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Kenya Airways, once one of Africa’s leading airlines and a symbol of Kenyan pride, is struggling. The company has recorded 4 consecutive years of losses, the result of a poorly timed expansion strategy. Now, in need of more than US $1b to pull off a complete turnaround, the airline is in talks to sell off a further stake in itself to foreign investors. “We are talking to about 3 or 4 parties,” Mbuvi Ngunze, the airline’s CE, said Sept 26, without saying how much the company plans to raise or how large a stake it plans to sell. The airline’s largest shareholders are the Kenyan govt, which owns 29.8%, and Air France KLM, which has 27%. Discussion of a sale has come after efforts such as selling or leasing out 7 of its planes and giving up its landing spot at London Heathrow airport failed to raise enough money. <br/>

Air France-KLM said Tuesday an Amsterdam court had ruled in favour of its Dutch arm KLM in a pension dispute with a pilots' union. The Dutch Airline Pilots Association, which represents 98% of KLM's pilots, had accused KLM of reneging on a commitment made in a collective bargaining agreement to increase pension entitlements in line with inflation. "KLM is confident it will be able to arrive at a suitable solution with the VNV," Air France-KLM said. The airline group has already faced industrial action by pilots and cabin crew at Air France and strike threats from ground staff and cabin crew at the Dutch unit. <br/>

Delta Air Lines and joint venture partner Air France-KLM have announced an expansion of the airlines’ existing cooperation agreement with Jet Airways. Beginning Oct 30, Delta passengers flying from the US and Europe into Paris Charles de Gaulle will be able to make connecting flights to Mumbai on Jet Airways. The new Paris-Mumbai connection complements the Delhi and Mumbai service Delta, Air France-KLM and Jet Airways already offer out of Amsterdam Schiphol. The Paris-Mumbai arrangement is subject to govt approvals, Delta said. “The expansion of the codesharing across our European hubs is the next step in deepening our cooperation with Jet Airways and building strong links with the Indian market,” Delta SVP-Europe, Middle East, Africa and India Nat Pieper said. <br/>

Delta Air Lines is studying a purchase of roomier regional jets with a list value of as much as US$2.3b -- provided the company can get the pilots’ union to accept an overhaul of the small-plane fleet. The carrier told the Air Line Pilots Association it wants the option of adding as many as 50 more planes in the 70- to 76-seat range, according to a union memo sent to pilots Sept 10. Those aircraft, which can accommodate coach and first-class cabins, are more fuel-efficient and profitable than the all-economy 50-seaters now flying many short hops. Delta also told the union it may eliminate the smaller planes without giving a timeline. Pilots’ acceptance of the planes is crucial, because the current labour contract gives the union a say over which aircraft can be flown by Delta’s lower-cost commuter partners. <br/>

Xiamen Airlines began 3X-weekly Xiamen-Shenzhen-Seattle service Sept 26. It is the first long-haul route between Xiamen and the US as well as the first nonstop direct international service between Shenzhen and the US, the airline said. Xiamen Airlines will fly a Boeing 787-8 on the route. “The launch of the Xiamen-Shenzhen-Seattle service is an important reflection of the results of the meeting between Chinese and American leaders in 2015,” Xiamen Airlines chairman and GM Che Shanglun said. “On the heels of these events, a Fuzhou-New York and a Xiamen-LA service will also be initiated,” Che said. The Fuzhou-New York route is to start Feb 15, 2017. The Xiamen-Los Angeles route will also launch in 2017. The Xiamen-Shenzhen-Seattle service is Xiamen Airline’s sixth long-haul route. <br/>