Poland's national airline LOT is cancelling some flights as crew members strike to protest layoffs and demand better pay and working conditions. A spokesman for LOT, Konrad Majszyk, said Wednesday that over a dozen international flights from Warsaw, including to Germany and Denmark, were cancelled. Flights were also cancelled on Monday and Tuesday. Almost 70 flight crew members have been fired for participating in the strike that started Thursday and that the management says is illegal. Trade union members are demanding the implementation of a cancelled 2013 pay and employment deal, the reinstatement of their fired leader and other colleagues, as well as more spending on flight security. They recently added a demand that some management resign. LOT's president, Rafal Milczarski, said he was ready for talks, but not with the union officials, saying they are causing the company millions of zlotys (euros) in losses. The company is rebooking passengers affected by cancellations and paying for accommodation, if needed.<br/>
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The National Treasury allocated 5b rand ($350m) to help South African Airways to repay debt, but said the state-owned airline will have to engage with creditors to restructure almost double that amount. SAA has 14.2b rand of repayments due by March, the Treasury said in its mid-term budget statement Wednesday. The company “is not generating sufficient cash to repay its total debt, and will have to negotiate with lenders to refinance or extend maturity dates," it said. The carrier is one of “several” state-owned companies that will struggle to refinance or redeem debt without government assistance at a time when access to credit is becoming more difficult due to weak balance sheets, poor governance and liquidity challenges, the Treasury said. Contingent liabilities due to government guarantees for debt of state companies is a major risk to the fiscal path, it said. <br/>
Thai Airways is postponing retiring some of its oldest widebody aircraft to cover delays in its fleet acquisition plans and a capacity crunch caused by Boeing 787 groundings for unschedued engine maintenance. The carrier had planned to retire its remaining Boeing 747-400s over the next few years, VP-alliances and commercial strategy Krittaphon Chantalitanon said. However, it has extended the phaseout “for another year or so,” he said on Oct. 19. Thai has six passenger 747-400s remaining in service after retiring two earlier this year. Of the remainder, one will be phased out in 2019, one in 2020, two in 2021 and two in 2022. Thai may also have to keep some older Boeing 777s in its fleet longer than planned. The carrier must either delay their retirement or phase them out, bringing in leased or used aircraft to provide short-term capacity, Chantalitanon said.<br/>