Belgium's CNE and ACV PULS trade unions have told members not to comply with a Ryanair request to staff flights affected by a planned strike by Portuguese crew from Wednesday, a letter sent to the airline showed. Unions in Ireland, Britain, Spain and Portugal have announced plans to strike in the coming weeks, a year after a wave of strikes over pay and conditions forced the carrier to cancel hundreds of flights. Ryanair has said it expects minimal disruption from the walkouts which are scheduled to begin with a 5-day strike by Portuguese cabin crew trade union SNPVAC. "Unfortunately we had to conclude that Ryanair decided to import the conflict that is going on in Portugal to Belgium... We cannot agree with this state of affairs and will therefore call on our members not to staff these flights," the unions said. <br/>
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Norwegian Air Shuttle has long been seen as one of the airlines that would have a hard time surviving 2019. While reports of its demise have been exaggerated, the trans-Atlantic disrupter will still struggle to navigate the rest of the year. Since 2013, Norwegian has led a breakneck expansion with the promise of bringing the low-cost model of short-haul airlines across the Atlantic. But the company now has a massive debt pile, and keeps bleeding cash. With a US$320m bond payment looming in December and demand for flights weakening in Europe, its shares could have much lower to go. Norwegian’s very survival has surprised many analysts, who were expecting it to go bust during the winter low season after triggering loan covenants that mandate a minimum level of cash and balance-sheet equity. <br/>
Transavia pilots’ union SPL has filed a strike notice from Sept 1 to Oct 15, saying there is insufficient representation of union bodies at talks over the future of Transavia and that Air France pilots’ union, SNPL, has too much say in Transavia’s future. The SPL union represents about 30% of approximately 350 Transavia pilots. July 31, the SNPL Air France union approved plans to expand Transavia’s fleet after a referendum of its members. Transavia’s fleet had previously been capped at 40 aircraft under a deal with labour representatives. The approval signified more progress on labour relations for Air France-KLM Group CE Ben Smith. But the SPL said representatives of Transavia pilots, as opposed to Air France pilots seconded to work for the LCC subsidiary, are being left out of talks. <br/>