Delta Air Lines pilots voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if contract talks between the carrier and the union don’t lead to an agreement, the labor group said Monday. A strike wouldn’t be immediate and it would require permissions from the federal National Mediation board. The Air Line Pilots Association union said it wants a contract, not a strike. Covid derailed contract talks throughout the airline industry starting in 2020. Talks have since resumed, and the Delta pilot strike vote underscores the difficulty in getting agreements through. “Meanwhile, our negotiations have dragged on for too long. Our goal is to reach an agreement, not to strike,” said Capt. Jason Ambrosi, chair of the Delta master executive council of the Air Line Pilots Association. “The ball is in management’s court. It’s time for the Company to get serious at the bargaining table and invest in the Delta pilots.” Delta said the vote won’t affect its operation, since the pilots are not on strike, and that the carrier and union have made “significant progress” in their talks. “ALPA’s stated purpose for the vote is simply to gain leverage in our pilot contract negotiations, which continue to progress under the normal process set by the Railway Labor Act and in partnership with the National Mediation Board,” the airline said. “We are confident that the parties will reach an agreement that is fair and equitable, as we always have in past negotiations.”<br/>
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Italy’s Economy Ministry said Monday it would not renew an exclusivity period for talks with US private equity fund Certares, Air France-KLM and Delta for the sale of ITA Airways, the nationalised successor airline to Alitalia. “Exclusivity obligations granted on Aug. 31 ... end today,” the ministry said, adding that contacts would continue over “a possible sale agreement” with the potential buyers. The consortium beat a rival bid presented by shipping group MSC and Germany’s Lufthansa for the chance to buy control of Alitalia’s successor. Certares has been discussing taking a majority stake, while Air France-KLM and Delta would initially be only commercial and operational partners. The deal has been complicated by a national election in Italy that resulted in the formation of a new right-wing government that was sworn into office earlier in October. <br/>
An airplane of Korean Air Lines carrying nearly 200 passengers bound for Australia returned to Incheon International Airport immediately after takeoff due to a mechanical issue on Sunday, just a week after the airline’s runway overshoot incident at Cebu International Airport in the Philippines. Korean Air Lines’ KE401 heading for Sydney of Australia departed from Incheon airport later than the initial schedule (at 6:45 p.m.) on Sunday and circled back to land in Incheon at 7:40 p.m. after pilots recognized an engine failure right after takeoff, according to the airliner. It was carrying 173 passengers. The flight landed safely at the Incheon airport, and all passengers were safely deplaned, it added. Some passengers in their interviews with Maeil Business Newspaper said they reached out to their families to inform them about an engine fire. The airliner denied there was a fire while admitting that it has received testimony of passengers about a spark on engine. Unlike the casual explanation by Korean Air Lines, the cabin had bee in utter panic.<br/>