Maintenance workers at United Airlines have overwhelmingly rejected a new contract offer, their union said, adding it will seek approval from US regulators to strike. More than 93% of mechanics who voted decided against the company's offer, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said. The union said it will petition the US National Mediation Board to release it from mediated talks, although it will face a number of hurdles before workers can receive the legal go-ahead for a walkout. The vote marks a setback in United's years-long effort to reach a joint deal with the technicians. It has yet to conclude a contract covering maintenance workers from both United and Continental since the carriers merged in 2010. <br/>
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Definitely count United Airlines in. Just hours after the US and Cuba formally signed an agreement today that would clear the way for the first commercial flights between the US and Cuba in more than 50 years, United Airlines said it will move swiftly to obtain rights to operate flights between the two countries. A United spokesman said Tuesday the airline has 15 days to submit its request to launch Cuba service to the DOT. United plans to submit a request to begin service from multiple airports, a United spokesman said. United also said it expects the DOT to move quickly to divvy up Cuba service among interested airlines — possibly within a matter of a few weeks. Last year, when the US first talked of resuming commercial air service to Cuba, United hinted that its huge hub in Houston might be a likely outpost for the first flights to Cuba. <br/>
Bombardier believes United Airlines’ recent decision to order 40 Boeing 737-700s does not preclude it from selling the CSeries to the airline. The manufacturer is eager to land a CSeries order from a major North American carrier. “We continue to talk with United,” Bombardier Commercial Aircraft VP-commercial operations Ross Mitchell said Tuesday. “I don’t think that [the 737-700] order precludes us doing something there. Certainly, we still believe the CSeries is the right airplane for a number of airlines … We don’t think that order necessarily changes the situation for us. We still believe strongly that the CSeries will be successful in the North American market with the major carriers.” United said it will use the 737-700s to replace a portion of the carrier’s domestic capacity now being operated under contract by regional airlines. <br/>
Air NZ is appealing an Employment Court decision which it says lets the country's largest pilots' union cherry-pick the good parts of other collective employment agreements without having to accept the bad. In the Court of Appeal Monday, the carrier sought to overturn a 2014 judgment in the Employment Court allowing NZALPA to take clauses from collective agreements Air NZ made with other unions, in line with NZALPA's interpretation of its own collective agreement with Air NZ. The dispute centres on one clause in NZALPA's collective agreement, described as a ratchet clause, where the parties agree that "any agreement entered into by the company with any other pilot employee group which is more favourable than provided for in this agreement will be passed on to pilots covered by this agreement." <br/>
South African finance minister Pravin Gordhan asked for more time to consider South African Airways’ request for a going-concern guarantee that the unprofitable airline needs to finalise its annual financial statements. Gordhan asked the Speaker of Parliament to approve a 1-month extension for submission of the carrier’s annual report and financial statements until March 15, the National Treasury said Tuesday. Parliament’s finance committee asked the minister to submit an interim report on the airline by the end of February, said chairman, Yunus Carrim. SAA, which has been surviving on about US$890m of govt debt guarantees, last posted a full-year profit in 2011 and has yet to finalise its financial statements for the year through March 2015. The company requested a further guarantee from the National Treasury Dec 21. <br/>