British Airways cabin crew have started a three-day strike that is set cause severe disruption for thousands of passengers.

The BBC’s Chris Rogers was on a BA flight from Heathrow to Amsterdam on Saturday morning.

Terminal 5 was teeming with stewards acting as guides for thousands of BA staff who have volunteered to replace striking cabin crew, the stewards were there to guide them though their first day on the job.

The airline has assured passengers the volunteers have been fully trained for the job.

I was a passenger on one of just a few scheduled flights with BA cabin crew who did turn up for work.

The three-man team told me they decided to cross the picket line and were allocated on the flight to Amsterdam.

One worker – who didn’t wished to be named – said he may regret it “but he and other colleagues were thinking about the long term effects the strike would have on the company”.
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Thousands of passengers had their flights cancelled on Saturday following the launch of a strike by British Airways cabin crew.

It is first such strike in 13 years. fter talks over cost cutting between the airline and union Unite, which represents cabin crew, collapsed on Friday, the troubled airline said it hoped to keep flights running for up to 49,000 passengers on both Saturday and Sunday.

Unite said that its 12,000 members were supporting the three day walkout.

At Heathrow, which is the worst affected airport, screens were set up to protect the identities of BA staff who defied the strike.

BA said it expected 60 percent of its long-haul services and 30 percent short-haul services from Heathrow would be running over the weekend while short-haul flights from Gatwick would be halved.
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According to Continental Airlines, carriers serving New York’s three major airports should be temporarily exempt from new federal rules that fine airlines for tarmac delays.

In a Department of Transportation filing, Continental Airlines said delays from John F. Kennedy International Airport’s runway closure and construction impact all major airports in New York City.

Due to New York’s complex and interconnected airspace, Continental said “delays and delay mitigation strategies at one New York area airport adversely affect and inconvenience air carriers and passengers at another New York area airport.” Bad weather and conflicting runway approaches could cause “exponential increases” in the number of delays occurring at the other New York airports, said Continental.
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Delta Air Lines Inc., the world’s largest carrier, is adding shuttle service with 11 daily round-trip flights between New York’s LaGuardia and Chicago’s O’Hare airports to attract business customers.

The service to O’Hare, the world’s fourth-busiest airport, will begin June 10 and replace less-frequent flights to Chicago Midway, Delta Air Lines said today in a statement. The carrier also is adding flights from Los Angeles to four U.S. cities including Hartford, Connecticut.

The Chicago shuttle steps up competition with AMR Corp.’s American Airlines and UAL Corp.’s United Airlines for business travelers, who typically pay the highest fares. Those rivals both have hubs at O’Hare. The flights will use 76-seat Embraer 175 jets, and attendants will serve meals or bagels and complimentary wine and beer, as on other Delta Shuttle routes. (continue reading…)

American Eagle Airlines, the regional affiliate of American Airlines, will begin nonstop jet service between Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI) beginning July 2. The Tri-Cities airport is centrally located between the cities of Bristol, Kingsport and Johnson City, Tenn., and serves the communities of Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and Western North Carolina. Eagle will operate the service with 44-seat Embraer ERJ-140 jets.

“American Airlines was the first carrier to operate at Tri-Cities Regional Airport, launching service Sept. 1, 1937, and we are delighted to bring the American brand back, with service to the Tri-Cities area from our hub in Chicago,” said Gary Foss, Vice President – Planning and Marketing for the AA Regional Network. “From the Birthplace of Country Music to NASCAR racing at the Bristol Motor Speedway, the Tri-Cities area has a tremendous amount to offer. (continue reading…)

Alaska Airlines today announced a realignment of its marketing, sales and online commerce groups.

Joe Sprague, a 10-year veteran at Alaska Airlines, has been named vice president of marketing. Sprague will be responsible for the carrier’s overall marketing strategy as he oversees marketing communications, sales, reservations, food and beverage, customer care, the Mileage Plan frequent flier program and Board Rooms. Sprague will also retain responsibility for Alaska Air Cargo, a division he has led for the past two years.

Steve Jarvis, formerly Alaska’s vice president of marketing, sales and customer experience, will assume the new role of vice president of customer innovation and alaskaair.com. (continue reading…)

British Airways expects to lease up to 22 aircraft from eight airlines in order to maintain services during a planned cabin crew strike this month.

It will use the aircraft to supplement its short-haul schedule from London Heathrow, and allow it to operate, overall, about 30% of its short-haul schedule over the initial strike period.

British Airways expects to carry 60% of booked passengers during the three-day strike from 20-22 March, adding that a number of other customers will be offered alternative British Airways flights or services on other carriers.
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Aircraft manufacturer Boeing may modify the production of Boeing 737 Next Generation. VP of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in an interview with ATI and Flightglobal ISTAT, “We’ve talked in moderate detail about what to do. What do we think we’ll have to do is we should have a new mast, new nacelle, wing reinforcement and strengthening of the potential wingbox. ”

Tinseth explains that Boeing “doesn’t really want to touch the main landing gear and we don’t have to. We’ve looked a little bit around maybe some minor modifications around the nose landing gear, still yet to be determined.”
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UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) announced that the civil aviation sector in the UAE continued recording higher growth rates in February 2010 compared to the same month last year.

Growth was noted across all operations including aviation, air safety, security, infrastructure, transportation, licensing and aeromedical as well as many transactions which are related to the civil aviation sector and ancillary operations in the UAE.

GCAA’s monthly report of February 2010 showed that total UAE air traffic movements were 47.8 thousand, an increase of almost 12.7% compared to the 42.4 thousand movements in February 2009. (continue reading…)