Air France-KLM Group’s new low-cost, long-haul Boost arm could provide trans-Atlantic services as well as helping Europe’s biggest airline compete with Persian Gulf carriers on routes to Asia. Asked whether the start-up might also perform westbound flights, Franck Terner, who heads the company’s Air France unit, of which Boost will be part, answered: “Could be, why not?” Air France-KLM views the SNPL pilot union’s plans to meet on June 8 and discuss whether to put Boost contracts to a members’ vote as a positive development, Terner said Tuesday in an interview in Cancun, Mexico. Flight crew belonging to the labor group have already backed the terms in principle after the company scrapped a 15% cut in pilot pay at the unit in favor of a 1.5% reduction across the whole of Air France’s cockpit employees. Terner added that the Paris-based company will move forward with Boost regardless of pilot backing, adding that “the negotiation itself is finished.” Former Air France-KLM CEO Alexandre de Juniac -- who now heads IATA -- was forced out of the airline after seeking to expand short-haul discount arm Transavia without pilot backing. Terner confirmed that Air France aims to hire about 500 new flight attendants for Boost by mid-2018. Jean-Marc Janaillac, De Juniac’s successor, said last month that the unit will start medium-length flights this year followed by long-haul operations next summer.<br/>
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Alitalia could still be sold as a whole and not broken up into pieces, one of the three commissioners managing the company said on Wednesday. Alitalia commissioner Luigi Gubitosi, after meeting with Industry Minister Carlo Calenda, was asked if the airline could still be sold in one piece. "Absolutely yes," he replied, "but it must be said that we are at the very beginning phase of the offers." The government has received 32 expressions of interest in Alitalia, though Italian media have said that many of the potential buyers are interested only in portions of the company.<br/>
Ryanair has submitted an expression of interest to administrators trying to sell troubled airline Alitalia, but is interested in cooperating with the business rather than buying it, the LCC said Wednesday. Alitalia filed in May to be put under special administration for the second time in less than a decade, starting a process that will lead to the loss-making airline being overhauled, sold off or wound up. Administrators said Tuesday they had received 32 expressions of interest before the deadline to submit potential offers expired on Monday, but did not provide any names. "We have submitted an expression of interest," a Ryanair spokesman said. "As previously stated, we are not interested in buying Alitalia. However, we have offered to feed Alitalia’s long haul traffic."<br/>
KLM has become the world's first airline to offer booking confirmation check-in notification, boarding pass and flight status updates on Twitter and the Chinese equivalent WeChat. Beginning June 6, customers flying KLM Royal Dutch Airlines can find all their flight information on the Twitter and WeChat accounts and contact the social media team 24/7. The new feature will be available for travellers who book their tickets and check-in via KLM.com. To receive updates via social media, passengers must opt-in to the service. It's the latest social media strategy for KLM. Last year, the carrier debuted the world's first flight information service via Facebook Messenger. More than 1.4m customers received their flight documents and updates via Messenger since its debut. On Twitter, KLM has more than 2.2m followers and receives more than 250,000 mentions on a weekly basis.<br/>