Spanish Air Traffic Controllers are threatening to disrupt flight plans for thousands of expats living in Spain either wanting to fly back to the UK to spend time with their families and take advantage of the current exchange rates, or wanting to fly out to their holiday homes and get some sunshine over the Easter break.

The Air Traffic Controllers have said

If in the forthcoming months a similar situation to last Christmas arises, it will not be because we are carrying out any sort of labour pressure, but because of the inability of the Sr. Minister of Development and the directors of AENA, (The Spanish Airports Authority), to face up to an adequate process of negotiation

Passengers who fly with no-frills carriers leave a softer “carbon footprint” than those on full-service airlines, new research has shown

Apparantly the combination of newer fleets, direct flights and a higher ‘seat density’ means that the budget airline flights can produce 35% of the carbon emissions per passenger of the larger ‘full-service’ airines.

Full-service airlines continue to take steps towards the low-cost model. This week Bmi said it planned to remove business-class sections from its domestic flights and have economy-only cabins. It already charges passengers in economy seats for food and drinks on these flights.

BA has also cut luggage allowances, abolished free meals and begun charging for booking of particular seats on short-haul flights

British Airways is to train ‘scab’ aircrews from the rest of its workforce in a bid “to keep as many planes in the sky as possible” in the event of looming industrial action.

Many expats living in Spain will no doubt be interested to read that BA are considering training up non-cabin crew staff to act as aircrew to maintain services in the event of a strike. Although the threat of a strike has been ruled out for Easter, BA seem keen to ensure that in the event of a strike they can continue to fly to Spain, and all other countries.

British Airways faces the renewed threat of strike action after the Unite union said it will ballot cabin crew later this month.

The Unite union said today that a new ballot will open on January 25 after two weeks of talks BA management failed to produce an agreement on changes to working conditions.

The union was forced to abandon the plan for a 12-day strike over Christmas after the High Court ruled the ballot unlawful. The ballot of the 13,000 crew who belong to the Unite union is expected to take about a month.

“We have told (BA) management all along that this dispute, and the damage it does to BA’s prospects, can only finally be resolved through negotiation,” Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary of Unite, said in a statement. “That remains our position, and I hope the company will make the best use of the time available before the ballot closes.”

The news is a blow for BA chief executive Willie Walsh who is attemting to steer the airline through the deepest recession in aviation history. After nursing a record £400m in its last financial year, BA has cut jobs and announced changes to working conditions for staff.

BA said today that it is “saddened but not surprised” by Unite’s decision to call for another ballot, adding that it remains open to talks.

Original Source – Telegraph

Disaffected British Airways cabin crew have resorted to pouring vintage wine down the sink on the plane and throwing away unused washbags in protest at what they claim is the airline’s “disregard” for their working agreements.

Members of the British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association (Bassa), a branch of the Unite union respresenting BA’s 13,000 cabin crew, said they were opting for “passive resistance”.

One crew member said it was the only way they could register their anger with a BA management, led by chief executive Willie Walsh, that won a court injunction to block a proposed 12-day walk-out over Christmas. The two sides have been at loggerheads since BA introduced new working practices to save £140m a year.

Unite is planning a new strike ballot on January 22 following a mass meeting of cabin crew at Kempton Park racecourse on January 18 – unless talks between the two sides resolve the deadlock.

While Unite’s joint general secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley appeared to adopt a more conciliatory tone last week, some Bassa members are furious.

One said: “No-one is doing anything to help save costs any more. Whereas we used to keep unfinished bottles of wine in first-class to save money, now they’re routinely poured down the sink. The washbags that could have been recycled, we’re just throwing them away.”

BA’s demands for more flexibility in the cold weather have also irked crew. In an email to members, Bassa said: “Since the arrival of the snow your cabin crew agreements have, in effect, been ripped up.”

Bassa said that after warning members to be “aware of what could and could not be asked of them”, BA sent “within hours” a “threat of legal action” to Unite’s offices, “claiming that if your union encouraged our members to be aware of their own agreement rules, BA would seek action against us for “unofficial industrial action” and seek to declare our impending ballot illegal, alongside seeking massive financial damages”.

A BA spokesman said: “We were in contact with the union to ensure that as many of our flights could operate as possible, despite the extremely difficult conditions. We remain focused on the continuing talks with Unite.”

Original Source – Telegraph

Seven companies are being approached by the provincial government

The Diputación provincial government in Granada wants to see more flights operating out of the Federico García Lorca airport and is understood to have started a round of talks with seven companies with a view to bringing more tourists to the province. The Diputación is understood to have already had meetings with Air Berlin and Vueling and plans another with Air Lingus at the Fitur International Tourism Fair which takes place in Madrid later this month.

Europa Press said the other companies include Air Europa and Quantum Air.

The Diputación’s President, Antonio Martínez Caler, voiced his serious concerns at a press conference on Monday over the agreement for the subsidy which Ryanair currently receives for its Granada operation. The agreement expires in March and there appear to be doubts that it will be renewed. (Via Original Source)

Monarch Airlines has hit back at bookmaker Paddy Power for running a book claiming it could be the next carrier to collapse.

The bookmaker has slashed its odds on Monarch being the next airline to go bust from 50-1 to 4-1 after taking more than 100 bets over Christmas.

“If it wasn’t so serious it would be laughable,” said Monarch managing director Tim Jeans.

Paddy Power said it did not have any insider information.

Mr Jeans said Monarch was “very secure”.

When asked if Monarch was likely to go out of business in the next year, he replied: “It just won’t happen.”

He went on: “We have 6.5 milllion customers and 2,500 employees who won’t find this at all helpful or at all funny.

“There are far safer homes for people’s money,” he added, suggesting that Paddy Power’s odds of 18-1 on Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary to be the next boss of British Airways would be a better bet.

Paddy Power said reducing its odds did not necessarily mean the airline was about to collapse.

“Our punters have put money on Monarch to be the next airline out of a big list of airlines to go bust, and that’s the only information we have,” the bookmaker said.

“It probably will [turn out to be false] because we’ve had false favourites in this market before that punters haven’t collected on, but have gambled [on] nonetheless.” (Via Original Source)

Paddy Power has opened a book on which airline will go bust next, and claims that the UK’s largest charter airline, Monarch, is favourite to fold.

The Irish bookmaker claims that in the past seven days more than 100 bets have been placed on Monarch, shortening the airline’s odds from 50/1 to 4/1 to be the next airline to go bankrupt.

A Paddy Power spokesman told Times Online: “Almost 8 out of every 10 bets placed over the last week have been on Monarch. It’s following a similar pattern to XL Airways last year.”

Monarch has catagorically refuted the claim. A spokesman issued this statement: “Monarch is the UK’s oldest airline still operating under its original brand name and will enter into its 42nd year of flying in 2010. The airline is privately owned by wealthy shareholders and has accumulated substantial assets in its balance sheet over its 41 years of profitable trading.

“Monarch is one of the UK’s leading low cost airlines and is the airline of choice for independent tour operators in the UK. It has recently launched a series of new routes to Turkey for Summer 2010 and has invested close to $1bn USD in a fleet of six Boeing 787 Dreamliners. It will be the second UK airline to take delivery of these aircraft. Monarch is currently 2% ahead on scheduled load factors for December 2009 compared to the same month last year, with forward bookings into 2010 ahead of forecasts.”

The airline offers both charter and schedule flights, and serves more than 100 destinations from the UK with a fleet of 100 aircraft. It carriers around 7 million passengers a year.

Monarch has reacted angrily to the claim, suggesting it is a promotion stunt by the bookmakers, which admits it is “famous for its mischievous and sometimes irreverent promotional campaigns”.

The bookmaker’s predictions are, of course, purely speculative and not based on any other indicators.

Passengers who have bookings to fly with Monarch over the coming months would be refunded or offered alternative flights in the event of bankruptcy as long as their flight booking is part of a package or is Atol-protected.

Customers who buy scheduled flights directly from an airline which then goes bankrupt, must appeal to their travel insurer or credit card provider for a refund in the event of airline bankruptcy.

Paddy Power started taking bets on airline bankruptcies in September 2008. As soon as betting opened, odds on XL Airways shortened from around 4/1 to near evens following bets from around 200 punters, before betting was suspended and the carrier announced bankruptcy in September 2008. The bookmakers paid out £15,000.

Current joint second favourite to go bust are Polish carrier Wizz Air and the Finnish flag carrier Finnair, at 11/2. These are followed by Malev at 13/2 and Aer Arann at 9/1. The full list is below.

British Airways is at 11/1, and contrary to expectations, its odds have lengthened in the days following the proposed strike action over Christmas. The spokesman said that only seven bets have been placed on the British flag carrier in the past seven days.

Paddy Power odds at 10am, December 29: next airline to go bust

4/1 Monarch

11/2 Wizz Air

11/2 Finnair

13/2 Malev

9/1 Aer Arann

10/1 Spanair

10/1 Jet2

11/1 BA

14/1 Aer Lingus

14/1 Thomson Airways

16/1 Vueling Airlines

18/1 Bmibaby

20/1 Qantas

20/1 Air Berlin

25/1 Scandinavian airlines

33/1 United Airlines

33/1 Aegean Airlines

33/1 Air One

40/1 Thomas Cook Airlines

MY PROFILE SHOP JOBS PROPERTY CLASSIFIEDS
50/1 JetBlue

66/1 Czech Airlines

80/1 easyJet

80/1 Virgin Atlantic

80/1 Ryanair

100/1 Lufthansa

100/1 Air France-KLM

100/1 Aeroflot

100/1 Turkish Airlines

100/1 Singapore Airlines

500/1 Vatican Airlines

1000/1 Air Force One

(Via Original Source)

A strike by British Airways cabin crew planned for Christmas has been declared illegal in a High Court ruling.

The court agreed with BA that the cabin crew’s union, Unite, had not correctly balloted its members on the strike action.

The injunction means that the 12-day strike cannot now go ahead.

Unite called it “a disgraceful day for democracy” and vowed to hold a fresh ballot of cabin crew if the dispute with BA was not resolved.

British Airways said the decision would be welcomed by “hundreds of thousands of families in the UK and around the world”.

“There was never any need for a strike and we hope that Unite will take this opportunity to reflect before deciding its next steps,” a statement from the company said.

“In recent days, we believe Unite has formed a better understanding of our position and of the ways in which we could move forward.

“It has also become very clear that our customers do not believe that old-style trade union militancy is relevant to our efforts to move British Airways back toward profitability.”
Dispute ‘not settled’

Unite’s joint general secretaries, Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, said the dispute was “far from settled”.

“While we have never wanted this dispute, it is a disgraceful day for democracy when a court can overrule such an overwhelming decision by employees taken in a secret ballot,” they said.

“The fact remains that this dispute is not settled.

“BA must accept that there can be no resolution except through negotiation, failing which there will inevitably be a further ballot for industrial action.”

The original ballot saw 92.5% of those balloted vote in favour of industrial action.

Sitting at the High Court, Mrs Justice Cox agreed that Unite had improperly included BA employees already set to leave the company in the ballot. (Via Original Source)

Castle Donington based Bmibaby has today announced that due to current market expectations and through optimising its operational efficiencies it will retain two aircraft between its East Midlands and Birmingham Airport bases.

This will further reinforce its position as a leading low cost airline in the Midlands and cements its expansion programme from East Midlands Airport in 2010. This plan will include flying to the previously announced eight new routes and increasing capacity to the most popular destinations in 2010 from East Midlands Airport.

bmibaby will operate 326 flights a week from and to East Midlands Airport and carry 77,000 passengers during the peak summer months. The airline will fly to 23 European destinations from East Midlands Airport: Alghero (Sardinia), Alicante, Almeria, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bastia (Corsica), Belfast International, Cork, Dubrovnik (Croatia), Edinburgh, Faro, Geneva, Glasgow International, Jersey, Malaga, Malta, Mahon (Menorca), Newquay, Nice, Palma, Paris (CDG), Prague and Venice.

Crawford Rix, managing director, bmibaby, said:

“It is great news that due to current market strengths, and through optimising our efficiency, we are able to retain two additional aircraft. This means we can continue with our expansion plans from East Midlands Airport, with the addition of eight new routes and increased capacity on the most popular services in 2010.

“Sales for summer 2010 continue to be strong, a clear indication that the market is improving and that consumers are not willing to give up their holiday or short breaks.

“We not only offer great low fares, but also benefits such as allocated seating for everyone, and customers can join bmi diamond club, the UK’s most generous frequent flier programme. We are also the UK’s most punctual low cost airline.

“The East Midlands is home to bmibaby and we have gone from strength to strength at the airport. We will continue to provide our customers with competitive low fares, as well as services to a wide range of attractive European destinations for both business and leisure passengers.”

Penny Coates, managing director, East Midlands Airport, said:

“It is great to see that bmibaby remain committed to the region and continue with their expansion plans for 2010.

“bmibaby have continued to go from strength to strength with their East Midlands Airport operation by providing passengers with a comprehensive range of business and leisure destinations combined with competitive low fares.

“bmibaby recently increased capacity on routes from East Midlands Airport to meet extra market demand and added eight new European routes including brand new scheduled services to Corsica, Croatia and Sardinia for next Summer.”

(Via Original Source)