Frontier Airlines pilot leaders—frustrated with the slow pace of contract talks—plan to ask members, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), for authority to strike if negotiations break down and the federal government authorizes a walkout. ALPA’s Frontier Airlines Master Executive Council (MEC) voted unanimously Aug. 9 to conduct a strike-authorization ballot that will open Aug. 22 and close Sept. 8. According to ALPA, once passed, the ballot would authorize the pilot leadership to declare a strike when the pilot group is given permission to do so by the National Mediation Board (NMB). “We are still working under a bankruptcy contract negotiated 10 years ago,” Frontier MEC chairman Tracy Smith said. “For the past two years, Frontier has enriched its owners and management with personal dividends paid from historically high revenues and profits, while our members are the lowest-paid Airbus pilots in North America.” Smith added the pilots “lag behind our peers in virtually every aspect of pay, benefits and job security. Our pilots repeatedly agreed to concessions to keep our company in business over the past decade, and it’s time for management to reciprocate by agreeing to a fair contract without further delay.”<br/>
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JetBlue Airways is out to solve one of the more annoying problems with air travel: Explaining your problem again. And again. And again to different customer service agents. The New York-based airline teamed with tech start up Gladly to create a unified thread for all your contacts with the airline, meaning you won't have to repeat yourself. "When something has gone wrong you hate retelling your story," Frankie Littleford, JetBlue (JBLU)'s vice president, Customer Support. "Why don't they know who I am? Why do i have to retell this? This platform brings it all together." The system chronologically threads together all your phone, email, SMS or Facebook Messenger conversations with JetBlue. Eventually the system will incorporate a new proprietary chat program and Twitter, as well. Customers won't need to change how they interact with the airline, but JetBlue wants to help its customers more quickly. Littleford said that by giving customer service agents more information faster, each interaction can be more "personalized and empathetic."<br/>
The "Best Care in the Air" could be returning to the skies. The website www.flymidwestexpress.com, which was registered Feb. 15 but apparently didn't have much content until this week, says two business partners are seeking investors as well as potential employees in an effort to bring back Midwest Express airline. One of the partners is Curt Drumm of Manitowoc, Wis. "We weren’t ready to make a public announcement of any kind yet, and we still are not," Drumm said. "But, yes, we are trying to bring Midwest back to Milwaukee." "We are in the process of fundraising and are trying to lock in our key investors," Drumm added. To launch a new airline, even one that is a known brand, would require a minimum of $100m in investments, airline industry experts said. "We have a number of people we are working with, and because of that we can’t really make any announcement," Drumm said.<br/>
Less than a week after WestJet announced the launch of its new no-frills, low-cost airline will be delayed until next summer, the company says it’s looking into the potential of a different home base for the discount operation. “WestJet’s ultra-low-cost carrier may be based outside of Calgary as we are also considering locations that would allow us to take advantage of lower-cost markets,” a Lauren Stewart said. Stewart added no decision had been made as of Aug. 7. “We are continuing our work on this and other elements related to the launch of the airline — namely the organizational structure, routes, schedules, service offering and branding,” Stewart said. She said WestJet’s plan for the ultra-low-cost carrier is to minimize costs and pass savings to consumer, “while unbundling all products and services so they can choose that which is most relevant for their trip.”<br/>
HNA Group said Thursday it has bought a German airport in a further sign that a regulatory clampdown on outbound acquisitions has yet to curb the group’s ability to close deals. Valued at E15.1m, the purchase of 82.5% of the Frankfurt-Hahn Airport from the state of Rhineland-Palatinate represents just a fraction of the more than $40b in deals HNA has inked in almost three years. But it was significant in that it happened at all. HNA, along with Anbang Insurance, Dalian Wanda and Fosun, have been at the centre of a crackdown on overseas M&A since June, when banks were told to assess their exposure to the Chinese groups. Since then, regulators in China have highlighted the systemic risk posed by the groups’ high leverage, casting doubt on their ability to continue their offshore asset binge. This pressure conintues. China’s foreign exchange watchdog said last week it was looking into cases where companies used fraudulent onshore collateral to gain access to offshore bank financing. Crossing the small German airport deal off its list of pending transactions, HNA is left with about $5bn in unclosed cross-border acquisitions, according to Dealogic.<br/>
Investigators have found that undetected release of the parking brake and premature removal of chocks led to an EasyJet Airbus A320's suffering damage as it rolled backwards at London Gatwick. The crew had already carried out cockpit preparation checks, which included checking that the parking brake was on. Maintenance personnel subsequently probed a braking system defect, which had occurred on the previous sector, and this required the parking brake to be off. But there was "no requirement" to put the parking brake back on once the task was completed, says the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch, and the crew was left "unaware" that it had been released. The A320 was chocked at the time but, after a tug was attached for pushback, the chocks were removed – in breach of the operator's procedures which required chocks to remain in place until all ground equipment was clear of the aircraft. Forward boarding stairs were still in position at the time. Story has more.<br/>
Thai VietJet Air (TVJA) is likely to have to suspend its international service by the end of this month. The Thai subsidiary of Vietnam's low-cost carrier VietJet Air has been unable to get its air operator's certificates (AOCs) reissued under new stringent global standards in time for the Aug 31 deadline set by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT). But the impact may be minimal as TVJA has only one international route -- Bangkok-Hai Phong -- in operation, with four flights a week. TVJA has a contingency plan -- to have its parent carrier assume the services on its behalf until it gets its AOC recertified. <br/>