Air India has signed lease agreements for six Airbus A320neos and six Boeing B777-300ERs to further expand its existing fleet. The 12 aircraft are expected to be inducted in the first half of 2023, the flag carrier says. It adds that the A320neo narrowbodies will be deployed on its domestic/short-to-medium haul routes, while the B777-300ER widebodies will be operated on long-haul international routes. The Star Alliance member leased 30 aircraft earlier this year, including 21 A320s, four A321s and five B777-200LRs. Air India's chief executive Campbell Wilson states: "Growing our network is an essential part of Air India's Vihaan.AI transformational journey and we remain committed to increasing connectivity and frequency of flights both domestically and internationally. These additional aircraft leases will support our near term growth even as we finalise plans to refresh and significantly grow our long-term fleet." As part of its expansion plan, the airline has already resumed operations of 19 long-grounded aircraft, with nine more to follow. It has also increased the frequency of flights between key cities on the domestic sector and announced direct flights between Indian cities and key global destinations like Doha in Qatar, San Francisco in the USA, Vancouver in Canada, and Birmingham in the UK.

Delta Air Lines and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) have signed an agreement in principle encompassing terms for a new contract for the Atlanta-based carrier's pilots. The US major says that it "[appreciates] the work of the negotiating teams and the mediator in reaching this agreement in principle". "We are pleased to have reached an agreement in principle for a new pilot contract, one that recognises the contributions of our pilots to Delta’s success." In a memo sent on 2 December to the carrier's pilots, Delta's ALPA master executive council says that the agreement in principle (AIP) "will improve the value of our pilot working agreement [PWA] by 45%, and represents over $7.2 billion of cumulative value increases over the next four years". Additionally, the agreement's "me too" clause stipulates that pay for Delta's pilots will exceed by at least 1% rates for pilots employed by United Airlines and American Airlines for the duration of the four-year contract. Once final contract language is agreed upon by the union and Delta, the AIP becomes a tentative agreement for consideration by the master executive council. The tentative agreement will be sent to union membership for ratification if it is approved by the council. The union adds in the memo to Delta pilots: "There is still much work which must be completed prior to making these hard-fought gains permanent." In late October, Delta's pilots voted to authorise ALPA to call a strike if contract negotiations with the carrier break down and certain legal conditions for a strike are met. ALPA said at the time that Delta's pilots are working under pay rates, contractual provisions and benefits that were negotiated in 2016. Negotiations for a new agreement commenced in April 2019, nine months prior to the amendable date of December 2019. Talks entered mediation in February 2020 and were paused for nearly two years during the Covid-19 pandemic. Mediated talks resumed in January 2022. "Delta has rebounded from the pandemic and is poised to be stronger than ever, posting record revenues for the third quarter," Jason Ambrosi, chair of Delta's ALPA master executive council, stated on 31 October. "Meanwhile, our negotiations have dragged on for too long." Recent airline trade union activity shows that an agreement in principle is no guarantee that a signed final contract is imminent, particularly in the wake of US majors' profits in the third quarter of 2022. United and ALPA in May signed an agreement in principle encompassing terms for a new contract for the Chicago-based carrier's pilots. United's pilots voted to reject the agreement in November.

Hundreds of ground handlers employed by Menzies Aviation at London Heathrow will go on strike for three days in mid-December in a dispute over pay, threatening to disrupt flights during the busy end-of-year holiday travel period. The Unite union, which represents the workers, says that 350 Menzies ground handlers plan to take strike action for a 72h period from 04:00 local time on 16 December. The union claims this will lead to delays and cancellations to flights departing from Heathrow Terminals 2, 3 and 4, and will particularly affect services operated by Air Canada, American Airlines, Swiss, TAP Portugal, Austrian, Qantas, EgyptAir, Aer Lingus and Finnair. However, Menzies says it expects the impact to be "minimal" if the strike goes ahead, but is hopeful a resolution can be reached before 16 December. "The previous strike, which involved about 250 of our 1,500 ground-handling workforce at Heathrow, had minimal impact on our operations with no flight cancellations attributable to Menzies and 97% of flights departing on time," says Menzies Aviation executive vice-president Europe Miguel Gomez Sjunnesson. He adds: "We remain committed to seeking a resolution on the pay talks in our ground-handling operations so our employees can receive their increase now, and hope to be able to reach an agreement which is workable for both the business and our employees during our meeting with unions on Tuesday." Heathrow says it is "aware" of the planned industrial action, adding: "We encourage airport partners who would be affected to continue with their contingency planning, and we will support them to minimise the impact on passengers, should the strike go ahead. "The airport said last month that it was ready for what it expects will be the busiest Christmas travel period for three years. Heathrow has not introduced the capacity cap it had in place during the summer, and says it has been "working with airports and ground handlers to prepare for the Christmas peak". The dispute is over a below-inflation pay increase offer which Unite says amounts to a real terms pay cut. It claims the offer is at odds with a 9.5% pay rise offered by Menzies to its cargo workers. "Heathrow passengers are facing disruption, delays and potentially cancellations in the lead-up to Christmas, but this dispute is entirely of Menzies' own making. The company has offered a fair pay rise to one group of workers but not to its ground handlers," says Unite regional officer Kevin Hall. "Menzies needs to stop prevaricating and making excuses. Instead, return to negotiations and make our workers a pay offer which meets their expectations."