United Continental retreated from a plan to replace modest employee bonus payments with a chance for a lucky few to win luxury cars and 6-figure cash prizes, following a backlash from the airline’s unions. The company is “pressing the pause button” on any changes to the bonuses, president Scott Kirby said Monday in a message to employees, just 3 days after announcing the new approach. He pledged to solicit feedback from employee groups after staunch opposition to his plan to replace steady pay-outs with high-stakes drawings for prizes including US$100,000 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedans. “Our intention was to introduce a better, more exciting program, but we misjudged how these changes would be received by many of you,” Kirby wrote. <br/>
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Austrian Airlines has canceled more than 140 out of 570 flights March 6-7 as collective bargaining meetings are expected to interrupt flight operations, affecting 10,000 passengers. As a precautionary measure, Austrian said it has adjusted operations and thinned out schedules by 25% during this period on flights between Vienna and Amsterdam, Basel, Brussels, Budapest, Bucharest, Dusseldorf, Yerevan, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hamburg, Cologne, Copenhagen, Leipzig, Lyon, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Prague, Salzburg, Sofia, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Tehran, Venice, Zagreb and Zurich. Trade union Vida called management’s offer of a 2.1% inflation compensation and one-time payment of 1.4% “unacceptable.” Vida said also strikes cannot be ruled out. <br/>
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Saudi Arabia has given Air India approval to fly through its airspace on flights between Israel and India. The agreement would shorten the flight path by some 2 hours and mark a significant achievement as Jerusalem attempts to upgrade its relationship with Riyadh. Netanyahu noted that the flight to and from Mumbai would take the same amount of time as flights between London and Tel Aviv, some 5 and a half hours. Air India also flies from Tel Aviv to Bangkok. There was no immediate confirmation of the agreement from Saudi Arabia or Air India. Saudi officials swiftly denied okaying an agreement in February after Indian authorities said they had applied for permission to overfly the country on trips to and from Israel. <br/>
Air NZ has announced enhancements to its economy Skycouch to better suit the needs of parents with young children. The Air NZ designed Skycouch, a row of 3 economy seats that convert into a flat surface, was first introduced in 2011. The airline has now further developed the product, introducing a dedicated infant harness and belt, allowing infants to remain lying down throughout the cruise phase of the service. Previously they were required to be seated on a guardian’s lap when the seatbelt sign was on. A new infant pod is also being introduced. The Skycouch cuddle belt, previously only certified to allow 2 adults or an adult and child travelling together to lie down side by side on the Skycouch, has also been updated to allow 2 children to use it simultaneously. <br/>
It seems that after a strike of more than 2 months in which a significant percentage of the pilots of Avianca in Colombia ceased operations, and based on a statement by Hernán Rincón president of Avianca Holdings Dec 6, 2017, the airline will cease to use its ATR fleet. Rincon said that one of the more important things that they did and that they will leave like that, is that they assigned larger planes to many routes. After these statements, the rumour began to run of an eventual departure of the ATR 72-600 of the fleet in Colombia partially or totally. The rumours were later confirmed. The operation in ATR’s in Colombia will be completely suspended as of May 31 of this year, thus leaving several destinations without the connection from the airline. <br/>