With two weeks until a potential strike by WestJet pilots, both sides are still at the negotiating table, according to a union official with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). About 1,850 WestJet pilots are poised to strike as of May 16, with pay and job security among some of the main issues still to be resolved. Both parties are meeting in Calgary throughout this week, said Capt. Bernard Lewall — who's the WestJet ALPA master executive council chair and a WestJet pilot — and he says it appears the company has committed to meetings in Toronto from May 8 to 16. "We need the decision makers in the room, and they will be in the room next week, hopefully." Negotiations between WestJet pilots, including those with its discount subsidiary Swoop, and the union began back in September. Last month, the pilots voted in favour of a strike mandate. After the official end of federal conciliation on April 24, with no deal reached, a 21-day cooling-off period began. Once that period expires on May 16, pilots will be in a strike position. That could mean job action, such as refusing to do overtime, or a full strike. "Our goal though is to avoid a strike, but we need WestJet to recognize the value and the expertise that we, the pilots, bring to the company and our passengers every day," Lewall said.<br/>
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Ultra low-cost carrier Flair Airlines announced details about its new base of operations in Calgary on Tuesday. The company's CEO Stephen Jones attended the grand opening of the facility, which includes a maintenance facility and a hangar with three aircraft. "As an Alberta-based company, we're proud to showcase our commitment to this region," Jones said Tuesday. "It signifies Flair's continued growth in Canada based on our ultra low-cost, ultra low-fare business model." Jones says the investment represents 150 jobs. "About 40 pilots and 60 flight attendants are already based here now and we'll have approximately 40 maintenance personnel based here in the hangar," he said. Deputy mayor and Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott says the addition of the Flair base is more than just an economic statistic for Calgary. "Calgary has become the third-most diverse city in the country and in that ranking, we have to make sure we are offering choice for that diversity," he said. "It's all about making sure there is a wide selection of opportunities available to you that you can choose how you want to live." He says issues like the affordability crisis make decisions like access to cheaper airfares so much more important. "It is so important to talk about jobs, it is so important to talk about the economy. But for me, the point that is always going to stick out is there is going to be a family who is going to choose to go on vacation and know there is an option here in Calgary for them."<br/>
The CEO of Flair Airlines says there isn't room in the Canadian market for all of the carriers jockeying for position in a crowded field right now. Stephen Jones made the comments at an event in Calgary marking the establishment of a new base at Calgary International Airport. The last few years have seen a surge of new Canadian airlines, including Flair, Lynx and Canada Jetlines, while established carriers such as Porter Airlines are expanding aggressively. Jones says not all of these airlines can succeed and grow. He says he thinks going forward Air Canada will dominate the higher end of the market, and he believes Flair is poised to capture the low-budget, discount space. He says he thinks airlines aiming for the middle of the market, such as WestJet, will face a challenge defining their value proposition.<br/>
Aer Lingus Regional pilots could vote on a strike by the end of the month in a dispute over pay and conditions at the airline. The Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA), an affiliate of trade union Fórsa, recently sought talks on pay and conditions with management at Emerald Airlines, which holds the franchise for Aer Lingus Regional. IALPA is preparing to ballot members at the carrier by the end of the month on a possible strike if the union makes no further progress in talks. It says the airline has not formally responded to requests to meet to discuss pilots’ terms. The pilots’ association’s executive approved a draft ballot paper on Thursday, while Fórsa’s services and enterprise divisional executive will discuss the issue when it meets next week. The strike vote could begin at the end of May, or possibly sooner, according to the union. IALPA told members it was in formal dispute with Emerald midway through last month after failing to get a formal response to requests to negotiate on pilots’ pay, pensions and working conditions.<br/>
A wheelchair user who crawled down metal steps from a plane when no-one could help him disembark has described the incident as "unacceptable". Adrian Keogh, from Wicklow in the Republic of Ireland, was told assistance would take an hour to arrive after his flight landed at Landvetter Airport in Sweden on Saturday. Keogh said cabin crew on the Ryanair flight told him he could crawl from the aircraft instead of waiting. He has used a wheelchair since 2015. The airport has apologised and Ryanair said it was looking into the incident. Keogh, who has a spinal injury following a construction accident, said he was not able to wait for an hour for assistance disembarking the plane as he was in pain after the flight and needed to use the bathroom. He was travelling with his brother who offered to carry him down the stairs but Keogh declined as he felt that would be too dangerous. "They were steep, corrugated steel steps," he said. "If he fell we would have both been hurt so I had to bunny-hop down myself." "This is not the first time I've been stuck on a plane after everyone else has disembarked," he said. "It's unacceptable - all I ask for is to be able to travel with dignity."<br/>
Emirates will look to place orders for more aircraft in the next few months as demand for long-haul travel rebounds and the carrier looks to lock in delivery slots. “We will probably order more in the next few months on top of what we already have,” Emirates President Tim Clark said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. Clark declined to comment on the details of the order, including which manufacturer he was speaking to, or the size of the order. Emirates has large backlogs for the upcoming Boeing Co. 777X, that it plans to bring into service from summer 2025, as well as the Airbus SE A350 model, with deliveries from August next year. Clark said Emirates is extending the life of its existing A380 super jumbo and 777 fleets due to long lead times for aircraft deliveries. The world’s biggest long-haul carrier, Emirates says it has seen demand surge as travel restrictions ease, especially on services to and from the UK, as well as Europe and the US. Clark said that at one point, for every business class seat Emirates sold out of London, there were four or five people trying to get a slot, driving fares higher. Emirates will only be able to restore its pre-pandemic network by the middle of next year 2024, when it brings back 20 A380s that are out of service awaiting overhaul, Clark said. Thereafter, the carrier will expand to an additional 15 destinations in the Americas, Africa and elsewhere, he said. While he expects economy-class fares to settle down as more carriers ramp up capacity, Clark said that he wasn’t sure about premium class fares dropping in the long-run given lower capacity. <br/>
The president of long-haul carrier Emirates suggested on Tuesday that it could reach deals with more firms to share routes after the start of a similar arrangement with US-based United Airlines. Tim Clark, who joined the airline in 1985 when it was first launched, also suggests Emirates remains ready for expansion as the carrier again takes flight following the grounding during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking to journalists at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, Clark said that the United deal — as well as one with Air Canada — showed that carriers were no longer just looking at Emirates as a “dastardly competitor.” US airlines had complained for years about unequal competition from Mideast carriers, describing them as receiving unfair government subsidies to operate. Emirates, though owned by Dubai’s hereditarily ruled government, always denied having an unfair advantage. United had been one of the American firms challenging Emirates, though a deal in recent years saw the dispute dropped. United now flies as well to Dubai, a destination it abandoned in 2016 amid the dispute. Clark hinted that other airlines could reach similar route deals with Emirates, known in the aviation industry as code-share partnerships. “I’m not going to say who they are because it’s early days, but clearly the door’s been opened,” he said. Clark separately said he welcomed new competition from Saudi Arabia as well, which recently announced plans to create a new carrier called Riyadh Air as part of trillions of dollars worth of spending planned in the kingdom. Meanwhile, Clark said Emirates hoped to receive new aircraft from Boeing in the coming two years, some 150 777Xs and 30 787 Dreamliners. Emirates also has 50 Airbus A350-900s on order.<br/>
As the aviation sector starts to embrace artificial intelligence, planes flying with just one pilot are a possibility, according to Emirates President Tim Clark. “You might see a one-pilot aircraft,” Clark told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble Tuesday, but said it will likely take some time to come to fruition — and might not necessarily be what passengers want. ″[Passengers] like to think there are two pilots up there,” he added. As the scale and power of artificial intelligence rapidly increase, it is important that the aviation sector takes a step back and assesses the difference it could make, Clark said, adding: “Harness it, use it. Don’t fear it.” “A lot of people are concerned about what AI should and shouldn’t be doing … but if you’re in business and you’ve got something as powerful as this coming along and you’re very processes driven, manpower intensive, you’ve got to take time to look at what this could do to improve what you do,” he said. On the subject of completely pilotless planes, Clark said it was possible but a long way off, adding that he didn’t think this would happen during his lifetime. “Could the aircraft be flown on a fully automated basis? Yes it could, technology is right up there now, [but] there’ll always be somebody on the flight deck in my view,” Clark added.<br/>
Emirates has signed a three Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) on the side-lines of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) with Indonesia, Morocco and Zimbabwe. Emirates signed the MoUs with Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, the Moroccan National Tourism Office (www.visitmorocco.com) and Tourism Authority of Zimbabwe to promote inbound travel and boost visitor numbers. The airline is renewing its pledge to support Indonesia’s travel and tourism sector, with its ongoing efforts to promote the country as a varied and exciting travel destination by launching joint marketing campaigns and initiatives. Emirates will further support tourism flows from key markets in its global network - including UK, US, Germany, France, Italy and Spain - to the Southeast Asian destination. <br/>
Israeli flag-carrier El Al is aiming to establish a joint-venture company specialising in tourism, in which it will hold a 40% share. The airline has reached a provisional agreement through which it will collaborate with Tel Aviv-based travel firm Issta, which would also have 40% of the venture. El Al says the remaining 20% will be owned by Kenny Rozenberg – vice-chair of the board, and the father of Eli Rozenberg, the controlling owner of the airline. The agreement has yet to receive formal approval from the parties themselves as well as regulatory clearance. El Al intends to link with travel firm Issta, with each company holding 40% of the venture. El Al says the new company would engage in the development, marketing and sale of ancillary tourism products. “Each party, in its field, will contribute its abilities, knowledge and expertise for the benefit of the tourism company,” the carrier states. Under the provisional agreement Issta will purchase 4.9% of the carrier’s shares – at a price of 4.2 shekels ($1.16) per share – as part of a private placement, within 60 days of a binding deal. El Al says the parties will aim to complete negotiations to reach a binding agreement within 90 days.<br/>
Middle Eastern carrier Flydubai has unveiled a new premium business suite for single-aisle aircraft, which will include a sliding privacy door. The airline showed off the development at the Arabian Travel Market and states that it will be introduced on its fleet from November this year. Flydubai operates some 75 aircraft, over half of which are Boeing 737 Max jets, with the rest comprising 737-800s. Ten suites, which offer all business-class passengers direct aisle access, will be included on the airline’s latest aircraft deliveries. Six initial aircraft will be configured with the new interior by Q1 2024, and deployed on the airline’s longer-duration services. Flydubai has co-operated with Safran Seats and design firm JPA Design to come up with the new product. The airline had originally emerged in 2009 as a budget carrier for the United Arab Emirates, but brought in a business-class cabin four years after launching services, and it has continued to move upmarket with an increasing shift towards accommodating premium customers. This has included introducing lie-flat and recliner business-class seats. “Flydubai is committed to exceeding expectations,” says CE Ghaith Al Ghaith. “We are proud to unveil a new premium product which rivals the business-class experience offered by many airlines on widebody aircraft.” Vice-president of in-flight product Daniel Kerrison says the sliding door and shell height offer a “level of privacy never before seen on Boeing 737s”.<br/>
India’s fourth-largest domestic airline by passenger numbers has filed for bankruptcy and abruptly cancelled hundreds of flights, blaming a US engine supplier for its failure. Low-cost carrier Go First is the first leading Indian airline to collapse since 2019, when Jet Airways became the third carrier to go under in a decade. Yet it comes as India’s growing aviation industry has bounced back after the coronavirus pandemic and hit record passenger levels. Go First, which is lossmaking and has been flying for nearly two decades, on Tuesday announced it had cancelled all flights from May 3 to May 5, and filed for voluntary insolvency with India’s National Company Law Tribunal. The airline said it “had to take this step due to the ever-increasing number of failing engines supplied by Pratt & Whitney”, which Go First claimed have forced it to ground about half of its 57 Airbus A320neo fleet, and caused it Rs108bn ($1.3bn) in lost revenue and expenses. Go First also accused Raytheon-owned Pratt & Whitney of failing to follow an order by an emergency arbitrator in Singapore, which directed the company to provide “at least 10 serviceable spare leased engines by 27 April 2023”, and blamed it for making the airline unprofitable. Pratt & Whitney said it is “committed to the success of our airline customers, and we continue to prioritise delivery schedules for all customers”. The engine maker added: “P&W is complying with the March 2023 arbitration ruling related to Go First. As this is now a matter of litigation, we will not comment further.” The airline’s sudden bankruptcy is the latest twist in the Indian aviation market, where carriers have historically struggled to live up to their potential. While the UN forecasts India will overtake China as the world’s most populous country this year, its airlines operate less than 20% of the planes flying for Chinese airlines, according to aviation data company Cirium.<br/>
National flag carrier Cambodia Angkor Air has launched direct flights between Cambodia's Siem Reap cultural province and Vientiane, the capital of Laos, said a CAAir's press statement on Tuesday. Airbus-A321 is used to operate Siem Reap-Vientiane flights, the statement said, adding that an inaugural flight was launched on Monday and it took just a bit over an hour to fly between the two destinations. "The new route is an extension of Cambodia Angkor Air's commitment to serving passengers by providing convenient connectivity to wonderful destinations in a short time," the statement said. "A journey to both historical wonders is somehow a dream come true for adventurers who seek to explore numerous temples and historical sites, and stunning natural surroundings." The CAAir is offering one flight per week every Monday, which will attract more tourists and business travellers and contribute to the development of the tourism and economic sectors of both countries, the statement said.<br/>