The head of the Air Canada pilots union says she'll step down if members opt not to approve a tentative deal with the airline, raising the stakes as aviators mull whether to accept hefty salary gains or drive an even harder bargain. Charlene Hudy, who chairs the Air Canada contingent of the Air Line Pilots Association, told her fellow employees in a virtual townhall Friday that she "will have no choice but to resign" if they vote down the would-be contract. "If the membership votes no to this (tentative agreement), it would clearly indicate to the public, media, government and company that I no longer speak on your behalf," she said in a question-and-answer session that followed the online gathering. The Canadian Press has obtained a copy of her statement and confirmed it with two pilots. "If I stayed, it would be to your detriment," Hudy said. The contract, reached last weekend after more than a year of negotiations, averted a strike that would have seen some 670 flight cancellations and 110,000 passengers affected daily. The deal would grant the carrier's 5,400 pilots a cumulative wage hike of nearly 42% over four years. The increase outstrips major gains won last year by pilots at the three biggest U.S. airlines, where pay bumps ranged between 34 and 40% — albeit starting from a higher baseline.<br/>
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Deutsche Lufthansa AG is reviewing whether to cut its daily flight from Frankfurt to Beijing, citing its inability to compete with Gulf airlines that are free to travel through Russian air space. Europe’s biggest airline group said it’s considering to halt the flights, also citing slow aircraft deliveries and the competitive edge of carriers based outside Europe. China is Germany’s main trading partner, with Lufthansa flights enabling goods and people to flow between Europe’s largest economy and its Asian counterpart. “European airlines, unlike those from the Persian Gulf and Bosporus, are in an extremely unequal competitive position with China,” Lufthansa said in an emailed statement. “All airlines from these countries benefit from low location costs, low social standards and high government investment in the aviation sector.” For Lufthansa, any retreat from China would mark a blow to its strategy of dominating business travel in and out of Europe’s most affluent countries. The company has invested heavily in new business and first-class sections, seats often taken by the employees of German multinationals like Volkswagen AG and Siemens AG as well as the staff of family-owned businesses known as the Mittelstand. Yet business travel has struggled to recover from its pre-pandemic levels as companies push to lower travel expenses and cut their emissions tabs. Meanwhile, delays in the delivery of long-haul aircraft are also pushing Lufthansa to pivot away from Asia to focus on transatlantic routes. A final decision will be made in October, the airline said. Lufthansa will continue to fly to Beijing from its Munich hub, it said.<br/>
Brussels Airlines said on Friday that it would cancel most of its flights on Oct. 1 due to a Belgian national strike of security workers. Brussels Airport, the largest airport in the country, had asked airlines to review their schedules because the strike would lead to a reduction in security screenings. The airport said a large number of security staff would be expected to participate in the strike and predicted a major impact on airport operations that day. Brussels Airlines' base is located at Brussels Airport and is one of the hub airlines of Lufthansa Group. A spokesperson for Brussels Airlines said it would need to cancel 80% of its 203 flights scheduled for the day. Passengers would be offered an alternative flight schedule with a flight on an earlier departure date, later departure date or on the same day through another Lufthansa Group hub. Some 2.4m passengers and 18,600 flights travelled through Brussels Airport last month, according to the airport.<br/>
Air New Zealand’s long-awaited new business class won’t arrive until next year, with the Kiwi carrier forced to push back its Boeing 787 refit program. While the first of 14 Dreamliners to be refurbished was previously due to arrive in Auckland in October, the programme is running “slightly later than originally planned due to global supply chain challenges for parts,” says Air New Zealand’s Head of Fleet Strategy and Delivery, Baden Smith. “The first of our 787-9 aircraft will head off to Singapore for its retrofit in mid-October,” Smith confirmed. “We’re excited to get this programme underway and will be working through various checks and training with the team to have it flying early in the new year.”<br/>And despite being crowned by AirNZ’s new flagship Business Premier suites, these 787s won’t necessarily launch on the non-stop Auckland-New York route. “Our retrofit aircraft could be on any long-haul and short-haul route (anywhere we fly the 787 currently),” an Air New Zealand spokesperson told Executive Traveller earlier this year. “The new aircraft will be more efficient for our ultra-long haul routes like Chicago and New York. However, until they arrive, there is a possibility our retrofit aircraft may also service these routes.”<br/>