Air Canada pilots are pressing for higher pay in the run-up to fresh contract talks, following recent gains secured by pilots at US carrier Delta, union representatives told Reuters. A contract between Delta and its pilots that came into effect on Thursday delivers a 34% pay increase over four years, driving pressure on other US carriers to reach similar deals. It is also galvanizing pilots at Canada's largest carrier. Delta's latest hourly pay rates are up to 45% higher than current Air Canada hourly pay rates, the Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA) said by email. Air Canada pilots have received a 2% wage increase per year, since 2014, said ACPA, which represents about 4,500 pilots. They could potentially begin salary talks as early as this year, or in 2024, the union said. "Pilots in the US have recently secured significant wage increases and other contractual improvements, creating an embarrassing gap with Canada," Charlene Hudy, a top ACPA union leader, said in a statement. The talks come as North American carriers are collectively recruiting thousands of pilots to meet a rebound in travel demand following a pandemic-induced slump. Air Canada did not respond to a request for comment. ACPA is in talks to possibly join the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the world's largest pilots' union, representing more than 60,000 pilots. ALPA Canada President Tim Perry said many US carriers recognize the importance of crew to their business model "by providing improved wages and working conditions for their pilots, in most cases far surpassing those of their Canadian counterparts."<br/>
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Germany's Lufthansa on Friday delivered an "unprecedented" turnaround as it swung to a E1.51b profit in 2022 and expects a significant improvement in earnings this year, pushing its shares up to a three-year high as air travel rebounds. Passenger numbers more than doubled and net revenue almost doubled from 2021, although the figures remain short of pre-pandemic levels. "Lufthansa is back," CEO Carsten Spohr said. "In just one year, we have achieved an unprecedented financial turnaround ... Demand for air travel remains high in 2023," he added. Shares jumped to a three-year high, gaining more than 5% on Friday, having climbed more than 30% in value since December last year. The company's full-year operating profit of E1.51b came after a loss of E1.6b a year ago. Q4 profit swung to E575m from a loss of E42m, in line with expectations. The balance sheet also improved, with net debt falling to E6.9b from E9b. However, operating profit was still 34% lower than the pre-pandemic 2019 level and passenger numbers had only recovered 72%. Like others in the industry, Lufthansa is also grappling with high cost inflation as well as a surge in fuel prices. Yields are, however, expected to stay about 20% above 2019 levels as higher costs are passed on to passengers, a Lufthansa representative said on a media call. The company said it expects "further significant improvement" in operating profit this year. After cancelling many flights last year, the company is trying to avert travel chaos this summer by scrapping some scheduled flights as airport and technical staff remain in short supply.<br/>
Lufthansa Group chief executive Carsten Spohr sees the Rome Fiumicino hub of acquisition target ITA Airways as better positioning it to serve southern hemisphere markets as talks on a deal continue. Italy’s finance ministry opened exclusive talks with Lufthansa in late January over its bid to initially take a minority stake in Italian national carrier ITA, together with options on ultimately acquiring the remaining shares. “Both sides are currently negotiating exclusively on the form of a potential investment in the Italian airline ITA Airways,” Lufthansa said in disclosing its full-year 2022 results today. Spohr highlighted the appeal of adding a southern European hub to the group’s existing network operations, which are based around the hubs of Frankfurt and Munich in Germany, Zurich in Switzerland, Austrian capital Vienna and Brussels in Belgium. “The five hubs we have are fairly northern positioned, which has its advantages when you think about the North Atlantic, Japan and China. When it comes to the, in my view, relatively small but growing southern hemisphere markets, being further north is a disadvantage because a certain share of our European passengers need to backtrack,” Spohr explains. “It doesn’t matter for the Germans or the Scandinavians or the east Europeans, but it does matter for the Iberian peninsula passengers that we have, or the Italian themselves. So to have some of that traffic re-routed via another hub makes sense.” ITA is one of two southern European airlines openly in the market for investors alongside TAP Portugal. While Spohr does not rule a move for the Portuguese carrier, he outlines a key benefit of ITA and its Rome hub. <br/>
Lufthansa has begun talks with potential investors over the possible partial sale of Lufthansa Technik, though the MRO unit will remain a key part of the airline group. Lufthansa had first said in late 2020 that it was preparing the ground for a possible part-divestment of its MRO unit – one of the biggest in the world, with wide-ranging activities including capabilities in large business aircraft completions as well as airframe and engine overhaul. In releasing full-year results today, Lufthansa said preparations are proceeding and talks with “selected investors” have already begun. “This is a starting point for Lufthansa Technik. It’s a partial divestiture. We want Technik to remain part of our portfolio,” said Lufthansa group chief financial officer Remco Steenbergen during a results analysts briefing today. “It is not about selling a little part and getting the cash in. It is truly about five to 10 years from now making sure [if there is] any big sector consolidation of the industry and value chain, that we are in the best possible position. So we are looking at someone who can bring us the capabilities in order to drive further development. "Last year we did a lot of work to prepare ourselves: how would we see a business plan? Which kind of capabilities are we looking for? What kind of governance structure would work for us and what wouldn’t work? We now start the discussions and we are confident something could be found.” Lufthansa Technik earnings jumped by 41% to a record high adjusted EBIT of E511m in 2022. Lufthansa though is continuing to evaluate the full divestment of non-core assets, including IT services company Air Plus and the remainder of the LSG catering business. Lufthansa sold LSG’s European business to GateGroup in 2019. It says it will look to sell these units ”as soon as market conditions permit”.<br/>
IndiGo on Sunday said it is looking at enabling codeshare connectivity to the US and Canada through its partnership with Turkish Airlines. On Friday, a senior official told PTI that the airline has received approval from the civil aviation ministry to wet lease up to two planes for operating flights to the United States and Canada. In response to queries on the same, IndiGo on Sunday said it constantly evaluates and discusses opportunities with aircraft manufacturers, but at this stage, it is pure speculation. "At present, our objective is to enable codeshare connectivity to the US and Canada via our partnership with Turkish Airlines after the required application and approval process," the statement said. Codesharing allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless travel to destinations where it has no presence. The airline's plans also come against the backdrop of Air India starting to ramp up its international operations and expanding fleet with new aircraft orders. IndiGo started operating wide-body Boeing 777 on Delhi-Istanbul route in February. The plane has been taken on wet lease from Turkish Airlines and it is the first time that the budget carrier started flying a wide-body aircraft.<br/>