United Airlines is close to securing three dozen or more Airbus A321neo jets from aircraft lessors, as it looks to replace Boeing 737 Max 10 orders that are at least five years behind schedule, according to people familiar with the matter. The carrier is in final negotiations for the planes that are due to be delivered between 2025 and 2027, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are confidential. Bloomberg News first reported in January that Airbus was also looking for A321 production slots to woo United. Delays in certifying Boeing’s 737 Max 10 aircraft have jeopardized growth plans at United, which was slated to be the first major customer for the plane. Converting some of those orders to Airbus would give the European planemaker a rare opportunity to undercut its chief rival. United declined to comment Thursday on whether it was close to deals for the Airbus aircraft. Certification of the Max 10 keeps sliding as regulators more carefully scrutinize new Boeing aircraft entering the market and the federal government is rigorously assessing the company’s quality control. United CEO Scott Kirby said earlier this week that the carrier was in the market for A321s, but cautioned that he wouldn’t overpay for aircraft just to hit a growth target and would only do a deal “where the economics work.” The airline is likely to end up with a mix of Max 9s and A321s to replace the Max 10s, he said.<br/>
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Lufthansa on Thursday said it agreed with labour union Verdi to seek arbitration of the collective wage dispute after the latest round of negotiations over pay increases for the airline's ground staff failed to reach results. "The arbitration process should be concluded as quickly as possible and there should be a peace obligation during the arbitration," the company said in a statement, meaning the union would not call for further strikes for the time being. Verdi said Lufthansa must promise to reach a result in the arbitration by March 30th and then recognise it, adding that the union will hold a strike vote among employees from the beginning of next week. The union has been demanding 12.5% pay increase for approximately 25,000 employees for twelve months, in addition to an inflation compensation bonus of 3,000 euros. Ground staff walked off the job at major airports twice last month, which Lufthansa said had affected 100,000 passengers.<br/>
South Africa’s government is confident that flag-carrier South African Airways will be able to continue expanding despite the collapse of a long-running effort to sell a majority share to private investors. Investor consortium Takatso had been set to take a 51% share of the airline, but the two sides have agreed to halt the process some two-and-a-half years after the consortium was selected as a partner. South Africa’s department of public enterprises says the current government – and the government to be elected during national elections in May – will take steps to “stabilise” the airline. It adds that a “new form of raising finances” based on SAA’s assets will be explored with financial institutions. “We are confident that SAA will continue to fly and grow in terms of the number of routes and aircraft that it is able to lease,” the department says. “SAA now enters a new chapter of its life.” It has attributed the failure of the drawn-out privatisation to the government’s inability to reach a revised agreement with Takatso, one which would take account of SAA’s increasing value during post-pandemic recovery.<br/>