Royal Air Maroc is set to become the oneworld's fourteenth member in 2020, and the first African carrier with full membership in the alliance. The carrier will add 34 destinations to the oneworld network, including Abidjan in Ivory Coast, Bamako in Mali and Cotonou in Benin, the alliance says. The alliance, founded in 1999, has never had a full member in Africa. Customers have been pushing oneworld to add a member to complement its network into Africa and that of South African affiliate member Comair, a British Airways franchisee, says Qantas Airways CE Alan Joyce. "Royal Air Maroc was, by far, the best carrier for us," he says. Royal Air Maroc already codeshares with 3 oneworld members: Iberia, Qatar Airways and S7 Airlines. <br/>
oneworld
BALPA has joined forces with cabin crew and ground staff unions Unite and GMB to demand pay increases from Jan 2019. They are also calling for enhanced profit-sharing arrangements and the introduction of an employee share ownership scheme. Negotiations with the airline will begin this month, according to the unions. “British Airways is continuing to deliver extraordinary financial results. In a remarkable transformation, the airline has moved from a GBP230m (US$366m) operating loss in 2009 to a GBP1.8b profit in 2017, with an even better result forecast for 2018. BA staff made an essential contribution to this success by delivering change and increasing productivity,” the unions said. The unions have accused British Airways of allowing “a culture to develop in which employees are disconnected from the airline’s success.” <br/>
US approval of the proposed joint venture between American Airlines and Qantas Airways could slip a few months to early 2019, says Qantas CE Alan Joyce. The carriers are "very optimistic" that the tie-up will get a nod from antitrust regulators but, with the Christmas and New Year holidays imminent, approval may not come until early in the new year, he said Wednesday. American and Qantas reapplied for immunity with the US DoT in February, just over a year after a previous joint venture application was rejected by the regulator in 2016. The airlines have emphasised the economic benefit of their partnership, which tally at US$310m annually. In addition, they have promised to add at least 3 new routes between Australia and the USA if approved. <br/>
A deadline is approaching in the fight by researchers to fly their monkeys on airplanes. On one side are some of the world’s biggest airlines, while on the other are prominent drug companies like Pfizer and universities including Harvard. In a complaint filed with the US govt, Washington-based non-profit the National Association for Biomedical Research accuses British Airways, Qatar Airways, China Southern and United Airlines of illegally refusing to transport lab animals such as the non-human primates used in live research trials. The US DoT set a Dec 6 deadline for public comments, and so far has received more than 20,000 submissions. “The number of air carriers willing to carry research animals has dwindled to the point that biomedical research around the world is quite frankly running out of options,” the NABR said. <br/>