German cabin crew union UFO urged members Monday to walk off their jobs at Lufthansa Oct 20th, although the carrier contests its right to represent workers. "We call on all cabin crew... not to show up to work" between 6 and 11 am at Germany's two busiest hubs Frankfurt and Munich, UFO chairman Daniel Flohr said in a video message to staff. At least 5 of the Lufthansa group's airlines -- Lufthansa, Eurowings, Germanwings, Cityline and Sunexpress -- would be hit by strikes for higher pay in the coming weeks, Flohr added. Lufthansa said it would "maintain its entire timetable", calling UFO's call to strike "illegal". Bosses at the airline group believe UFO may no longer have the legal right to speak for workers and have challenged its status in court. <br/>
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Financially struggling THAI is eyeing 8% in passenger growth by year's end as it plans to launch new routes. VP Nond Kalinta said the airline's financial situation is likely to improve. The airline's debts by the end of the year will be reduced to under THB6b thanks to the steady rise of passengers throughout the year. Over the past 9 months, the airline has achieved passenger growth of 4%-5%, which is higher than last's year figure year-on-year. The carrier is hopeful of growth as projected passenger numbers for the last quarter shows an 8% uptick. Nond said more routes will be launched by the end of the year, especially popular routes to Europe such as Bangkok-Vienna, Bangkok-Brussels, and Bangkok-Paris, as the airline seeks to make the most of the recent improvement in passenger numbers. <br/>
Air Canada is to ban staff from addressing passengers as “ladies and gentlemen” when making on-board announcements in an effort to be more gender inclusive. Standard practice has been for passengers to be greeted with “ladies and gentlemen” or “mesdames et messieurs”. The carrier will soon update its official phrasing to address customers with “hello everyone” or “tout le monde”. “We will be amending our on-board announcements to modernise them and remove specific references to gender,” said a spokesperson. “We work hard to make sure all employees feel like valued members of the Air Canada family, while ensuring our customers are comfortable and respected when they choose to travel with us.” It’s not clear when the announcements will be updated. <br/>
Air India is facing mass resignation by the pilots as they are unhappy with their salary and promotion. Around 120 Airbus A-320 pilots tendered their resignation after their demands pertaining to the salary hike and promotion were not paid heed to by the AI management. This came in the backdrop of the Central govt's decision to initiate the process of divestment of Air India's stake. The disgruntled pilots are sure that they will get a job somewhere else as the market is currently open. As of now, Indigo Air, GoAir, Vistara and Air Asia are operating Airbus A-320 flights. On being asked if the operations of the carrier will suffer due to the mass resignation, the Air India spokesperson said that it has surplus pilots. "AI operation will not suffer at any cost, due to resignation," the spokesperson added. <br/>