Cargo security steps up
The USA plans a new air cargo security regime that will require criminal background checks of more than 100,000 airport, airline and freight-forwarder workers and consolidate 4,000 “known shipper” lists into a single database.
Northwest’s labour deals
Northwest Airlines has told its flight attendants union not to expect a better offer if they reject the contract on which they are now voting – a statement the union calls a threat. Other unions are trying to enlist the bankrupt carrier’s 9,300 cabin crew, complicating the situation. Northwest pilots have endorsed a 24% pay cut, but their $358 million deal will not take effect until the attendants agree their own contract.
Keeping the faith
The bankruptcy judge overseeing Comair’s reorganistion ordered both the regional carrier and its flight attendants to continue bargaining toward new contracts after concluding that neither the Delta Connection subsidiary nor the Teamsters union had negotiated in good faith.
Relief planned for Phoenix
Phoenix officials plan to put as much as $11.5 million into the regional group that runs smaller Williams Gateway airport in a bid to transform it into a reliever for the city’s Sky Harbor airport. Williams, 45km (28 miles) east, could handle as many as 2 million passengers a year by 2025, although it now has only one scheduled service.
American wins more cuts
American Airlines and its Transport Workers Union at the Alliance, Texas, maintenance base have agreed to a “breakthrough goal” of $400 million in third-party contracts and cost cuts by the end of 2008. The facility houses TAESL, a joint venture between American and Rolls-Royce, to overhaul RB211 and Trent engines. American’s unions set similar goals at its Oklahoma and Missouri maintenance bases.
Source: Airline Business
