Finnair has reached a cost-saving agreement with cabin crew, averting implementation of a potential plan to subcontract in-flight services on certain long-haul routes. The airline had been looking to outsource cabin service on North American and Thai routes, according to the transportation workers’ union AKT, which had engaged in industrial action in response. But Finnair says it has concluded negotiations initiated in November last year, and says the subcontracting plan has been “discontinued” following the savings agreement which runs to the end of 2025. The airline says the deal includes processes to increase the efficiency of cabin crew use, compensation changes for long duty days, and other details. Finnair’s collective agreement with cabin crew will be extended by a year, to the end of January 2025, and the negotiations have achieved a settlement on 2023-24 salary. Cabin crew will also be included in a staff incentive plan – like other personnel groups which have concluded savings agreements – which will lead to a payout in 2026 if earnings margins are reached. The airline has been striving to recover not only from the pandemic but the effects of Russian airspace closure, which has strongly affected its Asian route network and forced the carrier to rejig its network strategy. “Agreements with our employees support our important goal of restoring profitability,” says Finnair senior vice-president for people and culture Johanna Karppi. “We are grateful that our employees have been willing to contribute to solving our profitability challenge, to safeguard the future of Finnair and jobs at Finnair.” Finnair has negotiated savings agreements with pilots, engineers, and Japan- and Korea-based cabin crew, while also reaching efficiency pacts with divisions including its maintenance operation.<br/>
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After being hit during the pandemic harder than pretty much any airline still flying, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. has a very good chance of posting a net profit this year and returning to full capacity in 2024, according to Chief Executive Officer Ronald Lam. The covid-related disruption had such an impact on Hong Kong air travel that on one day in March last year, Cathay flew just 58 passengers. The situation has improved since a mandatory quarantine was dropped in September, with Cathay’s average daily passenger numbers topping 33,000 in January. But there’s more to do before Lam can restore its standing as one of the world’s premier airlines. “It’s going to be a little bit of a tunnel to still go through,” Lam told Bloomberg Television in one of his first interviews with international media since becoming CEO of the 76-year-old airline on Jan. 1. Cathay — which was rescued by the Hong Kong government in 2020, with its business paralyzed — is “rebuilding as rapidly” as possible, but it’s being constrained by a lack of manpower resources to cope with the sharp rebound in travel demand, said Lam, 50. He welcomed the news that China would start reissuing tourist visas this week. “I’m very optimistic about the traffic flow,” he said. Cathay’s overall passenger capacity should return to about 50% of pre-pandemic levels this month and 70% by year-end, while cargo services — which “kept us alive during Covid” — are expected to be back to 85% by then, Lam said. “There’s quite a lot to rebuild in terms of manpower resources, but I think we’re rebuilding according to our plan,” he said. “I don’t think we are in a crisis mode of any sort.” The staffing challenge is both in the air and on the ground, and not only for Cathay, but for the aviation ecosystem as a whole, Lam said. The airline has “been scrambling to train” pilots who couldn’t fly enough to remain qualified during Covid, when Hong Kong essentially shut down international travel.<br/>
Qantas frequent flyers can now use their Qantas Points to travel to more than 75 destinations around the world with China Airlines, as Qantas expands its partnership with the Taipei-based carrier. The tie-up is somewhat unusual given that Qantas is a member of the Oneworld alliance while CAL belongs to the Skyteam stable of airlines. The expansion means that Qantas frequent flyers can use points to book ‘Classic Flight Reward’ seats on all CAL flights, adding more destinations to the 1,200 they can already fly to using points and providing another option to many other destinations particularly across Asia and Europe. Business Traveller Asia-Pacific earlier this week reported that CAL was launching its sixth destination in Europe from May – an Airbus A350-900 service linking its Taipei hub with Prague in the Czech Republic.<br/>