Thread: Airline News

EU and US meeting on airline laptop ban ends with no result

By CATHY BUYCK AND DAVID M. HERSZENHORN 5/17/17, 8:55 PM CET Updated 5/17/17, 9:02 PM CET

A meeting Wednesday between EU and U.S. officials to discuss the possibility that the U.S. will extend a ban on laptops in aircraft cabins to European airports ended without coming to a conclusion.

A follow-up meeting is set for next week in Washington.

Today’s talks included a technical meeting, followed by a political gathering in a secure environment. Some “appropriately cleared” European allies were given more detailed information about the specific threat of explosives hidden in laptops that led to the U.S. mulling an expanded electronics ban, a senior Trump administration official said in a briefing following the meeting.

There is still no decision on whether to include European airports in the ban, the U.S official said, adding that it is “under consideration” and that the U.S. reserves the right to unilaterally implement the measure whenever it decides there is an imminent threat.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is aware of the operational and economic implications of the possible ban, but “the consequences of an aircraft going down outweigh the other considerations,” the official said.

Washington has already imposed an electronics ban on direct flights from 10 North African and Middle Eastern airports.

The meeting included representatives from seven EU countries – the U.K., the Netherlands, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain and Italy — sources told POLITICO.

“Both sides exchanged information on the serious evolving threats to aviation security and approaches to confronting such threats,” the Commission said in a statement.

EU and US meeting on airline laptop ban ends with no result ? POLITICO

Cathay Pacific Lays off 600 Staff as it Faces Rising Pressure from Rival Carriers

HONG KONG – Cathay Pacific Airways said on Monday it is laying off nearly 600 staff at its headquarters as it faces rising competition from rival carriers and tough business conditions.

The airline said it plans to axe about 190 managers, or a quarter of all the company’s management jobs.

It’s also eliminating the jobs of 400 workers in non-managerial roles.

Cathay said in a statement that frontline workers, including pilots and cabin crew, would not be affected, but “will be also be asked to deliver greater efficiencies and productivity.”

Hong Kong’s biggest airline is making cuts after it reported a US$74-million loss last year.

It was Cathay’s first annual loss since 2008. The company blamed the poor performance on intensifying competition from both Asian budget carriers and mainland Chinese airlines and the slowing Chinese economy, which crimped travel demand.

Chief executive officer Rupert Hogg said in a statement the company had to make “tough but necessary decisions for the future of our business”.

“Changes in people’s travel habits and what they expect from us, evolving competition and a challenging business outlook have created the need for significant change,” said Mr Hogg, who was promoted to the position earlier this month as part of a three-year corporate overhaul.

The airline, which employs 16,500 workers in Hong Kong, said most of the layoffs will be completed by the year’s end.

Cathay Pacific Lays off 600 Staff as it Faces Rising Pressure from Rival Carriers | Chiang Rai Times English Language Newspaper

Inevitable really. These cheapie airlines are sucking up all their business, a problem all the legacy carriers face, but they are popping up all over Asia.

My new employers managed to book me a flight to the UK fro m Germany for the extortionate price of 720 Euros...and hand luggage only for a 6 day trip.

It only cost me 10 Euros more for a return to BKK with 30 kg.

They had to use lufthansa for some stupid reason. Dumb is dumb!

Originally Posted by Troy

They had to use lufthansa for some stupid reason. Dumb is dumb!

"Had to"?

Are you sure someone in your travel department isn't getting kickbacks/points?

I would kick up a stink and claim I'm trying to save the company money.

Again. Duh.

Saturday 27 May 2017 12:19pm
British Airways global computer failure causes bank holiday flight delays at airports including London Heathrow

British Airways passengers are being forced to endure long delays after the airline suffered a global IT systems failure.

Passengers reported massive queues at Heathrow, with others saying on social media that their plane was stuck on the runway.

The firm apologised on its Twitter account, saying: “We apologise for the current IT systems outage. We are working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.”

Passengers were delayed at Heathrow, British Airways' central operations base, with the London airport saying it has called in extra staff to help customers.

A spokesperson for the airport said: "An issue with a worldwide British Airways' IT system is causing some delays for passengers at Heathrow this morning. We are working closely with the airline to resolve this and are advising passengers to check the status of their flight before travelling to the airport."

British Airways (BA) global computer failure causes bank holiday flight delays at airports around the world including London Heathrow (LHR) | City A.M.

^

And where might this "worldwide British Airways' IT system" be hosted / maintained / supported? I'd be surprised if it's an English speaking location.

Chalk this one up to globalisation I say - just like the not-infrequent nationwide ATM failures we enjoy here in Oz.

There was another widespread outage earlier in the week, multiple airlines / multiple locations. Something to do with a passport validation @ check-in system outage, provided to airlines by some third-party supplier. Globalisation.

(I work in IT, and know first hand how far standards have slipped since offshoring took off. Or "global delivery" or "right shoring" as my company so mischievously calls it. "We have a major incident with thousand of users affected? Sorry, my bus is due, I must go now. <click>" )

Just like the QF72 story that Tizme posted recently. Nice to know the software that has taken control of modern aircraft away from the pilots was probably coded by some sweaty curry muncher earning $10k per year eh? One who brings all of his ingrained integrity to the table. Dwell on that as you are enjoying your next glass of something at 38,000 feet.

Oh listen to me, I'll be voting for some far right loony candidate soon.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Again. Duh.

Apparently a power supply failure. Would think a system of this importance would have multiple power backups.

Originally Posted by Norton

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Again. Duh.

Apparently a power supply failure. Would think a system of this importance would have multiple power backups.

And a disaster recovery site.

Seriously, Willie should take a walk for this.

Well Harry, that answers the question about why my company 'had to' book me on Lufthansa, although I was home by midnight Friday.

Heads will need to roll at BA for bad management and cost cutting.

Originally Posted by Troy

Well Harry, that answers the question about why my company 'had to' book me on Lufthansa, although I was home by midnight Friday.

Heads will need to roll at BA for bad management and cost cutting.

Well it doesn't but I'm glad it worked out well!

"IT services are now provided globally by a range of suppliers and this is very common practice across all industries" and ... "the UK Government."

So the power supply issue could have happened in Bangalore then.

So when will BA admit they were doing an upgrade and it didn't work quite as well as it did during testing in India...

Have they sent a car round for you yet Harry?

Originally Posted by Troy

So when will BA admit they were doing an upgrade and it didn't work quite as well as it did during testing in India...

Have they sent a car round for you yet Harry?

Sounds like they need a sparky.

Mind you, I'd offer to help if they fly me first class, but the cuntos haven't got any flights have they?

British Airways: After IT outage, British Airways union blames outsourced IT jobs in India for problem - Times of India

NEW DELHI: A day after an unprecedented IT outage forced British Airways to cancel all its flights at Heathrow and Gatwick airports, a union of the airline has upped the ante against Indian tech companies to whom the job was outsourced. "BA's disastrous computer systems failure is another example of the shortcomings of BA IT systems since they made a number of staff redundant, and outsourced their work to India in 2016, GMB, the union for aviation workers, on said on Sunday.
The union's website termed the outage as "disastrous computer failure (that) could have been avoided" and "slammed BA over... failure that has left Heathrow at a standstill and passengers stranded."
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BA chief executive Alex Cruz said: "We believe the root cause was a power supply issue."
Mr Cruz said there was no evidence the computer probl... Read More
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The website quotes Mick Rix, GMB national officer for aviation, saying: "We can only feel genuinely sorry for the tens of thousands of passengers who are stranded at airports and face having their travel plans and holidays ruined. This could have all been avoided. BA in 2016 made hundreds of dedicated and loyal IT staff redundant and outsourced the work to India. BA have made substantial profits in for a number of years, and many viewed the company's actions of being just plain greedy".
GMB website says the union had on February 29, 2016, protested against BA outsourcing IT jobs. The website quotes Mick Rix saying then a march was held "in protest at the company plans to outsource and offshore work to (one of the biggest IT majors in India)." "The affected job losses at Heathrow in West London is around 700 people and around 100 in New Castle and other locations."

^ TCS is the Indian company involved I'm hearing. I've had dealings with their (imported) foot soldiers here in Oz, and if their local "get the job done and bugger the process and procedures" attitude is typical across the organisation, then I am not surprised by BA's troubles.

Originally Posted by bindog

^ TCS is the Indian company involved I'm hearing. I've had dealings with their (imported) foot soldiers here in Oz, and if their local "get the job done and bugger the process and procedures" attitude is typical across the organisation, then I am not surprised by BA's troubles.

One wonders what the job specification and orders that were conveyed to the "foot soliers" and what was told to the client to clinch the deal, bear any similarities at all.

Well fuck me there's a surprise. Now obviously someone is going to say "Maybe we shouldn't put them in the hold then". Mainly because it would be a darned sight harder to put the fire out there.

So, are we now looking at a complete ban?

If so, I definitely get a new lappy next week, paid for by the company, when I land in San Juan.

JetBlue flight diverted after laptop battery catches fire, officials say
Published May 31, 2017 F

A San Francisco-bound JetBlue flight departing from New York City was forced to make an emergency landing in Michigan Tuesday night after a laptop battery caught on fire, authorities said.

Flight 915 from John F. Kennedy Airport was diverted "due to a lithium battery fire from a passenger's laptop," the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to Fox News.

The flight landed at Gerald Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Mich., about 8 p.m. local time. JetBlue does not usually operate flights out of Ford but no injuries were reported and the aircraft was not damaged, according to the FAA.

Kat Honniball, a passenger on the flight, told WZZM that some people started smelling smoke and noticed it was coming from a backpack.

"I was stunned — I knew something was going to happen because, you know, lithium batteries catching on fire when you're up at 38,000 feet you can't help but think you've got to do something," Honniball told the station.

Flight attendants and passengers remained calm during the situation, according to Honniball. There were reportedly 158 passengers on the plane.

Firefighters responded to the incident at the Michigan airport as a precaution, but the fire was already extinguished by the time the plane landed, the airport posted on Twitter.

JetBlue flight diverted after laptop battery catches fire, officials say | Fox News

A contractor doing maintenance work at a British Airways data centre inadvertently switched off the power supply, knocking out the airline's computer systems and leaving 75,000 people stranded last weekend, the Times newspaper reported on Friday.

Quoting a BA source, the newspaper said the power supply unit that sparked the I.T. failure was working perfectly but was accidentally shut down by a worker. An investigation into the power outage is likely to focus on human error rather than any equipment failure, it said.

BA (ICAG.L) had to cancel all flights from London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports last Saturday. It blamed a power surge that knocked out its computer system, disrupting flight operations, call centres and its website.

British Airways I.T. outage caused by contractor who switched off power - Times | Reuters

Bangkok-Doha air travel remains normal

Air travel between Thailand and Qatar remains operation as normal with five flights leaving Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport for Doha airport on daily basis, said Mr Sirote Duangrat, director of Suvarnabhumi airport of the Airports of Thailand Public Company.

Finance permanent secretary Somchai Satjapong, meanwhile, said that Thailand would not be much affected by the situation in Qatar between trade and investments relations between Thailand and Qatar remains insignificant, except for oil which may be slightly affected.

Foreign Trade Department chief Malee Chokelumlert said that shipments of goods from Thailand to Qatar by land have been rendered impossible due to Saudi’s sealing of the borders with Qatar.

But delivery of goods by air to Qatar remains possible, but the flights will be routed directly to Doha port instead of through Dubai, said Malee, adding that goods to be affected are automobiles, airconditioners and refrigerators.

Ms Pimchanok Wornkhorporn, director of Trade and Strategic Policy Office of Commerce Ministry, said Thai trade between Thailand and Qatar might be affected because of anticipated economic slowdown in Qatar, but commerce officials would keep monitoring the situations in Qatar.

Bangkok-Doha air travel remains normal - Thai PBS English News

^ I cannot see Thailand traffic being hugely affected at this stage. Qatar still has overflight rights over Iran and Turkey, so Europe and Asia flights by Qatar Airways (QR) should be largely unaffected - small detours required maybe.

I flew QR earlier in the year to / from Europe - we flew over Iran and Turkey then.

It is flights to / from Africa that will hurt them, big detours required there apparently. But I don't imagine much of the Africa traffic finds its way to BKK, apart from some South Africans.

I suppose what will really damage QR is this negative publicity. If it is true the country is sponsoring / supporting / condoning terrorist organisations, I wouldn't fly their airline again. But is it true? Who knows. I read somewhere that the kerfuffle has a bit to do with Al Jazeera being based in Qatar / having a bureau there, and other ME states not enjoying what Al Jazeera has to say. And Qatar being on Iran's side in the current ME squabble.

Originally Posted by bindog

^ I cannot see Thailand traffic being hugely affected at this stage.

I am one of lots of people I know that use QR to go to Thailand because of their pricing and their flight times.

People from all over the Gulf fly to Doha to connect to Bangkok.

Pretty well all of that traffic (especially Business class) is now gone.

Of course the other airlines are minting it, someone I know was quote $2500 for an Emirates flight yesterday.

I have a flight booked for 22nd, they offered to switch me to Oman Air but it turns a 10 hour travel into a 26 hour one, so I've rebooked elsewhere and I'll cancel the QR flight if it isn't solved in a week or so.

You fly Biz from the sandpit to the swamp?? It's only about 5 hours flight innit? I'd rather spend my money on cultural pursuits.

So Suk 3 is going to be hit by the QR landing rights / overflight bans. I should have qualified my prediction with "Europe - Asia / Oceania traffic".

British Airways cabin crew to stage two-week strike

British Airways cabin crew are to stage a two-week strike from 1 July, the Unite union has said, in a long-running dispute over pay and benefits.

Unite said BA had refused to accept its final offer on the issue of the "sanctioning" of striking cabin crew.

The union claims that crew who previously walked out have not had their bonuses or benefits, including free and discounted travel, restored.

BA said that the proposed action was "extreme and completely unnecessary".


'Deeply disappointing'

Unite said it would "vigorously" pursue legal action against BA on behalf of the 1,400 cabin crew affected.

The union claims that British Airways has formed a "blacklist to impose sanctions on striking cabin crew", which has led to bonus payments being cut and the removal of staff travel concessions.

Unite had originally planned a four-day strike to start on Friday, but this was suspended while the two sides tried to resolve the dispute.

However, the union has now said its members among BA's mixed fleet crew will go on strike from 00:01 on Saturday 1 July to 23:59 on Sunday 16 July.

BA reassured passengers that it would continue to fly all customers to their destinations.

The airline said: "We had reached a deal on pay, which Unite agreed was acceptable. Unite has already confirmed it is pursuing the non-pay issues in this dispute through the courts.

"We urge Unite to let its members vote on the pay proposals."

Unite assistant general secretary Howard Beckett said: "The refusal by British Airways bosses to meaningfully consider our compromise offer is deeply disappointing.

"A resolution to this long-running dispute was within the grasp of British Airways, but instead of grabbing that opportunity, bosses rebuffed it. It now means British Airways faces an entirely avoidable two-week strike and prolonged legal action on behalf of over 1,400 mixed cabin crew."

There have been 26 days of strike action by BA staff since the start of the year.

British Airways cabin crew to stage two-week strike - BBC News