EasyJet appointed Christine Browne, a former executive at tour operator TUI’s airline division, as COO amid efforts to reduce costs and ride out turmoil across the European market that’s eating into the carrier’s profit. Browne, 56, will leave a non-executive post on EasyJet’s board to take up her new position as of Oct 1, the airline said Thursday. She will succeed Warwick Brady, who has been COO since 2009 and who will leave the carrier. EasyJet is set to give an update Oct 6 on its performance since British voters decided in late June to exit the EU, after shying away from providing an earnings forecast in the referendum’s immediate aftermath. The carrier said in July that costs excluding fuel would fall 1% in year through September as it works to offset overcapacity in Europe. <br/>
unaligned
Kuwait Airways is to double the frequency of its transit service through Shannon Airport to New York JFK from the end of next month to 6 times a week. The service began operating 3 times weekly from the end of June for an initial 4-month period, but the airline has now committed to extending the service until Feb 15th next, with the frequencies doubling from Oct 31st. The flight travels from Kuwait to JFK via Shannon to allow for passenger and baggage screening but does not pick up any passengers at the Co Clare airport. Andrew Murphy, CCO at Shannon Group, said that "it illustrates again Shannon’s suitability as a transit stop for long-haul services between the Middle East and the US but also other east-west routes,” he said. <br/>
Monarch Airlines has denied speculation that it is in financial difficulties. The airline said it anticipated announcing a “significant investment” from its main shareholders “in the coming days.” Over the weekend of Sept 24-25, the carrier received a flurry of questions on its Twitter feed as to whether it was on the verge of going out of business. The company said it had no idea how the rumours started. There have been suggestions in the UK media that the speculation was sparked by internet users using flight schedule websites allegedly having spotted a series of one-way flights from Mediterranean leisure destinations to the UK that mirrored Monarch’s schedules. This led to suggestions that they were repatriation flights. The rumours reached such a pitch that Monarch issued a formal statement Sept 26 rebutting them. <br/>
Southwest Airlines’ flight attendants will follow the carrier’s pilots in holding a ratification vote on a new labour contract. The Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 556, which represents more than 14,000 Southwest flight attendants, said its executive board has decided to move a recently-reached tentative agreement with airline management to rank-and-file flight attendants for a ratification vote. The voting process is being finalised; the vote is expected to take place in October. Like the pilots, who will be voting on whether to ratify a tentative agreement starting Oct 8, rank-and-file Southwest flight attendants rejected a previous tentative agreement in voting last year. Southwest and its flight attendants have been in labour contract negotiations since 2013. <br/>