oneworld

LATAM Airlines failed to reach an agreement with flight attendants to end a strike on Thursday, a union said, raising the possibility of additional flight cancellations. The 1,000 member Cabin Crew Union of LAN Express began a walk-off on Tuesday, citing the duration of rotations and salaries of new employees as sticking points in ongoing negotiations with the airline. “The conditions they’ve offered us continue to be inadequate, and they’ve yet to bring us a concrete proposal,” union president Silka Seitz said following the meeting with the company. Seitz said the union was seeking an additional day of rest between shifts. The two sides are due to meet again on Monday, she said. LATAM said Thursday it had canceled 800 flights through April 18 and that the strike would affect at least 126,000 passengers.<br/>

The owner of BA has said it is considering making a bid for rival airline Norwegian, amid fierce competition between the two for transatlantic passengers. IAG formed via the 2010 merger of BA with Iberia, said it had built up a stake of 4.6% in Norwegian, and that it sees the rapidly expanding airline as an “attractive investment”. IAG said: “The minority investment is intended to establish a position from which to initiate discussions with Norwegian, including the possibility of a full offer for Norwegian.” The company said it did not know of IAG’s interest until press reports on Thursday morning and had not held any discussions with IAG. It added that the BA owner’s interest confirms the potential of Norwegian’s business model and its growth prospects. Norwegian has proved a thorn in BA’s side of late, launching low-cost transatlantic routes and picking up new landing slots at Gatwick as part of aggressive expansion plans. <br/>