Qantas Airways plans to expand its international business after a 3-year restructuring effort by CE Alan Joyce helped deliver record profits for the carrier. The division, which was losing money before the turnaround, is now in a position to grow, Joyce, said Thursday. Under Joyce, the carrier ditched many unprofitable long-haul flights in favour of alliances with Emirates, China Eastern Airlines and American Airlines. With the turnaround yielding profits and the airline reinstating dividends, Qantas is gradually expanding its international business. Revenue from the division increased in each of the past 2 fiscal years, accounting for 29% of the total. “We’re obviously going to be gingerly about how we go about re-growing the international business,” said Joyce. <br/>
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American Airlines Group and Qantas Airways may reapply to the US DoT for permission to coordinate prices and flight schedules now the Trump administration is in charge, Qantas CE Alan Joyce said. The pair's application for a joint venture covering the US, Australia and New Zealand markets was rejected in November under the Obama administration amid opposition from rival carriers Hawaiian Airlines and JetBlue Airways. The alliance would have the largest share of seats between 200 pairs of cities, and account for nearly 60% of all seats between the US and Australia, the department said. President Donald Trump is expected to boost US business through lighter regulation and his administration may take a more hands-off approach to anti-trust enforcement. <br/>
The CE of American Airlines stood before thousands of managers last year and delivered a crucial message: The carrier had to improve caustic labour relations or risk falling behind industry rivals. Almost 12 months later, Doug Parker still has his work cut out for him. The pilots union complains that pay rates have fallen behind those at other major airlines. Some flight attendants say new uniforms are making them sick, and a union representing 30,000 ground workers is pressing for quicker contract talks. The grumbling is a sign Parker is struggling to improve morale and use it as a tool to beat Delta Air Lines and United Continental. It also marks a reversal from the 2013 triumph that gave him his current job, when as CE of US Airways he relied on support from those same labour groups to engineer a merger with American. <br/>
US-based flight attendants for Cathay Pacific voted Jan 26 to approve union representation by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA). According to the AFA-CWA, Cathay Pacific employs 450 cabin crew in the US with personnel based at San Francisco International, Los Angeles International and New York JFK. The airline operates daily flights to Hong Kong from LAX, SFO, JFK, Boston Logan (BOS) and Chicago O’Hare (ORD). AFA international president Sara Nelson indicated the union will work to raise US-based cabin crew’s pay, benefits and job security to the levels of “their Cathay cabin crew counterparts in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and Canada.” Cathay Pacific could not immediately be reached for comment. <br/>