MEXICO: Aeromexico Accident Creates Trouble For Pilots

Aeromexico Embraer E190 crash in Durango has led to the suspension of some benefits for the airline’s pilots, unbinding a pilot strike that is set to happen during the first week of October in protest of the removal of some privileges.

Aeromexico informed that it had fired Carlos Galvan, Daniel Dardon and Jose Ramon Vazquez from their Flight Crew duties. These were the three pilots of flight AM2431 flight that crashed on July 31.

The airline claims that these pilots violated the protocols, manuals, and policies established by the airline.

The Mexican Civil Aviation Agency also said that although the weather was the main factor in the Embraer E190’s incident, a pilot in training who was not authorized by the company to be in command of the aircraft was sitting as copilot during takeoff.

As a result, the carrier announced the removal to a provision that lets pilots fly in the flight deck for free.

The airline’s CEO, Andres Conesa, was very vocal about the incident, claiming that this type of behavior is unacceptable and we will not tolerate for any reason the conduct of these people jeopardize the trust that more than 20 million customers around the world provide and support our 16 thousand families, for this reason these three pilots have already been separated from the company.

However, the Mexican Trade Union Association of Pilots (ASPA) announced that it will defend the labor rights of the three pilots dismissed by Aeromexico, because the airline did not follow the procedures established in the country’s General Labor Law.

It is an unorthodox decision, a decision that surprises us because they did not follow the channels set by the Federal Labor Law, said ASPA in a public statement.

ASPA has to defend the pilots because two are disabled and the company already fired them, and in doing so, it takes away all their benefits.

ASPA’s Secretary of Press and Publicity, Mauricio Aguilera, explained that the termination of the contract was derived from a preliminary report of an investigation that has not yet culminated.

Aeromexico decided unilaterally to suspend the benefit of Crew Flying in Cabin, among other violations of the collective contract, affecting a critical clause for around 2,400 pilots, ASPA said.

Aeromexico responded to the claim by saying no violations in contracts were taking place as pilots could still fly in passenger seats outside of the cabin.

They, like the rest of eligible crew, continue using the aforementioned benefit, Aeromexico said in a statement.

The Mexican airline will now find themselves in a difficult position, especially as 2,400 pilots is a large amount that could cause significant disruptions in the airline’s network.

The affected passengers of flight AM2431 have sued the airline. Everyone on this flight has the right to know exactly what caused the crash.

A plane simply does not fall from the sky because it’s raining a lot, said Thomas A. Demetrio, co-founder of the Corboy & Demetrio law office.

It will be interesting to see what deals will be made between Aeromexico and ASPA and whether any level of solution can be made quickly to prevent the strike.


Tourism Observer

CANADA: Air Canada To Keep 25 E190s, Declines CSeries Order

Air Canada says it will keep 25 Embraer E190 aircraft it planned to retire in 2015.

The decision functionally rules out a possible CSeries order into the foreseeable future.

The Canadian flag carrier currently has 45 E190s in its fleet, each of which seats 97.

The airline was considering replacing the jets, and is still ditching 20 as part of a deal with Boeing.

Those jets will be replaced by leasing other narrow-body aircraft.

The decision to keep the other 25 airplanes in stock hands Bombardier another CSeries setback.

The company was hoping to snag the carrier to spur further interest and program confidence as the order book remains sluggish.

A spokesperson for Bombardier remained upbeat, saying Air Canada is a valued customer of ours, and we still believe the CSeries is the perfect aircraft for them.

We’re just going to wait, and when they are ready to move forward, we will be there. We are fairly optimistic that when the time is right, we will restart discussions.

Air Canada did not immediately return a request for comment.

The carrier has already committed to a number of fleet changes. It placed an order for up to 109 737 MAX planes valued at $6.5 billion in December, 2013.

In the agreement, Boeing will buy as many as 20 E190s from Air Canada. The airplanes will exit the fleet in 2015, according to a statement from the airline.

Amidst the narrow body fleet changes, Air Canada has also decided to convert twelve Boeing 777-300ER and six Boeing 777-200LR aircraft into a more competitive configuration.

The airline plans to include a premium economy cabin, and it will also refurbish its International Business Class cabins to match its new 787 cabins.

Don’t expect any changes soon, however. The company plans to start rolling out the refurbed jets in late 2015.

The airline announced a first quarter loss of $341 million.


Tourism Observer

Fastjet Negelects Nairobi And Entebbe, But To Relocate To South Africa 2017

Fastjet's new Chief Executive, Nico Bezuidenhout, would sooner or later be looking at the South African domestic market, now that key decisions are out of the way.

A relocation in early 2017 from London Gatwick to Johannesburg will take the head office of the airline into the African continent where operations actually take place, for now in Tanzania on domestic and regional routes and in Zimbabwe on one domestic route to Vic Falls and twice daily to Johannesburg.

Other decisions taken was to phase out the Airbus A319 fleet thought to be too large to operate profitably on other than high density routes and while presently only one Embraer E190 is flying for Fastjet are more expected in due course.

Information from usually reliable sources have now indicated that CEO Nico is eying the South African domestic market, where of course for the past decade before joining Fastjet he managed Mango, South African Airways' LCC.

This, if proven to be correct, would be an indicator that both Zambia and Kenya may go on the back burner though considerable work and resources have flown into getting operating licences and relevant permits to commence operations in these two countries.

Given the level of competition in South Africa in the LCC segment however, with other established players being Kulula among others, owned by Comair, a British Airways affiliate, and given that a former Fastjet Manager, one Kyle Haywood, failed to get the airline off the ground and subsequently left Fastjet, will Nico however have his work cut out for him, to consolidate on one side and push for expansion on the other into a notoriously hard fought over market as South Africa is.

If Fastjet goes ahead it will also have to review their business model which up to now saw Fastjet PLC hold 49 percent of the shares of the two companies in Tanzania and Zimbabwe, leaving the remaining 51 percent controlling interest in the hands of local investors. South Africa however has a lower threshold of just 25 percent of shares being permitted to be held by a foreign investor, something Fastjet's board no doubt will have to take a hard look at.

For now though are the few remaining flights from Dar es Salaam to Entebbe and Nairobi underway before, on 05th December, both services, alongside flights from Vic Falls to Johannesburg, will be halted until further notice.

USA: Delta Adds The Embraer E190 To Its Fleet

Delta Air Lines is adding 20 new Embraer E190 aircraft to its fleet, doubling down on capacity in the 100-seat aircraft sector a decade after the segment was largely eliminated from the fleets of U.S. airlines.

The aircraft, formerly with Air Canada, are being bought second-hand from Boeing Capital, the finance arm of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Boeing. The Chicago-based airframer also won an order for an additional 40 Boeing 737-900ER aircraft, bringing Delta’s total order book for the largest Boeing 737 Next Generation (737 NG) variant to 140 aircraft, of which 40 frames have been delivered.

The orders are contingent on the confirmation of a new contract by Delta’s pilots, approved earlier this week by the Delta Master Executive Council (MEC) of the Air Line Pilot Association (ALPA). Highlights of the contract include increased pay, reduced profit sharing, newly created pay scales for the E190 and Airbus A350 (among others), and a commitment to add a new 100-seat aircraft to the fleet.

The 20 Embraer E190s are former Air Canada aircraft, which Boeing Capital agreed to purchase in December 2013 in return for an Air Canada order for 61 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The flip of used aircraft to Delta mirrors Delta’s deal to lease in 88 ex-Southwest Airlines (and AirTran) Boeing 717s, which were returned to Boeing by Southwest after the Dallas-based low-cost carrier couldn’t make the aircraft work at its higher cost base.