Dozens of dead puppies have been discovered on a passenger plane travelling from Ukraine to Canada. The Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight from Kiev was carrying approximately 500 young French bulldogs, 38 of which were dead upon arrival at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport last Saturday. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), which is investigating the incident, told The Independent that “many of the dogs were suffering from dehydration, weakness and/or vomiting”. Animal welfare campaigners allege that the case is merely the tip of a thriving puppy farming business in Ukraine, driven by demand for thoroughbred puppies from unwitting consumers who are unaware of their new pet’s history. “These commercial operations are run by large puppy mills that house and breed hundreds and thousands of dogs every year in typically unsterile conditions where the dogs are crammed together,” Lucas Hixson of SPCA International said from Slavutych. In a social media post on Friday, UIA acknowledged the incident, writing: “Everyone at UIA offers its condolences for the tragic loss of animal life on our flight. UIA is working with local authorities to determine what happened and to make any changes necessary to prevent such a situation from occurring again.”<br/>
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Alitalia said Friday it was being charged higher fees by airports in Italy than its foreign competitors, and the practice was hampering its recovery as the sector emerges from the coronavirus crisis. Citing the example of Trieste airport in northern Italy, Alitalia said it was being charged to resume services from that facility at more than double the rate applied to its competitors. The airline, which is in the process of being re-nationalised after years of difficult private management and failed restructuring attempts, said it had sent evidence of what it described as “economic discrimination” to the relevant authorities, adding this was a trend seen at the majority of Italy’s airports. “Alitalia’s efforts to become more efficient require an end to the competitive asymmetry existing with foreign companies that receive equal service,” the company said. Alitalia added that being able to resume its flight connections depended on how quickly demand recovers from the impact of the coronavirus and on “obtaining from airports economic conditions for the restart of flights in line with those offered to other airlines”.<br/>
Aer Lingus confirmed on Friday that it will shed up to 500 jobs from its 4,500-strong workforce. The move comes days after the airline said it would press ahead with plans to cut pay by 70% until August following the collapse of a possible deal with unions including Fórsa and Siptu. The company informed the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty, that it expects to seek up to 500 redundancies, the first formal step that a company must take when it seeks to cut jobs. “Aer Lingus is now commencing the required consultation process with employee representative organisations,” the carrier said. Siptu divisional organiser Karan O’Loughlin accused Aer Lingus of “pouring petrol on the fire of an already difficult industrial relations environment”. She warned that productive talks would be impossible while 200 of the union’s members were on temporary lay off and 1,000 had their pay cut by 70%.<br/>
Spirit Airlines misclassified as “volunteers” more than 1,000 people who were denied boarding against their will on oversold flights, the US DoT said Friday in announcing a fine against the carrier. The department said consumer complaints filed with its Office of Aviation Consumer Protection showed the budget carrier required that passengers bumped from flights sign waivers or documents suggesting they had, in fact, volunteered. The airline then filed inaccurate reports with the department regarding those misclassified passengers between early 2017 through mid-2018. The department issued Spirit $350,000 in potential penalties and ordered the carrier to avoid future violations, according to a consent order made public by the government on Friday. The order didn’t require Spirit to admit or deny the violations described by DOT. Spirit said it had made appropriate changes to its processes and compensation offers since period addressed in government’s enforcement action. “Our guests’ experience means everything to us, and we continue to invest in every aspect of their journey,” the company said.<br/>
The final bids for Virgin Australia Holdings will show how much appetite private investors really have for an airline industry that’s been battered by the coronavirus pandemic. Administrator Deloitte this month chose private equity firms Bain Capital LP and Cyrus Capital Partners LP as the last two suitors for the Australian airline, which collapsed in April under A$6.8b ($4.7b) of debt after the government declined to step in. After months of jockeying over conditional proposals, with more than a dozen other parties falling away, the potential buyers must commit to binding offers Monday. Deloitte aims to secure a deal by the end of June. Whoever wins the bid, Virgin Australia’s prospects are uncertain and business travel likely will be curtailed for years, said Warren Staples, a senior lecturer in management at RMIT University in Melbourne. “There might be a gap between what they pitch and the reality of what happens,” Staples said.<br/>
Lauda’s Austrian arm is being repositioned as a wet-lease carrier and the Ryanair subsidiary is ending the employment of crew members who did not support a new collective labour agreement, as part of a “survival plan” to secure operations in Vienna. The airline says more than 330 flying staff members will be retained when operations resume on 1 July, but adds: ”Up to 12 pilots and 82 cabin crew who did not accept Lauda’s new CLA/T&Cs document dated 28 May 2020 will receive notice of termination of employment at the end of June.” Parent group Ryanair had in May announced the closure of Lauda’s Vienna base amid a labour dispute with Austrian union Vida. That decision was later reversed when an 11th-hour agreement was reached. Despite the new labour terms, Lauda says it still faces “substantial challenges” and cites a E600m financial support package for Lufthansa subsidiary Austrian Airlines which the German group agreed with Austria’s government. “A range of survival measures necessary to face post Covid-19 competition with [Lauda’s] German-owned airline competitor [Austrian],” Lauda argues. As part of the measures, it says it will “become a wet-lease operator for other airlines”, noting that “the Lauda brand will continue in Vienna”.<br/>
Emirates says it will return to Auckland with scheduled passenger services from July 1. The airline stopped all scheduled flights in March but is gradually restoring some of its international network, including New Zealand. All passengers will be issued with masks and gloves. The airline will operate three return services a week and is still confirming which aircraft type it will use. While down on its previous frequencies, the flights will provide more options for Kiwis wanting to return home and for foreign nationals here to get back to their countries. Overnight the airline announced it will over the next three weeks offer scheduled flights for travellers in 9 more cities besides Auckland: Colombo, Sialkot, Istanbul, Beirut, Brussels, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Barcelona and Washington DC. This will take the total number of Emirates destinations on offer for travellers to 40. In addition, Emirates will add flights to the following cities in July: London Heathrow, Manchester, Frankfurt, Paris, Zurich, Madrid, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Dublin, New York JFK, Toronto, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Hong Kong.<br/>