Ryanair is battling lower fares in the first months of its financial year, weighed down by French air-traffic controller strikes and by travellers’ concerns about a future terrorist incident. “There is a kind of cloud hanging over our business,” CE Michael O’Leary said Tuesday. “If there’s no more terrorist events in Europe between now and mid-summer, I think things return to normal, but there’s no doubt that the pricing in my first quarter is affected by these ATC strikes and the concerns over people traveling, particularly on business.” Earnings in Q4 ended March 31 were probably cut by E10m (US$11.4m) to E20m because of the strikes in France and subdued bookings in the wake of the terror attacks in Brussels, and those effects could last into the current quarter, the CE said last week. <br/>
unaligned
Pilot leaders at Hawaiian Airlines will ask members to give them authority to strike if labour negotiations break down and the federal govt authorises a walkout, ALPA said April 19. According to ALPA, its members are “fed up with management foot-dragging on a new contract while their airline is making record profits.” ALPA’s Hawaiian Airlines Master Executive Council (MEC) voted April 14 unanimously to conduct a strike authorisation ballot. The Hawaiian pilot group also asked the union to authorise a US$2m grant from ALPA’s Major Contingency Fund to help pay for prestrike preparation. Voting on the strike ballot will begin April 25 and conclude May 17. If the ballot passes, it would authorise the Hawaiian MEC to declare a strike once the pilot group is given permission to do so by the National Mediation Board. <br/>
EasyJet's founder and biggest shareholder Stelios Haji-Ioannou would oppose any move by the company to make an acquisition, he said, following media reports that it was looking at making a bid for Monarch. The Sunday Times newspaper said that EasyJet was eyeing Monarch Airlines, one of a number of stories about Monarch to emerge in recent days. Another media report said that Monarch was looking at buying other European airlines. Haji-Ioannou said EasyJet should stay clear of takeovers. "My personal view as a shareholder is that EasyJet should not do any acquisitions," he said. "They usually destroy shareholder value." Haji-Ioannou added, however, that as the owner of the "easy" brand he would benefit from anything that increased EasyJet’s revenues because it would mean increased royalties for EasyGroup. <br/>