star

United Airlines Holdings is wooing active-duty pilots who are preparing to leave the US military under a new program that will provide conditional job offers once they complete their service. The carrier hopes to boost the percentage of its pilot corps who come direct from the military to as much as 40% from around 19% currently, Michael Cooper, senior manager of pilot strategy, said in an interview Thursday. The plan is the latest move by US airlines to recruit aviators after the industry was rocked by a pilot shortage coming out of the pandemic, when thousands retired or left the career. While big carriers like United currently have hired enough aviators, some are still experiencing bottlenecks in training. Regional airlines, which lost huge numbers of pilots to larger rivals, are struggling to keep enough with sufficient experience to fly as captains. “The ability to continue an aviation career into the civilian sector is a dream many of us have,” said Captain Kenneth “KP” Kirkpatrick, who served more than 12 years in the Air Force before joining United a decade ago. The new program, which started Thursday, can provide an evergreen “landing spot” in advance and a smooth transition for those leaving the military, said Kirkpatrick, who is also a lieutenant colonel in the reserves. United expects to hire 600 pilots a year through the program, Cooper said. The Chicago-based carrier has hired 4,000 pilots in the past 24 months and plans to add more than 10,000 this decade. <br/>

United Airlines has agreed to improve air travel for passengers in wheelchairs after the federal government investigated a complaint by a disability-rights advocate. United and the Transportation Department said Thursday that the airline will add a filter to the booking tool on its website to help consumers find flights on which the plane can more easily accommodate their wheelchairs. The cargo doors on some planes are too small to easily get a motorized wheelchair in the belly of the plane. The airline also agreed to refund the fare difference if a passenger has to take a more expensive flight to accommodate their wheelchair. United said it expects to make the changes by early next year. The settlement, dated Wednesday, followed a complaint filed by Engracia Figueroa, who said her custom-made wheelchair was damaged on a United flight in 2021. Figueroa died three months later, and family members and her lawyer blamed sores, skin grafts and emergency surgery on sitting for five hours in a manual wheelchair that did not fit her body. Paralyzed Veterans of America and other groups have cited Figueroa’s death as they push for new federal regulations to increase accessibility on airline planes.<br/>

Air Canada pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), are set to stage an informational picket on Sept. 29 as their decade-long, outdated contract comes to an end. Hundreds of Air Canada pilots, with support from their counterparts from various airlines, will assemble at Toronto Pearson Airport’s Terminal 1 to emphasize their commitment to securing a “world-class, industry-leading contract,” according to a media advisory from ALPA. The largest airline pilot union in the world, ALPA represents more than 75,000 pilots at 43 airlines in Canada and the US. Ultimately, Air Canada pilots are hoping to achieve a collective agreement that accurately mirrors the present aviation landscape. Ideally, the agreement would address vital issues such as career progression, job security, aviation safety, and, crucially, the need to bridge the growing wage disparity between Canadian and American pilots — “to continue to attract the best pilots in the industry.” “Air Canada pilots are united and dedicated to achieving the world-class contract our pilot group deserves,” said F/O Charlene Hudy, chair of the Air Canada Master Executive Council. “As we witness Air Canada cutting routes due to an industry-wide shortage of pilots, we encourage them to close the growing wage gap between Canada and the United States.” The airline has recently cut routes out of Calgary and Saint John, N.B., citing the industry’s pilot shortage. “Air Canada has an opportunity to recognize the current market trends in the aviation sector and acknowledge the value and expertise our pilots bring to our company and passengers every day,” added Hudy. “Our pilots have invested in the airline; it’s time for them to invest in us.”<br/>

Avianca will convert two of its recently retired A330-200s into freighters for Avianca Cargo, Cargo Facts has reported. The first airframe was ferried to Mobile Downtown for conversion by VT Mobile Aerospace Engineering on September 12, and is scheduled for redelivery in 2024. The Colombia carrier retired all four remaining A330-200s by March 2023. Two remain in storage at Cali and one at Medellín José Maria Córdova. Avianca did not confirm the identity of the other A330 it will convert. The two A330-200(P2F)s are covered by a commitment announced earlier this year, which also includes two A330-300(P2F). The -300s are already under contract with CDB Aviation. These four converted A330s will join Avianca Cargo's existing fleet of six production A330-200Fs. Last year, Avianca Cargo announced a separate lease deal with CDB Aviation for up to four A330-200(P2F)s, which have yet to be delivered. The then CE Gabriel Oliva told ch-aviation last year that the cargo carrier, which is now a strategic focus for the entire group, had to turn to conversions due to the lack of appropriate mid-sized new freighters.<br/>

Portugal’s national carrier TAP has been put up for sale by the government in a move that opens the way for more airline consolidation and a potential bidding war involving British Airways owner IAG and Air France-KLM. Fernando Medina, Portugal’s finance minister, said on Thursday that the cabinet had approved the privatisation of the airline — which is wholly owned by the government — and that at least 51% of its shares would be sold. TAP, which is estimated to be worth around E1b and swung back into profit last year, is emerging from years of trouble that have included near bankruptcy, a government bailout and scandals. Its sale would represent a new stage of consolidation in Europe’s airline industry, which has been accelerated by the pandemic.  The region’s three major airline groups, IAG, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa, have each said they are looking for acquisitions and expressed interest in TAP, which would open up the increasingly lucrative South American market. “We see the takeover of TAP as being part of the ongoing consolidation that [is] playing out in Europe with the end game likely being three large network carriers and Ryanair,” said Mark Simpson, aviation analyst at Goodbody. Luis Gallego, IAG’s CE, said in Lisbon on Wednesday: “We’ll have to study the process [of privatisation] and carefully consider the details, but we feel optimistic and believe that TAP can become another success story within IAG.” IAG earlier this year agreed a deal to buy Spain’s Air Europa, while Lufthansa bought Italy’s ITA, the successor to the defunct Alitalia. On TAP, Medina said: “There are interested airlines and their interest is public, which we welcome as a positive sign for the success of this operation.” He also noted TAP’s “privileged connections” to the Portuguese-speaking countries Brazil, Angola and Mozambique. TAP ended a protracted run of losses and returned to the black in 2022 with a profit of E66m. The Portuguese government left open the option of selling 100% of its TAP shares, but also said up to 5% would be reserved for employees of the company.<br/>

Ryanair Holdings failed to topple the European Union’s approval for Swedish and Danish aid to SAS AB in the latest round of its attack on allegedly unfair bailouts to rival carriers during the Covid-19 pandemic. The EU’s Court of Justice dismissed the appeals in two separate rulings on Thursday. A copy of the ruling wasn’t immediately made available by the Luxembourg-based court. Ryanair has filed more than two dozen challenges to EU approvals for pandemic aid doled out by governments to carriers, including Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Air France-KLM. A lower EU court in May toppled the EU’s approval of a E6b ($6.3b) German recapitalization for Lufthansa, which the airline is challenging. In Thursday’s case, Ryanair was contesting the EU’s approval to two separate aid measures pledged by Denmark and Sweden in favor of SAS — each consisting of a guarantee on a revolving credit facility of up to 1.5b Swedish krona ($136m). Those measures were intended to compensate SAS in part for the damage resulting from the cancellation or rescheduling of its flights as a result of the travel restrictions imposed by governments as Covid spread across the region. A lower EU court already ruled against Ryanair in 2021. Ryanair said at the time that these were “unfair subsidies in the interests of competition and consumers” which would “encourage inefficiency and will harm consumers for decades.”<br/>