Thursday 28 February 2013

Ryanair's business class


Full article on economist.com

Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's chief executive officer, recently announced that 22% of the low-cost carrier's passengers are corporate travellers. Ryanair is Europe's biggest airline, carrying 79.6m people last year, so it may not be surprising that certain routes attract a high volume of corporate traffic. But for one in five customers across its entire network to be travelling on business is a noteworthy statistic...

Monday 11 February 2013

IAG's baggage


Full article on economist.com

Ground staff and cabin crew at Iberia, Spain's flag carrier, have announced 15 days of strikes this February and March. The walkouts are in response to attempts by International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company of Iberia and British Airways (BA), to push through swingeing cuts at the loss-making carrier. Willie Walsh, IAG's chief executive, originally called for 4,500 job cuts plus salary reductions of up to 35% in November. He moderated this slightly last month, suggesting that 3,147 job losses and 23% pay cuts would do the trick. Trade unions rejected the proposal...

Thursday 7 February 2013

Aerotoxic syndrome


Full article on economist.com

Concerns about air quality on planes are nothing new, but a recent lawsuit is reigniting a debate over whether it could potentially be harmful. British Airways (BA) has defended its safety protocols after a posthumous court case was filed on behalf of one of two former pilots who claimed they were poisoned by toxic cabin fumes.

The BA pilots, Karen Lysakowska and Richard Westgate, believed they had fallen victim to “aerotoxic syndrome” towards the end of their lives. They accused BA of breaching health and safety guidelines for monitoring cabin air quality...

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Interview: Fernando Pinto, TAP Portugal CEO


Synergy still front-runner for TAP privatisation: Pinto

TAP Portugal chief executive Fernando Pinto says he is confident that Synergy Group, the parent of Avianca-Taca, will resubmit its bid for the Portuguese flag carrier when the privatisation process resumes. But he adds that British Airways parent IAG "might" also rekindle its interest now the Eurozone crisis has abated.

The Portuguese government rejected Synergy's bid in December 2012, citing concerns about financial guarantees. The Brazilian conglomerate had been the sole bidder, after IAG and Lufthansa withdrew their early expressions of interest.

Pinto says that in principle the government had accepted Synergy's offer - comprising a down payment of €35 million ($47.5 million) plus a €315 million investment - but that "fine details on the actual paperwork" had ultimately scuppered the deal. "It was a matter of timing, and a matter of having the correct paperwork," he explains.

Friday 1 February 2013

Etihad's calculated gamble


Full article in JPG format

The appointment of Wolfgang Prock-Schauer to the role of chief executive at airberlin last month, though unexpected, was by no means a complete surprise. His predecessor, Hartmut Mehdorn, 70, had been hired on an interim basis in September 2011 – shortly before Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways acquired 29 per cent of the German carrier, becoming its largest stakeholder – and local media reports consistently painted a picture of strained relations with the new Gulf investor.

Even so, Prock-Schauer’s rapid ascension to the top job is yet another sign of seismic changes at airberlin since Etihad chief executive James Hogan invested in the troubled carrier...