American Airlines wants to raise pay for its pilots and flight attendants to keep up with its rivals. American committed after merging with US Airways Group in 2013 to keep compensation competitive with pay at Delta and United Continental. On Wednesday, American’s CE Doug Parker and President Robert Isom wrote to employees that they want to raise pilot and attendant pay as early as next month to keep up with that pledge, if their unions agree. “Today’s news is not about buying trust because we all know trust cannot be purchased,” they wrote. “Today’s news is about doing the right thing." Hourly pay for American’s 15,000 pilots is about 8% lower than the highest rates Delta and United set in recent labor agreements. Hourly pay for its 26,000 flight attendants is about 4% lower than at those rivals. American’s contract negotiations aren’t up for renewal with its pilots until 2020 and its attendants until 2019, meaning its employees would have fallen behind at least until then. Other American employees aren’t affected by the steps outlined on Wednesday because their pay is near industry standards, American said.<br/>
oneworld
Qantas Thursday said it would ax its Melbourne-Dubai-London flights operated in partnership with Emirates and switch the capacity to Asia when it launches non-stop Perth-London flights next year. The move is part of a strategy of cutting the journey time to London to gain an edge and pricing premium over the two dozen rivals offering one-stop flights on the so-called Kangaroo route. Qantas will charge a premium of as much as 48% in economy class and 62% in business class relative to one-stop rivals like Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines on the Perth-London route in return for saving three hours of travel time, according to online price comparisons. Qantas CE Alan Joyce has said his airline could be operating non-stop flights from Sydney and Melbourne to London within five years as Airbus and Boeing introduce longer-range aircraft. The 17-hour Perth-London flight on a Boeing 787-9 will originate and end in Melbourne and will not be subject to heightened security checks for Middle Eastern flights as a result. It will cut more than an hour off the flying time from Melbourne to London relative to the current route through Dubai, Qantas said.<br/>
Malaysia Airlines has offered to lease Airbus A330 jets from Alitalia if the struggling Italian airline is wound up, the Asian carrier's chief executive said on Wednesday. Alitalia is preparing for special administration proceedings after workers rejected its latest rescue plan, making it impossible for the loss-making airline to secure funds to keep its aircraft flying. Workers are hoping the Italian government will step in with an alternative rescue deal. Malaysia Airlines could take between six and eight Airbus A330s from Alitalia, CEO Peter Bellew said. "I hope Alitalia stays in business but it doesn't look good to me today. I think it's hard to see how they are going come back from the pressure they are sitting on at the moment," he said. An Alitalia spokesman declined to comment. Malaysia Airlines wants to lease between six and eight A330s or Boeing 777s for use from 2018 and a further seven to nine from 2019, Bellew said, expecting to finalise most of those deals in the next four to six weeks.<br/>