Ryanair faced growing criticism from unions and investors Friday about how it has handled an industrial relations revolt ahead of its annual shareholder meeting next week when its veteran chairman’s position will be challenged. Britain’s Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) recommended members vote against Ryanair’s financial report at the Sept. 20 meeting and also oppose the re-election of Chairman David Bonderman. The group, whose members schemes run around GBP230b on behalf of teachers, cleaning staff and other public workers, said its recommendations reflected “significant concerns” about Ryanair’s treatment of workers. Ryanair has struggled with labour relations in recent months and endured its worst one-day strike last month, disrupting the plans of an estimated 55,000 travellers. Another one-day strike by cabin crew is planned across five countries on Sept. 28. “Ryanair has failed to adequately address concerns about the company’s troubled relationship with its employees and the potential impact on its business,” LAPFF Chair Ian Greenwood said. “The company faces more strikes and allegations of poor working conditions continue to emerge. Questions about the company’s business model and governance now pose a threat to shareholder value.”<br/>
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Tigerair Australia, the budget arm of Virgin Australia Holdings, plans to move its heavy maintenance work from the Philippines after it was forced to ground a jet for three weeks for repairs upon return from a regular check, a source said. Jet maintenance work has increasingly been moving to lower-cost bases such as the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia over the past few years in Asia, away from countries like Singapore and Australia. And reports of problems have so far been rare. The maintenance check on a Tigerair Australia Boeing 737 jet was done at SIA Engineering Philippines - a joint venture controlled by SIA Engineering Co Ltd, the engineering offshoot of Singapore Airlines, three sources said. But problems involving the cockpit voice recorder and the cargo smoke evacuation system were discovered after the jet’s flight from the Philippines to Melbourne on July 31, one of the sources said. There were no passengers on board that flight. Tigerair Australia has been using the Philippines facility for jet maintenance for two years without incident before the recent event, but it will now look to move to SIA Engineering’s Singapore base or another provider, the source said.<br/>
Hawaiian Airlines will add Boston to its route map, launching nonstop service to Honolulu in a route the carrier says will become the USA’s longest regularly scheduled domestic route in history. The Honolulu (HNL) flights launch April 4, which Hawaiian spins as “timed to offer winter-weary New Englanders a vacation” to Hawaii’s tropical climate. The carrier will offer five flights a week on Airbus A330 widebody jets that include lie-flat seats in business class. “Honolulu will be (Boston) Logan’s 76th nonstop domestic destination, and with New Englanders coming off a long winter this flight’s start date is worth the wait,” said Thomas Glynn, CEO of the Massport agency that operates Boston’s Logan International Airport. Boston had been the largest US market without a nonstop link to Hawaii, according to Hawaiian. “At 5,095 miles, Hawaiian’s BOS-HNL route becomes the longest regularly scheduled domestic route in US history,” the airline adds. The route will overtake the current record-holder, Hawaiian's existing New York JFK-Honolulu route. Flight time from Boston is listed at 11 hours, 40 minutes westbound. The return is 10 hours, 15 minutes. <br/>
The economy in England’s North is reaping the benefits of closer ties with China, two years after a direct flight first connected Manchester to Beijing. Growth in trade and tourism is outstripping the UK average, according to a study by the consulting firm Steer. Chinese visitors to the North grew 38% since 2016, compared with 30% across the country, Manchester Airport said. Visitors also began spending more. President Xi announced the Manchester-Beijing route during his state visit to the UK in October 2015 and Hainan Airlines began the service in June 2016. In those two years, the average spending per visit in the North West increased by 94% to over GBP2,000, exceeding the national figure. “We’ve really seen the success of the first route to China from Manchester Airport, so we hope to see more being added in the future,” Mayor Andy Burnham said. <br/>
Federal prosecutors in New Orleans say a New Jersey man has pleaded guilty to interference with a flight crew - a charge arising from an October 2017 Southwest flight. US Attorney Peter Strasser's Friday news release says 39-year-old Joel Michael Bane entered the plea on Thursday. Prosecutors say Bane was charged in connection with a flight from Chicago to New Orleans. They say Bane intimidated and threatened flight attendants, disobeyed the captain's orders to return to his seat and, after landing, assaulted police officers who escorted him off the plane. The maximum possible prison sentence is 20 years. However, a plea agreement filed Friday says prosecutors and the defense have agreed that probation would be appropriate. A judge will decide on December 13.<br/>