Southwest has hired and trained 3,000 flight attendants so far this year, nearly triple its record cabin crew member hiring in all of 2018, the carrier told staff last week. Southwest and other airlines are still racing to hire and train staff to cater to a rebound in travel demand, which executives expect to hold up this fall, led by strong leisure bookings. Airlines were prohibited from laying off staff during the Covid pandemic under the terms of a $54b federal bailout but were allowed to offer employees extended leaves of absence or early retirement. Southwest said it currently has more than 62,000 full-time equivalent employees. That’s more than the 60,800 it had at the end of 2019, before the pandemic. Southwest has also hosted three “Hiring Blitzes” at its corporate campus in Dallas, where flight attendant candidates are interviewed, perform physical performance standards tests and other screenings with a potential for on-the-spot contingent job offers. Another is scheduled for this week, Southwest said in an employee memo last week. The carrier told staff that it has 7,000 flight attendant candidates in its hiring pipeline and that its attrition rate among new cabin crew members has dropped to 2.5% compared with 6.1% in 2019. The hiring spree comes as Southwest flight attendants’ union and management have been locked in contract negotiations. Talks with a federal mediator are set to begin Nov. 1 in Dallas, according to the memo. Southwest and United Airlines flight attendants, which are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, are set to picket at major airports on Tuesday to demand better working conditions.<br/>
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Southwest'spresident and chief operating officer Mike Van de Ven will be stepping down from both of his leadership posts in the coming months. The Dallas-based carrier said on 26 September that current chief commercial officer Andrew Watterson will move to the COO position on 1 October and chief executive Bob Jordan will assume the post of president on 1 January 2023. Van de Ven will become an “executive advisor” for the airline at the beginning of 2023. “Mike has spent more than 16 years overseeing our operation as chief of operations and chief operating officer, helping to usher in a new era for Southwest Airlines through a series of major initiatives, including modernizing our fleet, achieving ETOPS certification, and allowing us to expand our footprint to Hawaii - just to name a few - all the while serving as a champion for our people,” says Jordan. “Mike has led with heart while playing a critical role in transforming our operational capabilities to enable our growth and prosperity,” he adds. Backfilling Watterson’s CCO role will be Ryan Green, who is currently chief marketing officer. He will maintain his responsibilities for marketing and customer experience and engagement. Chief communications officer Linda Rutherford will be promoted to chief administration and communications officer. Both roles will be effective from the beginning of October. Van de Ven will spend the next several months working with the team to transition his current duties, Jordan says.<br/>
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) said on Friday it is filing an application seeking an election to represent about 3,000 JetBlue ground workers. The union will file an application with the National Mediation Board. The union argues JetBlue workers are receiving below-standard industry pay rates and benefits. JetBlue opposes the effort. The New York-based carrier said in a statement that in "addition to providing competitive pay, benefits and opportunities in a safe environment, JetBlue is the only major U.S. airline that has not furloughed" crewmembers in its 22-year history "even during the pandemic, and we remain the industry’s only airline with a no-furlough commitment in place." The airline added it firmly believes "that the direct relationship we have with our ground operations crewmembers has worked, and will continue to work, and that third-party representation and the costs to our crewmembers that come with it are not in their best interests." IAM Air Transport Territory General Vice President Richard Johnsen said "it’s high time that JetBlue workers gain the dignity and respect of a union contract, and a strong voice on the job."<br/>
EasyJet plans to ditch its landmark carbon offsetting scheme as it becomes one of the first companies to drop a controversial practice taken up by hundreds of groups around the world aiming to hit net zero emissions targets by 2050. The low-cost airline will instead focus on investing in new technologies to cut emissions as it stops paying to offset all carbon from its flights by the end of this year. EasyJet became one of the first major airlines to offset all of its emissions when it launched its programme in 2019. CE Johan Lundgren said the money would be better spent on new technologies, ranging from more fuel efficient aircraft to switching to greener fuels and untried technology using hydrogen to power aircraft. This will reduce its emissions by 78% by 2050, with the remaining 22% cut by using nascent carbon capture technology, yet to be used at scale. “It makes much more sense to invest into direct initiatives that reduce our own carbon intensity,” he said. “Our carbon offsetting programme has been the right thing to do . . . [but] you need to deal with your own operations, you cannot rely on out-of-sector initiatives,” he said. Carbon offsetting credits have soared in popularity in recent years as businesses have made net zero emissions commitments and customers have grown more climate conscious. The credits are each supposed to represent a tonne of carbon removed or avoided from the atmosphere, and are generated by investments in environmental projects such as tree planting schemes.<br/>
Indian low-cost operator AirAsia India grew its market share in August, while compatriot and sister carrier Vistara remained the country’s second largest domestic carrier for the second month running. Traffic results from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) shows the Tata Sons-owned AirAsia India carrying close to 590,000 domestic passengers in August, or around 5.8% of market share. It compares to July traffic data, where the airline carried about 440,000 passengers, taking about 4.6% market share. AirAsia India is one of the three Indian operators to increase market share from July, with the other two being Go First – which grew its share from 8.2% to 8.6% – and Air India, whose share increased marginally to 8.5% from 8.4% in July. DGCA data also reflected the first month of operations for start-up Akasa Air, which carried around 24,000 passengers in August, taking about 0.2% of domestic market share. The low-cost airline began operations on 7 August, with an initial network of four points. IndiGo remained the country’s largest domestic operator, with about 57.7% market share. Vistara took about 9.7% market share, down from July’s 10.4%. This is followed by Go First, which overtook Air India to be third largest. SpiceJet, traditionally the country’s second largest domestic operator, remained at fifth place, its market share down 0.1 percentage points to 7.9%. In total, Indian carriers flew about 10.1m domestic passengers, representing a 51% jump month-on-month, according to DGCA data.<br/>
MYAirline has secured an air operator's certificate (AOC) from the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia. The permit is valid from October 1, 2022, to September 30, 2023, and is an important step towards starting flight operations. The Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) has also issued a conditional air service licence that is presently approved through to December 31, 2022, but the regulator is yet to transition that licence from its conditional status to a current status. Incorporated in January 2021 with paid-up capital of MYR2m ringgit (US$436,824), MYAirline's shareholders include Zillion Wealth Bhd (88%), Trillion Cove Holdings Bhd (10%), and Rayner Teo Kheng Hock (2%). More recently, MYAirline has taken delivery of its first A320-200s.<br/>