Following a legal battle that lasted 11 years, American Airlines Group wants to force defendant Sabre Corp to pay its legal fees. U.S. law firm O’Melveny & Myers filed a lawsuit on behalf of American Airlines on Friday, saying the Texas-based global distribution system should pay American’s fees. Those fees could amount to at least tens of millions of dollars. The 11-year litigation included two trials and an appeal. The filing did not identify an amount, but a O’Melveny partner previously said in court that the fees were “very, very substantial.” American Airlines was awarded $1 in May as the winner of an antitrust trial against Sabre. The dispute was over practices Sabre used to force airlines to use its services, and prevent carriers from reaching out to travel agents and business travelers more directly. American inherited the case when it acquired US Airways in 2013. US Airways had sued Sabre in 2011. The result in May found that Sabre’s practices did not cause American Airlines any financial harm. Friday’s filing shows that the two companies tried to resolve the fee dispute without involving the court but did not reach an agreement.<br/>
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Finnair is to shed some 150 personnel as a result of its adopting a new business strategy aimed at restoring the airline’s profitability. The carrier had previously warned that it could cut up to 200 positions as part of the measures. It states that around 90 jobs will be lost in Finland and 57 outside of the country. “Some employees can be offered a new role at Finnair,” the carrier says, adding that the reductions will take place by the end of February next year. The airline is having to restructure its operation owing to the closure of Russian airspace, access to which had been crucial to Finnair’s ability to serve certain Asian destinations. CE Topi Manner says he is “deeply sorry” that the “difficult but necessary” cuts have to be implemented, acknowledging that airline’s staff have already “had to stretch” during the pandemic. Finnair says the negotiations over changes affected 770 employees in Finland working in executive, managerial and specialist roles. It says it will offer those affected by the job losses support for re-employment, including career coaching and training. Finnair has been facing unrest from employees, with cabin crew staging a 24h strike over the course of 20-21 November. The transportation workers’ union AKT says the walkout is to protest the carrier’s personnel policy. Finnair has demanded salary cuts during autumn, and cabin crew counter-proposals have not been accepted. The airline, according to AKT, is threatening to lay off 450 employees, and outsource cabin service on North American and Thai routes.<br/>
Cathay Pacific Airways will increase base pay by an average of 3.3% in 2023 and offer bonuses worth the equivalent of one month's salary to Hong Kong-based staff meeting performance targets, its CEO said in a memo on Monday. "We have moved from 'survival' to 'recovery' and I am so grateful for the collective efforts of all of you as we work together to regrow Cathay," outgoing CEO Augustus Tang said in a message to staff seen by Reuters. The airline has previously said it plans to hire 4,000 staff over the next 18 to 24 months as it works to rebuild capacity that was cut during the pandemic. At Cathay, pilot attrition has been higher than normal after more than two years of onerous quarantine norms, combined with permanent pay cuts of as much as 58% made in 2020. Cathay said last week it expected to reach 70% of pre-pandemic passenger capacity by the end of 2023, up from just 33% by the end of this year as it trained pilots and reactivated aircraft.<br/>