The union that represents the pilots at discount airline Sunwing has filed an official complaint with Canada's Industrial Relations Board alleging that the company negotiated a recent labour deal in bad faith because it knew a sale of the airline to Westjet was on the table. The Unifor union made a deal with the airline on behalf of the 451 pilots it represents that brought modest wage increases and improvements to other benefits. When the deal was ratified in February, it was hailed as an agreement that would bring some stability to all sides in what had been an up and down few years for the airline industry. But that optimism started to wane when the airline announced a few weeks later that it has agreed to be acquired by Calgary-based Westjet. The union is alleging that the airline's management knew that a takeover offer was in the works, and had they shared that with the union during the negotiations, they wouldn't have made the concessions they did. As such, the union is filing an official complaint with Canada's Industrial Relations Board alleging that the company was bargaining in bad faith by not disclosing its looming sale. "It was of paramount importance to the union to receive assurances from the employer that it was not discussing a sale to WestJet, as any potential sale would have had important consequences on the union's positions with respect to bargaining," the filing reads.<br/>
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The executive responsible for running easyJet’s operations has resigned following a gruelling period of disruption including thousands of flight cancellations. The carrier said on Monday that Peter Bellew had resigned as chief operating officer, but would stay with the company temporarily to “ensure a smooth transition”. His departure comes after easyJet became one of the biggest casualties from the wave of disruption that has hit Europe’s airlines this year. The carrier has been forced to cancel thousands of flights in response to staff shortages that have disrupted the industry this summer, with some of the most damaging occurring during the UK school half-term in June. The airline was forced to cut back its summer schedule later that month as it attempted to restore order to its flight operations. The airline cut about 10,000 of the 160,000 flights scheduled to run in July, August and September, with more than 70 per cent of its customers moved to other flights within 24 hours of their original departure, the last being notified of changes on Monday. It leaves more than a quarter of prospective passengers on the affected flights facing a refund, rebooking on to another flight on a different day or having to accept a voucher for use in the future. EasyJet’s management has long insisted it does not have a staffing problem, and argues it has fallen victim to problems at airports, with shortages among air traffic controllers and ground handlers. The carrier has recruited more than 1,700 staff this year, meaning it has a similar number of employees as in 2019, despite planning to fly less.<br/>
An Easyjet flight heading from London to the Spanish holiday island of Menorca on Sunday was escorted to its destination by a Spanish fighter jet after a British teenager onboard made a bomb threat on social media, police said on Monday. The 18-year-old, who was travelling with five friends, spent the night in jail and is awaiting a court hearing, said a spokesman for Spain’s Civil Guard police. Footage of the incident showed an F-18 jet flying close to the distinctive orange wingtips of the commercial airline’s A-319 aircraft, which typically carries between 120 and 150 passengers. The fighter jet is seen waggling its wings, a gesture known in aviation as indicating the other pilot should follow him, while worried passengers can be heard discussing what is happening, with one woman asking: “Why is it doing that, is it just showing off?” Military planes usually intercept civilian aircraft when ground air traffic control lose contact with them or there is a perceived threat to the aircraft or passengers either because of a bomb warning, suspicious object or feared terrorist activity. EasyJet flight EZY8303, which left London Gatwick airport at 1 p.m., landed safely at Menorca airport in the Balearic Islands around half an hour late, just before 5 p.m., and was escorted to a security area. There, the teenager was arrested and over a period of two hours passengers were disembarked one by one and asked to identify their luggage for checks by sniffer dogs and bomb disposal experts, the Civil Guard said. Other flights out of Menorca were disrupted by the incident.<br/>
Ryanair had its busiest month ever in June as it flew 15.9m passengers, up from just 5.3m a year earlier and topping a previous high set in May. Its load factor, which measures how well an airline is filling available seats, reached 95% for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Irish airline, Europe's largest by passenger numbers, said it operated over 88,500 flights in June as its load factor rose from 92% a month earlier, when it flew 15.4m passengers. Ryanair's load factor regularly reached at least 96% a month before the pandemic and hit 97% in June 2019. The low cost airline expects to fly 15% more passengers this summer than in the same season of 2019, and will carry a record 165m passengers in the year to March 2023. It carried just under 100m passengers in the year to March 2022 and its pre-COVID record high was 149m.<br/>
El Al is continuing negotiations with cockpit crew representatives in a bid to resolve a persistent dispute ahead of a labour court hearing. The dispute – focused on pay claims and working conditions – has led to disruptions in the airline’s schedule over the past couple of months as it was forced to cancel a number of flights for which crews did not turn up. While the easing of pandemic restrictions has led to increased demand for flights, El Al – like many operators – has been facing a shortage of personnel, and pilot actions are adding to the pressure on the carrier. El Al filed an urgent request with the Tel Aviv regional labour court against the pilots in mid-June, following the cancellation of several services. It wanted, among other demands, to ensure that pilots fully complied with the airline’s requirements as it sought to re-introduce services with a number of Boeing 777s. The court imposed an interim decision on 17 June instructing that the parties should uphold labour agreements in “good faith” and maintain the flight schedule. It also ruled that the various sides should carry out two weeks of “intensive negotiations” and provide feedback to the labour court every few days. El Al says it is “continuing negotiations” in order to reach an agreement, and reduce inconvenience for its passengers, and a further labour court hearing is due on 10 July.<br/>
India's newest airline plans to launch into the nation's crowded skies later this month, aiming to chart a course to profit by serving destinations not widely covered by its bigger rivals. Low-cost carrier Akasa Air's strategy of flying its nascent fleet of Boeing 737 Max jets from the country's largest cities to smaller places comes as competitors such as Indigo, Air India and SpiceJet vie for dominance in the busier, cutthroat routes connecting big destinations. And, with India poised to become the third-largest aviation market globally by 2025, the stakes are high. "If you look at Mumbai to Delhi, there will be perhaps five carriers with, say, 35 daily round trips [when traffic returns to] pre-COVID [levels], and it doesn't make sense for us to become the 36th," Akasa CEO Vinay Dube told Nikkei Asia in an interview in late June. "We will have some metro-to-metro flying, but that isn't going to be a hyperfocus of ours." Research firm CEIC estimates the airports at India's so-called metropolitan cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata, coupled with technology hubs Hyderabad and Bengaluru, clocked footfall of nearly 16m people in May -- that is just under 60% of the country's total air passenger traffic. Akasa ordered 72 aircraft from Boeing in November, to be delivered over five years. It expects to have 18 planes by the end of the current financial year but will initially start flying with just two. It aims to travel to foreign destinations, including Southeast Asia, Nepal and Bangladesh, from the second half of next year. Akasa, which means "air" in Hindi, has some high-profile backing. It raised 2.75b rupees ($35m) from investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, dubbed by some as the Warren Buffett of India, at a time when the Berkshire Hathaway founder sold off his airline holdings. Dube, who used to be CE at Jet Airways and GoAir, has hired a team of industry veterans. Akasa's other co-founder is former Indigo President Aditya Ghosh. Analysts said the carrier's push to serve smaller cities could pay off.<br/>