Pilots at Hawaiian Airlines have reached a tentative agreement with the company on a new four-year contract, their union said on Thursday. The union, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), said the agreement included an average 32.9% pay increase during the period of the deal. The pilots would also get an average 16.6% pay increase on the date of signing. ALPA said the agreement also offered a signing bonus, higher company retirement contributions and a new health reimbursement account, and it improved the quality of life for pilots. A scramble among carriers to staff up to capitalize on booming travel demand has enhanced the bargaining power of pilots. Analysts at Jefferies estimate the United States is short of 10,000 pilots. This supply-demand gap is projected to last until 2027. With the industry returning to profitability, pilots argue airlines can pay them more to cover their increased costs of living. Hawaiian's contract will cover 1,000 pilots. ALPA said its members would vote on the offer for two weeks beginning Jan. 27.<br/>
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Southwest Airlines has agreed to pay its pilots an estimated $45m in bonus “gratitude pay” for working through the company’s service meltdown during the holiday travel period at the end of last year. The airline said it will also compensate other employee groups who worked through the period, although it did not immediately identify which employees or how much they’ll receive. The union representing Southwest’s 18,000 flight attendants said its members also were offered some additional pay, but provided no specifics on what it entailed. “At the behest of TWU Local 556, Southwest Airlines agreed to offer flight attendants working during the company’s operational failures a small stipend in addition to their pay,” said Lyn Montgomery, the local’s president in a statement. “Although this is a nice gesture, it does not make up for the challenges and mishaps that flight attendants endured.” Southwest has about 9,400 pilots. The estimated cost of their bonus pay was disclosed in a message from the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association to its membership saying the “gratitude pay” will be equal 50% of the pilots’ regular pay, excluding holiday pay, sick pay or vacation time. Earlier this month Southwest disclosed the cost of the service problems, which resulted in more 16,700 canceled flights between December 21 and 29, would cost the company between $725m and $825m. About half of that cost was the result of lost ticket revenue, with the rest allocated to customers’ compensation, higher operating costs and increased pay to employees. Southwest said the “gratitude” pay to employees is included in that estimate.<br/>
A scheduled flight from Katowice, Poland, arrived safely at Athens International Airport on Sunday after an alert was issued about a possible bomb onboard. The plane and the passengers were searched and no bomb was found, police said in a statement. The flight operated by Buzz, a Polish subsidiary of low-cost carrier Ryanair, arrived at the airport in Greece’s capital at 5:40 p.m. local time (1540 GMT) after being escorted through Greek airspace by two Hellenic Air Force F-16 fighters. Its scheduled arrival was 3:25 p.m., but the Boeing 737-800 plane left Poland just over two hours late, flight tracking data show. The search for an explosive device, which lasted over an hour, turned up nothing. The airline has not made a statement and airport authorities did not respond to inquiries.<br/>
Uzbekistan Airways is ordering 12 Airbus A320neo-family aircraft as part of a fleet modernisation. Four A321neos and eight A320neos are featured in the agreement, although no delivery date has been disclosed. Uzbekistan Airways has previously ordered A320s directly from Airbus, and its fleet also includes eight A320neo-family aircraft acquired through lessors. The airline has five A321neos leased from CDB Aviation and three A320neos from BOC Aviation. No engine selection for the 12 newly-ordered jets has yet been made. But the airline is a strong CFM International customer – its A320s are fitted with CFM56s and all the A320neo-family jets are powered by Leap-1A engines. “The contract signed with Airbus is a new step in our fleet modernisation strategy aimed at offering our passengers the most modern and comfortable aircraft,” says chair Ilhom Makhkamov. Makhkamov adds that the expansion will enable the carrier to “strengthen our footprint in Central Asia”. All the aircraft will be fitted with the airframer’s ‘Airspace’ cabin interior.<br/>
Start-up Uzbek carrier Centrum Air is aiming to build a fleet of 20 aircraft by the end of the year, having acquired its first single-aisle types. Centrum Air has received a pair of Airbus A320s – with a third set to arrive shortly – as well as two Boeing 737s. The carrier is based at Tashkent, the Central Asian country’s capital, and plans to serve domestic and international routes as a low-cost airline. Centrum Air says its expansion to 20 aircraft this year is part of an ambitious plan to have 100 by the end of 2026. Promotional material from the airline indicates that the initial A320 fleet includes the airframe YL-GET leased from Lithuania’s GetJet Airlines. Chief executive Abdulaziz Abdurakhmonov says economic reform by the government, including support for private transport sector companies, encouraged the decision to set up the carrier. “Establishing a low-cost airline will enable many more people to enjoy the benefits of air travel and help to develop connectivity domestically, in the region, and internationally,” he adds. Centrum Air has outlined plans for services to 15 countries, among them Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt, India and South Korea. It will also operate domestically to Nukus, Urgench, Termez, Namangan and Fergana. The company says it is seeking “additional foreign investment” to support its “revitalisation” of the country’s civil aviation industry. Centrum Air has a sister operation, My Freighter, which has taken delivery of a Boeing 747-200 cargo aircraft. This airframe (UK47088) was originally delivered to Nippon Cargo Airlines in 1985 and operated by carriers including AirBridgeCargo.<br/>