Delta Air Lines plans to curb employee access to its plush and popular airport lounges next month, its latest attempt to ease crowding. Starting Feb. 2, Delta won’t allow employees to use the airline’s airport Sky Clubs when they’re flying standby with company travel privileges, the carrier told staff in a long memo on Wednesday. They will also be barred from using the Sky Clubs when traveling for company business. “The employee discount on Delta Sky Club memberships also is discontinued,” said the memo, which was seen by CNBC. “While we understand this may be disappointing, know this decision was not made lightly. We are sure you’ll agree that delivering an elevated experience to our most loyal customers must be our priority.” The lounges aren’t free for Delta employees. But they’ve been able to access them, provided they have certain credit cards or buy Sky Club memberships, while traveling with employee benefits or flying on nonrevenue seats, so-called nonrevving. Next month, staff will only be granted access to the lounges if they’re flying with a paid-for ticket. Complimentary seats on planes are a major perk for airline staff, and they aren’t just used for vacation. Pilots and flight attendants often don’t live in their airline base cities and commute to work without paying for seats if space is available.<br/>
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Italy's ITA Airways said on Thursday it had launched an investigation into a ground collision involving one of its aircraft at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport - the second such incident in less than a year. In a statement, the state-controlled airline said that on the night of Jan. 2 one of its planes hit the tail of another aircraft with the tip of its right wing, shortly after landing from Rome. Nobody was injured, an ITA spokesperson said, adding passengers did not notice the impact. Data from aviation tracking website FlightAware and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) indicated the planes involved were an ITA Airways Airbus 330 and a Bombardier operated by Delta. In June last year, another ITA Airways Airbus 330 clipped an Air France Boeing 777 plane during taxiing for take-off at JFK airport, according to the Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network database. The aircraft did not suffer any damage, took off normally and arrived safely at its destination in Rome. The Italian airline, noting it fully respects all safety regulations, said in Thursday's statement that "collisions during taxiing manoeuvres are an increasing phenomenon ... especially in highly congested airports like JFK."<br/>