A Ryanair boss warned Spanish cabin crew there would be "serious consequences" if they refused to operate flights during a strike by their Portuguese counterparts. In a series of telephone conversations with anxious staff, head of human resources Darrell Hughes urged a group of flight attendants to ignore pressure "from other people" on social media and to "undertake" their duty. Speaking to a Spanish group called up to replace Portuguese crew, Hughes said: "You guys do not have the legal protection to participate in this strike because you are not based in Portugal." He also said he had given the crew the reassurance that "we will deal with any legal issues" arising out of Spanish staff operating flights during the Portuguese strike, although he emphasised Ryanair did not believe there would be any legal consequences. <br/>
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Thai Smile sets out to provide greater convenience to passengers with disabilities and special needs with the installation of wheelchairs in cabins on all 20 of its airliners. The safety instructions are now also in Braille in order to facilitate the visually impaired and the crews have been trained to sign safety regulations to the hearing impaired. “We have long provided a wheelchair within the airport until boarding and a High Lift service to take passengers with wheelchairs, Now we also have wheelchairs in the cabin to facilitate the movement of passengers within all aircraft,” says Nednapang Teeravas, chief customer service officer. Other special services for passengers include pre-ordering of special meals (vegetarian, for children) to be served on board. <br/>
Southwest Airlines delivers the best customer experience in the airline industry, according to the 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings, an annual customer experience benchmark of companies based on a survey of 10,000 US consumers. Of the 9 airlines included in this year's Ratings, Southwest Airlines earned the highest score with a rating of 76%, putting it in 51st place overall out of 318 companies across 20 industries. Southwest has earned the highest score for airlines every year since the Ratings began in 2011, with the exception of 2015, when JetBlue came in first. Overall, the airlines industry averaged a 66% rating in the 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings and tied for 12th place out of 20 industries. The average rating of the industry is unchanged from 2017. <br/>
Air Asia has confirmed plans to foray into the fintech sector with the launch of a proprietary cryptocurrency called BigCoin. AirAsia founder and CE Tony Fernandes underlined the airline’s plan to expand into new markets alongside the launch of BigCoin, a proprietary cryptocurrency that will see its own initial coin offering. It remains to be seen if AirAsia is developing its own blockchain or intends to use an existing blockchain platform for BigCoin. The airline will turn its frequent flyer points into BigCoin, Fernandes said, adding that ticket prices on the airline’s website will be revealed in BigCoin alongside prices in fiat currencies from this month onwards. Fernandes says he sees cryptocurrencies as a "tool to alleviate currency fluctuation risks from overseas revenue". <br/>
Nordwind Airlines will boost services from Crimea’s Simferopol Airport this summer to include 27 destinations, one more than last summer, creating Russia’s largest seasonal regional network, according to Simferopol GM Yevgeniy Plaksin. Moscow Sheremetyevo-based Nordwind will launch 2X-weekly Ufa service April 27. In May, the airline will add 2X-weekly Samara and Yekaterinburg flights. The first week of June, Nordwind will add 2-to-4 daily destinations daily including Kazan, Chelyabinsk, Omsk, St. Petersburg and Krasnoyarsk. June 19, Nordwind starts weekly services from Simferopol to Russia’s Far East city Khabarovsk. Crimea is a resort destination with a high seasonality factor. Nordwind carried 3.5m passengers in 2017, nearly doubled from 2016. <br/>
EasyJet’s CE Johan Lundgren has said he does not think UK nationals will be forced to sell their stake in the airline after Brexit, saying he is "confident" a deal will be reached with the EU. Lundgren said his decision to amend EasyJet’s articles of association was a "precautionary measure" and that any forced sale of UK investors' shares to their EU counterparts "won’t need to happen". As part of its Brexit contingency planning, EasyJet announced at the end of last year that it was amending its articles of association, which currently give directors the power to limit the ownership of the firm's shares by non-UK nationals. Lundgren said Brexit was "business as usual" and that his airline was better equipped than some of its competitors to deal with any fallout. <br/>
New Belgian airline, Air Belgium, will begin ticket sales April 3 for flights set to launch April 16. Initial flights will serve Hong Kong from the carrier’s base at Brussels South Charleroi Airport. Later Air Belgium will fly to mainland China. Air Belgium is 49.995% owned by a company called Aviation Investment Holding NV., which is likely held by Chinese and Russian interests previously known to be involved in the project. Other major investors are Belgian national and regional govt companies. The carrier has been set up with investment from China’s largest travel agency, UTour, which expects to feed it with passengers, according to an industry source in China familiar with the business plan. Other non-Belgian partners include Russian interests, the source said. <br/>
US regional Great Lakes Airlines, which operates domestic scheduled and charter services, ceased scheduled passenger flight operations March 26. A change in regulations has resulted in a lack of pilots for the smaller airlines and led the company to shut down service, it said. Great Lakes Airlines began laying off employees and plans to sell off its fleet of 28 Beechcraft 1900Ds and 6 Embraer 120 Brasilias, the company said. The decision to cease flying is related to a 2013 change in US regulations that requires first officers to have 1,500 flight hr., the airline said. Previously, first officers needed just 250 hr. of flight time. The change has led to a significant reduction in the number of pilots available to small airlines, according to Great Lakes. <br/>
Alaska Airlines is overhauling how it trains employees, including flight attendants, on sexual harassment and assault after 2 recent high-profile incidents, its CE said Monday. CE Brad Tilden said flight attendants will study a sexual assault scenario as part of their recurring training program, while all employees will receive lessons aimed at preventing sexual harassment and assault. In addition, Tilden said the airline is developing new policies that should make it easier for passengers to report inappropriate behaviour on aircraft. Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents Alaska’s cabin crew, said: “Knowing that CEs will back us up will also make it easier for flight attendants to intervene when passengers are sexually harassed or assaulted on planes.” <br/>