(Reuters) – NetJets, the luxury plane unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc, has extended its contract with its pilots union by three years, avoiding the type of bitter labor dispute that it had with the union earlier this decade.
The tentative contract with the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots, which represents 2,500 pilots, boosts pay, changes the compensation structure, and expires in 2026.
NetJets and the union said in a joint statement on Thursday that the accord followed six weeks of talks, which the Columbus, Ohio-based company began though the pilots’ 2015 contract wasn’t scheduled to expire until 2023.
More than 81 percent of the pilots voted last month in favor of the changes.
“The NJASAP Executive Board is exceedingly pleased with the outcome of this negotiation — an ambitious undertaking characterized by honesty, goodwill and a genuine commitment to continuing collaboration,” said union president, Pedro Leroux.
The contract was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal. Berkshire did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
NetJets’ labor peace contrasts with more than two years of contentious relations with the union that ended in 2015, after Adam Johnson was installed as chief executive.
The union, then also led by Leroux, had accused NetJets of trying to slash jobs, obtain givebacks on health care and work rules, and bait pilots through bogus Twitter posts to conduct work slowdowns that could result in their being fired.
In contrast, Johnson said on Thursday the contract extension was “built on a foundation of trust and transparency.”
Berkshire employed more than 377,000 people at the end of 2017, and most are not unionized.
Buffett, who flies on NetJets planes, told shareholders at Berkshire’s 2015 annual meeting: “We have no anti-union agenda whatsoever, and we think we have sensational pilots.”
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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MADRID (Reuters) – The Spanish government is confident national flag carrier Iberia will be able to fly across Europe in the event of a disorderly Brexit, even though the airline is majority-owned by Britain-based Anglo-Spanish group IAG (ICAG.L).
Britain is due to leave the European Union on March 29 but has yet to seal a withdrawal agreement, posing a potential risk to airlines that don’t meet EU rules requiring European carriers to be majority-owned and operated in the bloc.
“From the public works ministry’s point of view, we’re convinced that Iberia is a Spanish company,” a spokesman for the ministry told Reuters.
“We are also convinced that, if necessary, the company will make the necessary adjustments to make sure it complies with European regulations,” he said.
Iberia carries 19 million passengers a year and is a major employer in Spain with almost 17,000 workers.
IAG, which also owns British Airways, is registered in Spain but headquartered in Britain and has shareholders from around the world. Iberia has a Spanish shareholder with just over 50 percent of voting rights via a complex ownership scheme.
“We are confident that we will comply with the EU and the UK ownership and control rules post-Brexit,” IAG said, adding that IAG was a Spanish company.
The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that Brussels had doubts about IAG’s arguments that its individual airlines are domestically owned.
European Commission sources told Reuters that Brussels encouraged IAG and all airlines concerned to check with the national licensing authorities whether they would still meet the operating licence requirements in case of a “no deal” Brexit.
They said the Commission was in regular contact with the national authorities that review compliance.
While IAG wholly owns the economic rights of Iberia Holdings, it holds just 49.9 percent of voting rights. Garanair, wholly owned by Spain’s retail giant El Corte Ingles, has the remaining 50.1 percent voting stake.
(By Belén Carreño. Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Writing by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Mark Potter)
OMAHA, Neb., Jan. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Union Pacific today named Jim Vena chief operating officer, effective Jan. 14. He served as executive vice president and chief operating officer at Canadian National (CN) until retiring in June 2016 after a 40-year CN career.
Union Pacific. (PRNewsFoto/Union Pacific) (PRNewsfoto/Union Pacific)
Vena, 60, will lead all aspects of Union Pacific’s operations, including Unified Plan 2020 implementation, the company’s new operating plan that launched in October 2018. He will report to Lance Fritz, Union Pacific chairman, president and chief executive officer.
“Unified Plan 2020 combines precision scheduled railroading principles with our own UP Way tools and best practices,” Fritz said. “We have been making excellent strides rolling out Unified Plan 2020, and Jim’s vast knowledge of the precision scheduled railroading model brings significant experience and expertise that will enhance the work already underway.”
During Vena’s tenure as executive vice president and chief operating officer, Canadian National generated the North American rail industry’s best operating ratio and achieved the best safety incident ratio in the company’s history. Vena started his railroad career as a brakeman and held progressively increasing responsibilities in Canadian National’s operations as well as marketing and sales groups, including leading all of CN’s operating regions.
Tom Lischer, Union Pacific’s executive vice president – Operations, and Lynden Tennison, executive vice president and chief strategy officer, will report to Vena.
About Union Pacific Union Pacific Railroad is the principal operating company of Union Pacific Corporation (UNP). One of America’s most recognized companies, Union Pacific Railroad connects 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country by rail, providing a critical link in the global supply chain. From 2008-2017, Union Pacific invested approximately $34 billion in its network and operations to support America’s transportation infrastructure. The railroad’s diversified business mix includes Agricultural Products, Energy, Industrial and Premium. Union Pacific serves many of the fastest-growing U.S. population centers, operates from all major West Coast and Gulf Coast ports to eastern gateways, connects with Canada’s rail systems and is the only railroad serving all six major Mexico gateways. Union Pacific provides value to its roughly 10,000 customers by delivering products in a safe, reliable, fuel-efficient and environmentally responsible manner.
This press release contains statements about the Company’s future that are not statements of historical fact, including specifically the statements regarding the Company’s expectations with respect to implementing a new operating plan and its ability to improve network performance and customer service. These statements are, or will be, forward-looking statements as defined by the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements also generally include, without limitation, information or statements regarding: projections, predictions, expectations, estimates or forecasts as to the Company’s and its subsidiaries’ business, financial, and operational results, and future economic performance; and management’s beliefs, expectations, goals, and objectives and other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts.
Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times that, or by which, such performance or results will be achieved. Forward-looking information, including expectations regarding operational and financial improvements and the Company’s future performance or results are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in the statement. Important factors, including risk factors, could affect the Company’s and its subsidiaries’ future results and could cause those results or other outcomes to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Information regarding risk factors and other cautionary information are available in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10- K for 2017, which was filed with the SEC on February 9, 2018. The Company updates information regarding risk factors if circumstances require such updates in its periodic reports on Form 10-Q and its subsequent Annual Reports on Form 10-K (or such other reports that may be filed with the SEC).
Forward-looking statements speak only as of, and are based only upon information available on, the date the statements were made. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information. If the Company does update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that the Company will make additional updates with respect thereto or with respect to other forward-looking statements. References to our website are provided for convenience and, therefore, information on or available through the website is not, and should not be deemed to be, incorporated by reference herein.
DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ryanair (RYA.I) hopes to reach deals with all of its major unions by Christmas, its chief executive said on Monday, in a sign an end may be in sight to disruptions which have hit its profit and shares.
The Irish low-cost carrier, Europe’s largest, on Monday reported a 7 percent fall in profits in the six months to Sept. 30 on high fuel costs and intense competition.
But it said these factors were helping it to resolve its industrial relations troubles.
“Given the adverse environment that’s out there for airlines and the number of job losses being reported in recent weeks both by pilots and cabin crew, there is a much more sensible, common sense approach being taken by the unions,” Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said in a video presentation.
O’Leary said that recent progress in talks left Germany and Belgium as the only two large markets for the airline where recognition agreements had not been secured.
“We would be hopeful of concluding agreements with them this side of Christmas,” he added.
The fall in profit was less than the 9 percent drop forecast by analysts and Ryanair shares were 4.2 percent higher at 12.00 euros at 1100 GMT.
Ryanair’s shares are almost 40 percent down from a peak of 19.39 euros in August last year before the industrial relations issues began.
A staff revolt forced management to recognise unions for the first time last December and the airline has since struggled to put in place union recognition agreements.
A spokesman for Belgium’s LBC-NVK union said it was waiting for an offer from Ryanair on Thursday and had warned the airline they could strike again if there is no progress.
A spokesman for German unions VC said he saw “no real progress” in talks with Ryanair, which also needs to secure recognition deals in the Netherlands and Sweden.
On Friday it said it had reached agreement with British, Portuguese and Italian pilots and was close to a deal with Spanish pilots, although the British union said the deal had not been approved by its members yet.
Ryanair issued a profit warning on Oct. 1 citing damage to bookings from strikes and cutting its forecast for full-year profit by 12 percent.
But on Monday, O’Leary said much of the weakness of recent weeks was sector-wide rather than specific to Ryanair.
Over-capacity in European short-haul will push Ryanair fares down by 2 percent in the six months to March 31 compared to the same period last year, O’Leary forecast. He warned he would not rule out a 3 percent fall.
“We are entering into a grim winter in terms of declining air fares,” he told an analyst conference call. “But moving into the summer of 2019 I would expect to see some upward traction on pricing… following oil prices with a 12-month lag.”
Ryanair, which makes most of its profit in the summer, reported a profit of 1.2 billion euros ($1.38 billion) in the six months to Sept. 30, better than the 1.127 billion euros forecast in a company poll of more than 10 analysts.
($1 = 0.8685 euros)
(Additional reporting by Ilona Wissenbach and Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri and Alexander Smith)
