In 1995, soon after taking over as CE of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary wrote a characteristically plain-speaking memo. His mission to control costs would be “ruthless . . . at the expense of charm, style and elegance if necessary”. O’Leary has been true to his word: Ryanair’s hard-nosed culture has produced an airline with few frills but market-leading profitability and a superior valuation. But the carrier, which issued a profit warning this week and its shares dropped 11% in response, is suffering its most turbulent period, beset by strikes, high fuel prices and fiercer competition. Investors and industry figures are even asking whether Ryanair’s best days are behind it. One analyst at Bernstein reckons that last year’s net income of E1.45b “is an earning level they will not be reaching any time ever again soon”. <br/>
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Ryanair has cancelled a meeting with German cabin crew union UFO in a row over comments the labour group made in the press following earlier talks between the two sides. The airline had been due to meet the union Oct 16th. The company and UFO met last month to negotiate a collective labour agreement, pay, the use of local employment contracts and staff hired through agencies. However, UFO said Friday that Ryanair had cancelled this month’s meeting, scheduled for Oct 16th, following media comments subsequently made by the union. Ryanair responded that “when UFO retracts the defamatory press release, we will then be in a position to resume negotiations”. The carrier partly blamed strikes for a profit warning issued earlier this week. It is in talks with pilot and cabin crew unions across Europe. <br/>
Passengers who had their holidays ruined after EasyJet cancelled their flights at the last minute say they are being forced to wait months for their compensation because the airline seemingly won’t pay up. Some of the frustrated passengers had taken the airline to the arbitration service CEDR and won their cases. The airline is bound to pay up if told to by the arbitration firm but, months on, the passengers claim the money awarded has still not been handed over. EasyJet says it will always pay compensation when it is due, paying the majority of CEDR cases with 14 days. “We are continually working internally to reduce the small number of instances where the process takes longer than it should." CEDR said airlines generally pay the compensation it awards. <br/>
With a new policy that went into effect this week at Alaska Airlines, miniature horses have joined dogs and cats as one of the 3 animals expressly allowed on board as service animals, which are trained to assist someone with a disability. A miniature horse — usually between 2 and 3 feet tall and weighing between 70 and 100 pounds — would most likely be able to stand only in front of passengers seated in the front row of the cabin, Ray Prentice, the airline’s director of customer advocacy, said. While the use of miniature horses as service animals is thought to be quite rare, some people may prefer them to other animals. The horses are sturdy, have longer life spans, can help those with mobility problems and have been known to guide people who are blind. Others have horses because they have religious objections to using dogs. <br/>
There were long queues at check-in counters across Indian airports Sunday afternoon as the system of IndiGo — which accounts for 41% of domestic air traffic — went on the blink for over 90 minutes. The problem was encountered across all airports on IndiGo network. It was finally resolved around 5pm. The system glitch started at 12.35pm that crippled the airline's check-in process - issuing boarding passes and check-in baggage tags. This led to formation of long queues across airports. Angry passengers took to social media to register their complaints with the active-on-Twitter aviation minister Suresh Prabhu and his deputy Jayant Sinha. Security agencies, as of now, do not suspect any foul play or cyber-attack in Sunday's system crash. "The airline has told us it was a technical glitch," said a senior security official. <br/>
Israeli carrier Arkia is to take delivery of the first Airbus A321LR, replacing original launch operator Primera Air, although a date for the handover has yet to be fixed. The airframer says it has secured around 120 orders for the variant, a long-range version of the A321neo, from about 12 operators. It indicates that it will deliver the first A321LR in the next few weeks. Several other operators have declared that they are planning to acquire the A321LR, whose fuel-system modifications have recently secured certification from European and US authorities. Norwegian, TAP Air Portugal, Air Transat, Aer Lingus are among the largest customers which have previously indicated that they will take the aircraft from 2019. <br/>
Emirates confirmed Sunday that it has already started cancelling some flights for next year in preparation for the major refurbishment work at the southern runway of Dubai International. A source said some April to May 2019 flights have already been cancelled, as the airline prepares for a major capacity cut during the airport runway scheduled repairs next year. All flight schedules have yet to be finalised, though, but during the repair period in 2019, the number of available flights will be reduced by about 28%. Emirates logged more than 3,600 flights on average per week, or more than 191,000 flights in 2017 alone. The airline has been on an expansion mode, acquiring 21 new aircraft in 2017. Also last year, Emirates expanded its network to 158 destinations. <br/>
Allegiant Air has been fined US$225,000 by the US DoT for making passengers sweat during tarmac delays in 2016 and 2017. Regulators found that the airline "failed to provide passengers a comfortable cabin temperature" on 10 flights delayed on the tarmac at 4 airports. Seven of the 10 flights were in Las Vegas, where temperatures routinely stay above 100 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the summer. In one case, the DoT said, Allegiant also did not provide food and water to passengers during the tarmac delay or let them know they could deplane, as required by DoT rules. The airline said it made what it believed to be "sensible decisions" given that situation and "passengers' consistent strong desire to get to their destination as quickly as possible." <br/>