Ground staff for the Dutch arm of Air France KLM are set to strike Monday morning at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, likely causing delays and canceled flights, the Dutch union FNV said Saturday. The ground staff will strike from 0600 GMT to 0800 GMT. The strike is not only expected to disrupt KLM flights but also those of Air France, Transavia, Delta and other airlines who are part of the SkyTeam alliance and are served by KLM ground staff at its Schiphol hub. “This will likely cause disruptions,” KLM spokeswoman Manel Vrijenhoek said. The Dutch unions have been in negotiations with KLM for months to seek a pay rise for the 15,000 ground staff.<br/>
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China Eastern and China Southern have joined flag carrier Air China in ordering Comac ARJ21-700s. In separate though near-identical statements, each carrier has disclosed an order for 35 of the aircraft, valuing the deal at $1.33b – a figure that covers both the airframe and engine – while also noting price concessions from Comac. Deliveries of these jets are to take place between 2020 and 2024. China Eastern says its order is intended to overcome a "shortage of feeder capacity", improve its network, and "explore the development potential of the feeder market". For China Southern, the ARJ21s will "strengthen the support of the trunk-routes market" and "further expand the market coverage". This could also mean that China Southern's Guangzhou-based mainline carrier will be the one operating the ARJ21s, rather than its affiliates Chongqing Airlines and Xiamen Airlines, in which parent company China Southern Air Holding has majority stakes.<br/>