Ryanair Holdings will cut CE Michael O’Leary’s pay by 50% to E500,000 and reduce his bonus to a maximum of the same amount, according to its annual report. The document shows that Ryanair paid O’Leary E3.73m in the 12 months to March 31st, which included basic pay of E1.058m, a bonus of E768,000 and share-based payments of E1.547m. He waived his bonus during the preceding 12 months, following flight cancellations sparked by a pilot roster mix-up. O’Leary began a new 5-year contract as group CE April 1st that will run until July 31st, 2024. O’Leary agreed a 50% cut in basic pay to E500,000 a year from E1m a year under the new contract, and a 50% cut to his maximum bonus to E500,000 a year. <br/>
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Aer Lingus has taken delivery of its first Airbus A321LR, becoming the sixth operator worldwide to operate the type. The aircraft is the first of 8 of the model scheduled for delivery to the airline through 2020 from Air Lease Corp's order book with Airbus. Powered by CFM International Leap-1A engines, the airplane features a 2-class cabin configured with 16 business-class and 168 economy-class seats. “The new ALC A321neoLR will enable Aer Lingus to substantially increase the number of flights, frequencies, and new destinations between Ireland and the US and Canada,” commented Air Lease executive chairman Steven Udvar-Házy. Plans now call for the long-range single-aisle aircraft to enter commercial service Aug 2 on the route between Dublin and Hartford, Connecticut. <br/>
Philippine Airlines has appointed Gilbert Santa Maria as its new president and COO. Santa Maria was handpicked by PAL chairman and CE Lucio Tan and unanimously approved by the 15-member board. He will replace Jamie Bautista who retired in early June. The role was temporarily filled by Tan’s daughter, Vivienne Tan, and later Lucio Tan himself in mid-July. Although having little aviation background, Santa Maria spent most of his career in the US with numerous startup and tech firms. For 15 years, he was in the business process outsourcing industry, one of Philippines’ fastest-growing service industries. Before joining PAL, he was COO of US-based BPO provider Ibex Global. <br/>
In a bid to meet a growing demand for staff in one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing aviation markets, FLC Group’s Bamboo Airways broke ground in July on a new training centre in Quy Nhon in central Vietnam. The Bamboo Airways Aviation Training Institute is expected to train 3,500 pilots, flight attendants, technicians, ground staff and flight dispatchers annually when it is completed in 2021. Development of the 25-acre facility will cost about VND700b (US$30.2m). The centre will also work alongside the group’s planned FLC University on programs that include aviation transport management, international aviation operation, airport and flight operation management, marketing management and air travel advertising <br/>
Fastjet has posted a narrower first-half loss following “painful” efforts over the past 9 months to balance its books. The airline was rescued from the brink of administration last year at the expense of its operations in Tanzania and now expects to turn a small profit this year. In a trading update issued Tuesday, the airline reported a post-tax loss of US$4.495m, down from $14.605m this time last year. Revenue, meanwhile, has increased 36% from $14.5m to $19.7m, largely driven by its acquisition last October of South African airline Fedair, which Fastjet said generated $5.8m new revenue, albeit offset by $5.6m fresh operating expenses. The update comes after Fastjet revealed – belatedly – last month a full-year loss of some $65m. <br/>