UK low-cost carrier EasyJet is facing nine days of strikes by cabin crew based in Spain this summer, amid ongoing disruption to its schedules caused by air traffic control delays and staff shortages at airports across Europe. The USO union, which represents EasyJet's Spain-based cabin crew members, says in a 21 June statement that 450 members based at Barcelona, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca plan to walk out on 1-3 July, 15-17 July and 29-31 July to protest pay and working conditions. The union is calling for EasyJet's Spanish staff to be paid the same as employees based in France and Germany. It says it has been negotiating with the airline since February but no agreement has been reached. In recent days, EasyJet has slashed its capacity forecast for the third quarter ending 30 June and the fourth quarter ending 30 September, as part of a series of "pre-emptive actions" to increase resilience throughout the summer. The airline recently announced flight caps at London Gatwick and Amsterdam airports to avoid further flight cancellations.
EasyJet says it is "extremely disappointed" with the planned strike action, "as we have made considerable progress towards a new CLA [collective labour agreement] and so would like to continue the constructive dialogue with them".
It adds: "Should the industrial action go ahead there could be some disruption to our flying programme to and from Malaga, Palma and Barcelona during the strike period. But at this stage, EasyJet plans to operate its full schedule and we would like to reassure customers that we will do everything possible to minimise any disruption."

The global airline industry's collective loss will shrink to around $9.7 billion this year, IATA predicts. This represents a significant improvement on the $11.6 billion loss the association projected in its October 2021 forecast.
Speaking during IATA's ongoing AGM in Doha, director general Willie Walsh highlighted that the new forecast put the industry on track to regain profitability next year, backed up by continuing strong demand for air travel, and despite operational issues. In comparison, carriers lost $42.1 billion last year and some $138 billion in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic hammered demand and revenues. "I think we have got to realise that we are still rebuilding," Walsh said in response to a question on whether the recovery could continue to build into the end of the year. "The evidence suggests we still have a disconnect between supply and demand into the fourth quarter and potentially the first quarter as airlines and airports rebuild for the strong recovery that we are seeing." He adds that improved profitability is forecast despite massive increases in the price of fuel, which represents the largest single cost that airlines bear. Airlines will consume $192 billion-worth of fuel this year, IATA estimates, representing 24% of their costs, up from 19% in 2021. "I think [the positive outlook] reflects not just strong demand but expected demand development, so we don't have any concerns about the demand environment or supply environment," says Walsh. Backing up the rosy picture, IATA highlights that several sections of the industry have already returned to profitability. The US market, for example, is projected to deliver an $8.8 billion result this year, for example. One result of the rapid bounceback in demand is that delays and cancellations have become a common feature across the world, with 69% of arrivals in Europe this year, for example, having experienced some form of delay. But these issues were described as "business as usual", by Walsh, who argues that they are "insignificant" compared with the challenge of surviving through the pandemic. Likewise. JetBlue Airways chief executive Robin Hayes, the outgoing chair of IATA's board of governors, notes that staff are returning to the industry rapidly now that there is more certainty around pandemic-era restrictions. He believes that significant pent-up demand remains in the system because of capacity limitations this summer, as well as a rapid bounceback in business travel that is further behind leisure demand. Overall, IATA's latest forecast is for passenger demand to return to 83% of 2019 levels this year, while revenues will hit $782 billion, or 93% of pre-pandemic. Walsh highlights that despite widespread economic problems, global growth is still forecast at around 3.4%, which should support passenger demand and ensure a wider return to profitability next year: "Everything we look at points to a positive outlook for the industry."

The US bankruptcy court for the Southern District of New York has approved LATAM Airlines Group's Chapter 11 reorganisation plan. The group says the plan, which was backed by almost all of its creditors, is the result of months of negotiations among major stakeholders. This included an extensive mediation period. "We are very satisfied with the judge's confirmation of our restructuring plan," states LATAM chief executive Roberto Alvo. "This is a very important step in the process to emerge from Chapter 11, and we will continue working hard to complete the remaining steps in the coming months". LATAM is now focused on implementation of the corporate actions necessary to complete its exit from the Chapter 11 process during 2022's second half. This includes approval at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting of the new capital structure contemplated in the plan, the registration of shares and bonds in the securities registry of Chile's financial market commission the CMF, and the implementation of the respective preferential offering periods of the convertible shares and bonds in favour of LATAM's current shareholders. Once effective, the LATAM plan will inject around $8 billion through the combination of a capital increase, the issuance of convertible bonds, and new debt. This includes $5.4 billion of financing backed by major shareholders Delta Air Lines, Qatar Airways and Grupo Cueto and LATAM's major creditors, including the Parent Ad Hoc Group creditors and certain local bondholders.