Long-serving Emirates airline president Tim Clark is to retire at the end of June 2020. News that Clark is to step down from the role next summer first emerged following reports of an internal announcement, which added Clark will remain as an advisor to the airline. A founder member of the Emirates management team in 1985 and appointed president in 2003, Clark has steered the Dubai carrier to become one of the largest global operators. The latest Airline Business World Airline Rankings show Emirates was the seventh largest airline group the 2018/19 financial year with revenues of US$29.7b, and fourth biggest group in the world in terms of traffic. How to fill the shoes of such a central CE has been a long-standing question for Emirates. <br/>
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Two women who say they were sexually assaulted by passengers on Frontier Airlines flights sued the carrier for allegedly refusing to help them and either not having or failing to follow policies to respond to assaults. One woman said she was sexually assaulted by a man on a flight from Denver to Providence in October of 2018 and was not allowed to change her seat afterward while the other said she was sexually assaulted by a man on a Denver to Florida flight in November of 2018. Both say they reported the assaults to flight attendants, who did not report them to anyone else and did not request that law enforcement meet the planes. The lawsuit notes that the FBI issued a warning in 2018 that the number of sexual assaults by passengers reported on commercial flights has been increasing “at an alarming rate." <br/>
EasyJet is looking to foster a more inclusive environment on its flights. Tuesday, the airline announced that it has provided a guide for staff on how to incorporate gender-neutral greetings to passengers. “We want our crew to be welcoming to everyone on board and so have provided some guidance to them of how to best do that in a way that is inclusive for everyone,” a spokesperson for the airline said. The spokesperson emphasised that EasyJet has not banned the original “ladies and gentlemen” greeting, but are simply encouraging staff to opt for the more gender-inclusive options that they have outlined in their guide. Earlier this year, Air Canada banned the use of “ladies and gentlemen” on their flights, instead, replacing it with the term “everybody”. <br/>
Liquidators of Thomas Cook Group have warned that most of the company’s divisions are unlikely to return a dividend to creditors following its collapse in September. The official receiver says that the group collapsed with around GBP9b (US$11.6b) in total liabilities. These included GBP5.7b in debts to other group companies and a further GBP1.77b to banks and other lenders. Trade creditors are owed GBP885m and GBP585m is due to customers who booked package-holidays and flights, although this figure does not include a claim from the CAA which has yet to be fully quantified. But the receiver estimates total asset realisations at just GBP176-244m – a figure which excludes the cost of the realisation, it states. Sale of retail outlets, landing slots at airports, intellectual property rights and other assets have already been achieved. <br/>