A US appellate court rejected an attempt by four employee unions to overturn a foreign air carrier permit awarded to Norwegian Air International, dealing a severe blow to labour’s 1.5-year-old campaign to block the low-cost-carrier’s so-called “flag of convenience” business model. The order on 11 May by the US Court of Appeals shifts the unions’ legal battle against flags-of-convenience carriers to Congress. The US House of Representatives has proposed in a reauthorisation bill for the FAA to make foreign air carrier permits contingent on proving they would serve in the public interest. The Air Line Pilots Association, International, one of four unions that challenged Norwegian’s permit, is now calling on the Senate to insert the same provision in their version of the FAA reauthorisation bill. “While we are disappointed, ALPA is no less determined in calling for the United States to enforce its trade agreements and ensure US workers have a fair opportunity to compete internationally,” says Tim Cannoll, ALPA president. ALPA’s opposition to Norwegian Air International’s operations in the USA began more than five years ago.<br/>
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AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes apologised Sunday for endorsing Najib Razak ahead of Malaysia’s general election, saying he had done so to appease the office of the then prime minister who eventually lost his bid for another term. Najib was ousted by former leader Mahathir Mohamad in a shock election result last week. Najib’s Barisan Nasional coalition, which had governed Malaysia since independence in 1957, was booted out of power for the first time. AirAsia has several airlines in various Asian countries but Malaysia, its home market, is its largest contributor to earnings. In a highly regulated industry where its main rival is state-owned Malaysia Airlines, it relies on government approvals to support its growth plans. Two days before Wednesday’s poll, Fernandes released a video praising Najib and the government’s support of the low-cost airline he co-founded. Later that day, Najib posted photos of him and Fernandes standing in front of an AirAsia plane painted with a campaign slogan for Najib’s coalition. “I am sorry for what has gone on. I buckled at the crucial moment in our history,” Fernandes said in a video released on Sunday. “It wasn’t right and I will forever regret it.” Fernandes said the video and campaign-themed livery was an effort to appease Najib’s government after he came under “intense” pressure in the lead-up to elections for adding extra flights on polling day and refusing to fire a subsidiary’s chairman who had expressed support for Mahathir. AirAsia had announced extra flights and reduced fares to help voters return home to cast ballots. <br/>
JetBlue Airways has reached an initial agreement with its pilots union, marking the first such accord in the carrier’s history. The deal, announced Friday by the Air Line Pilots Association and confirmed by JetBlue, will be reviewed by union leaders, who will make adjustments to the final contract language and decide whether to send it to members for a vote. “This agreement in principle is the next step toward our final goal of having a fair and equitable contract with our company,” said Patrick Walsh, head of the ALPA unit at JetBlue. ALPA, which began representing JetBlue’s pilots in 2014, declined to disclose details. JetBlue was “pleased” to reach the agreement, said Jeff Martin, executive VP operations. Flight attendants at the New York-based carrier voted in April to join the Transport Workers Union, becoming only the second employee group at the airline to be represented by organized labor and further eroding what the carrier has touted as a “direct relationship” with its employees.<br/>
Laudamotion, the successor airline to the bankrupt Niki carrier in which Ryanair aims to take a majority stake, dropped six routes from Zurich from its summer schedule after failing to secure enough planes, a spokeswoman said on Sunday. The Austrian carrier’s flights would have connected Zurich’s business capital with holiday destinations including Majorca, Ibiza, and the Canary Islands as well as in Greece, she said from Vienna. “All customers ... will (be) ...informed about the cancellations and refunds,” Laudamotion said in a statement. “We regret the cancellations from Zurich and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.” The Laudamotion spokeswoman said a third-party leasing company had failed to guarantee the Airbus jets needed to service the routes, as had been previously agreed. Other Laudamotion departures including from Basel, Switzerland, and from Germany and Austria are not impacted.<br/>
A London-based charity worker who was denied boarding a Ryanair flight while on a work trip to Montenegro has accused airport staff of “racism” and “making up their own immigration rules as they go along”. Neha Kagal, who has an Indian passport and a British visa and residence permit, says she was left angry and humiliated after boarding staff at Stansted airport refused to let her enter the flight last March on the basis that she did not have a visa for the Schengen area of Europe. Her case is the latest example of airlines wrongly banning people from flights to avoid potential fines from the destination country. The Embassy of Montenegro in London had categorically told Kagal that she didn’t need a Schengen visa – and has since confirmed this in writing – but ground handling staff refused to listen. She says she and a colleague were forced to stand aside as other passengers were allowed to board. To compound their frustration, she claims airport staff told her that they had to be very “wary of people with blue (Indian) passports” and told her that it didn’t matter what the embassy said as “there was no way she was going to Montenegro on a Ryanair flight”. She says: “Racist Ryanair apparently have their own immigration rules.” Only after the Guardian intervened would the airline admit it was wrong. Story has more details.<br/>
Spanish pilots’ union SEPLA has broken off talks with Ryanair over a union recognition agreement and says it plans to file a lawsuit against the airline over contracts in Spain. Ryanair decided in December to recognize unions for the first time and, while it has come to agreements in Britain and Italy, it is still working towards deals with unions in other major centers such as Ireland and Spain. “We regret to inform you that, at today’s meeting, the negotiations with Ryanair’s management have been broken off as they have not accepted our minimum requirements document, 90% of which corresponded to their proposals,” SEPLA said in a newsletter to members. SEPLA, which says it represents about 500 of 800 Ryanair pilots based in Spain, said the airline did not want to allow union members three days a month to carry out union duties. It had previously threatened legal action but suspended it to carry out talks with Ryanair. SEPLA said it planned to meet with its lawyer on Monday to file the lawsuit. A Ryanair spokeswoman said the company did “not comment on negotiations with our people”.<br/>
SpiceJet achieved profitability for a third consecutive year, posting an operating profit of Rs5.57b ($82.8m) in its fiscal 2017, a 43.4% year-on-year increase. Consolidated revenue for the year ended 31 March rose 25.9% to Rs79.3 billion, as income from operations jumped 26.5% to Rs77.3b. Expenses was up 24.7% to Rs73.7b, driven by various factors including higher charges in fuel, maintenance expenses, and employee benefits. Net profit rose 30.4% from Rs4.27b to Rs5.57b. Despite the stellar annual performance, its Q4 performance was disappointing. Operating profit plunged 83.1% to Rs405m. Revenue fell 1.1% to Rs20.9b, while expenses rose 9.4% to Rs20.5b. In a statement, SpiceJet pointed out that yields per RPK for the year rose 9%, bring load factor to a record 94.7%. It also launched five new domestic destinations under India's regional connectivity scheme. <br/>
For Spirit Airlines, adding Wi-Fi is part of a bigger strategy to fight off big airlines looking to compete with their low-cost brethren. Spirit is the latest to embrace in-flight Wi-Fi access, for both its revenue-generating and passenger-placating attributes. Starting later this year, the carrier will offer satellite-based broadband internet with Thales Group. The average price per flight is expected to be under $7, and passengers must use their own electronic devices to access the service, which will offer an internet portal but no free streaming entertainment. Get a Netflix or Hulu account if you want to watch something. Spirit has spent the past year studying how to “improve the guests’ on-board experience and stay true to our model,” President Ted Christie said. “And that’s been the riddle to solve.” He called Thales “the most forward thinking” in terms of how to structure the Wi-Fi offering, given the airline’s strict focus on costs. The changes are part of a broader customer-service revamp at Spirit, which has seen ferocious domestic competition as its Big Three US rivals have begun targeting the lowest-priced ticket buyers. <br/>