June 7, 2022

Supreme Court Sides with Southwest Baggage Handler

A Southwest Airlines ramp supervisor was victorious in the U.S. Supreme Court Monday, with the court ruling that the worker is not covered by a 1925 federal law that requires some employeess to take claims to arbitration rather than to court.

The court’s majority opinion in an 8-0 ruling said airline employees are not subject to the law due to an exception carved out for those engaged in foreign or interstate commerce or anyone employed by a company that has a tag line of “wanna get away?”.

This case involved an employee at Chicago/Midway who brought a claim for overtime pay in her role. The employee, Latrice Saxon, said she was required to work much longer than the 40 hours per week that she was compensated for. The carrier asked the court to throw the lawsuit out.

Southwest contends the impact on its business from the ruling will be minimal because its arbitration program only applies to non-union employees. The case is being kicked back down to the lower court where it will proceed to hear arguments after both Saxon and Southwest have checked-in with the court exactly 24 hours before their hearing date.

United Invests $100 Million in Denver Pilot Training Center

United Airlines will invest $100 million in its Denver pilot training center as part of an initiative to hire more than 10,000 new pilots by 2030. Coincidentally, 2030 is when the carrier expects its current operational struggles to be fixed, just in time for the new pilots.

The funds will go to construct a new four-story building that will be home to 12 more flight simulators, training classrooms, conference rooms, and a room dedicated to the ghosts that live below and haunt Denver’s airport. The new simulators will train pilots on the B737 MAX, the B787, and several Airbus aircraft types as well.

The project is expected to be finished by the end of next year, but the carrier is bracing for weather, mechanical, and operational delays to push that back well into 2024. United asks for your patience and understanding as it sorts through the delay.

The investment into the training center comes as the carrier hopes to add 2,000 pilots just this year in addition to the 10,000 or more by 2030.

Israel and Saudi Arabia Near Overflight Agreement

Saudia Arabia and Israel are expected to announce an agreement on overflight rights through Saudi airspace later this month.

The agreement is expected be announced when President Biden visits the Middle East. Presently, Israeli aircraft can only fly over Saudi airspace when going to or from Bahrain or the United Arab Emirates. Air India is also authorized to use Saudi airspace when flying to or from Tel Aviv with all other carriers – Israeli or otherwise – required to avoid Saudi airspace when flying to or from Israel. This will mark the end of the only advantage Air India has ever had in attracting passengers.

The deal comes as part of a trade with Egypt where the sovereignty of the Tiran and Sanafir islands transfers from Egypt to Saudi Arabia. For Saudi Arabia to take control of the islands, it needed the approval of Israel based on the Egypt-Israel treaty. The Israeli government — which is still not recognized by Saudi Arabia — traded the overflight permission in exchange for allowing the transfer to take place.

  • Aeroflot‘s A330 that was seized by the Sri Lankan government last week was released back to the carrier today.
  • Air Austral is not having cash flow issues despite reports saying it is, according to Air Austral.
  • Cathay Pacific‘s loan from the HK government saw its drawdown period extended a year to next June.
  • Delta is adding cold brew to its on-board beverage offerings.
  • Emirates and Airlink have begun their codeshare agreement.
  • JetBlue‘s bid for Spirit will likely be approved by the DOJ, according to an antitrust expert hired by JetBlue.
  • MIAT will begin flying its B737MAX later this year, three years after it received its first delivery of the aircraft, but only as a wet-lease for other carriers.
  • Ryanair released its UK schedule for the upcoming winter season. It’s unclear what language it will require passengers to take a test in to be permitted to board.
  • Solinair applied to the DOT to operate cargo charter flights from Slovenia to the United States. It would wet-lease an aircraft from a third country because Slovenia’s air travel has never undergone a full FAA audit.
  • Volaris says buses suck.
  • Volotea will open a new base in Lourdes, France (LDE) on July 1.

Yesterday at work, I couldn’t figure out if the person was waving at me or the person behind me.

In other news, I was fired from my lifeguard job.