Ryanair has reached a 4-year labour agreement with the union representing its Ireland-based pilots, but has renewed its warning of potential job losses and base closures as a result of the latest Boeing 737 Max delay. In a stock-exchange notice, the carrier said it had “accepted before Christmas” the recommendations put forward by independent mediator Kieran Mulvey for a collective labour agreement with trade union Forsa. The deal, which runs through to 2024, covers all of Ryanair’s “directly employed” pilots in Ireland. ”Ryanair will now implement the terms of this CLA, which will deliver a new pay structure along with a fixed 5/4 roster for the next 4 years,” states the airline. The agreement follows a turbulent period of strike threats and industrial unrest at the airline. <br/>
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Wizz Air boss Jozsef Varadi pledged to grow “even faster” Wednesday as he pointed to opportunities for expansion in eastern Europe and the Middle East. The CE was also optimistic about the UK despite Brexit-related uncertainties as the carrier swung from net losses to profit. The net profit of E21.4m in Q3 2019 was a contrast to a loss of E21m in the same period in 2018 when Varadi blamed Brexit for hitting demand. The carrier also raised its full-year profit guidance, promising to deliver growth of 24% in the 3 months to the end of March, its Q4. “We are seeing quite a sparkling market from a growth perspective,” Varadi said. “ Wizz Air’s growth announcement follows setbacks for its competitors, as the fallout from Brexit and the grounding of Boeing aircraft disrupt airlines’ plans. <br/>
Lion Air, has kicked off early marketing for its long-awaited IPO, adding to a busy Southeast Asian pipeline as Hong Kong remains muted after the Lunar New Year holiday amid the novel coronavirus outbreak. Lion Air began gauging investor demand this week for an Indonesian IPO that could raise at least US$500m, people familiar with the matter said previously. Indonesia has not seen an offering of that size since fellow airline Garuda Indonesia raised $524m in 2011. The widening impact of the coronavirus outbreak in China, however, may yet throw a spanner in the works. Lion Air said Wednesday it would temporarily stop all of its chartered flights to 15 cities in China from February and was still calculating the financial effect of the decision. <br/>
Pilots on a Republic Airways flight leaving Atlanta in November lost the ability to raise and lower their Embraer SA EMB-175’s nose, a failure reminiscent to what helped lead to the 2 737 Max crashes, investigators said Wednesday. The NTSB issued 10 recommendations to Brazil, where the jet was made, and US aviation regulators. One of the issues was the emergency procedures followed by the pilots, who were operating the flight for American Airlines Group didn’t seem to immediately stop the problem, the NTSB said. The failure was also difficult for pilots to detect, which occurred in the 737 Max crashes. The regional jet carrying 6 passengers and 4 crew members had just lifted off when the captain noticed the plane was trying to aggressively pull the nose up into a climb. <br/>
Shareholders at the parent of IndiGo voted Wednesday against a proposal to lift restrictions around the sale and acquisition of shares, the latest development in a power struggle between its two founding shareholders. The motion to amend the company’s articles of association, voted on during an InterGlobe Aviation extraordinary general meeting Wednesday, would have made it easier for its two major shareholder groups to sell or increase their stake in the carrier. The proposal fell just short of securing a majority, securing 48.6% in favour of the amendment. The change in share rules was sought by IndiGo co-founder Rakesh Gangwal, who with the Chinkerpoo family trust and Shobha Gangwal, holds through the RG Group a 37% stake in the company. <br/>