p20 air Oct30 27/10/09 18:25 Page 20
Air
Chris Gray
020 7921 8003
cgray@ttglive.com
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BA strike fears
Iberia ‘Plan 2012’
shadow Vegas
BRITISH AIRWAYS cabin crew will hold an emer- risk to BA merger
gency meeting on Monday to set a timetable for
a ballot that could lead to a pre-Christmas strike.
Chris Gray.
conclusion in March
The Unite union is balloting members on a IBERIA’S plan to save ¤37 although issues about
strike action to oppose BA’s plans to restructure million by restructuring BA’s pension deficit and
cabin crew operations from mid-November. its operations has made the share of ownership
The union said the changes would worsen a merger between the still had to be resolved.
customer service and that new terms for new Spanish flag-carrier and However, analysts said
recruits would create a “two-tier workforce”. British Airways highly Iberia’s new plan sug-
But BA said the changes were needed to save unlikely, analysts believe. gested hopes of negotiat-
money, on top of 1,700 job losses and a two-year The Spanish airline ing a merger had faded.
pay freeze for cabin crew announced in October. plans to set up a network Douglas McNeill, a
It will take about four weeks to hold the ballot carrier to operate a transport expert at
and the union has to give BA another weeks’ smaller number of short-haul routes as part Astaire Securities, said it was “hard to imagine”
notice before starting industrial action, so a of the restructuring, which it expects to be such a change co-existing with a merger with BA.
strike would hit the airline in mid-December. complete in two years. “It’s nearly 15 clear months since talks were
The announcement of the ballot overshadowed It will also expand its long-haul operation announced, meaning that they must have been
BA’s launch of its daily Heathrow-Las Vegas between Madrid and Latin America on routes under way for nigh-on 18 months,” he said.
service, when chief executive Willie Walsh joined where it is the market leader. Deutsche Bank said it was an indication that
showgirls (pictured below) and the city’s mayor The new short-haul airline will aim to feed “a merger. . . was not imminent and that Iberia
for the inaugural flight. traffic to the long-haul network. was now planning for the possibility that a deal
Earlier, former Spice Girl Mel B was a guest of Iberia said “Plan 2012” was needed to respond may never be concluded”.
honour at the Las Vegas launch party at Studio to an 18% drop in income for the first half of Iberia’s operations between London and
Valbonne in London to celebrate the start of the 2009 because of a fall in demand, particularly Madrid were caught up in strikes by cabin crew
service. for business travel. over wages this week.
The plan also envisages more aggressive At least 16 London-Madrid flights were
targeting of operators, as well as other groups cancelled on Monday and Tuesday out of about
that may generate more business. 440 international and domestic flights each day
British Airways and Iberia have been in in what was the first of two 48-hour strikes
protracted talks over a proposed merger that planned by the union.
would establish the largest airline in Europe. A second round of strikes is set for November
Talks were thought to be reaching a 10 and 11.
Cathay boss: ‘Recovery has started’
CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS chief executive Tony “And we are seeing that this year. But whether
Tyler has said the aviation industry may be at the it heralds a return to greener pastures remains
start of a slow recovery. to be seen.
Tyler said there were signs that the sharp falls “What I think is happening is a slow recovery
in passenger numbers seen over the summer effect exaggerated and amplified by seasonal
were stabilising. factors. The longer the seasonal effect lasts, the
But he warned against assuming that was the easier it is to kid ourselves that we are seeing a
start of a sharp recovery because it could be sharp rebound,” Tyler added.
down to a seasonal rise in traffic. Tyler said Asian airlines had been hit harder
Speaking at the Aviation Club in London, Tyler than their European and US counterparts by the
said: “This is traditionally a good time for us on global recession, but were likely to bounce back
both the premium passenger and freight fronts. more quickly when recovery came.
20 30.10.2009
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