Lufthansa’s supervisory board has extended the contract of the group’s CE Carsten Spohr by 5 years, assuring continuity at the airline. Spohr became a member of the executive board in 2011 running the passenger airline division initially. He was named CE of the group in 2014 and has led the company through tumultuous times. Spohr was the mastermind behind creating and growing the concern’s second main airline brand, Eurowings, which targets a fleet of more than 200 aircraft by the end of 2018. Spohr also fought through a bitter conflict with pilot union VC and managed to achieve some structural cost reductions in a multi-year wage agreement. The airline’s profitability has been improving as a result, and Lufthansa is expected to report even higher profits when it releases its 2017 annual results March 15. <br/>
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Pilots at United Airlines are striking back at the carrier's push to add more large regional jets at its partners, arguing that growth targets can be met within existing limits. "[United] doesn’t need scope relief and has the ability to accomplish our growth strategy today," said Todd Insler, chairman of the ALPA United master executive council, in a letter to pilots March 13. United can add more large regional jets to its fleet if they are flown by mainline pilots, or if it adds a new small mainline aircraft, he says. The comments come as executives at United continue to push for the ability to add more 76-seat aircraft, like the Embraer 175, at regional partners. The two-class aircraft are needed for the airline to be competitive in smaller markets, executives say. <br/>
United Continental said a flight attendant didn’t realise a bag that a passenger was made to stow in an overhead compartment contained a dog, which died during the flight. The dog’s death on a flight from Houston to New York Monday touched off outrage among some flyers and fresh debate over the transport of animals in plane cabins. United apologised again for the dog’s death and said it will issue new bright yellow tags by April to passengers traveling with pets in carriers. The union representing United flight attendants defended the crew member. “There is not a single flight attendant working for any airline who would knowingly direct a passenger to put their pet in an overhead bin,” a spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said. United carries more animals than any other US airline, according to DoT data. <br/>
After a French bulldog died Tuesday on a United flight, United employees behind the scenes were raising some pertinent points about the incident in a rapid-fire exchange of emails among United flight attendants, customers service agents, pilots and other insiders. Sources within the United employee ranks shared some of the hundreds of emails that began flowing among employees in the immediate aftermath of the dead dog. One succinct email from a United customer service agent seemed to sum up the feelings of many who spoke out: “Very fishy.” “Something is really off here,” noted another United employee. Indeed, other comments seemed to suggest it might be ill-advised for United management to rush to judgement about the flight attendant who reportedly insisted the dog be placed in an overhead bin. <br/>
United Airlines is investigating after mistakenly flying a Kansas family’s dog to Japan. Kara Swindle and her two children flew from Oregon to Kansas City, Missouri, Tuesday on a United flight. They went to a cargo facility to pick up 10-year-old Irgo, a German shepherd, but were instead given a great Dane. Swindle learned Irgo had been put on a flight to Japan, where the great Dane was supposed to go. Airline officials in Japan put Irgo on a flight back to Kansas City. It was not clear when the dog would arrive. The news of Irgo’s unplanned odyssey comes as United admits another dog died after a flight attendant forced it to travel in an overhead bin on a Houston-to-New York flight. Some 24 pets died while flying with US carriers last year, 18 of them with United, according to the DoT. <br/>
ANA has entered into a codeshare relationship with China’s Juneyao Airlines, taking advantage of the Star Alliance connecting partner program. Juneyao became the first carrier to join Star through the connecting partner model in 2017. The codeshare and frequent flyer partnership between the two airlines is effective from March 25. ANA said the arrangement will enable it to better leverage its Shanghai gateway by offering connections to regional destinations in China. The deal will cover international routes between Shanghai and Japanese cities Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, all of which are served by both airlines. It will also cover Juneyao’s Nanjing-Osaka route. On Juneyao’s domestic network, ANA will codeshare on flights between Shanghai and Xian, Harbin and Changchun. <br/>