The nation’s two top flight attendant unions are divided on the value of pending legislation to increase the amount of required rest for flight attendants. The Association of Flight Attendants, which represents 60,000 flight attendants at United and 18 other airlines, is backing the legislation. The Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents the 25,000 flight attendants at American, says it doesn’t go far enough. Flight attendant rest time is addressed in an amendment to the FAA funding bill, which was approved Thursday by the House Transportation Committee. Specifically, the amendment requires a minimum of 10 hours rest between flights, up from today’s minimum of 8 hours rest. <br/>
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US air carriers will begin competing for routes and airport slots for travel to Cuba Tuesday when an agreement takes effect to restore normal commercial air service between the two countries. The US and Cuba are expected to formally sign an agreement in Havana to resume air service between the countries. Once that happens, air carriers will have 15 days to submit applications to the DoT for the routes they’d like to fly. Senior US officials said they expect to make a decision about which carriers get which routes this summer, and US airline carriers will be able to sell tickets for them this fall. The deal reached in Washington in December allows for up to 110 flights per day to Cuba, including 20 to Havana and 10 to each of Cuba’s 9 other international airports. <br/>
Airlines have been accused of “profiteering” and “exploiting” passengers after failing to pass on the full savings in the price they pay for jet fuel to their customers. Latest figures show the price of jet fuel has fallen by 70% in the past 2 years, yet the average cost of a transatlantic airline ticket has been cut by just 2% over the same period. Some airlines are even continuing to impose a fuel surcharge on certain routes, a mechanism originally intended to be used when the price of fuel goes up unexpectedly. Now consumer groups and MPs have called on airlines to pass on the full reduction in the price of jet fuel to passengers in the form of cheaper flight tickets. Graham Stringer, a Labour member of the Parliamentary transport select committee, said it should be “exposed what a rip-off air fares are at the moment” so that consumers can make an informed choice. <br/>
Aerospace leaders gathering for this week's Singapore Airshow face conflicting pressures as they juggle growing concerns over jetliner demand while keeping record production plans on track. Worries about the effects of a faltering global economy and tensions in the South China Sea overshadow the 2-yearly event in Singapore. For now, airline traffic continues to grow rapidly, spurred by continued growth in Asian household incomes, while airline profits also benefit from low oil prices. But as aerospace industry shares fall in step with tumbling global markets, analysts increasingly question the durability of an aerospace expansion cycle now in an unprecedented eighth year. "All the thoughts that this is no longer a cyclical industry have disappeared. We are due for a down-cycle," said one aerospace consultant. <br/>
Airlines in Southeast Asia may need to push back delivery of aircraft after a decade of economic growth and optimism about a surge in air travel prompted them to order hundreds of jets from Airbus and Boeing. Carriers in the region that includes Indonesia and Malaysia are now confronted with challenges such as overcapacity and intense competition, Tony Tyler, CE of IATA, said Sunday. "It’s easy to place these orders when times are looking good. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them are pushed back," Tyler said. "I’m sure all the planning departments of all the airlines are now studying their orders in the context of what the market is telling them." A decade of economic growth enabled a new class of first-time flyers from Vietnam to the Philippines, prompting a flurry of orders from start-up budget carriers and legacy airlines. <br/>
Passenger traffic across airports owned by Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) saw a 3.2% increase to 6.85m passengers in Jan 2016, compared to 6.64m seen in the year-ago period. The airport operator said the increase was mainly due to growth in Chinese New Year travel, further boosted by new airline operations that have come on stream over the past 12 months. MAHB said 3.5m international and 3.3m domestic passengers brought an increase of 6% and 0.3% to the two sector figures. It said the growth was “higher than expected, despite cuts from Malaysia Airlines.” It said the loss of capacity from MAB was compensated for by both local and foreign carriers, but cited 2 LCCs as being key performers. “There was significant growth in AirAsia’s and Malindo’s traffic by above 10% and 35%, respectively,” MAHB said. <br/>