Unions representing Ryanair cabin crew in Spain Wednesday announced plans to hold 10 days of strikes in September unless the Irish airline changes its plans to close several bases in the country. Ryanair staff unions in Britain, Ireland and Portugal have already announced plans to strike in the coming weeks over pay and conditions. Ryanair pilots in Spain are also due to vote on possible industrial action. The carrier managed to quell a series of industrial disputes last year by reaching recognition agreements with a number of unions in Europe and deals on pay and conditions with some. But it has yet to move beyond recognition agreements with others and management angered staff two weeks ago by informing them it had 900 more pilots and crew than needed due to delays in the delivery of the grounded Boeing 737 MAX. The SITCPLA and USO workers' unions said the threat of strike action was aimed at preventing the planned closure of bases at Gran Canaria, Tenerife South and Girona airports. In a statement the unions said they planned to formally lodge notice of strikes on Sept. 1, 2, 6, 8, 13, 15, 20, 22, 27 and 28, unless Ryanair made concessions in the coming days. SITCPLA spokesman Manuel Lodeiro said the unions were open to mediation by Spanish labour agency SIMA but added "we doubt very much the willingness of Ryanair to reach an agreement."<br/>
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Indonesia’s Lion Air “urgently requires” more Boeing 737 MAX jets to support its growth strategy once regulators approve the grounded model’s return to service, the airline’s co-founder, Rusdi Kirana, said Wednesday. He said the low-cost airline, which had previously threatened to cancel its order for 187 jets worth $21b at list prices, would need to be satisfied with the outcome of negotiations with Boeing before taking the planes. “If they don’t satisfy us, we will cancel the contract,” Kirana said. In April, Kirana lashed out over Boeing’s handling of the accidents and accused the US manufacturer of looking down on the airline as one from the “third world”, even though it is one of the plane maker’s largest customers globally. A final report on the Lion Air crash is expected to be released at the end of September, Indonesia’s civil aviation authority said last week. Boeing is working to finalise a software fix of issues with an anti-stall system called MCAS that activated on the two crashed jets. Regulators will then need to approve the model’s return to service before airlines take more of the planes. Garuda Indonesia is also in talks with Boeing about changes to its order for 49 737 MAX jets, said its CE, Ari Askhara.<br/>
Southwest ordered another three Boeing 737 Max simulators from flight training company CAE in Q2 2019, doubling its Max simulator orders ahead of the expected lifting of the Max's global grounding. Simulator company CAE disclosed Southwest's three-unit order Wednesday. The airline has already received, and is now setting up, one 737 Max full-flight simulator, the carrier's VP of flight operations Alan Kasher said last week. Southwest expects that unit will be operational in October. It anticipates having another two Max simulators online early in Q1 2020, followed by the final three in 2021, Kasher said. Other airlines are also acquiring Max simulators following two crashes that prompted the grounding. American Airlines has "one simulator that is in the process of being installed", and United anticipates receiving its first simulator in Q1 2020, those carriers say. Neither American nor United have said how many additional Max simulators they have on order.<br/>
Philippine Airlines reported a 2019 Q2 net loss of PHP2.3b ($43.6m), widened from a PHP173.4m loss in the year-ago quarter. A major reason for the decline was an increase in non-operating costs related to adopting a new accounting policy for certain items. Q2 revenue rose 10% year-over-year to PHP42b from PHP38.2b. The revenue increase outpaced PAL’s rise in costs for the quarter. The Philippine Stock Exchange asked the flag carrier earlier this month to clarify media reports on cutting costs. The reports quoted a senior airline official as saying PAL aims to trim expenses, particularly in administrative areas, and would look to more outsourcing. The company’s goal is to return to profitability in 2020. The airline told the exchange the cost-cutting and outsourcing quotes are “consistent with PAL’s continuing search for the most efficient and reliable service to its customers.” The carrier noted it was “providential” that newly named president, Gilbert Santa Maria, “is very knowledgeable about [this] process.”<br/>
Dubai-based LCC flydubai will expand services to Thailand and Myanmar by adding Krabi and Yangon routes to its network this winter. Flydubai plans to launch daily Dubai-Yangon (Myanmar)-Krabi (Thailand) services, from Dec. 10, becoming the first United Arab Emirates carrier to offer direct flights to Krabi. The flights, which will be on a codeshare agreement with Emirates Airline, will depart from Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport (DXB). Flydubai CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith said, “Over the past 10 years we have remained committed to opening up underserved markets, enabling millions of passengers to travel with more ease from as far as Helsinki in the west to Krabi in the east via Dubai’s aviation hub.” <br/>