Air France has returned the first of 12 Boeing 777-300ERs undergoing a cabin upgrade to service. Through the refurbishment programme, scheduled for completion by year-end, all long-haul aircraft in Air France’s fleet will be equipped with full-flat business seats and all mainline aircraft will feature wi-fi access, the SkyTeam carrier says.
Data shows it has 43 777-300ERs in its fleet, two of which are listed as stored. Its long-haul fleet additionally includes 777-200ERs, 787-9s, Airbus A330-200s and A350-900s. The refurbished aircraft (F-GZNK) was built in 2011 and has been equipped with 273 economy, 48 premium economy and 48 business seats under the new layout. Cirium understands the long-haul twinjet was previously configured with 315 economy, 24 premium economy and 42 business seats. Air France’s website indicates the airline so far operated cabin layouts with 296, 381 and 472 seats across its 777-300ER fleet. In the refurbished cabin, Air France highlights that all business seats – supplied by Safran – have direct aisle access and feature sliding doors. Seat pairs in the cabin centre are separated by a panel that can be lowered to create a “convivial space in which to make the most of the flight together”. For the premium economy section, Air France selected a Recaro-supplied seat that was introduced on the carrier’s A350 fleet in 2019, while the new economy seats by Safran “meet the highest standards of comfort on the market”, the airline asserts. F-GZNK appears to have been refurbished at Sabena Technics' MRO facility in Bordeaux. Modification has meantime begun on a 2016-vintage 777-300ER (F-GZNS) at Air France's maintenance facility at Paris Orly airport, a video published by the airline indicates. Air France has been contacted for further information.

TAP has warned that strikes by cabin crew at the end of the month will have the effect of "seriously affecting the company's results", as it cancels a swathe of services set to take place on 25-31 January. The Portuguese flag carrier has axed 1,316 flights, impacting some 156,000 passengers, ahead of action called by the SNPVAC union. This, the airline estimates, will bring a direct cost of €48 million ($52 million), comprising €29.3 million in lost revenue and €18.7 million in passenger compensation. It also forecasts losses of an additional €20 million from the potential impact on sales for other days and "suboptimisation of other flights with reaccommodated passengers". An earlier two-day cabin-crew strike, in December, cost TAP €8 million, it notes. However, it asserts that there has been "a considerable advance" in negotiations with SNPVAC since that action, and that agreement has been reached on 12 of 14 points of dispute, such as the placing of an additional crew member on Airbus A321LR medium-haul services to improve crews' workload. Outstanding issues concern pay, which TAP says is being decided upon in court, and the addition of a purser to long-haul flights, responsible for the handling of money, which TAP says would cost "several million euros" and place it at a competitive disadvantage with its European rivals. "The decision to go ahead with a strike from 25 to 31 January demolishes all the work done to bring the parties together, leaving thousands of TAP customers with their plans jeopardised and seriously affecting the company's results," says the airline. "In a year that is especially important for the implementation of the restructuring plan, and which faces added challenges, such as rising inflation, fuel prices and uncertain demand, the decision taken by the SNPVAC general assembly is unfortunately an obstacle on the path we have been following." SNPVAC has been approached for comment.

A class-action suit has been filed against Southwest Airlines, accusing the US carrier of having misled investors about its ability to operate during severe weather. New York-based law firm Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman filed the lawsuit against Dallas-based Southwest and certain of its officers on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Southwest securities between 13 June 2020 and 31 December 2022. The law firm is encouraging such investors to join the class action, which seeks to recover damages for alleged violations of federal securities laws. The firm's complaint challenges the accuracy of Southwest statements about its operations and contends that the airline failed to disclose certain issues related to its scheduling technology and flight schedule. Southwest, the suit also argues, "did not discuss how its unique point-to-point service and aggressive flight schedule could leave it prone in the event of inclement weather". The airline says that it does not "have anything to share at this time on that pending litigation". Flight cancellation rates for US majors Southwest, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines increased sharply after 20 December as a severe storm swept eastward from the Midwest and temperatures plummeted. Southwest suffered the worst operational disruption among US majors during the holiday period spanning 20 December 2022 to 2 January 2023