Tag Archives: Airbus A319-100

Air France’s pilots: the strike will continue, Air France: we will speed up the development of Transavia France

Air France (Paris) is still reeling from a week-long strike by its pilots. The flag carrier has only been able to fly a small portion of its flights due to the on-going strike. Today (September 22) the pilot’s union rejected the latest offer by management to end the strike.

Air France announced today it expects to operate 42 percent of its flights tomorrow (September 23) as the strike continue.

Today Air France also announced it will speed up the development of the lower-cost Transavia France (Paris) with this announcement:

The pilots’ strike has been disrupting flight operations for seven days now, with catastrophic consequences for the Company’s customers, staff and financial situation. Alexandre de Juniac and Frédéric Gagey wish once again to thank all staff who have rallied round in France and around the world to support and assist customers in this unprecedented situation. The Company wishes once again to present its sincere apologies to its customers.

This strike generates an operating loss of up to 20 million euros per day, plus customer compensations and the impact of the gradual recovery in traffic in the days following the return to normal operations. Once the dispute is over, the Group will update its EBITDA target for the 2014 financial year.

Negotiations with the pilot unions, notably the SNPL, have taken place daily. Since the beginning of the strike action, Alexandre de Juniac and Frédéric Gagey have spent over 40 hours in meetings with pilot representatives. Every day, they have been submitting new constructive proposals to resolve this conflict. On their part, the pilot unions have not put forward any proposal demonstrating their willingness to find a solution.

Management can only note that talks have reached a deadlock situation.

Management also wishes to reassert that Air France-KLM’s development on the low-cost market in Europe is both strategic and urgent for the Group’s future, given that this market is fast-expanding and our competitors have adopted particularly offensive strategies on the French market.

The ambition set out in the Perform 2020 growth and competitiveness plan remains intact. The pilot unions have stigmatized the Transavia project by fuelling unfounded fears of “delocalization” and “social dumping”, which have never been at stake. Management regrets these mistaken interpretations, but has taken note of the concerns expressed.

Alexandre de Juniac, Frédéric Gagey and the managerial teams have since taken the following measures:

Postponing the plan to create Transavia subsidiaries in Europe (outside France and the Netherlands), while entering into extended talks about the project and building together the necessary guarantees by the end of the year.

A comprehensive negotiation and explanatory process with Air France and KLM unions will be set up. As for Air France, this process will begin as soon as the next Central Works Council meeting takes place, scheduled for September 25, 2014.
FASTER IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRANSAVIA PROJECT IN FRANCE

The expansion of Transavia in France is vital for Air France, notably in order to defend the Group’s position at Orly Airport, as highlighted by the experts’ report published in July 2014 and supported by the SNPL. It is now urgent to implement this plan.

The project was presented to the unions of each staff category over a year ago, but was not finalized within the framework of the talks underway. The pilot unions’ demand to use, on the Transavia network, Air France pilots employed under Air France conditions and to replace the existing 44 Boeing 737s by Airbus A320s, would inevitably lead Transavia France to failure. The compromise solutions proposed by management have all been rejected.

In these conditions, if the pilot organizations do not agree to the economic and social terms and conditions of the project put forward, Management will be forced to begin the formal procedure for denouncing the agreement to create Transavia France (signed in 2007). This agreement currently restricts the development of Transavia France; its withdrawal will make it possible to implement the project more quickly.

The aim is to rapidly equip Transavia in France with additional aircraft beyond the 14 currently in the fleet. It should be remembered that this project included the creation of a thousand jobs over the next 5 years, including 250 jobs for French pilots. It will now be possible to hire staff faster. The project will, as expected, be primarily open to Air France pilots on a voluntary basis.

Moreover, Management confirms that the development of Transavia in France is not intended to impact Point to Point activity on the French domestic network. Transavia will not feed the Air France hub at Paris-Charles de Gaulle.

“To remain in the race in Europe, we have no alternative than to rapidly expand Transavia. We are now taking every measure to explain and accelerate its growth out of France. The Air France-KLM Group is reaffirming its aim of reaching a fleet of more than 100 Transavia aircraft by 2017,” said Alexandre de Juniac. Frédéric Gagey continued: “These decisions must enable us to restore calm within the company and end the strike that has lasted too long for Air France, its customers and its staff.”

Top Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Operations at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) will remain under the Air France brand but flights to Orly Airport will increasing be under the Transavia brand. With the expedited expansion of Transavia France the subsidiary is likely to get a new look. Airbus A319-111 F-GRHV (msn 1505) taxies at Nantes.

Air France:

Transavia France:

Current routes from Paris (Orly) by Transavia France:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Joe G. Walker/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8K2 F-GZHC (msn 29651) wears the 2005 livery of the Dutch version of the original Transavia Airlines.

Frontier Airlines to add three new routes from Phoenix

Frontier Airlines (2nd) has selected Phoenix for more new routes as it continues to build its network away from its traditional Denver hub. The low-fare airline on November 20 will add new routes from Phoenix to Houston (Bush Intercontinental), Salt Lake City and San Francisco per Airline Route.

Copyright Photo: Ken Petersen/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-111 N902FR (msn 1515) with “Woody”, the Wood Duck, on the tail, taxies to the runway at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU).

Frontier Airlines:

Delta to bring back nonstop seasonal service to Liberia, Costa Rica, will expand flights to Punta Cana

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) will bring back its nonstop seasonal service connecting Liberia, Costa Rica with Los Angeles and the airline’s hubs in Minneapolis/St. Paul and New York-JFK. Additionally, seasonal service between San Jose and Minneapolis/St. Paul will be reinstated.

Delta continues its expansion in Costa Rica, operating 40 weekly services during the peak season and connecting the cities of San Jose and Liberia with key destinations in the United States.

In other news, Delta will expand its service to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic during the high demand season, including flights from Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul and New York-JFK.

Flights will be operated using Airbus A320 and Airbus A319 aircraft and will complement existing Delta service to this luxury Caribbean destination.

Copyright Photo: Ken Petersen/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-114 N322NB (msn 1434) takes off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

Delta Air Lines (current):

American Airlines and US Airways Passenger Service Agents vote to join the Teamsters-CWA Association

American Airlines‘ (Dallas/Fort Worth) and US Airways‘ (Phoenix and Dallas/Fort Worth) passenger service agents have voted to join the CWA-IBT Customer Service Employee Association. This is another step towards the final merger. The union issued this statement:

In a vote announced today by the National Mediation Board (NMB), more than 15,000 passenger service professionals at the newly-merged American-US Airways have voted to join the CWA-IBT Customer Service Employee Association. The joint effort to organize passenger service agents was led by Communication Workers of American (CWA) which will represent about 7,500 new members; 1,300 new members will be represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Agents at both airlines voted over the phone and online in a month-long election administered by the NMB. The results were tallied and it was announced today that the workers had voted for the CWA-IBT Association by a 6-to-1 margin.

“We are honored to represent a total of more than 3,000 passenger service agents at the New American Airlines,” said Teamsters Airline Division Director David Bourne. “The Teamsters are committed to providing American Airlines employees and our existing members at US Airways with strong representation as both airlines continue to integrate in this merger.”

Prior to its merger with American Airlines, US Airways’ passenger service agents were represented by CWA in the east with approximately 4,700 members and by the Teamsters in the west with about 1,800 members. The shared representation was the result of US Airways’ merger in 2005 with America West Airlines whose customer service agents were Teamsters. US Airways’ latest merger with American Airlines, whose agents were nonunion, led to an election to determine representation for all agents at the newly-merged carrier.

“With our partners in CWA, the Teamsters are leading the way in protecting airline professionals involved in the biggest airline merger in history,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “Our union is dedicated to fighting on behalf of workers in this volatile industry. Our new members at the combined American-US Airways now have two of the strongest airline unions in their corner.”

American Airlines agents who have won representation for the first time are concerned about outsourcing, job security, fair work rules and having a strong contract. The agents know from experience how vulnerable they are without representation. American’s 2011 bankruptcy led to layoffs, outsourced job titles, and sharp cuts in pay and benefits for those who kept their jobs.

“I can’t tell you how great this victory is for us,” said Debra Ewing, a 15-year US Airways agent in Phoenix, Arizona. “American Airlines customer service agents have tried for over 20 years to gain representation and the merger with US Airways allowed the Teamsters to step in and bring home a win. This means an end to so much outsourcing for American agents who will regain profit-sharing, shift differentials, a three-tiered medical plan, paid vacation and more. That’s what union representation is – and now we all have it.”

Agents at US Airways have enjoyed strong representation for years and are looking forward to having an even stronger voice in the merger process with 9,000 new agents at American strengthening their association.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. US Airways Airbus A319-112 N701UW (msn 890) departs from Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) painted in American Airlines 2013 colors.

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Spirit Airlines brings back the Yellowbird with its new bright yellow “Bare Fare” livery

Spirit Airlines (Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood) following Southwest Airlines (Dallas) and Frontier Airlines (2nd) (Denver) has introduced a new full-fuselage bright yellow color scheme based on its recently introduced “Bare Fare” advertising campaign. Previously Northeast Airlines (Boston) and Hughes Airwest (Phoenix) used the color yellow to grab attention. The first flight will be tomorrow as flight NK 259 from Atlantic City to the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood base. The first aircraft to be painted is Airbus A319-132 N534NK (msn 3395) (see below).

Spirit Airlines issued this statement:

The skies will now have a plane with a unique paint scheme that will be clearly identifiable even at 35,000 feet. Spirit Airlines unveiled its new design that matches the bright and bold branding the company announced last May.

The bright yellow plane with black trim began service with a flight from Atlantic City (ACY) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL).

“This new livery perfectly matches Spirit Airlines,” said Ben Baldanza Spirit’s President and CEO. “It’s radically different from other airlines, and it’s fun, just like we are. When you see this plane in the air – or on the ground – there will be no question that this is a Spirit plane.”

The new livery also matches Spirit Airlines low-cost business philosophy. The simple, two-color design is much more cost-effective than more complex, multi-colored designs. Additionally, since Spirit does not spend money on expensive advertising campaigns, the bold and bright design acts as a flying billboard and captures a lot of attention with no additional cost. These savings are passed on to customers with even lower fares.

Airbus A319 N534NK is the first of Spirit’s fleet to get the new design. Six more planes will receive the new livery in the next couple of months. New planes currently on order will come with the new design beginning next year. Spirit planes currently in service will keep their current designs until their regularly scheduled time frame to be repainted.

Update: Airbus A319-232 N534NK arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for the first time in the new look on September 17 (below).

Spirit Airlines Aircraft Slide Show:

Video: The painting of the first Airbus A319:

American Airlines and US Airways to combine cargo operations on October 20

American Airlines Group (American Airlines and US Airways) (Dallas/Fort Worth) are merging its cargo operations on October 20. The Group has issued this letter to its cargo customers:

Dear Cargo Customer

Nine months ago, the merger between American Airlines and US Airways became official. Since then, we have dedicated ourselves to restoring American as the greatest airline in the world. The cargo team has been working hard to plan for a seamless transition and I thank you for your patience and loyalty during this time.

The objective of our integration has been to bring together the expertise, solutions, and teams you’ve relied on from both cargo organizations into the industry’s most customer-focused airfreight partner. I am proud to share with you that on Monday, October 20, 2014, we will take the largest step toward this goal by becoming one cargo organization and transitioning to a single air waybill using the American Airlines prefix 001.

While you will be seeing more information over the next few weeks, I’d like to share the following important details now:

We will transition to accepting a single air waybill (001) for all new shipments originating on or after October 20.

All American Airlines and US Airways booking channels will still be available to you, including our customer contact centers and aacargo.com, and will allow you to book 001 air waybills across both networks for flights on October 20th and beyond.

For shipments originating between now and October 19, please continue to use US Airways (037) and American Airlines (001) air waybills when booking, tendering, and recovering shipments with each respective airline.

The combination of our networks is only the beginning of many exciting changes built around your needs. With initiatives like e-freight, a new state-of-the-art pharmaceutical facility in Philadelphia, and 70 new widebody and hundreds of narrowbody aircraft on the way, we are modernizing the cargo business with you in mind.

Our most important goal is to ensure a smooth experience for you and your extended team. In the coming weeks, you will receive more details about what this transition means and how you can best take advantage of the benefits. You can also find the latest updates any time on aacargo.com.

Thank you again for your business and we look forward to partnering with you as one cargo team very soon.

Sincerely

Jim W. Butler
President, American Airlines Cargo

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-112 N700UW (msn 885) of US Airways operating in American colors arrives in Washington at Reagan National Airport (DCA).

American Airlines (current):

American Airlines-US Airways:

US Airways:

TAME is coming to Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood starting on October 17

TAME (Transportes Aereos Militares Ecuatorianos) (Linea Aerea del Ecuador) (Quito) which used to operate cargo flights to Miami in the past, is returning to South Florida. TAME will launch daily Quito-Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood passenger flights with Airbus A319s/A320s starting on October 17 per Airline Route. The daily flight will arrive at FLL at 0730 and depart at 0900 (local times).

In other news, TAME is also shifting its route to New York (JFK) from Guayaquil-New York to Quito-New York on October 20 per Airline Route. Quito will now become the jumping off point to both South Florida and New York.

Read the history of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport: CLICK HERE

TAME:

Lufthansa is hit by another pilot’s strike today, this time in Munich

Lufthansa (Frankfurt) is again dealing with another strike day today (September 10) by its pilots, represented by the Vereinigung Cockpit union. This time the target is the Munich hub. The airline issued this statement:

Strike by pilots union Vereinigung Cockpit on September 10 at Munich Airport

The pilots union Vereinigung Cockpit has announced a strike for flights to and from Lufthansa’s Munich hub scheduled for today, September 10, in the time from 10.00 to 18.00 CEST.

Lufthansa flight operations will be heavily affected by the strike, especially flights departing from and arriving in Munich. All Lufthansa flights to and from the Frankfurt hub will presumably operate as scheduled.

Please note also that all flights of our Lufthansa Group airlines; Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Germanwings and Swiss (operated by OS, SN, 4U, LX) as well as flights of Air Dolomiti will operate as scheduled.

Affected flights

Passengers are kindly requested to check the status of their flight prior to departure. Passengers whose flights are operating are kindly requested to come to the airport in good time.

Check cancelled flights under Cancelled flights

Train voucher

Passengers travelling within Germany whose flights have been cancelled due to the strike may alternatively travel by train with Deutsche Bahn.

To do this, please exchange your etix for a train ticket online or mobile under My bookings or at a Lufthansa check in machine.

If you do not have the time to exchange your ticket online or at the machine, we recommend you purchase a regular train ticket. Please contact your ticket issuing office after your travel for a refund of your unused ticket. You can receive current travel information under Deutsche Bahn or on your mobile phone via m.bahn.de.

Rebooking

In case your flight is not affected and you’re holding a Lufthansa/SWISS/Austrian Airlines/Brussels Airlines ticket for flights on September 10th, 2014 from/to/via Munich you can rebook your ticket once free of charge at My Bookings. The following conditions must be met:

Rebooking within the original fare.

– Tickets must be issued on/before Semptember 9th, 2014
– The new date of travel must be on/before December 10th, 2014
– Origin / Destination and compartment must remain the same
– All other fare conditions must be observed

Passengers, who are unable to use the self-service facilities, can contact our Service Center on 0800 850 60 70* or via one of our local phone numbers.

Lost baggage

In order to deliver your baggage please fill in our Online Baggage Form or please contact the Lufthansa baggage tracing counter as soon as you arrive at your destination. For status updates on your missing baggage please go to Lufthansa baggage tracing online.
Check here for further information on baggage liability.

Lufthansa regrets any inconvenience to Lufthansa passengers caused by the threatened strike measures by the pilots union VC and will do its utmost to minimize impacts on passengers. Passenger support and service has paramount priority.

In other news, Lufthansa is changing its takeoff procedures across Germany:

In the twelve months since August 2013, Lufthansa has been carrying out trials on the noise emissions produced by the 1,000 foot acceleration procedure. In the new procedure, the aircraft leaving the west runway at Frankfurt Airport reduced the altitude for acceleration and additional thrust from 1,500 feet (approx. 457 meters) to 1,000 feet (approx. 305 meters) where allowed by local restrictions on the departure flight path. During the world’s biggest examination of take-off noise, the measuring stations recorded over 70,000 Lufthansa take-offs. This represents more than half of all the airline’s departures in Frankfurt. The data were analyzed by Forum Flughafen and the local region, which could not identify any significant changes in noise emissions as a result of the modified take-off procedure. The measurements support the existing detailed calculations carried out as part of a scientific study by Lufthansa, TU Berlin and the German Aerospace Center. On this basis Lufthansa has now decided to introduce the modified take-off procedure nationwide as of today and so to implement this established global standard worldwide. Many other airlines have been using this take-off procedure for years, making it common practice already at most German and international airports, because the related fuel consumption and carbon emissions are much lower. The change in the acceleration altitude to 1,000 feet took place in accordance with the standards laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Lufthansa obtained permission to modify its procedure from the German Federal Aviation Authority and the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) some time ago.

What does 1000-foot acceleration mean?

After an aircraft takes off from the runway, it usually ascends at a constant speed with the flaps extended until it reaches a certain altitude. Modern aircraft generally do not use the maximum thrust available at this point, but rather a reduced level of take-off thrust. When the aircraft reaches an initial target altitude, the engines’ thrust switches to climb thrust. As the aircraft continues to take off, it has to accelerate so that the flaps can be retracted and it can climb to its cruising altitude at a higher speed. The altitude at which the speed increase begins is called the acceleration altitude. By changing these two altitudes, the wind resistance decreases when the flaps are retracted, thus lowering fuel consumption. Lufthansa believes that changing the procedure in Germany alone would save around 3,000 tonnes of fuel per year. This would mean around 10,000 tonnes fewer CO2 emissions. The benefit for the environment is much greater worldwide: approx. 6,000 tons less kerosene, or around 19,000 tons less CO2.

Copyright Photo: Arnd Wolf/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-114 D-AILU (msn) with the special Lulu Stork marking taxies at the Munich hub.

Lufthansa:

American-US Airways pilots agree on a protocol for pilot seniority integration, will it lead to a final list?

U.S. Airline Pilots Association (USAPA), representing the pilots of US Airways (Phoenix and Dallas/Fort Worth) (and the pilots of the former America West Airlines) (Phoenix), stated it has reached a tentative agreement on a protocol with the Allied Pilots Association (APA), the union representing the pilots of American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth). The tentative agreement lays out a process for the seniority integration of the two pilot groups according to The Street.

However according to article by Forbes, the previous bitter split between US Airways (East) pilots and America West (West) pilots at US Airways, could reemerge as work continues on a final seniority list. Will the new American Airlines inherit the seven-year old US Airways-America West pilot dispute? Forbes explores this question.

Read the full interesting article: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Jay Selman/AirlinersGallery.com. Freshly repainted with new American titles, US Airways’ Airbus A319-132 N838AW (msn 2615) painted in America West’s 2005 heritage livery, taxies to the gate at the Charlotte hub. N838AW symbolizes this hot button issue better than any other AA-US aircraft.

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United to drop three Canadian routes for the winter months

United Airlines (Chicago) is ending summer service to three Canadian routes this fall: Chicago (O’Hare)-Saskatoon (September 30), Chicago (O’Hare)-Regina (October 25) and Newark-Edmonton (October 26) per Airline Route. Saskatoon and Regina will continue to see United service from the Denver hub.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. United utilizes the Airbus A319 on the Newark-Edmonton route. Airbus A319-131 N805UA (msn 783) departs from Los Angeles.

United Airlines (current):