Flybe will be renamed "Virgin Connect" next year to bring its brand in line with that of co-owner Virgin Atlantic. As part of the move, the UK regional operator's purple colour scheme will be dropped in favour of Virgin's red branding, Flybe states, that no existing bookings will be affected by the decision. "At its heart, Virgin Connect will be passionately focused on becoming Europe's most loved and successful regional airline," says Mark Anderson, chief executive of Flybe parent Connect Airways. "Our customers will naturally expect the same exceptional travel experience as they do with other Virgin-related brands." The announcement comes after Virgin Atlantic stated in September that Flybe would play an important role in its ambition to launch dozens of new routes from an expanded Heathrow airport, should the decision regarding allocation of slots for a third runway work in its favour. Virgin Atlantic is a co-owner of Flybe through an investment made in Connect Airways in early 2019. Regarding those expansion plans, Virgin Atlantic's vice-president of operations Philip Maher told FlightGlobal in late September that "Flybe would be a key connector for us into Manchester and Heathrow". He added that Virgin Atlantic would "use Flybe to expand our regional footprint into Europe and feed that traffic back into the UK".

Source: FlightGlobal

Cathay Pacific’s outgoing chairman John Slosar has resigned from Air China’s board. He served as a non-executive director at the Chinese carrier since 2014. An Air China stock exchange disclosure indicates that Slosar tendered his resignation on 12 October, and will serve until 6 November - the same day he completes his tenure as Cathay chairman. It did not indicate who will replace Slosar, but it is likely to be Swire Group veteran Patrick Healy, who has been named as Cathay's incoming chairman. Slosar’s resignation from the Air China board comes about a month after he stepped down as Cathay’s chairman, amid a turbulent time for the carrier that saw a major senior management reshuffle. Air China owns nearly 30% of Cathay, while Cathay owns 18.1% of the Star Alliance carrier. They entered into the partnership in 2008, and cooperate in areas such as codesharing, frequent flyer programmes, catering and ground services.

Source: FlightGlobal

German flight-attendant union UFO has called for industrial action at Lufthansa on 20 October and indicated potential further strikes across the group's German-based carriers. The planned strike will cover Lufthansa flights at the airline's hubs in Frankfurt and Munich for a 5h period from 6:00am local time, the union says. UFO deputy chief Daniel Flohr said in a video message today that consultations will take place this week with the union's negotiation teams at group carriers about the possibility of "open-ended" strikes across group "at any time". He says that the union will call for "action at every group airline" to achieve its objectives. The dispute covers staff at Lufthansa, budget units Germanwings and Eurowings, regional arm CityLine, and the Frankfurt-based operation of Lufthansa's leisure joint venture with Turkish Airlines, SunExpress. Further strike action will "solely depend on whether Lufthansa will return to the negotiation table", Flohr says. The airline and union previously discussed employment terms, but the dispute escalated in 2018 over the installation of a new leadership team at UFO. Flohr asserts that Lufthansa has prohibited talks with the union in relation to any group carrier and has threatened legal action against staff participating in the union's strike activities. In August, Lufthansa filed a motion with a regional labour court in Frankfurt to "legally determine the union status of UFO". The airline argues that both UFO's status as a union and the "authority" of its leadership to represent employees "remain unclear". Lufthansa therefore deems the planned strike action illegal and says that talks with the union are "not possible". The carrier is considering taking legal action against the planned strike. Lufthansa says it has "no need" to amend its schedule and intends to operate a "full flight programme" on 20 October.

Source: FlightGlobal