JetBlue is eliminating an unspecified number of jobs in the latest phase of its campaign to cut as much as $300m from operating costs by 2020. The reductions follow a reorganization of certain teams within the airline to streamline operations, the carrier said in a statement Friday. JetBlue declined to say how much it will save with the changes, while calling it a “meaningful step toward our corporate structural cost goal.” Most of the job cuts announced to employees this week are at the airline’s New York headquarters. “We need to make these difficult decisions to ensure we are set up for success,” the statement said. The airline is eliminating some open jobs and offering voluntary buyouts to help reduce the number of layoffs, according to Doug McGraw, a spokesman. Customer-facing jobs are not affected. JetBlue first detailed a cost-reduction plan in December 2016 that focused on four key areas and included efficiency measures such as offering more customer self-service tools, improving aircraft maintenance planning and consolidating or renegotiating various contracts.<br/>
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EasyJet is still keen on parts of Alitalia after an Italian minister said this week the government wants the majority of the carrier under state control, the CE of the British airline said. Italy’s new transport minister, Danilo Toninelli, said earlier this week there was a need for 51% of Alitalia to be kept in Italian hands “but with a strong investor next to it who has a mission to fly planes, because (Alitalia) needs to return to being a true flag carrier”. Asked about the minister’s comments, EasyJet CEO Johan Lundgren reiterated the company’s interest for parts of Alitalia, but has to speak with Italy’s new government, which came into power in June, to “understand what they are thinking,” he added. <br/>
Long-haul carrier AirAsia X will pursue an IPO of its Thai arm “soon” as it looks to restructure itself into a group holding company along the lines of affiliate AirAsia Group, co-CEO Tony Fernandes said Friday. In a series of tweets a day after AirAsia X expanded a jet order to 100 Airbus A330neo widebodies worth $30b, Fernandes also said the airline would report “pain” in the second and third quarters as it cancelled ineffective routes and business partnerships to focus on building a sustainable model. AirAsia X would focus on countries where it would dominate, such as Japan, Korea, Australia, China and India and remove “peripheral routes where there is no growth in frequency or country”, he said, without specifying the routes. On Thursday, Fernandes said that when two more leased jets arrive in April 2019, the Thai arm will launch new flights from Bangkok to Prague, Vienna and Stockholm. <br/>
Ryanair has signed a recognition agreement with the Italian union FIT CISL, which will now join ANPAC and ANPAV as a joint negotiating body for directly employed cabin crew in Italy. The joint negotiating committee of FIT CISL, ANPAC and ANPAV will take effect from July 24 to begin negotiations on a collective labor agreement (CLA) while contract agencies Crewlink and Workforce employing cabin crew operating on Ryanair aircraft in Italy have also signed recognition agreements with FIT CISL, ANPAC, and ANPAV, and negotiations on a CLA for contractor crew will begin on the same date. The announcement came a day after the LCC, which only started recognizing unions in December 2017, signed a cabin crew union recognition agreement with the Verdi Union to represent directly employed cabin crew based in Germany. “Following yesterday’s announcement yesterday of a cabin crew recognition agreement with Verdi in Germany, Ryanair is now commencing negotiations on CLAs for over 66% of its people in its major markets of Italy, the UK and Germany,” Ryanair said. “Ryanair hopes that the cabin crew unions in Spain, Portugal and Belgium will soon follow this example by engaging in negotiations with Ryanair rather than disrupting Ryanair customers by going on unnecessary strikes.”<br/>
Nigeria chose one of the world's top international airshows to unveil its plans for a new national flag carrier, with a glitzy launch aimed at attracting foreign investors. Aviation minister Hadi Sirika said Nigeria Air would take off in December with 15 leased aircraft and said talks have been held with manufacturers Airbus and Boeing to buy new aircraft. Qatar Airways and Ethiopian have been mooted as possible investors. "I am confident we will have a well-run national flag carrier, a global player, compliant to international safety standards... which has the customer at its heart," said Sirika. The announcement sparked an outpouring of national pride in Nigeria, whose reputation abroad is often associated with corruption and poor governance. Supo Atobatele, editor-in-chief of Air Transport Quarterly and a former spokesman of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, said the move was long overdue. "An airline flying our flag across the globe will enhance the international image of our country," he said. The government said the new airline will not only cater for a growing demand for air travel but also create jobs and boost the economy, which is recovering from recession. Reaction to the announcement has not all been overwhelmingly positive, however, and many sounded a note of caution given Nigeria's unenviable track record in aviation. More than 40 airlines have gone under in Nigeria in the last 30 years, not least the former national airline, Nigeria Airways, which collapsed under a weight of debt in 2003.<br/>