DALLAS, TEXAS – Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) have reached a Tentative Agreement for Southwest’s more than 5,000 Customer Service Employees.
Composed of the Company’s Customer Service Agents, Customer Representatives, and Source of Support Representatives, these Employees deliver excellent Customer Service by helping our Customers get to their destinations, whether that is taking a phone call to change a Customer’s travel plans or assisting a Customer or fellow Employee on the ground at one of the airports we serve.
The IAM will communicate to its membership the details of the Tentative Agreement and the ratification process.
– Wide body aircraft to operate to Palma de Mallorca from both Frankfurt and Munich
– First departure planned from Frankfurt on July 17 and on July 31 from Munich
– Tickets now available for booking
Lufthansa is taking extraordinary measures in order to respond to a significant increase in booking demand for flights to Palma de Mallorca from both Frankfurt and Munich. The booking figures for the destination “PMI” have increased 25 times between April and the beginning of June 2021: The airline will be operating a Boeing 747-8 from Frankfurt to Palma de Mallorca four Saturdays in a row during the upcoming summer vacation in Hesse. Additionally, the airline also plans to operate an Airbus A350 from Munich to the Balearic Island at the start of the summer vacation in Bavaria. Although these routes are normally operated by an Airbus A321, on 31 July, two wide-body Lufthansa aircraft will be arriving on Palma de Mallorca.
Departing Frankfurt with the “Jumbo”
The Boeing 747-8 is the largest aircraft that Lufthansa is currently operating, offering up to 364 seats instead of the usual 215, which are normally available on this route. This wide-body aircraft offers passengers 88 Business Class seats (including First Class) as well as 276 seats in Economy Class (including Premium Economy).
The first “Jumbo” flight, LH1152, will be departing the Rhine Main metropolis on Saturday 17July at 10:20 a.m., just in time for the start of the Hessian summer vacation, and arrive at Palma de Mallorca airport at 12:25 p.m. The return flight, LH1153 will take place the same day at 14:25 p.m., arriving in Frankfurt at 16:45 p.m.
The modern and kerosene-efficient Boeing 747-8, also known as the “Queen of the Skies”, will operate for an addition three weekends, specifically on 24 July, 31 July and 7 August.
Departing Munich with the Airbus A350
The Airbus A350 is the most sustainable long-haul aircraft in the Lufthansa fleet. It consumes 20 percent less kerosene and is 50 percent quieter than previous models. Those who want to experience the Lufthansa Airbus A350 along with its multi-award-winning cabin now have the chance to do so now. The aircraft offers 293 seats, including 48 in Business Class and 245 in Economy Class (including Premium Economy).
The A350 flight to Palma de Mallorca will take place at the start of the Bavarian summer vacations on Saturday 31 July. Departure from Munich is planned for 9:50 a.m. under flight number LH2658, arriving in Palma de Mallorca at 12:00 a.m. The return flight, LH2659, will take place the same day at 13:30 a.m. arriving in Munich at 15:35 p.m.
Effective July 1, Aeromexico and its partner Delta Air Lines will resume daily service from Mexico City to Austin and Dallas, Texas, adding to their current weekly service from Mexico City to Houston and San Antonio, Texas. Additionally, starting next week, both carriers announce an increase in their service to Houston.
With these resumptions, the airlines will offer a total of 47 routes between the United States and Mexico, increasing connectivity to benefit their joint customers.
Austin offers cultural attractions for all types of visitors, such as the impressive Texas State Capitol, Zilker Metropolitan Park, Lady Bird Lake, and the SoCo District, renowned for its art galleries, restaurants, and music venues. It’s also home to a thriving technology community and the University of Texas at Austin.
Further north, Dallas is a great business and leisure destination, featuring the largest urban art district in the United States, more than 160 museums in the metropolitan area, and the biggest and oldest zoo in Texas. It’s also home to companies from important sectors such as telecommunications, information technology, financial services, and transportation.
During April, both airlines will offer approximately 3,600 flights between the U.S. and Mexico, a seven-fold increase compared to the same period in 2020.
Both airlines offer the highest standards in safety and cleanliness protocols meant to protect their customers and employees. Delta offers the Delta CareStandard, while its main partner Aeromexico offers the Health and Sanitization Management System (HSMS).
Taipei, 8 April 2021 – Tigerair Taiwan, the low cost subsidiary of China Airlines, has taken delivery of its first A320neo. This is the first of 15 A320neo Family aircraft scheduled to join the airline’s fleet. The aircraft is also the first A320neo to be introduced in Taiwan, and will be the optimal platform for Tigerair Taiwan to increase capacity and open new routes across the Asia region. The A320neo has a range of up to 3,200nm, enabling flights of up seven hours from Taipei.
With the A320neo, Tigerair Taiwan will benefit from the lowest operating costs and highest comfort levels in the single-aisle segment, while maintaining a high degree of commonality with the A320ceo. Tigerair Taiwan’s A320neos are powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines and configured in a single class layout with 180 seats.
The A320neo Family offers the widest single-aisle cabin in the sky and incorporates the latest technologies, including new generation engines and Sharklets, delivering a 20 per cent reduction in fuel consumption. At the end of March 2021, the A320neo Family had won nearly 7,400 firm orders from 120 customers worldwide.
Austrian Airlines is expanding its long-haul services in the upcoming summer flight schedule. From May, Austria’s home carrier will once again be flying three times a week to Montreal and New York JFK. As Newark was already in service up to now, the total number of flights to New York will increase to eight connections per week as of May.
“With five destinations in North America and three in Asia, including Tokyo and Bangkok, our long-haul services are back on a slight climb this summer. Unfortunately, we are still a long way from reaching cruising altitude. We hope that a rapid increase in the vaccination rate and a corresponding relaxation of travel restrictions will give us a further boost in the future”, says Austrian Airlines CCO Michael Trestl.
Austrian Airlines was already able to announce an increase in its summer flight schedule last week. From the end of March, various destinations will be resumed, including Barcelona, Dubrovnik and Florence. Hanover will be served by Austrian Airlines again for the first time since 2009. In addition, numerous vacation destinations are back on offer, for example in Greece, Italy and Spain. In the intercontinental route network, Amman, Bangkok, Chicago and Tokyo are back in the flight schedule.
On the Austrian Airlines website, passengers will find information on travel in times of corona, mandatory wearing of masks, country-specific travel regulations or flexible rebooking arrangements. The information is updated on an ongoing basis.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – CSX Corp. (NASDAQ: CSX) today announced that the Company’s Board of Directors has authorized an 8 percent increase in its quarterly dividend, from $0.26 to $0.28 per share. The new $0.28 quarterly dividend is payable on March 15, 2021 to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 26, 2021.
About CSX and its Disclosures
CSX, based in Jacksonville, Florida, is a premier transportation company. It provides rail, intermodal and rail-to-truck transload services and solutions to customers across a broad array of markets, including energy, industrial, construction, agricultural, and consumer products. For nearly 200 years, CSX has played a critical role in the nation’s economic expansion and industrial development. Its network connects every major metropolitan area in the eastern United States, where nearly two-thirds of the nation’s population resides. It also links more than 230 short-line railroads and more than 70 ocean, river and lake ports with major population centers and farming towns alike.
Mesa Air Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: MESA) today announced that it is amending its new Capacity Purchase Agreement with American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL).
The amendment will see Mesa pick up flying at the beginning of 2021 over and above its new CPA levels, increasing to a total of five incremental aircraft by March. American retains the option to withdraw any of these incremental aircraft upon 60 days’ prior notice.
“We appreciate the opportunity to add this additional capacity at the request of American Airlines,” said Brad Rich, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “We remain optimistic about our relationship with American Airlines and are well prepared to respond positively to future opportunities.”
Demand for international rail services between Germany and Switzerland has increased rapidly in recent years. At the Basel border crossing alone the number of passengers has increased by over 25 per cent in the past five years. Given the increasing importance of climate protection, the increase in travel by rail, an environmentally friendly mode of transport, is a trend which is expected to continue. Despite the current challenges presented by the COVID-19 crisis, the two rail companies DB and SBB firmly believe there is tremendous growth potential in rail services between Germany and Switzerland over the medium and long term. As a result, DB and SBB are planning a significant increase in services. Both rail companies today signed a memorandum of understanding on the proposals.
The planned increase in services will be made possible thanks to the opening of Stuttgart 21 and the completion of the Karlsruhe–Offenburg and Müllheim–Basel stages of improvements by 2026. The increase in services involves switching operation of all ICE services between Switzerland and Germany to ICE 4s, this being DB’s most modern train, and the use of SBB Giruno compositions in Germany.
The key features of the service increase planned from the 2026 timetable are:
– The number of direct services between Switzerland and Germany will rise from 26 at present to 35 connections a day.
– Two new direct services a day from Hamburg via Basel to Lugano will improve the services on the north-south axis via the Gotthard route. The use of the Giruno on this line means that further direct connections from Germany to Milan could be added in future.
– The new plan also involves running new direct services from Germany via Bern to Valais.
– The deployment of the ICE 4 on the Dortmund–Cologne–Basel line makes it possible to provide new direct services from North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous federal state, to Switzerland.
– The half-hourly frequency in future on the Zurich to Chur route will allow additional direct connections from Germany to Chur to be provided.
– The journey time between Frankfurt and Zurich will be reduced by 20 minutes to 3 hours and 40 minutes.
In conjunction with the joint increase in services, SBB Giruno trains will also now be used on routes between Switzerland and Germany. SBB also plans to procure additional Giruno compositions from manufacturer Stadler Rail using existing options available. Vincent Ducrot, CEO of SBB, believes this increase in services is another major step which underlines SBB’s strong commitment to significantly improving international passenger services: “We want to make rail travel in Europe easier for our customers. Rail offers major advantages in terms of travel time and comfort and has gained further impetus from the climate debate. This is why we are focusing on the further development of international services. It is important to look at sustainable and efficient mobility at European level. Infrastructure projects, such as the Ceneri Base Tunnel and Stuttgart 21, are pioneering in this respect.” Richard Lutz, CEO of Deutsche Bahn, said: “2021 is the European Year of Rail. Projects such as the revival of the Trans Europ Express for cross-border services and the development of our cooperation with SBB demonstrate this. These are wonderful indications that rail travel is growing across the entire continent, and first and foremost, that people and economic activity in Europe are coming closer together.”
Der neue Fernverkehrszug der SBB “FV Dosto”, ein Doppelstockzug, fotografiert wahrend der Typentestfahrt in Interlaken, am Donnerstag, 11. Mai 2017. (KEYSTONE/Anthony Anex)……..
PARIS (Reuters) – Europe’s Airbus <AIR.PA> said on Friday it would increase loan repayments to France and Spain in a “final” bid to reverse U.S. tariffs and jog the United States into settling a 16-year-old dispute over billions of dollars of aircraft subsidies.
The European Union, France and Spain said the move to raise interest rates paid by Airbus on A350 aircraft development loans should settle the row at the World Trade Organization and urged Washington to withdraw tariffs on EU goods.
“In the absence of a settlement, the EU will be ready to fully avail itself of its own sanction rights,” EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said.
The loans are part of a system targeted by the United States in the world’s largest corporate trade dispute, which has also aired condemnation of U.S. support for Boeing <BA>.
The United States last year won WTO authorization to impose tariffs on up to $7.5 billion of EU goods from wine to whisky.
Trade groups are bracing for an escalation of the row in the autumn when the EU is expected to win WTO approval to hit back with its own tariffs over subsidies for Boeing.
Airline doubles its fleet as domestic operations continue to grow
ATR today announces the sale of two ATR 72-500 aircraft from its asset management portfolio to Hi Air. With this purchase, the South Korean start-up, which began operations in December 2019 will increase its ATR fleet to four. The two additional aircraft will be delivered in August and October. Supported by the superior economics and versatility of the ATR 72, which burns 40% less fuel and emits 40% less CO2 than a comparable regional jet, the airline is already ready to grow its fleet and expand the number of routes it offers. This summer, Hi Air will launch services on five domestic routes, including to the popular tourist destination of Jeju Island. ATR aircraft are proven route openers, having opened 164 routes globally in 2019.
Hi Air’s capacity for growth at this time also illustrates the resilience of the regional aviation market which is likely to make a faster recovery, with domestic short haul routes proving to be the first to resume as countries around the world begin to lift lockdown restrictions. The airline continued to serve passengers during the Covid pandemic, ensuring connectivity to Korean communities. Regional aviation will continue to play an important role for communities and economies worldwide, ensuring vital access for families, businesses and essential supplies – supporting the economic recovery in a Post-Covid19 world.
HyungKwan Youn, Chief Executive Officer of Hi Air remarked: “Selecting the ATR 72 to begin operations has been important for Hi Air’s early success. Launching an airline is hugely challenging. To be successful, new airlines need an aircraft that is efficient, reliable and offers passengers a good in-flight experience. To be in a position already to expand our operations is because the ATR fulfills these criteria. At Hi Air, we believe that increasing regional connectivity in Korea will benefit passengers, communities and businesses and we look forward to continuing this mission with the support of ATR.”
ATR Senior Vice President Commercial, Fabrice Vautier, said: “Regional connectivity is more vital than ever and this is why the regional aviation segment will be resilient. In many countries, we are already seeing that domestic and regional routes are the first to return and in the case of Hi Air they continued to fly. Businesses, governments and people around the world are looking for solutions to this crisis and regional aviation has a key role to play. Our ATR aircraft have the right blend of economics and operational versatility to support airlines. Furthermore, with their advantage in fuel burn and CO2 emissions, they are the perfect solution to help aviation emerge from this global recovery as a more sustainable industry.”
