star

On September 1, SAS officially joined SkyTeam global airline alliance. Previously a Star Alliance member, the airline ensured a smooth transition for its frequent flyer members. SAS EuroBonus members will enjoy loyalty benefits with SkyTeam airlines, similar to those of Star Alliance Airlines. The airline states that the EuroBonus loyalty program will remain intact, so membership, program level, and points earned by members will not be affected. SAS aims to expand its offerings in the new alliance to offer greater flexibility and a range of benefits to its members. This article explores the subtle changes frequent flyers will see with this transition. Traveling on partner airlines means enjoying similar benefits in SkyTeam alliance as those were received with Star Alliance. SAS states that EuroBonus members will receive comparable program status and benefits with SkyTeam. For example, EuroBonus Silver members will become SkyTeam Elite members and receive benefits such as priority check-in and extra baggage allowance. Similarly, EuroBonus Gold and Diamond members will become SkyTeam Elite Plus members and receive benefits such as lounge access, Fast track, and priority boarding. Story has more details.<br/>

United Airlines Holdings Inc. says a day of investor updates originally scheduled for May now is likely to be put off until the spring of 2025. The US industry is “in a bit of a storm,” CFO Mike Leskinen said at a Morgan Stanley conference Thursday, citing margins “that are still not adequate.” The industry “has a very bright future, but while that plays out through the remainder of this quarter, fourth quarter and probably into the first quarter, I don’t know that the audience is going to be very receptive to an investor day talking about how the industry is going to look so bright in 2027,” he said. “Maybe in the springtime when we can see we’ve delivered higher margins” and improved yields instead of just promising those things, he added. This was the second investor day delay. United had originally scheduled it for May 1, but in April called it off, saying it would likely be rescheduled for the fall. At the time, the airline said it would “send the wrong message” to celebrate its performance in the wake of headline-grabbing safety incidents at the carrier. US carriers have struggled for more than a year with higher costs from new labor contracts, inflation and parts-supply choke points even as new aircraft have been delayed and others are grounded by an engine manufacturing defect. Too much capacity across carriers has held down fares, keeping airlines from taking full advantage of record demand.<br/>

Air Canada said Thursday the federal government will need to step in and block pilots from striking if the two sides can't reach a deal, warning that job action would disrupt travel plans for least 110,000 travellers every day. A statement from the company said talks with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents 5,200 pilots at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, are still stalled with days to go before the critical deadline. "Government direction for binding arbitration will be necessary to avoid a major disruption of air travel," if talks don't start moving, it said. "We are taking all measures to mitigate any impact, but the reality is even a short work stoppage at Air Canada could, given the complexity of our business operating on a global scale, cause prolonged disruption for customers," Michael Rousseau, Air Canada's president and CEO, wrote in the statement. "So, while we remain committed to reaching a negotiated settlement with ALPA, the federal government should be prepared to intervene if talks fail before any travel disruption starts." Airline spokesperson Christophe Hennebelle previously said Air Canada is committed to negotiations but faces "unreasonable wage demands" from the pilots union that it can't meet. Canada's largest airline and the union have been in negotiations for more than a year without result. Both sides will be in legal strike or lockout positions on Wednesday after giving 72 hours' notice, which could come any time after 12:01 a.m. ET Sunday. If there is strike or lock-out notice, Air Canada has said it will start gradually winding down its operations in anticipation of a strike on Wednesday. Flight cancellations would begin Sunday and continue until flights stop completely on Wednesday.<br/>

Air Canada's Aeroplan program has been ranked the top North American airline loyalty program, according to a new analysis from a travel rewards search platform. Point.me ranked 62 airline rewards programs across nine different categories. The airline programs selected were those that are accessible to U.S.-based travellers. The categories include ease of earning miles, redemption rates, availability on partner airlines, ease of booking, expanded availability on own airline, routing rules, ability to hold awards, customer service and change fees, with different weighting for each group. For example, ease of earning miles accounted for 25%, while customer service quality accounted for 5% of the total score. Aeroplan's overall score came in at 77.43%, making it the top-ranked rewards program in North America and the second best across all airlines, behind KLM and Air France's Flying Blue program, which had a score of 93.06. Point.me cites reward seat availability on partner airlines as one of the key benefits for the Aeroplan program, as well as its "extensive" global network and "generous routing." Air Canada reacquired the Aeroplan loyalty program in 2019, revamping it in 2020, something that has given the airline an advantage when it comes to its in-house reward program, says Tiffany Funk, president and co-founder of Point.me. "Air Canada had the opportunity to completely rebuild its loyalty program in 2020, and so it is the most modern of these programs and that is reflected in a lot of the benefits it is offering travellers," Funk said, pointing specifically to ease of earnings. "They've also expanded their partnerships. Previously, they were really locked in with Star Alliance... but they've opened up more partnerships with airline<br/>

Demands for government intervention in Air Canada labour talks could negatively affect airline competition in Canada, the CEO of travel company Transat AT Inc. said. “The extension of such an extraordinary intervention to Air Canada would be an undeniable competitive advantage to the detriment of other Canadian airlines,” Annick Guérard told analysts on an earnings conference call on Thursday. “The time and urgency is now. It is time to restore healthy competition in Canada,” she added. Air Canada has asked the federal government to be ready to intervene and request arbitration as early as this weekend to avoid disruptions. Comments on the potential Air Canada pilot strike or lock out came as Transat reported third-quarter financial results. Guérard recalled Transat’s labour negotiations with its flight attendants earlier this year, which the company said it handled without asking for government intervention. The airline’s 2,100 flight attendants voted 99% in favour of a strike mandate and twice rejected tentative deals before approving a new collective agreement in late February. As the collective agreement for Air Transat pilots ends in June next year, Guérard anticipates similar pressure to increase overall wages as seen in Air Canada’s negotiations, but reckons it will come out “as a win, win, win deal.” “The pilots are preparing on their side, we are preparing on our side and we’re confident that we’re going to come up with a reasonable deal,” she told analysts when asked about the upcoming negotiations.<br/>

Aegean Airlines boosted revenue for the first half of the year as both international and domestic networks delivered higher results during the European summer travel season. The Athens-based carrier said on 11 September that its “prudent and consistent approach in planning ahead” helped it manage through the busy period, even as its had to ground some of its Airbus A320-family fleet due to engine inspections. Revenue rose 7% to E480m ($529m) while profit fell to E43.9m from E51.5m in the same quarter a year ago. For the first half of 2024, revenue rose 10% to E749m, and profit fell to E22.9m from E37.1m in the first half of 2023. “The result in the first half of the year remains particularly strong, despite the increase in the capacity offered by the competition but also the significant operational and regulatory requirements that burden our cost base,” says CE Dimitris Georgiannis. The airline’s capacity as measured in available seat kilometres rose 9% during the second quarter of 2024, and 11% during the first half of the year. But despite the rises, the additional unscheduled inspections of its Pratt & Whitney PW1100G geared turbofan (GTF) engines is weighing on the firm.<br/>

Lufthansa Technik has named Lufthansa Group chief technology officer Grazia Vittadini as its new supervisory board chairperson. She takes over the role from Detlef Kayser, whose term had ended, the company said on 12 September. Lufthansa Technik is the airline group’s engineering unit. “This new role is a privilege for me, and I am grateful for the trust,” Vittadini says. “We have big plans for Lufthansa Technik, and I am very much looking forward to working with the executive board and the many thousands of employees to support implementing the ‘Ambition 2030’ growth strategy and continue the company’s success.” Vittadini, a dual German-Italian national, took over the role of chief technology officer of Lufthansa Group on 1 July. Her role includes responsibility for the company’s technology, IT and innovation division as well as sustainability.<br/>

Turkish Airlines has confirmed plans to launch a new one-stop service to Sydney, marking the carrier’s second destination in Australia after Melbourne. Beginning Dec. 4, the Star Alliance member will offer four flights per week between Istanbul Airport and Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD), with a fuel stop in Kuala Lumpur. The service will be operated using Airbus A350-900 aircraft. Chairman Ahmet Bolat says Sydney will also become Turkish Airlines’ first nonstop destination in Australia once the airline has aircraft capable of making the journey in a single leg, which is expected in 2026. The route would likely use either A350-1000 or Boeing 777X aircraft. Turkish Airlines commenced passenger flights to Australia in March, opening a one-stop route to Melbourne Airport via Singapore. Bolat told Aviation Week in July that the airline was evaluating whether to take this 3X-weekly service to daily, or whether to start flights to Sydney. The new route to Sydney is being supported by the New South Wales (NSW) government’s Aviation Attraction Fund, set up during the pandemic to support the growth of capacity and the development of new international services. The government expects Turkish Airlines’ entry to the market to generate about A$53m ($35m) annually for the state’s visitor economy. “This announcement of direct flights marks a significant milestone for travel to Europe, offering passengers seamless access to hundreds of destinations from Turkish Airlines’ Istanbul hub,” SYD CEO Scott Charlton says. “With more than 15,000 Turkish-born Australians in NSW and Turkey consistently rated as one of the top destinations for Australian travelers, we’re confident this service will be strongly supported.”<br/>