United has reached tentative agreements with a union representing nearly 30,000 ground workers, the labor group said Wednesday. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said the two-year tentative agreements cover “industry-best” wage rates, as well as job protection and certain guards against outsourcing roles. The specific terms of the contracts were not disclosed. The deal comes while United is in talks with labor unions representing its pilots and flight attendants. Pilots last year rejected a preliminary agreement, and negotiations have since resumed. Members of IAM District 141 will receive more details about the tentative agreements, the union said in a statement. The union will soon announce a schedule for a ratification vote. “Job security and industry-leading wages are rightfully two top priorities for our membership at United Airlines,” said Tom Regan, airline coordinator for IAM’s Air Transport Territory. In a statement, IAM District 141 said that if the agreements are ratified by members, the union “will be back in negotiations one year from the date these agreements are ratified to bargain for more.” The two-year tentative agreements cover seven work classifications: fleet service workers, passenger service workers, storekeepers, central load planners, maintenance instructors, fleet technical instructors and security officers.<br/>
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United today announced its $5m investment in carbon capture technology company Svante, who provides materials and technology as part of the value chain that has the potential to convert CO2 removed from the atmosphere and from industrial emission sources into sustainable aviation fuel. This is the latest announced investment from the new UAV Sustainable Flight FundSM, a first-of-its-kind investment vehicle that is designed to leverage support from cross-industry businesses in order to support start-ups focused on decarbonizing air travel through SAF research, technology and production. The airline aims to be 100% green by reducing its greenhouse gas emissions 100% by 2050, without relying on traditional carbon offsets. To date, United has invested in the future production of over 3b gallons of SAF - the most of any airline in the world. "Carbon capture technology has the potential to be a critical solution in the fight to stop climate change and has the added benefit of helping us scale the production of SAF," said United CEO Scott Kirby. "And at United we're building on that approach by investing in both companies that can capture CO2 and others that can turn it into fuel. There's no question that this carbon utilization is in its infancy today, but as a leader in sustainable flying we must help build the foundation to deploy this technology of the future as expediently as possible. This is truly a global imperative, and United's investment in Svante reflects our dedication to making sustainable travel a reality."<br/>
A United Airlines flight bound from Houston to Rio de Janeiro has returned to Bush Intercontinental Airport for an emergency landing shortly after takeoff, the airline said. Flight 129 returned to the airport Tuesday night because of “a mechanical issue,” according to a statement from United Airlines. The airline did not describe the nature of the problem and an airport spokesperson did not immediately return messages for comment Wednesday morning. The airline said the plane landed safely, passengers got off and United Airlines made arrangements to get them to their destination. The flight tracking website FlightAware reported the aircraft was a Boeing 767 flying to Rio de Janeiro that departed Houston at 8:52 p.m. and returned to the airport, landing at 10:50 p.m.<br/>
Lufthansa's final negotiations for the takeover of ITA Airways are focused on price given ongoing losses, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr told journalists on Wednesday ahead of a meeting later this week with the Italian government to push forward talks. State-owned ITA, which took to the air in 2021 as the successor to loss-making Alitalia, posted on Tuesday a 2022 loss of around E486m due to lingering effects of the pandemic and rising fuel costs, despite strong revenues of E1.58b. Late in January, the Italian Treasury said it had signed a letter of intent with Lufthansa over the sale of a minority stake. Negotiations are ongoing, but no details of the offer were disclosed. Sources have said the German carrier is negotiating with Rome over the purchase of a 40% stake in the airline valued at around E200m, with the idea of buying the rest at a later stage.<br/>
EgyptAir has received the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh's approval to operate flights to and from Dhaka. With the new development, the airline will start flights on Cairo-Dhaka-Cairo route from May 14, 2023. The airline will operate flights to and from Dhaka twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays with Boeing 787-9 aircraft. With this, EgyptAir will become the sole operator of nonstop flights between Egypt and Bangladesh. Reports cited Sabre Market Intelligence figures revealing O&D traffic between the two countries totaled 17,320 two-way passengers in 2019, with Cairo-Dhaka accounting for 75% of the traffic on a city pair basis. In the absence of direct service, about 35% of passengers flew one-stop to CAI via Dubai. Sharjah was the second-largest one-stop market in 2019, followed by Jeddah, the reports added.<br/>
Singapore’s aircraft maintenance services provider SIA Engineering on Wednesday signed a new services deal with flag carrier Singapore Airlines and expects revenue of S$1.14b ($857.92m) over its three-year term. The deal, which would replace the previous agreement SIA Engineering entered with Singapore Airlines in April 2019, broadly involves the maintenance, repair and overhaul of the airline’s fleet coupled with management services. According to SIA Engineering’s latest annual report, Singapore Airlines owns about 77.5% stake in SIA Engineering, making it the company’s largest shareholder. The agreement, which commences on April 1, has a tenure of two years with the option of being extended by a year.<br/>