A vote on unionisation by 2,700 United Airlines in-flight catering workers can move forward over the company’s objections, the general counsel of the National Mediation Board ruled. In January, the hospitality union Unite Here filed a petition, with support from three-quarters of United’s kitchen workforce, seeking a vote. United Airlines responded with a complaint alleging fraud and misrepresentation by the union before the petition was filed, contending that Unite Here organisers had shown up at workers’ homes claiming to be representatives of the airline conducting a poll. NMB general counsel Mary Johnson wrote that after interviewing employees, the agency’s investigators had determined that “there is no evidence that employees did not understand that Unite Here was a union and was not a representative of United." <br/>
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United Airlines and the operator of Washington Dulles are looking at ways to improve some of the aging facilities at the hub airport. The two are evaluating an addition to concourse C that would benefit both arriving and departing travellers in the more 30-year-old facility. The departures level of the wing would accommodate United's new premium Polaris lounge, while the ground floor would be used to improve the flow of arriving international passengers. United, which operates about 63% of seats at the airport, confirms that it is planning an addition to concourse C to house the Polaris lounge, declining to comment further. The carrier has previously said that its Polaris lounge for international premium passengers at Dulles is scheduled to open in 2019, following a series of delays. <br/>