Tag: off (Page 3 of 5)

Air New Zealand Lays Off 3,500 Employees as Virus Halts Travel

March 31, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

(Reuters) – Air New Zealand <AIR.NZ> said on Tuesday nearly a third of its employees, about 3,500, will be laid off in the coming months, as it grapples with severe global travel curbs due to the coronavirus that has forced it to cancel nearly all flights.

The national carrier, which employs 12,500 people, said the announced number of layoffs was a “conservative” assumption, and that it could rise if the domestic lockdown and border restrictions were extended.

Large scale layoffs of its global staff will start this week, the company said.

“Unfortunately, COVID-19 has seen us go from having revenue of NZ$5.8 billion to what is shaping up to be less than NZ$500 million annually based on the current booking patterns we are seeing,” Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran said in an email to staff and customers.

“This has the potential to be catastrophic for our business unless we take some decisive action.”

Air New Zealand is an example of the dire situation facing airlines across the world due to curbs on travel to control the spread of the virus.

“We have had to cut more than 95 percent of our flights here in New Zealand and around the world. The only flights remaining are in place to keep supply lines open and transport options for essential services personnel,” Foran added.

Earlier in March, the New Zealand government offered the airline a NZ$900 million ($540.99 million) lifeline to keep it in the air.

The company also noted that “every dollar we use from this loan facility comes with interest (more than double current interest rates for a household mortgage) and must be re-paid.”

“Burdening our airline with massive debt would significantly lessen our ability to compete with airlines emerging from COVID-19,” said Foran.

He also said that in a year’s time he expects staffing levels to be 30% smaller than it is currently.

($1 = 1.6636 New Zealand dollars)

(Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

FILE PHOTO: An Air New Zealand Airbus A320 plane takes off from Kingsford Smith International Airport in Sydney

Airbus A400M Supports COVID-19 Crisis Relief Efforts in Spain

March 25, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

Airbus A400M transports masks to Spain in support of COVID-19 crisis relief efforts

An Airbus A400M airlifter has performed an air-bridge between Toulouse and Madrid in order to deliver critically-needed mask supplies to the Spanish health system.

The aircraft, known as MSN56 and operated by an Airbus crew, took off on 23^rd March 2020 from Airbus’ headquarters in Toulouse at 18.07 local time (CET) landing at the Getafe Air Base (Madrid) at 19.05 to off-load and deliver the masks to the Spanish Ministry of Defence.

The cargo is part of the approximately 2 million masks transported over the weekend by a test Airbus A330-800 aircraft from Tianjin, China, to Europe.

This air-bridge will enable the delivery of a significant supply of masks to the Spanish public health network in support of current COVID-19 crisis efforts. This comes on top of donations by Airbus in recent days to provide thousands of masks to hospitals and public services around Europe. The Company will continue to support with additional flights planned to take place in the coming days in coordination with national authorities.

Canadian National Starts Calling Back Employees Laid Off During Rail Blockade

March 1, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

MONTREAL, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Canadian National Railway Co has started calling back many of the 450 workers it laid off earlier this month in eastern Canada, when blockades crippled operations on strategic rail lines, according to a company email sent to customers on Friday.

Earlier this week, police made 10 arrests and cleared a blockade in eastern Canada that had been stopping freight and passenger traffic for almost three weeks on one of Canada’s busiest lines.

The blockades were held in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people in the Pacific province of British Columbia, who are seeking to stop TC Energy Corp from building a gas pipeline over their land.

“In the absence of illegal blockades on our network over the last 24 hours, and while we are keeping a close watch for any further disruptions, we have started calling back many of the temporarily laid off employees based in Eastern Canada,” CN chief executive Jean-Jacques Ruest said in the email seen by Reuters.

The email did not specify how many of the 450 workers were being called back.

After 21 days of disruptions, “there is a significant backlog of trains parked on our tracks and in our yards that will be processed,” the email said.

“The complete network recovery process will take several weeks.”

Montreal-based CN said the company was on its way to recovering in Western Canada, and said products like export grain, imported containerized goods, coal, potash and other commodities are moving to market.

Canada relies on CN and rival Canadian Pacific Railway to move crops, oil, potash, coal and manufactured goods to ports and the United States. About half of Canada’s exports move by rail, according to industry data.

(Reporting By Allison Lampert; editing by Grant McCool)

Norwegian Air’s Shares Jump as Turnaround Takes Off

February 6, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian Air’s turnaround gathered pace last month as the budget carrier removed unprofitable routes from its network and boosted the income from remaining flights, sending its shares up almost 6% in early trade.

The airline’s yield – income per passenger carried and kilometre flown – rose 15% to 0.40 Norwegian crown ($0.0435), its monthly traffic report showed on Thursday, beating a 0.37 crown forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts.

The company cut its capacity by a bigger-than-expected 29% in January from a year earlier. Analysts had expected a 22.2% decline in capacity for the month.

Norwegian’s shares traded 4.3% higher at 39.66 crowns by 0839 GMT, but are still down 46% in the last 12 months.

“I am pleased that we continue to deliver on the strategy of moving from growth to profitability,” Chief Executive Jacob Schram, in office since the start of the year, said in a statement.

Norwegian has shaken up the transatlantic travel market with low fares, but breakneck expansion and the grounding of its Boeing MAX fleet also brought mounting losses, forcing the company repeatedly to raise cash from owners.

Seeking to turn itself around and avoid joining the ranks of collapsed airlines, the company announced in October it would cut its capacity by 10% in 2020 from 2019.

Another measure, revenue per available seat kilometre, or RASK, grew by 22% year-on-year to 0.32 crowns, beating the 0.30 crowns predicted by analysts, and Norwegian also raised its fuel hedges to guard against a spike in prices.

The increase in RASK pointed to better operating margins at the carrier, said Danske Bank analyst Martin Stenshall, who holds a buy recommendation on the stock.

Norwegian on average filled 80.9% of seats in January, up from a load factor of 76.1% a year ago and beating an average forecast of 80.6%.

Routes between Ireland and the United States and Canada were cut from Norwegian’s schedule last September, and in December the company announced the sale of its domestic business in Argentina.

The cutbacks may also alleviate the pressure on rivals such as Scandinavian Airlines, which now faces less head-to-head competition on routes between Europe and the United States.

($1 = 9.1879 Norwegian crowns)

(Editing by Gwladys Fouche and Barbara Lewis)

Norwegian Air Sweden Boeing 737-800 plane SE-RRJ approaches Riga International Airport in Riga

Airliner Skids, Breaks Open in Istanbul; 3 Dead, 179 Injured

February 5, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

ISTANBUL (AP) — A Turkish airliner skidded off a runway, crashed into a ditch and broke apart while landing in bad weather in Istanbul Wednesday, killing three people and injuring dozens more. Passengers had to scramble through the split fuselage to escape.

The aircraft, operated by low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines, was arriving at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport from the western Turkish city of Izmir with 183 passengers and crew on board when it had what the Transportation Ministry described as a “rough landing.”

Istanbul Gov. Ali Yerlikaya said the plane failed to “hold onto the runway” and skidded some 50-60 meters (yards) before it dropped into the ditch from a height of about 30 meters (98 feet.)

“We are deeply saddened … (But) we are very happy that we escaped a greater accident,” Yerlikaya said, adding that the plane could have burst into flames.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca reported early Thursday that three people had died and 179 required care at multiple hospitals.

Emergency workers, assisted by an excavator, recovered one body from beneath the wreckage before the rescue mission ended.

The airport was shut down after the incident, which occurred at around 6:30 p.m. local time (1530 GMT), and flights were diverted to Istanbul’s main airport.

Click the link for the full story! https://apnews.com/f7a089322c96a26dfde4bb5c0ac30b1f

OneWeb Lifts Off: Next Batch Ready to Launch

February 3, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

EXPLORATION PARK, Florida – 34 satellites for the OneWeb constellation are ready for launch from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The satellites arrived in two shipments, including one last week, have been tested, and have now been fitted into the dispenser of the Soyuz-2.1b rocket. OneWeb’s upcoming launch of 34 satellites has been scheduled for Thursday 6 February 21:42 (GMT) / Friday 7 February 02:42 (local time) from the historic Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

“This launch will be a massive step forward for OneWeb – one step closer to the ambition of improving global connectivity. These 34 satellites will join the six currently operating flawlessly in orbit. Our joint venture OneWeb Satellites produces two satellites a day – in series production, just like Airbus makes planes,” said Jean-Marc Nasr, Head of Airbus Space Systems.

The satellites, which are manufactured at 1/50^th of the cost of a traditional spacecraft, are all fitted with plasma thrusters enabling them to reach their correct position in low Earth orbit at 1,200km.

“Watching the first batch of our factory-built satellites launch from the Soyuz will be the realisation of a four-year journey… and just the beginning,” said Tony Gingiss, CEO OneWeb Satellites. “Our factory continues to ramp up and streamline our production to deliver the next batch… and the next… and the next!”

The OneWeb constellation will provide global connectivity with an initial 650 satellites. OneWeb’s mission is to provide affordable, high-speed internet connectivity everywhere for everyone, by 2021.

After this first launch from Baikonur, OneWeb is planning to launch around 30 satellites with Soyuz rockets every month.

Trump Called Boeing CEO to Inquire About 737 MAX Production Halt

December 19, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump called Boeing <BA> Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg this week to ask about the status of 737 MAX production, two people briefed on the matter confirmed.

The call on Sunday was brief and Muilenburg assured Trump that the planned production halt was temporary and that the company would not be laying off any workers. The production halt, set to begin in January, was announced by Boeing Monday after a board meeting.

Boeing and the White House declined to comment on the call, reported earlier by the New York Times.

Separately, S&P Global Ratings on Thursday downgraded Boeing’s credit rating to “A-” from “A” and lowered the short-term rating to “A-2” from “A-1.”

The change “reflects the uncertainty over when the 737 MAX will return to service, the risk to the supply chain from the planned production halt, and possible long-term impact to Boeing’s competitive position.”

U.S. officials have repeatedly said they are waiting for additional answers from Boeing and have at time faulted the quality of submissions from the planemaker since the plane was grounded in March after two fatal crashes killed 346 people.

“We’ve had conversations about the importance of making sure that we are looking at complete documentation and not piecemeal documentation,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson told Reuters in September. “It’s really better to be very methodical and very detailed rather than try to rush a partially completed product and then say, ‘We’ll get back to you with the rest of it.’”

Boeing has repeatedly said it is working with regulators to safely return the plane to service and acknowledged last week it would not occur until 2020.

Dickson said last week there are nearly a dozen milestones that must be completed before the MAX returns to service. Approval is not likely until at least February and could be delayed until March, U.S. officials told Reuters last week.

American Airlines Group Inc <AAL> and Southwest Airlines Co <LUV> have canceled flights into April because of the grounding.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

Hokkaido Air Company Takes Delivery of 1st ATR 42-600

December 18, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Japanese regional operator starts fleet replacement with eco-responsible turboprop aircraft

World number one regional aircraft manufacturer ATR today delivered the first of two ATR 42-600 aircraft to Hokkaido Air System Co., Ltd (HAC), a JAL Group Company. This delivery marks the first step in HAC’s replacement of its Saab 340 fleet. The delivery of this aircraft will ensure that essential regional air connectivity in Hokkaido can continue.

The ATR 42-600 will offer HAC increased capacity for the same operating costs – generating opportunities for the airline to increase revenues. It will also provide HAC’s passengers with a modern, comfortable cabin featuring latest generation 18”-wide seats as well as more space for luggage in the overhead bins.

Tetsu Ohori, Chief Executive Officer of HAC said: “Today is a long-awaited day for us at Hokkaido Air System, and becomes a memorable day, marking a new chapter in our history. We have so many tourists who enjoy the fantastic ‘Mother Nature’ of Hokkaido. In winter, the great nature turns her face with severe cold and heavy snow. Even under such hard conditions, this ATR 42 will perform well and make our new business a success. I’m really looking forward to showing this wonderful aircraft to everyone in Hokkaido as soon as possible.”

ATR Chief Executive Officer Stefano Bortoli remarked: “Our aircraft makes perfect sense for the Japanese market. Japanese passengers, who are known to demand the very best in terms of comfort and eco-responsibility, will appreciate both the aircraft’s reduced emissions and modern comfortable cabin. This, plus the unbeatable economics and the need to maintain essential regional connectivity in Japan demonstrates why we are increasing our presence in the country.”

ATR’s market estimates forecast that around 900 30-50 seat aircraft will soon need to be replaced as older and inefficient aircraft come to the end of their lives. The ATR 42-600 is part of ATR’s unique family of regional aircraft, including the ATR 72-600, the ATR 42-600S (Short Take-Off and Landing) and the ATR 72-600F, the only brand new regional freighter. Together, they represent the ideal and modern solution to ensure that essential connectivity is maintained for local communities all over the world, while flying sustainably, emitting up to 40% less CO2 compared with regional jets.

About Hokkaido Air System Co., Ltd
Established on 30 September, 1997, Hokkaido Air System began operations on 28 March.1998, with Japan Airlines (57.3%), Hokkaido government (19.5%), Sapporo city (13.5%) as major shareholders. Hokkaido Air System operates three aircraft (SAAB340B-WT) and 26 daily departures on five routes; between Sapporo-Okadama and Rishiri/Kushiro/Hakodate/Misawa, Hakodate and Okushiri, based in Sapporo-Okadama airport.

Ethiopian Airlines Dash-8 Careers Off Juba Runway In Bad Weather

December 10, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

An Ethiopian Airlines aircraft has suffered a runway excursion at Juba International Airport this evening. Wet conditions are being blamed for the accident, which has caused extensive damage to the aircraft. All passengers and crew are said to have deplaned safely.

The Dash 8 can be seen on the grass away from the runway. Photo: Twitter with permission

What happened?

Images are circulating online of a worrying incident in South Sudan. An Ethiopian Airlines aircraft has ended up some way off the runway, embedded in a grassy field and listing to one side. Close up images appear to show some damage to the landing gear and fuselage.

Damage can be seen to various parts of the plane. Photo: Garanovich PuTin

Click the link below for the full story!

https://simpleflying.com/ethiopian-runway-excursion/

Canadian National Railway to Cut Management and Union Jobs

November 15, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Nov 15 (Reuters) – Canadian National Railway said on Friday it would cut management and union jobs, as the largest Canadian railroad operator grapples with an economic slowdown.

The company will lay off 1,600 employees in the United States and Canada, according to a report https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-cn-rail-to-lay-off-1600-employees-amid-weakening-economy-trade by the Globe and Mail.

The announcement comes amid declining freight volumes as trade tensions have weighed on the North American economy.

The number of people to be laid off could rise if demand from rail customers continues to decline, the Canadian newspaper said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Canadian National Railway spokesman said the action, which includes sending some of its employees on temporary leave, has already begun across its network.

(Reporting by Dominic Roshan K.L. in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)

What happened?

Archives