need for any fossil fuel to power the equipment. The tug, which began operating in October at Calgary...
Unions back US Airways-American merger
In a joint statement issued late last week by the Transport Workers Union (TWU), the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) and the Allied Pilots Association (APA), the three unions -- which represent 55,000 American Airlines employees -- have indicated their support for a possible merger between American and US Airways. The unions' statement reads, "On behalf of nearly 55,000 American Airlines front-line employees -- including the 17,000 members of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, the 10,000 members of the Allied Pilots Association and the 26,000 members of...
AC, ACPA going back to the table
Air Canada and the Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA) are going back to the negotiating table. The parties have agreed to a 10-day negotiation period to begin following the appointment of an arbitrator by the Minister of Labour in accordance with the provisions of the Protecting Air Services Act. Air Canada and ACPA will ask that the arbitrator facilitate the negotiations process pursuant to section 31 of the Act that allows for negotiations to take place. ACPA represents approximately 3,000 pilots employed by Air Canada, and its collective agreement expired on March 31, 2011. Air Canada...
IAG completes bmi buy
International Airlines Group (IAG) reports that it has completed its purchase of bmi from Lufthansa. IAG -- which was formed in January 2011 and is the parent company of British Airways and Iberia -- said that the plan is to integrate bmi mainline into British Airways, with consultations already underway with bmi mainline staff and its trade unions on the integration process. bmibaby and bmi regional have not been sold prior to completion. Under the terms of the purchase agreement, IAG will also acquire those businesses and receive a significant price reduction. As previously stated, bmibaby...
Common interest calls for co-operation: IATA
IATA is calling on governments to work together and with the aviation industry to maximize aviation's ability to sustainably drive global economic development and job creation. Speaking at ICAO's International Air Transport Symposium, IATA's director general and CEO, Tony Tyler said, "Governments and industry share a common interest in aviation's success. Aviation is a business and a driver of economic and social development that is vitally important to governments. About 3 billion people fly annually. And the nearly 50 million tonnes of cargo transported by air represents some 35% of the...
Spirit cancels Niagara Falls flights
Runway construction at Niagara Falls International Airport has forced Spirit Airlines to cancel its flights between Niagara Falls, New York and Myrtle Beach from May 15 to June 20, 2012 as well as its flights between Niagara Falls and Fort Lauderdale from May 15 to June 30, 2012. Spirit's vice-president airport services, Jake Filene commented: "We apologize for the inconvenience that this causes our customers and we look forward to resuming our Niagara Falls service as soon as the runway construction project is complete." The carrier is contacting all customers with reservations to/from...