Qatar Airways is among a handful of carriers still flying over the Strait of Hormuz amid ratcheting tensions between the US and Iran that saw an American drone shot down in the area last week. Flightradar 24 showed at least 2 Qatari flights overflying the strait during a 1-hour period Tuesday, with other carriers crossing the zone including FlyDubai, Pakistan International Airlines, Ariana Afghan Airlines and Air Astana of Kazakhstan. Qatar Airways, which said it’s not commenting on the “political situation,” has less room for manoeuvre than other carriers due to a ban on flights in airspace to the west, south and east imposed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE over its govt owner’s alleged links to Iran. Doha-Asia services have little option but to cross the strait, with a flight from Kathmandu and one to Shanghai doing so Tuesday. <br/>
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Qatar Airways has decided not to upgrade its Airbus A380s with Qsuite business class suites owing to plans to retire the superjumbos in as little as 5 years' time. The airline's CE, Akbar Al Baker, tipped the fate of its A380 fleet at the Paris Air Show, admitting "we feel that the aircraft does not have very long future in Qatar Airways' fleet. We would think about retiring those aeroplanes on their 10th anniversary, unless something untoward happens and we need them." Al Baker confirmed this would see the airline's first A380 put out to pasture in 2024 "because it would be 10 years old." The airline originally planned to fit the Qsuite to its 10 Airbus A380s in 2020, but using a modified version of what is widely considered the world's best business class seat due to the more pronounced wall curvature of the superjumbo's upper deck. <br/>
American Airlines is trying to gradually reduce the size of its union workforce, an effort that is slowing the pace of contract talks with its mechanics and fleet service workers, a union spokesman said Tuesday. “It’s union busting on the instalment plan,” said a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists. Through a joint association, the IAM and the Transport Workers Union jointly represent about 31,000 American employees, principally mechanics and fleet service workers. “The company is demanding, either through a buyout or other form of attrition, the ability to vendor out jobs,” the union said. While current jobs would be protected, some union workers who leave could be replaced by non-union workers, he said. The total number of jobs that could be lost under the company’s proposal is about 5,000. <br/>