Alaska Airlines is to join the Oneworld alliance, becoming the group's 14th member. The US carrier hopes to complete its entry into the alliance "around the end of the year". Alaska's wholly-owned subsidiary Horizon Air and regional partner SkyWest Airlines will join Oneworld as affiliate members. Joining the alliance will "improve connectivity and service for our guests throughout the West coast and beyond", says Alaska chief executive Brad Tilden. "Oneworld will open up a tremendous international network for our business and leisure travellers when they're ready to start flying overseas again, in addition to greater connectivity around the US through our network for international visitors," he adds. Alaska is "eager to build deeper ties" with the six Oneworld members it already co-operates with, these being American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Japan Airlines and Qantas. The airline's addition to Oneworld will add 34 destinations to the alliance's US network.

Source: Cirium

Taiwan lawmakers have approved a proposal to rename national carrier China Airlines, paving the way for a possible rebranding. The proposal, first mooted by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party caucus, calls on the island’s transport ministry to study and propose a phased plan to “strengthen China Airlines’ international recognition,” which will also help advance Taiwan’s interests. The proposal, first raised in the Taiwanese Legislative Yuen in April, also suggests an initial livery redesign that would emphasise the Taiwan name, but not affect the carrier’s air traffic rights. The 64 lawmakers present at the sitting all voted in favour of the proposal, allowing it to be handed over to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications for implementation. No timeline on the process has been given by the lawmakers, who add that more discussions would be needed to come up with a feasible approach to a thorough rebranding. The long-simmering debate on whether to rename China Airlines was thrust back into the spotlight amid the coronavirus outbreak, when the SkyTeam carrier mounted several freighter flights to parts of the world in April, to deliver medical supplies to assist in coronavirus aid efforts. Taiwanese media reports suggested that because the airline’s name had “China” in it, it would lead to confusion as to whether these donations came from the People’s Republic of China, or Taiwan. China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province which it has vowed to retake, by force if necessary.

Source: Cirium

British Airways pilots are to be consulted on a package involving pay cuts and a series of other measures intended to protect crew jobs, with the cockpit union admitting the conditions of the deal are unlikely to be bettered. Cockpit union BALPA has been discussing ways to avoid cutting over 1,250 pilots, after British Airways embarked on a wide-ranging restructuring which threatened some 12,000 positions at the airline. The union believes compulsory redundancy will still affect up to 270 pilots, although it expects additional “voluntary mitigation” could bring the figure down further. It will consult with 4,300 pilots at the airline on the proposed package which, says the union, is “the best that can be achieved” under the “incredibly difficult” circumstances of the air transport crisis. BALPA stresses that the airline will not undertake to “fire and rehire” pilots – a term to describe dismissing crews before taking them back on reduced terms and conditions, in order to cut costs. Measures include establishing a holding pool equating to 300 pilots, on reduced pay, which will remain on standby in preparation for a pick-up in demand. This will be complemented by voluntary part-time working, voluntary severance, and voluntary external secondment. To fund the scheme pilots will take a pay cut initially set at 20% but falling to 8% over the next two years, and subsequently declining towards zero. BALPA says it is recommending the proposals to crews, and a ballot on acceptance will run to 30 July. “It is hugely disappointing that, during our extensive negotiations, British Airways would not accept the full package of mitigations we put forward,” says general secretary Brian Strutton, adding that compulsory redundancies would be a “matter of huge regret”.

Source: Cirium