Dozy air traffic controller delays flight

A Qantas Airways domestic flight was forced to delay its landing in Australia‘s capital after an air traffic controller overslept and failed to report for duty on time. Read article.

BA to change its customer operations

British Airways is looking to overhaul its customer department. The revamp, which places three executives in charge of key operations headed by outgoing director Mike Street, follows a strike by BA ground crew at Heathrow Airport last month which stranded more than 100,000 passengers.
Read more.

Gate Gourmet refuses to take workers back

It seems the CEO of Gate Gourmet is plain out refusing to consider taking back the workers whose strike action brought the company to a halt. Read the Guardian interview here.

Airline fuel rationing

With airports around the country coming within days, sometimes hours, of running out of jet fuel, one expert says this could be the first sign of much worse to come. Airline fuel rationing.

Over 500 BA flights affected

Over 500 BA flights were cancelled as a strike at Gate Gourmet hit the airline hard.

Excess baggage? That'll be £350 sir....

Airlines are accused of overcharging for excess baggage... http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=658433

Cathay pacific recorsd massive profits

Cathay Pacific records an increase in profits. Read article.

Turbulent times for US airline companies

Several US carriers are fighting for survival. US Airways, the seventh largest US airline, on Sunday filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in two years after failing to sufficiently reduce costs. Concessions close to two billion dollars from 28,000 employees starting in 2002 were not enough. David Bonner, president of US Airways' board of directors, warned since August that a second bankruptcy filing could lead to liquidation. Delta Air Lines announced an aggressive restructuring plan Wednesday that would cut 6,000 to 7,000 jobs over the next 18 months. Delta said it was targeting more than five billion dollars in annual cash savings by 2006 and was on track to deliver nearly half of that total by the end of this year.

US Airways files second bankruptcy in 2 years

US Airways filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday, its second such filing in two years, after workers refused to grant $800 million in cuts the company had sought to reduce its costs to the level of low-fare airlines.
Nothing will change for US Airways customers right away, but in the coming months the airline is expected to change its route system, which could mean the end of service for some of the nearly three dozen cities where US Airways is the only airline. And if it cannot cut its costs and win labor concessions from workers, its passengers could face further reductions in service or even the end of the airline, analysts said Sunday.

Alitalia May Scrap Air France Alliance

Alitalia is going to review and possibly scrap its commercial alliance with Air France, the Italian airline's chief executive was quoted as saying on Thursday.
In an interview with L'espresso magazine, Giancarlo Cimoli indicated that Air France and US carrier Delta were gaining more from commercial ties with Alitalia than was the Italian flag carrier.