Thank you to this week’s Cranky Daily presenting sponsor, The Airchive.
Southwest Plans to Furlough 556 — Maybe
As reported last week, Southwest sent WARN act notices to 7,000 employees. Now we know that it plans to furlough 556 employees based in Denver alone if it cannot either come to an agreement with its unions on cost-cutting or receive further federal financial assistance.
Southwest, which has never furloughed an employee since its founding in 1971 finds itself needing significant givebacks from its unions in order to continue its streak.
The announcement of the furlough seems reminiscent of a parent counting to three in order to get its kid to stop, but with no real plan for what to do when getting to three. It said these furloughs will take place sometime “early next-year” absent an agreement with the unions or further federal assistance.
We’ll have more on Southwest’s current dilemma tomorrow at crankyflier.com.
Lufthansa Will End Year with 29,000 Fewer Employees in Germany
Lufthansa will end 2020 having cut 29,000 jobs during the year in Germany with another 10,000 on the block for 2021.
The airline, which says it currently has 27,000 employees too many, also plans to cut an additional 20,000 airline employees in 2021 outside of Germany, while also selling its catering business and its 7,500 staff to go with it. When both cuts occur, Lufthansa will be down to just 109,000 employees worldwide. The airline has already spent one-third of the $10.8 billion loan it received from the federal government earlier in 2020.
On the bright side, Lufthansa has come to an additional agreement with its Verdi trade union to save the jobs of its ground personnel. The airline and union have come to terms on reduced costs and salaries in exchange for no further job cuts. Until the agreement can be ratified, union leadership has placed a calendar in their own living rooms with a piece of chocolate to represent each day left until ratification. Union leadership is to enjoy the chocolate each day, but keeping an eye on how much remains – as it must come to an agreement with Lufthansa before the chocolate runs out.
Emirates Receives First A380 with Premium Economy
Emirates Airline took delivery of its first A380 fitted with its new premium economy product over the weekend. The A380 is the 116th in the airline’s fleet and is the first of three it plans to receive this month, with this being the only one in December to feature the new seats.
Emirates plans to debut its new class of service in the coming months, with the rollout expected by “mid-2021.” The new product, when fully-revealed will resembled a railway-style “sleeperette” with a 10-inch recline and the soothing clickity-clack clickity-clack of rail travel quietly passing through the plane’s speaker system.
On A380s that have a first class, premium economy will be located at the front of the lower deck, while the A380s without first class will see the new class located on the upper deck. Regardless of the location, premium economy will consist of about 56 seats with upgraded service, 38 inches of pitch, and constant reminders from cabin crew that though you upgraded, you’re not in business or first, so chill out.
South African Looking for Equity Partner for Mango
South African Airways is looking beyond the fruit aisle for a new partner for its LCC subsidiary — and delicious snack — Mango.
SAA, which is government-owned on its best day, received a $700 million federal bailout last month to keep the airline operating. SAA has been in business rescue for over year — coming up with a cash flow solution in July that was approved by its creditors — but ran out of time to implement it when the cash was all gone in September. The government then stepped in and bailed the airline out with the $700 million but placed restrictions on it.
As part of the current restructuring, SAA is looking for an equity partner to share the losses to stem the tide for Mango. The South African government said it has received dozens of interested parties to take over various parts of the airline, and the government is considering those proposals. The Mango subsidiary, however, is not in business rescue and has no cash flow allowance or restrictions, giving the government a chance to find an equity partner to raise money for SAA by circumventing the process. Clear as mud, right?
Paris Air Show Canceled
The Paris Air Show, scheduled for June, has been canceled, the first time the event will not take place since World War II.
Europe’s largest industrial showcase has taken place since 1908 and occurs every other June in Paris. It typically welcomes 300,000 people.
The ending of the 2021 show before it began was due to the obvious financial risk of going forward with grand plans for the event amidst the pandemic with so many questions looming about vaccines and their availability.
Luckily, most plans for the event had already been put on hold with uncertainty around the world. Organizers did already place an order for 300,000 airplane-shaped stress balls that will be made available at auction later this year.
Airline Potpourri
- Airseven, the newest entrant in the Danish domestic market, which plans to begin flying as soon as next month, took delivery of its first two aircraft, both 737-400s that most recently flue for Blue Air.
- British Airways will swap out its Boeing 777-300 fleet for its Boeing 787-9 aircraft when it resumes flying to Australia on March 28.
- Eastern Airlines — the one flying to Latin America — has requested a delay in beginning service from Los Angeles to Guayaquil, Ecuador (GYE) until January 29.
- Ryanair, in response to something that surely angered someone, is closing its employee base in Vienna at the end of the year.
- Singapore has taken cuffing season to the extreme, signing a greater partnership with Indian carrier Vistara, adding on to the codeshare the two signed in 2017. Singapore is a part-owner of Vistara.
- Virgin Atlantic‘s new service to Pakistan, real pilots and all, will begin next week. VS will fly 4x-weekly from London/Heathrow to Lahore (LHE), beginning December 13.
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
I bought a new shrub trimmer today. It does all the work for me. Truly cutting-hedge technology.