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The battle for customer loyalty is heating up, with Qantas announcing a "world-first" partnership with hotel industry disrupter Airbnb.<br/>From Tuesday, Qantas' 11.4m members will be able to earn one point for every dollar they spend on an Airbnb room or property. They must book the accommodation via Qantas' website. "The way that people around the world plan, book and experience travel is changing rapidly with the digital revolution," said Qantas CE Alan Joyce. "We know many of our customers are just as likely to arrange an Airbnb as they are to book a hotel, and we wanted to recognise and reward them for that." He said the airline wanted to "reinvent airline travel", just like Airbnb has done for accommodation. Airbnb now boasts 2.5m accommodation listings – from treehouses to castles – in nearly every country. It's the first time Airbnb has partnered with an airline loyalty program.<br/>

Air Berlin and the Verdi cabin crew union have agreed terms of a new collective bargaining agreement. The deal will bring employee groups, some of whom currently work under different agreements, together under one collective agreement. The agreement for the 2,600 cabin crew will come into effect from November 1, 2016. “This helps us (make) the far-reaching strategic changes that are required for the new Air Berlin,” CE Stefan Pichler said Last week, Air Berlin announced a restructuring which includes transferring up to 40 aircraft to Lufthansa, leaving a fleet of around 75 aircraft. There will be 1,200 job losses and the airline’s tourist flight business will become a separate operating unit. “We are implementing a size and structure for the business that is fit for purpose. We will see revenues grow and costs contained as a result of this restructuring,” Pichler said last week.<br/>