Pilots working for Ryanair in Ireland have called a one-day strike next week, potentially disrupting flights for Europe’s biggest airline on its home territory. Flights to and from Dublin, Shannon and Cork are likely to be affected by the walkout on Wednesday. The action has been taken in a bid to win collective representation in pay dealsrather than through Ryanair’s own employee channels. Ryanair said it would “face down” the strike, though it admitted some “disruption may occur”. Up to 117 pilots in the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) union – part of Ireland’s second-biggest trade union, Impact – are expected to take action, which Ryanair said is less than a third of the pilots it employs in Ireland. However, the union said that the 117 represent almost 90% of pilots directly employed by Ryanair, and the majority are captains, a rank needed on every flight. It said the walkout would either cause significant disruption or costs for Ryanair if it replaced them with captains from other European bases. Crew and pilots in Italy are also planning action on Friday, while pilots in Portugal have also voted to strike. Ryanair has told cabin crew in Italy that action by any one member will see their entire base lose rights to transfers or promotions. Ryanair has told pilots who strike that they will be in breach of their agreements, conducted by the airline separately with each base, and lose benefits including guarantees over rosters and pay, and be denied promotion.<br/>
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The airline that passengers love to hate is figuring out how to arrive on time. Spirit Airlines rose to third place in the DoT’s monthly tally of US airlines’ on-time performance in October, with 87.2% of its flights arriving within 14 minutes of their scheduled time. That placed it ahead of larger Alaska Air Group Inc., which was No. 4. Since punctuality has been a major part of Alaska’s customer appeal, can warmer feelings be far off for Spirit? Overall, the airline industry posted an 84.8 percent on-time rate in October, and 79.7% for the past year. Spirit CEO Bob Fornaro has made schedule reliability a cornerstone of his efforts to revamp operations at the discount carrier, seeing it as a pathway to better service, fewer complaints and more repeat customers. Under Fornaro, who took over in early 2016, Spirit has also deployed a new website, fresh software tools to rebook passengers and a more active social media strategy to engage with customers. While Spirit is making headway, it still hasn’t emerged from the passenger doghouse. It remains the industry-leader in terms of customer complaints, with 3.84 nasty notes per 100,000 passengers, a category for which, in October, the industry average was at 1 per 100,000 passengers. Also, one good month does not a great reputation make. Florida-based Spirit remains tenth in on-time performance over the prior 12 months, with 76.1% of its flights on time by that measure. Hawaiian Holdings and Delta are first and second, respectively, when it comes to on-time performance over the past 12 months. <br/>
EasyJet gained unconditional EU antitrust approval on Tuesday to buy parts of Air Berlin, in contrast with rival Lufthansa, which is trying to convince regulators of its own bid for other Air Berlin assets. The E40m deal, which includes some of Air Berlin’s operations at Tegel airport, leases for up to 25 A320 aircraft and the taking on of about 1,000 of Air Berlin’s pilots and cabin crew, will make easyJet the largest carrier in the German capital. The EC said the acquisition would not hurt competition, confirming a Reuters report on Dec. 4. “EasyJet’s plans to buy certain Air Berlin assets will not reduce competition and we have approved it today,” EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said. “Our decision enables easyJet to grow its presence at Berlin airports and start competing on new routes to the benefit of consumers.” EasyJet said it expected to complete the purchase in the near future. Last week it announced a winter schedule for Tegel and will start competing with Lufthansa on German domestic routes from next month. Booming tourism demand lifted passenger numbers at Berlin’s Tegel and Schoenefeld airports by a combined 11.4% last year to almost 33m. Lufthansa, which wants to purchase Air Berlin units Niki and LGW, will have to give up more airport slots and routes to address competition concerns or face a full-scale EU investigation, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters last week.<br/>
EasyJet has detailed plans to add 20 new routes to its UK network next summer across seven different airports. The low-cost carrier says it will start flights from Belfast International to the Isle of Man, Naples and Valencia, from Bristol to Genoa and Seville, from Liverpool to Dalaman, Palermo and Pula and a service from Manchester to Genoa. The UK carrier is also adding connections from London Gatwick to Ancona and Nea Anchialos, from London Luton to Dalaman, Genoa, Palermo, Reus and Thessaloniki and from London Southend to Bordeaux, Dubrovnik, Prague and Pula. The Luton-based carrier says that Italian destinations Ancona and Genoa, Nea Anchialos in Greece and Spanish city Reus are new destinations from the UK. FlightGlobal schedules data indicates that the majority of new routes from the UK regions are not currently operated by rivals, but several routes it is planning to start from London are already flown from other airports in the capital.<br/>
A Southwest plane was diverted to a Florida airport after fumes from a coffee maker were reported in the back of the aircraft. According to a Pensacola News Journal report, airline spokesman Brian Parrish said Flight 1539 from Orlando, Florida, to Houston was diverted Tuesday morning to Pensacola International Airport. Parrish said the smell of fumes reported in the back of the aircraft was determined to have come from a coffee maker in the cabin. City of Pensacola spokesman Vernon Stewart said passengers and flight crew members were removed from the aircraft while the cabin was checked. The flight continued to Houston after the aircraft was deemed safe.<br/>
French leisure airline Aigle Azur has placed an order for two Airbus A330-200s, which it will use to launch long-haul flights. On Dec. 12, Aigle Azur said it had ordered a pair of Pratt & Whitney PW4000-powered A330s. The aircraft will be equipped with a three-class layout—including lie-flat business seats, economy plus and economy—along with the latest generation of on-demand IFE. “The two A330s will join the Aigle Azur fleet during the first semester of 2018,” Aigle Azur said. Aigle Azur has been through several changes over recent months, with Brazilian-American entrepreneur David Neeleman acquiring a 32% stake and L’Avion founder Frantz Yvelin being named as president and CEO. HNA Group currently owns 48% of Aigle Azur, with the remaining 20% held by Lu Azur, managed by French independent investor Gérard Houa. Yvelin said the team has been working on an ambitious strategic plan since he was appointed in summer 2017. He said the aircraft order forms a concrete step in Aigle Azur’s development, adding the A330s would open new horizons for the company. No destinations were specified.<br/>