British Airways : BA: BAW :

Cabin crew at British Airways are to vote again on possible strike action.
The Unite union said that a new ballot on industrial action would be held after talks with the carrier failed to find a solution to a long-running dispute.
Twelve days of strike action planned over Christmas were called off after a court ruled the action illegal because the union had balloted hundreds of staff that were leaving the airline.

BA management said they were "saddened but not surprised" at the decision. They have resolved to continue talks over cost-cutting measures introduced in November that mean cuts to cabin crew numbers.
Unite has not said when industrial action would be scheduled for, if it does go ahead, but there are fears that it could hit the busy Easter holiday period in April.

Some observers have questioned whether a second vote would go in favour of strike action but Steve Turner of the union claimed the members' resolve was "as strong as ever."

(Reuters)

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] cabin crew have ruled out a strike over the Easter holiday period, ahead of a new ballot on industrial action.

The Unite union, which represents BA flight attendants, was forced by a court to abandon a strike plan last month. That strike had been set to take place during the Christmas holiday, a decision which attracted harsh criticism from the airline and the public.
With the Easter period approaching, Unite appears to have taken note of the possibility of a similar backlash and opted to avoid disrupting the holiday.

"I want to make it abundantly clear that, if industrial action receives the required mandate from the members and strike action is made necessary by continuing management intransigence, we will not call such action over the Easter holiday period," says Unite assistant general secretary Len McCluskey.

He claims it was "never the intention".....

.......to call industrial action over Easter. Unite's ballot, which opens on 25 January, will close on 22 February.

Bénéfice inattendu au T3
* Déficitaire sur 9 mois
* Trafic passagers -7% en janvier
* L'action monte sensiblement

LONDRES, 5 février (Reuters) - British Airways a publié vendredi un bénéfice d'exploitation inattendu pour le troisième trimestre, conséquence entre autres d'une réduction des charges de 10,5%.
La compagnie aérienne pense toujours, toutefois, enregistrer une perte annuelle record sur l'ensemble de l'exercice 2009-2010.
Le bénéfice d'exploitation est de 25 millions de livres (28,7 millions d'euros) sur trois mois à fin décembre, tandis que le chiffre d'affaires a diminué de 13%.
"Ces résultats attestent de l'impact de changements permanents sur les coûts à travers la société", déclare le directeur général Willie Walsh dans un communiqué.
"Ces changements, auxquels il faut ajouter les réductions de capacités et les réductions de dépenses externes, font que les charges d'exploitation sont en recul de 10,5% et montrent que nous nous sommes rapidement adaptés aux nouvelles réalités créées par la récession mondiale".
Les analystes anticipaient une perte d'exploitation trimestrielle de 90 à 100 millions de livres.
Sur une période de neuf mois, BA accuse une perte d'exploitation de 86 millions de livres, à comparer à un bénéfice de 89 millions un an auparavant.
La compagnie aérienne précise qu'elle a transporté 7% de passagers en moins en janvier, en glissement annuel. En classe affaires, le nombre de passagers a diminué de 2,1%, tandis que la baisse est de 7,9% en classe économique.
L'action BA est en hausse de 1,99% à 215,5 pence dans les premiers échanges. Elle a gagné 20% au cours des trois derniers mois.

"Operating costs are down by 10.5 percent and show that we've adapted quickly to the new business realities created by the global recession," -- BA CEO Willie Walsh.

British Airways posted a surprise third-quarter oerating profit, reflecting the impact of deep cost cuts and capacity reductions, and said it had adapted to industry changes caused by the global recession.
The airline on Friday reported an operating profit of GBP£25 million pounds (USD$39 million) in the three months to the end of December.
"These results highlight the impact of permanent changes across the company on our costs," BA chief executive Willie Walsh said.

"Those changes, combined with/ capacity reductions and external spending cuts, mean operating costs are down by 10.5 percent and show that we've adapted quickly to the new business realities created by the global recession."

Rival Air France recently said business was stabilising but Lufthansa's chief financial officer said last month that some analyst estimates for 2010 were too high.
However, Finnish national carrier Finnair on Friday reported wider fourth-quarter losses and said it expected to make a loss in the first quarter this year.

British Airways' non-fuel costs were down and largely came from savings in employee, engineering and selling costs.
BA's operating loss came in at GBP£86 million for the first nine months of the year, sharply down from a profit of GBP£89 million it made in the same period a year ago, while revenues fell 12.9 percent to GBP£6.14 billion.

TOUGH 2010
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) last week said the aviation sector would face a tough 2010 making up for the lost demand in 2009 and handling new security demands.
BA said its yields fell 8.8 percent in the third quarter, reflecting lower surcharges and cabin class sales. Yields were 11.9 percent up in the same quarter last year.

"Long-haul premium yields have recovered to 2007 levels and show recovery. Yields in non-premium cabins have some way to go before they recover and short-haul yields have not recovered to the extent we have seen elsewhere," said Walsh.

The airline said it carried 7 percent fewer passengers in January year-on-year. The number of its premium, or business class, passengers fell 2.1 percent year-on-year, while non-premium traffic fell 7.9 percent on the same month last year.

BA, which said its merger agreement with Spain's Iberia would be finalised by the end of the year, added that it was confident of receiving regulatory approval for its proposed transatlantic tie-up American Airlines and Iberia.

Low-cost rivals easyJet and Ryanair recently raised their profit forecasts and said they were still taking market share from flag carriers such as BA and Air France-KLM.
(Reuters)

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] is trying to nudge [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and Rolls-Royce to provide a winglet modification for the flag-carrier's [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-300ER fleet, although the relatively small size of its fleet could prove an obstacle.
The airline's fleet of 21 aircraft - of which 13 are in long-haul configuration - are fitted with Rolls-Royce RB211 engines, in contrast to the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and General Electric powerplants fitted to almost all other 767s.
BA chief executive Willie Walsh, speaking to ATI at an event in London, said that the airline was "gently pushing" both the airframer and the engine manufacturer for the upgrade.
While there is a supplemental type certificate for winglets on the P&W- and GE-powered 767, the RB211 engines generate a different wing loading, says Walsh.
He wants Boeing to pay for the development, although he says he "understands" that the manufacturer could be reluctant to fund a programme for a limited number of aircraft.
He says that BA's fleet is relatively young, at about 13-14 years, and the 767s could provide at least another six years' service to the carrier.
Winglets would provide a substantial fuel saving, he says, and create a case for retaining the aircraft in the fleet to give BA additional flexibility even as it introduces its intended 767 replacement, the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
"Clearly the sooner it's done, the better," he says. "If this [modification] had been available two years ago, we would have done it then."
Qantas operates seven RB211-powered 767s, but the carrier took the twin-jets from the BA fleet. China Eastern Airlines also has a handful of 767s with Rolls-Royce engines

AFP - British Airways said on Friday it had launched a probe after suspending 15 crew members for allegedly intimidating volunteers training to work as cabin stewards, as it prepares for strike action.

US Dept. of Transportation on Saturday issued a show cause order tentatively approving the application for antitrust immunity from oneworld partners American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Finnair and Royal Jordanian and also tentatively approved the three-way transatlantic joint venture among AA, BA and IB under which the carriers jointly will plan and manage capacity and share revenues.

But DOT said the alliance "could harm competition" on certain routes between the US and London Heathrow and is requiring that the carriers surrender four slot pairs at LHR for up to 10 years to enable competitors to launch new US-LHR service.

AA and BA had argued that they should not have to give up slots at LHR.

They withdrew an earlier application in 2002 for ATI rather than surrender slots at Heathrow.

The European Commission also has identified competitive concerns but has yet to render a decision

DOT's ruling came less than a day after Japan Airlines and American applied for ATI to operate as one airline for commercial purposes on transpacific routes.

In its finding, DOT said that "the proposed [transatlantic] alliance would enhance competition around the globe by creating a viable third immunized alliance that is comparable and more competitive with the product and service offerings of Star Alliance and SkyTeam, which have already received grants of antitrust immunity and are proceeding with their own alliance plans and integrated joint ventures."

However, the department noted that granting ATI to AA and BA will have the effect of boosting the combined carriers' market share at LHR to 47.4% and is proposing to require divestiture of four slot pairs, two of which will be earmarked for new service in the Boston-LHR market while two may be used in any US-LHR city-pair.

It added, "This slot remedy would offset the potential loss in competition that results from combining the international operations" of AA and BA.

The slot surrenders need not be permanent--DOT is "proposing that the applicants make the slots available for a period of 10 years from the date of issuance of a final order in this case."

It also will require changes to the agreement "to ensure capacity growth, and require the carriers to submit traffic data and implement the proposed alliance within 18 months of a final decision."

In a statement, American said it "will review DOT's tentative order and will respond according to the timeframe established for comments."

The tentative finding came less than 24 hr. after AA and Japan Airlines applied for ATI to operate as if they are one airline for commercial purposes on flights between North America and Asia.

The filing, which had been expected, followed JAL's decision last week to maintain its membership in oneworld rather
than jumping to SkyTeam, which had been wooing the bankrupt carrier for several months [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

JAL and AA said they also will notify Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of the application.

Should AA and JAL receive ATI, they will "cooperate commercially on flights while continuing to operate as separate legal entities. . . coordinat[ing] fares, services and schedules in order to attract new customers and boost revenues."

They noted that the JBA will be "metal neutral," meaning both "will benefit from a customer's ticket purchase regardless of which one carries the passenger, as the airlines will share revenue on all JBA flights."

by Perry Flint

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

British Airways shares are expected to bounce this morning (Monday) as the
market reacts to provisional approval by US regulators for a proposed tie-up
with American Airlines that is potentially worth "hundreds of millions
of pounds" to the UK flag-carrier.

LONDRES, 15 fév 2010 (AFP)L'action British Airways caracolait lundi en tête des valeurs vedettes de la Bourse de Londres, après que les autorités américaines ont donné leur feu vert, samedi, à son projet de coopération commerciale renforcée dans les vols transatlantiques avec American Airlines.

2010 AFP

British Airways will start sourcing a small portion of its jet fuel from municipal waste from 2014, under a deal with US-based biofuel company Solena Group, the two companies announced on Monday.
British Airways said it had signed a deal to purchase all the "sustainable jet fuel" that Solena could make from a plant expected to be sited in London and operational from 2014.
The plant would convert 500,000 tons of waste annually into 16 million gallons of green jet fuel, which the two companies calculated would reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared with burning normal jet fuel.
A British Airways spokesman declined to comment on the value of the deal, and added that the volume of biofuel used would be equivalent to 2 percent of the airline's operation now at Heathrow.

British Airways aimed to obtain 10 percent of all its jet fuel from this waste-to-energy process by 2050, he said.
Aviation kerosene is made from crude oil and emits the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide when burned.
Municipal waste can emit a powerful greenhouse gas methane if it is left to rot in dumps, and the companies therefore calculated a climate change benefit from transforming the rubbish into a liquid fuel and burning it instead.
Such technologies have become popular as governments reward the generation of fuel and power from low-carbon alternatives to fossil fuels, including livestock manure and crop residues, wood chips, and food and municipal waste.
British Airways cited research estimating that each year London produced nearly three million tons of organic waste, mainly from food.

The aviation fuel will be produced from gasification of the waste into a so-called syngas which is then converted by the Fischer Tropsch process into liquid fuel.
"Projects like this demonstrate that the technology is viable," said Stephen Didcott from ARCADIS, the Netherlands-based consultants on construction of the plant.

(Reuters)

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] is to assist in establishing a biofuel plant from which it has tentatively agreed to acquire all the fuel the project produces.
The carrier has reached the deal with Washington-based energy company [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
Under the agreement the new plant - which will probably be located in east London - will use waste biomass, otherwise dumped for landfill, to develop the fuel.
It will produce some 73 million litres of aviation fuel per year by converting waste into gas under high temperatures, and then into liquid hydrocarbons through the Fischer-Tropsch process. The conversion will also create raw [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] components.

BA has signed a letter of intent to purchase all of the plant's fuel, and says it plans to use the fuel on part of its fleet from 2014.

"We believe it will lead to the production of a real sustainable alternative to jet kerosene," says BA chief Willie Walsh. The carrier has previously vowed to halve its carbon emissions by 2050.
Four locations in east London are among the candidate sites for the plant.
Solena Group chief Robert Do says the project will convert biomass into "clean, renewable fuels" and adds that the process is "completely carbon neutral".

Philand a écrit:Trafic US / Heathrow, Alliance oneworld BA, IB etc. et anti trust

Le DoT US ne voit pas de nécessité absolue de libérer des slots à LHR

Le partenariat "pourrait nuire" à la concurrence....

MdR pour la France, soit dit en passant.

Reste à voir ce que la CE va donner comme verdict. Le papier n'oublie pas le cas JAL.

-- Le DoT US ne voit pas de nécessité absolue de libérer des slots à LHR

British Airways is considering expansion of its all-business London City flights to other destinations in the eastern USA, following the opening of New York services last September.
Chief executive Willie Walsh says the airline had received plenty of feedback suggesting other destinations - among them Washington and Boston - and says that BA is looking at their potential.

But Walsh stresses that the all-business Airbus A318 service is only a few months old and, although it achieved a load factor of 75% in December, he is keen to ensure the operation is stable before embarking on expansion.

BA had looked at operating a London City-Dubai service, he adds, but the runway length in London restricts the available range. While the City runway restriction forces a westbound stop of the BA A318 in Shannon, Walsh says that the ability to clear US immigration controls at Shannon enables the layover time to be put to use.
But this stop could not be justified in many other potential markets from City, he says, and even the New York interruption is not ideal: "We'd fly non-stop to JFK if we could."

British Airways cabin crew lost a court bid on Friday to prevent the airline from imposing cost-cutting plans, media reports said.
BA cabin crew had sought a permanent injunction to block the plans, the Press Association news agency said.

(Reuters)

British Airways flight attendants represented by Unite are expected today to announce their intention to strike in the wake of last week's UK High Court ruling permitting BA to enforce changes to their labor contract.

Unite's first strike ballot was ruled invalid and a second one was opened last month while the court considered the legality of BA's intention to reduce the number of cabin staff on certain flights and freeze pay [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. Three weeks ago, Unite said it was challenging "whether an employer can, without due notice or negotiation, systematically change the longstanding contracts of employment of its workforce." Unite represents more than 12,000 BA cabin crew.

On Friday, the court ruled that "the modest changes we made to onboard crew numbers on flights from [London] Heathrow were reasonable, did not breach crew contracts and can remain in place," BA said, adding that Unite's rationale against the move was "considered in great detail by the court--and rejected."

The airline said it hoped Unite would "reflect on the court's decision" rather than rush to strike, and the union responded by saying that negotiations will continue and that it expected BA management to "address the real concerns of cabin crew."

Unite Assistant General Secretary Len McCluskey claimed the ruling "makes absolutely no difference to the substance of our dispute" and that "industrial action remains a possibility" if BA does not meet its demands. The union intends to announce the result of its strike ballot in London at 2 p.m. local time.

by Brian Straus

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] cabin crew members have again voted heavily in favour of taking industrial action to protest changes to working conditions and contractual arrangements.

The vote was 81% in favour of a strike, with turnout just short of 80%, according to the Unite union.
In total, 7,482 voted for the action and 1,789 against it.
Unite has yet to reveal when it plans to carry out the strike. It has previously indicated that the action will not take place over the Easter holiday period.
In December, a court decision forced Unite to abandon a plan to strike during the Christmas holiday. That proposed action had drawn heavy criticism from British Airways management and the public.

British Airways cabin crew represented by Unite last week announced they "unanimously backed the work of their negotiating team attempting to resolve the current dispute" and steered away from setting a date for strike action. Unite members endorsed strike action in a vote that saw 80.7% call for a walkout [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. The union reportedly has until March 22 before its strike mandate expires under trade union legislation.

British Airways hopes to sign its merger agreement with Iberia by the end of this month, and said a potential strike by its cabin crew had not impacted forward bookings.
"We're aiming to sign the merger agreement with Iberia by the end of the first quarter of 2010, that's the plan," BA's group treasurer George Stinnes said.

BA faces a costly strike after its cabin crew last month gave overwhelming backing for industrial action.
Chief executive Willie Walsh, however, told a meeting of the airline's staff on Wednesday that 6,000 workers had volunteered to support the airline in the event of a strike, by undertaking additional duties.

A spokesman said 1,000 of the volunteers would be fully trained to work as cabin crew.

The airline has about 13,500 cabin crew, mostly based at Heathrow and Gatwick airports in London.
The Unite union has not yet set a date for the walkout, but Stinnes said the uncertainty had not hit BA's bookings for March.
"It (the potential strike) has made no real difference to March bookings... bookings for March are strong and show a steady improvement year-on-year," he said.

BA said it carried 1.1 percent more passengers in February year-on-year, boosting hopes that air traffic demand is recovering.
The airline said the number of premium passengers continued to rise, jumping 5 percent on the 2009 figure, while non-premium traffic edged up 0.3 percent on the same month last year.
"Last year's February traffic was affected by weather disruption," said Stinnes. "However, the Americas have driven part of the improvement in trade. Pricing has been sensible, and yields and volumes are pretty much unchanged on recent months."
Low-cost rival Ryanair on Wednesday said it carried 6 percent more passengers last month than it did a year ago.(Reuters)

SEATTLE, March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) and British Airways today announced that the airline will feature Boeing's [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (AHM) system to monitor the in-flight condition of more than 100 Boeing twin-aisle jetliners. AHM will be used on the airline's current 777 and 747-400 fleets and future deliveries, including 787 Dreamliners.
Through the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] portal, British Airways will be able to track in-flight faults and make real-time operational decisions regarding maintenance, in order to deploy the necessary people, parts and equipment to address the issue before the airplane arrives at the gate.
"We are always looking for the most innovative and effective tools for improving our management and maintenance of BA's fleet," said Garry Copeland, engineering director, British Airways. "The Boeing AHM system will allow us to continuously improve aircraft downtime, minimize delays and analyse aircraft performance trends. The system has proved very effective during our testing, so we are pleased to be rolling it out across the long-haul fleet.

Airplane Health Management will allow the airline to gather and evaluate critical real-time data on the flying condition of the airplanes with enhanced decision support, troubleshooting and historical fix success information that British Airways technicians can use to minimize schedule interruptions and increase maintenance efficiency.
"AHM Real-Time Monitoring is a great technology to help our customers manage their maintenance to be more efficient during the valuable time between flights," said Dennis Floyd, vice president, Technical Services, Commercial Aviation Services, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The endorsement of a world-class airline like British Airways is a testament to the vital need for this type of service."

Airplane Health Management is a key component in Boeing's larger vision of Lifecycle Solutions -- improving airline efficiency with digital productivity tools, product and industry expertise and the power of aviation's leading integrated supply chain -- supporting Boeing airplanes from order placement through retirement.
British Airways operates a wide range of Boeing jetliner models, including 747-400s, 777s, 767s, 757s and 737s, and has 24 787s on order.

BRITISH AIRWAYS is running “ghost flights” to train strike-breaking cabin crews ahead of a threatened walkout next month.
Flights have been added from Heathrow to Cardiff and Glasgow to allow ground staff to gain experience in the air, it emerged last night.
BA’s cabin crew are usually trained on scheduled services with paying customers. However, due to limited time, emergency crews are being trained with colleagues pretending to be passengers.

Last night the airline admitted flights were being arranged for training purposes, but claimed they “serve a purpose”. “As part of the Civil Aviation Authority-approved training course our volunteer cabin crew are doing, they have to take part in a day of flight familiarisation,” a spokeswoman said.
“It is a good opportunity for our volunteer crews to work as a team on board a flight and familiarise themselves with the equipment and procedures on board.”
As well as the ghost flights the airline is using routine trips to its Glasgow and Cardiff engineering bases to train crews.

Unite, the cabin crew’s union, which is still in talks with BA, received an 81% vote from members in support of a walkout, which could start at any point up to March 18. BA has told its 25,000-strong ground staff they could be trained as stand-in cabin crew after 21 days’ instruction at its Heathrow crew school.
Last night Unite expressed concern over the training flights. Len McCluskey, the assistant general secretary, said: “Short-hop stunts are no preparation for long-haul emergencies.”

The union claimed the airline could train only a fraction of the 12,000 cabin crew it employs to run 650 flights a day.

Friends of the Earth said it was shocked by the decision to run flights purely for training. Richard Dyer, its aviation campaigner, said: “Flying is one of the most polluting ways to travel.”

A thousand British Airways staff will have completed cabin crew training by next week to keep flights going in the event of a strike, the airline’s chief executive said yesterday.
BA will also charter 23 aircraft and crew from rival airlines to fly out of Heathrow if stewards strike in a dispute over cabin crew numbers.
BA vowed to maintain long-haul flights out of Gatwick and half its short-haul flights from the airport. None of its 50 daily flights from London City would be affected, Willie Walsh, its chief executive, said.
In a combative address to staff, Mr Walsh said that a strike would force him to make deeper cuts as BA tries to recover from record financial losses. He insisted that changes to cabin crew numbers last November, when one steward was removed from all flights and two from some long-haul services, would not be repealed.

A return of cabin crew to numbers before November is a key demand of Unite, the union, in talks.
Len McCluskey, of Unite, criticised an “inflammatory and confrontational stance” by Mr Walsh.

Unite has yet to declare strike dates, but a big majority of its cabin crew members voted for action. Any strike under the latest ballot must begin by March 22 and Unite must give BA a week’s notice of a strike. It has ruled out strikes in the Easter school holidays.

Mr Walsh said that 6,000 volunteers had come forward to keep flights running. BA’s contingency plan has not yet taken into consideration cabin crew who may work even amid a strike.

British Airways and flight attendants represented by Unite set a Tuesday deadline "to determine whether or not a mutually acceptable settlement can be achieved," the UK Trades Union Congress said Friday.

The parties have been negotiating with help from the TUC, doing so in the shadow of a strike authorization passed by cabin staff late last month and subsequent plans by the airline to use volunteers, pilots and 23 wet-leased aircraft to maintain operations [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The union said it will announce a strike date if no deal is reached by Tuesday evening. It must provide seven days' notice and must do so prior to March 15. "They are difficult negotiations, certainly," a Unite spokesperson told The Times. "The law imposes some degree of deadlines and we will have been talking for six or seven weeks now and in the end we have to see if we have an agreement or not. If there is no agreement there will be strike dates set."

BA intends to reduce flight attendant numbers on flights out of London Heathrow and freeze pay as part of a series of £140 million in cuts opposed by employees. According to some press reports, the union has offered a £60 million ($90.3 million) savings package that includes a 3.4% pay cut followed by a two-year salary freeze.

by Brian Straus

La direction et le syndicat Unite des personnels de cabine de la compagnie aérienne British Airways se sont donné mardi jusqu'à mercredi midi pour trouver un accord social, faute de quoi le syndicat fixera la date de la grève votée massivement par le personnel.

2010 AFP

British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia have offered to cede a number of lucrative trans-Atlantic slots in an attempt to ease competition concerns and gain EU approval for their alliance.

The European Commission said on Wednesday that interested parties would have until April 10 to comment on the airlines' concessions. The three carriers are members of the oneworld airline alliance.
"If the market test confirms that the proposed commitments remedy the competition concerns, the Commission may adopt a decision... making the commitments legally binding on the parties," the European Union competition watchdog said.

It said in a statement that the airlines had offered to give up some landing and take-off slots for routes from London to Dallas, Boston, Miami, Chicago and New York, and from Madrid to Miami.
The carriers also proposed to allow access to their frequent flyer programmes on the routes and submit data on their cooperation.

The Commission opened an investigation into the planned alliance last April.

The airlines want to manage jointly schedules, capacity and pricing as well as share revenues on routes between North America and Europe.
American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Finnair and Royal Jordanian last month secured tentative approval from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for their plan to form an alliance.
The DOT has given interested parties 45 days to object. Answers to objections will take a further 15 days.
The Commission is also probing proposed alliances between members of Star Alliance, and members of SkyTeam, both rivals of oneworld.

(Reuters)

BA, Aer Lingus fail to reach accords with cabin staff

British Airways and Aer Lingus each reached a crossroads yesterday with disgruntled flight attendants as attempts to agree on terms designed to produce cost savings met with resistance.
British Airways and cabin staff represented by Unite could not reach an accord regarding staffing reductions and a pay freeze imposed by the carrier by yesterday afternoon's deadline, meaning the union now can give strike notice [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. It had not done so as of yesterday evening and must do so by March 15. No further negotiations are scheduled.
A Unite spokesperson told Bloomberg News that union officials will meet today. The union offered concessions including a one-year salary freeze, then a 2.6% pay cut followed by a slight raise, along with reduced pay for new hires, which BA said fell "significantly short" of the £63 million ($94.4 million) in savings Unite claimed the package would achieve, Bloomberg reported. It also featured the reintroduction of a 15th crew member on long-haul flights from London Heathrow, according to Sky News.
In Ireland yesterday, Aer Lingus confirmed that it plans to lay off 230 flight attendants and shift remaining cabin crew to new employment contracts featuring reduced salaries and increased productivity despite Impact union membership's rejection of terms that would help meet EI's goal of lowering annual employment expenses by €97 million ($131.8 million) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
CEO Christoph Mueller said there would be no "sweetheart deals for cabin crew." Following a Tuesday board meeting, EI said that "given the overwhelming support" of four union groups, "implementation of the 1,065 compulsory redundancies contemplated in the so called 'Plan B' is unfair." Instead, it will proceed with implementation of those elements of the cost reduction program agreed upon with the four unions.