Air Wisconsin pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) earlier this week ratified a three-year contract with the US regional carrier. About 93% of pilots who cast ballots approved the contract, which boosts Air Wisconsin pilots’ combined pay by nearly $48 million over the life of the agreement, ALPA said on 9 October. The deal concludes negotiations that began in August 2022. The contract was reached amid a pilot shortage causing a broad contraction of air service to small and rural communities across the USA as regional carriers lost pilots to major airlines. Terms include a 54% pay increase for first officers and 38% bump for captains over the three-year period. The deal also “addresses some of the most-criticised aspects of Air Wisconsin schedules and creates new protections for pilots who call in fatigued”, the pilots’ union says.<br/>“With this agreement, Air Wisconsin pilot compensation finally reflects the pilot market for fee-for-departure pilots. It immediately makes us competitive with our peer carriers and will improve our quality of life,” says Jack Roback, chair of ALPA’s Air Wisconsin master executive council. “The training section of the agreement will also enable the pilot group to be ready to fly newer, larger CRJ700 aircraft should Air Wisconsin acquire them in the future.” Cirium fleets data show that Appleton-based Air Wisconsin has 44 Bombardier CRJ200s in service. Air Wisconsin previously partnered with United Airlines but ended that relationship this year in favour of a new capacity agreement with American Airlines. It now flies throughout the Midwest and eastern USA under the American Eagle brand. Roback says Air Wisconsin’s pilots “look forward to working with management to strengthen our new partnership with American Airlines”.<br/>
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Travel demand to Turkey, an increasingly popular tourist destination, remains strong even as post-pandemic “revenge travel” ends, Pegasus Airlines CEO Güliz Öztürk said. Good right? Yes and no. “The demand is strong but the pricing environment this year is not as strong as last year,” Öztürk said at the Routes World conference in Istanbul on Sunday. In other words, airfares are down even as people remain eager to visit Turkey. Pricing, or airfares, are close to 2019 levels even as overall travel demand remains up into the winter, she added. And, even with the drop, Pegasus’ financial health is “robust;” the airline is among the most profitable in the world with a 22.4% operating margin in the second quarter. The reason for falling airfares to Turkey is simple: More airline capacity. Significantly more. Total airline seats to Turkey were up 17% in the third quarter compared to last year, and up 16% to Istanbul’s two airports, Istanbul International in Europe and Sabiha Gökçen in Asia, according to Cirium Diio schedules. The airports count EasyJet, El Al, Saudi Arabia’s Flyadeal, and Wizz Air among the lengthy — and growing — list of new airlines serving the city. Turkey’s largest airline, flag carrier Turkish Airlines, flew 15% more seats in the third quarter, Cirium Diio data show. And Pegasus, the country’s second largest airline, grew the same amount. Öztürk said the leisure airline plans to grow roughly 20% this year compared to 2022. It fully recovered from its pandemic cuts last year.<br/>
Air Baltic Corporation has decided against a planned bond issue, becoming the latest European company to shelve a junk debt sale as fears over a higher-for-longer interest rate environment and geopolitical turmoil unsettle markets. The Latvian airlines carrier said in a statement issued on Oct. 11 that the financing condition for a redemption of its July 2024 bonds had not been met. In an announcement three weeks earlier, it defined the financing condition for the redemption as the “successful issue of new bonds.” Last month, the state-owned company said it had appointed JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley to arrange a series of fixed income investor meetings ahead of a potential five-year bond issue. Air Baltic becomes the latest company to change its mind on a potential debt sale following similar withdrawals from Sweden’s Stena AB and France’s FNAC Darty. The company is also currently planning an initial public offering, and has hired STJ Advisors LLP and Superia Corporate Finance to advise on the deal. Spokespeople for Air Baltic and Morgan Stanley both declined to comment. A spokesperson for JP Morgan declined to comment and referred to the Oct. 11 statement. <br/>
The head of the charity shopping site easyfundraising has vowed to continue fighting a trademark claim brought by easyGroup, the owners of easyJet, over its name. The UK’s biggest charity shopping site, which works with brands to donate a percentage of every sale to a worthy cause, was issued with legal proceedings from easyGroup last year. EasyGroup claims the company name infringes on its “easy” brand, which other companies pay annual royalties to use. The case is scheduled to reach court next summer. “The paperwork arrived completely out of the blue. EasyJet, bizarrely, used to advertise on our platform,” said easyfundraising’s CE, James Moir. “It has been an incredibly slow and drawn-out process. With this hanging over us, it’s a stress, a distraction, a cost which would be much better spent trying to make our services better,” he said. “But we want to keep fighting and hopefully we’ll be able to do that.” Easyfundraising said its company trademark had been approved in 2010, and Moir added that “the look, feel, colour and logo” was not remotely similar to the easyGroup branding. “We find the whole thing incredulous, because there is no crossover and no similarity whatsoever between what we’re doing and any member of easyGroup,” he said. “We’re ultimately trying to deliver a service here that helps charities, so we do feel it’s a bit mean. They’ve got much, much deeper pockets that us, and it feels like they’re doing absolutely everything they can to drag this out.”<br/>
India's IndiGo co-founder Rakesh Gangwal is in talks to buy a "sizable" stake in troubled domestic airline SpiceJet , ET Now reported on Friday, citing sources. The news sent SpiceJet's shares up as much as 20%, before closing 19.4% higher. Cash-strapped SpiceJet, which is "struggling to stay afloat", has been scrambling to raise funds and restore operations for about a fourth of its fleet that has been grounded amid fierce competition in the sector. SpiceJet, whose market share slid to 4.4% as of September-end from 7.3% at the end of January, did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on the report. Gangwal, who along with his wife Shobha Gangwal holds 16.22% in IndiGo-operator InterGlobe Aviation, could not be immediately reached for comment. Gangwal's Chinkerpoo Family Trust holds a 13.5% stake in Indigo, according to exchange data. <br/>
A Pakistani government move to privatize the crisis-hit country's national flag carrier looks likely to be turbulent, as experts warn the airline makes an unappealing acquisition target. Earlier this month, a body under Pakistan's cabinet used emergency powers to hire financial advisers to plan the privatization of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) within the next four months. The government made the decision as PIA racks up staggering losses, projected to reach 153b rupees ($550m) in 2023 alone. PIA has made losses of $7.1b since 2012. With the government low on funds and scrambling to put out economic fires, Pakistan is under pressure from the International Monetary Fund to restructure loss-making state-owned enterprises like PIA under a $3b standby loan arrangement. "The government has announced that PIA's legacy liabilities would be parked in a holding company and only the current core assets and current liabilities would be offered for privatization," caretaker Privatization Minister Fawad Hasan Fawad told local media. Fawad said the list of assets to be sold includes PIA's aircraft, routes, landing rights, core engineering and air service agreements. With a 28% share of Pakistan's 17m annual air passenger market, PIA is still the largest single airline in the country. But it is a long way from its heyday in the 1980s, when it offered technical and other assistance that helped establish Emirates, now a giant in the aviation industry. According to the country's Civil Aviation Authority, 40% of domestic air travelers and just 22% of international ones used PIA in the 2021-22 fiscal year. Despite the airline's struggles, some argue the government should still try to salvage it. "PIA is a strategic asset for Pakistan and must not be completely privatized,'' a PIA official said on condition of anonymity. <br/>
The license of low-cost carrier MYAirline Sdn Bhd will be suspended temporarily, says Transport Minister Anthony Loke. The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) is expected to announce the matter later on Monday, he said. "The company still exists, it is suspending operations while looking for investors. It's a commercial issue but from the side of the authorities, we will be suspending their license temporarily," he told reporters after an event at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Mitec) here on Monday. MYAirline recently had its air operator’s certificate (AOC) extended by the CAAM, allowing it to operate scheduled commercial flights for another two years. The AOC expired on Sept 30 while its air service licence (ASL) from the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) will expire on Nov 14, 2023. Loke also said that MyAirline has been reminded that it still bears a responsibility for affected passengers and staff. "What is most important right now is that we want to ensure that the rights to consumers are defended and they have the right to refunds, which is something very important that we want to ensure," he said.<br/>