British Airways cabin crew working under ‘mixed fleet’ employment terms will strike for 16 days at the beginning of July in support of a pay dispute. The Unite union representing BA mixed fleet cabin crew said they will strike from 00:01 Saturday July 1 to 23:59 Sunday July 16. The union said it was also pursuing legal action against the airline on behalf of 1,400 cabin crew who were sanctioned for taking previous strike action. It said sanctions include BA stopping bonus payments worth hundreds of pounds, and the removal of staff travel concessions. Unite said it had cancelled a strike planned for Friday to try to resolve the dispute through fresh talks. The union complained that the airline failed to send “key decision makers” to the ACAS-led talks. <br/>
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At American Airlines, profits are fat, travel demand is setting records, and Warren Buffett recently delivered a huge vote of confidence. However, the carrier is trailing the market again after a lacklustre 2016 and a 21% drop in 2015. It abandoned part of a plan to eke out a few extra bucks by squeezing flyers into tighter spaces. Tough new security rules could be around the corner. And a lack of staffers in the Trump administration is impeding progress on a trade dispute with Arabian Gulf airlines. But this time is different, says CE Doug Parker. Airlines have left behind “continuous boom and bust cycles where the busts were bigger than the boom.” The challenge now is to win over investors and customers in an age when every misstep can be magnified on social media. <br/>
Malaysia Airlines has held discussions with Airbus about the purchase of A330neo wide-body jets but has so far been unable to agree on a price for the planes. The carrier is also seeking clarity regarding other aspects of the transaction, including delivery schedules, CE Peter Bellew said Saturday. There’s no likelihood of an order being placed at this week’s Paris Air Show, and one could take until September at least, he said. Malaysia Air said in March that it was looking at buying 25 to 30 A330neos or Boeing 787s for delivery between 2019 and 2023, potentially worth more than US$7b at list prices. Around 15 would replace older aircraft, with the rest for expansion. “With fuel still relatively low and likely to stabilise at that level second-hand aircraft are also attractive, so the figures need to add up,” Bellew said. <br/>