EasyJet launched on Wednesday a campaign to hire more people over the age of 45 to join its cabin crews, challenging an outdated image of the job as the budget airline looks to fill roles in Britain's tight labour market. Britain's workforce has shrunk due to a slowdown in immigration since the country left the European Union in 2020 and after thousands of workers took early retirement or simply left the labour market during the pandemic. The travel industry has been hit particularly hard, leading to chaos at airports around Europe this summer because there were not enough luggage handlers, security guards and air crew. After Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday rejected business pleas for a loosening of immigration rules, companies are having to work harder and think differently to fill vacancies. British auto repair company Halfords HFD.L said earlier on Wednesday it wants to lure retirees back into the workforce to fill 1,000 new technician openings it has. EasyJet is also turning to older people, showing how far the aviation industry has travelled in throwing off the stereotypes of the past when flight attendants were typically young women. The UK-based airline said it was encouraging adults aged 45 and over to train as cabin crew, building on the 27% rise it has already seen in that age group for crew since 2018.<br/>
unaligned
Uzbekistan’s Silk Avia is to become the first carrier in the Central Asian state to introduce ATRs, following an agreement to acquire a fleet of turboprops. It will take three ATR 72-600s directly from the airframer and another two from a leasing company. They will be fitted with Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127XT engines. The airline is also planning to take three used aircraft, of the same type, with which to commence services. Silk Avia is owned by Uzbekistan Airports and emerged during the Dubai air show last year. “As a new low-cost airline, we undertook an extensive review of which aircraft would provide the best solution,” says Uzbekistan Airports chair Rano Dzhuraeva. Dzhuraeva says the ATR 72-600 is the “perfect choice”. The regional operator is aiming to offer air transport as an alternative to domestic rail. “Silk Avia’s aircraft will be the first new ATRs to operate in the whole Central Asia,” according to ATR, which says the carrier is intending to “stimulate domestic tourism and business development”. “The airline will also increase regional connectivity to the capital of Tashkent and provide direct access between the Uzbek cities,” it adds. Silk Avia will link 11 Uzbek airports, and serve around 40 routes, expanding to cover another seven airports in the future.<br/>
El Al Israel Airlines reported on Wednesday its second straight quarterly net profit, saying its revenue was almost on pace with pre-COVID pandemic levels. Helped by a $38m one-time gain from the partial sale of its frequent flier club, and despite a 33% annual rise in fuel costs, Israel's flag carrier said it earned $67m in the third quarter, compared with a $136m loss a year earlier. As a result, auditors removed a going concern warning. Revenue rose to $626m from $253m - close to a level of $647m in Q3 of 2019. Its load factor was 87.4% in the quarter, up from 70.3% a year earlier. The airline, which has seen its market share shrink with the entry of foreign carriers, said it would soon complete a new growth strategy. El Al has also paid back a $45m loan that it took from the government during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the quarter, Israeli insurer Phoenix bought 20% of El Al's frequent flier programme for $14m.<br/>
Cybercrime group Daixin Team has leaked confidential data containing confidential information belonging to AirAsia. The massive ransomware attack has reportedly exposed more than 5m records online that are thought to include information on customers and employees. AirAsia is the largest airline in Malaysia, has some 22,000 employees from 60 nationalities and is based out of Kuala Lumpur, where it operates domestically and to more than 165 destinations worldwide. Daixin Team has been the subject of a recent US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency alert, reportedly informing DataBreaches on November 19 that they had obtained the personal data of 5m unique passengers and all of the company’s employees. DataBreaches, a website that reports data breach incidents around the world, said it was provided with two .csv files that Daixin Team also provided to AirAsia Group. It said one file contained information on named passengers. The second file contained employee information with numerous fields that included name, date of birth, country of birth, location, date employment started, and even their “secret question” and “answer” for password recovery. Citing a Daixin spokesman, DataBreaches said AirAsia responded to the hack by asking Daixin’s negotiator for an example of the data. After receiving the sample, Daixin said the airline “asked in great detail how we would delete their data in case of payment.” According to reports, AirAsia did not attempt to haggle over the price, which could mean they never intended to pay anything. “Usually everyone wants to negotiate a smaller amount,” the spokesperson told DataBreaches.<br/>
A bullish AirAsia X expects to double its operational fleet of Airbus A330s by mid-2023, as it aims to restore its pre-pandemic network in the coming year. In its quarterly earnings, the medium-haul, low-cost carrier says it targets an operating fleet of 13 A330s by the first half of 2023, up from the current fleet of six aircraft. To boost its fleet, AirAsia X is looking to lease additional aircraft, adding that the process ”is underway on varying stage of progress”. The affiliate of AirAsia Aviation Group had previously disclosed plans to operate 11 A330s – its full fleet – by February next year. At an interview with FlightGlobal in June, airline chief Benyamin Ismail also said AirAsia X expects to take delivery of A330neos and A321XLR long-range narrowbodies from 2026. The airline has 15 A330neos and 20 A321XLRs on order. The latest update comes as the airline reports “vigorous growth” in travel demand, as it exits restructuring and as markets in Asia-Pacific reopen. By end-2023, the airline expects network and frequencies to be restored, and has teased “a number of additional brand new routes” to be launched, including to the USA. It is also “cautiously optimistic” about China’s reopening “in the near future”. China – which is still largely shut off as part of a zero-infection strategy – remains a gap in the airline’s network, as well as that of AirAsia Aviation’s short-haul units. The airline currently operates scheduled flights to 11 points in its network, including Sydney, Auckland, Sapporo, as well as Seoul Incheon. <br/>