Czech carrier Smartwings is to wet-lease four Boeing 737-800s to the Middle Eastern operator Flydubai, to help offset a capacity loss from the 737 Max grounding. Flydubai states that it has finalised an agreement to lease the four -800s from Smartwings for the period from 14 December this year to 25 January 2020. The jets will provide additional capacity during the busy seasonal travel period, says Flydubai, which has 40 737-800s – as well as 14 737 Max jets grounded since March. Chief executive Ghaith Al Ghaith says the disruption caused by the grounding has been "significant", forcing a 30% cut in its schedule. "These four additional aircraft will enable more passengers to have more options to travel during the holiday season," he adds. The all-economy jets will operate to destinations including Bahrain, Kuwait, Karachi and Muscat.

Source: FlightGlobal

Lufthansa's German flight-attendant union UFO is threatening industrial action after talks in preparation for an arbitration process broke down for the second time this month. UFO says Lufthansa prematurely withdrew from the discussions on 27 November, two days after they began. The union's deputy chief, Daniel Flohr, said during a webcast today that the two sides had agreed on all but "0.01%" of topics. But he complains that Lufthansa provided no "binding legal security" regarding previous action by the airline against himself, UFO chief Sylvia De La Cruz, and the union's former chief, Nicoley Baublies, who is involved in the negotiations as a "representative". While wage negotiations between Lufthansa and UFO have been going on for some time, the dispute escalated in 2018 after the union's selection of De La Cruz and Flohr as leaders. Lufthansa questioned the legality of that selection, and in August 2019 disclosed that it had asked the Hessian state labour court to review UFO's trade-union status. On 22 November – following the breakdown of the first arbitration attempt – Lufthansa said it would withdraw the legal action as "a signal of de-escalation" and to "open up solution areas in a difficult, deadlocked situation". However, Flohr insists that the search for a solution will not be pursued "without knowing where we stand legally". Lufthansa has declined to comment on its stance toward the three union figures, arguing that "individual contractual arrangements cannot be connected with the question of whether or not a tariff arbitration process is launched". In a separate statement, the airline says it is open to a "comprehensive" arbitration process that covers issues at subsidiaries Eurowings, Germanwings and CityLine, even if UFO does not commit to a "peace obligation" at these operators during the process. Lufthansa withdrew from the previous arbitration attempt – agreed in principle for the German mainline – because, it said, UFO had not committed to a peace obligation at the three subsidiaries or the Frankfurt-based operation of SunExpress, its leisure joint venture with Turkish Airlines. The two sides have agreed to proceed with a "small" arbitration process that covers only pay issues at Lufthansa's mainline.

Souce: FlightGlobal

Fastjet Group is predicting full-year net losses of $7-8 million, which it attributes to volatility affecting its Zimbabwean operation, a division it is looking to divest. Although operational performance has improved, and revenues for the first 10 months of this year increased by 20% – to just over $34 million – the company remains loss-making. Fastjet Group says its FedAir operation is "resilient" and is set to generate a profit this year. But the introduction of a new Zimbabwean currency earlier this year, and devaluation of the previous one, has contributed to difficult trading for its airline operation in the state. Fastjet Group has faced problems across multiple airline operations as the company attempted to establish itself as a pan-African budget airline. It sold its Tanzanian airline operation in November last year, as strong competition from Air Tanzania exacerbated poor financial results – this former operation was recently placed into liquidation after a creditor application to a local court. Fastjet Group then suspended its airline division in Mozambique over increasing losses, and planned to concentrate on its Zimbabwean arm and the establishment of South African services. But the problems in Zimbabwe have put further financial pressure on the company, and it is looking at selling the division to investors in order to raise capital. Fastjet Group says it had cash reserves of $3 million on 21 November, of which $800,000 was in Zimbabwe. Selling the Zimbabwean operation would "de-risk the significant uncertainty and cash drain" and allow Fastjet Group to continue operating under a "simpler" business model, says chief executive Mark Hurst. If the divestment proposal is accepted Fastjet Group would emerge as a franchise operation offering the brand and management services to the Zimbabwean division and other African carriers.

Source: FlightGlobal