Week In Review News Items
Labor Developments
AirTran and the Air Line Pilots Association have a tentative agreement covering the carrier's pilots, ALPA said Thursday. The two sides have been talking since 2005. In 2009, ALPA took over from the National Pilots Association…British Airways cabin crew are to vote on a proposal to end the year-long dispute with the airline. A Unite spokeswoman was quoted as saying this morning: “There will be a consultative ballot on the offer and we’re working to get this underway as soon as practically possible.”
A lot of tough political decisions must wait until after the national elections on Nov. 2 for some resolution–many of which Congress will debate upon its return to Washington in the weeks following the election. But one politically delicate issue is pending only a recommendation by John Pistole, administrator of TSA–whether to confer collective bargaining rights to the agency's transportation security officers…and Frontier Airlines chief executive Bryan Bedford ended his stint on Sunday night's "Undercover Boss" television show by telling employees he would roll back the 10 percent pay cut they took so the airline could survive.
Regulatory
The new, full-body security scanners being introduced at airports pose a greater skin cancer risk than governments have previously acknowledged and are especially dangerous to children and pregnant women, a new study has found. A new analysis of the radiation dose delivered by the machines, conducted by David Brenner and colleagues at Columbia University, found that because the beams concentrate X-rays on the body's skin, the effective dose may be 20 times higher than previously estimated…meanwhile ExpressJet Airlines first officer Michael Roberts drew a line in the sand at Memphis International Airport security checkpoint C. He left the airport without boarding a flight to his duty base in Houston, refusing a full-body scan and its alternative, a manual pat-down, by TSA officers. Roberts, 35, is waiting to find out whether his protest would cost him his job
Airline Industry Finances & Structure
Major U.S. airlines accelerated their recovery in the summer travel season and reported strong profits on impressive revenues on Wednesday, sending the sector's shares soaring on optimism for the remainder of the year. Delta and US Airways beat Wall Street forecasts and American Airlines delivered its first profit since the third quarter of 2007…Wall Street discovered Wednesday that the historically unprofitable airline industry may have changed dramatically. Shares rose at every major carrier, led by an 13% gain at American, an 11% gain at Delta and a 15% gain at Hawaiian, all of which reported strong earnings…but while airlines have been flying high on strong earnings, many option traders aren't on board. Option Monster's tracking systems have been detecting heavy call-selling and put-buying in the sector, reflecting a generally skeptical attitude by traders.
Miscellaneous
There is now a dollar amount to put on the collective rage of U.S. airline passengers over flight delays: $16.7 billion. That's the annual cost to fliers when planes don't run on time…Virgin America is the best airline in the USA. At least that's according to Condé Nast Traveler magazine…and the number of first-class cabins is shrinking. A small but growing list of airlines are eliminating or reducing rows in the most expensive part of their aircraft as customers increasingly look for cheaper seats. The global slowdown has put a damper on first-class flying as fewer corporate travelers can afford $15,000 seats.