Delta CE Ed Bastian has rebuked US Senator Bernie Sanders and 8 other senators who joined Sanders last week to accuse the carrier of paying salaries as low as US$9 an hour to employees who “live paycheck to paycheck” and who are being denied the right to join a union. “Across the board, [Delta employees] are the best-rewarded airline employees in the world,” Bastian wrote in a letter to Sanders and distributed to employees. In particular, Bastian disputed Sanders’ charge that some Delta employees make as little as $9 an hour. Bastian said Delta starting salaries are nearly double that rate. Moreover, after 12 years with seniority raises, Bastian said, airport agents and flight attendants earn $74,000 annually and mechanics earn $121,000 annually. <br/>
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Alitalia has canceled over 300 flights because of a 24-hour strike called to protest deteriorating conditions in the sector, including the govt's failure to relaunch the carrier. Alitalia says it cancelled about half of its flights, both domestic and international, due to the strike Tuesday. But it says it has reorganised schedules so that at least half of the affected passengers could fly the same day. Flights are guaranteed by law from 7 am to 10 am local and from 6 pm to 9 pm. The country's main transport union called the 24-hour strike to push for a deal that will guarantee the future of Alitalia, but also more generally for the renewal of a national contract and other measures to support workers. <br/>
China Eastern Airlines has filed a claim with Boeing over losses incurred from the grounding of its Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, according to a news report. A source told Chinese news outlet Sina the claim covers the revenue loss from the grounding and delayed delivery of the aircraft, but did not say how much the carrier is seeking. The claim would be the first by a China-based carrier over the MAXs, which were grounded worldwide after 2 fatal crashes. In April, Bloomberg reported that the 3 state-owned carriers—Air China, China Eastern and China Southern Airlines—are looking to file a combined claim with Boeing. In all, the 3 airlines operate 56 MAX 8s. China Eastern and its Shanghai Airlines subsidiary have 14 MAX 8s grounded since March 11. <br/>