EVA cabin crew threaten strike
June 11, 2019
EVA Air cabin crew have threatened to go on strike over working conditions, after a flight attendants' union voted overwhelmingly in favour taking strike action. The Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union has not announced if or when the strike could take place, but has not ruled out going on strike before negotiations with EVA Air restart on the 25th of June. Among its requests, the union is asking the airline for better working hours and wages for its cabin crew. EVA Air said on 7 June that it was "deeply disappointed" by the union's decision. It said, in a statement, that it had held multiple rounds of negotiations and meetings with the union to attempt reaching an amicable decision. "[We] believe that pragmatic dialogue and rational negotiation are the best ways to resolve disputes," EVA said.
Collins GPS outage grounds regional flights
June 11, 2019
Collins Aerospace is coordinating with safety regulators and its equipment clients after a GPS connection outage on its parts resulted in the cancellation of hundreds of flights, especially flights on aircraft operated by US regional carriers. The US Federal Aviation Administration had few details to share about the groundings on 8 and 9 June primarily caused by the Collins Aerospace GPS-4000S sensor that connects aircraft with GPS satellites. Affected carriers do not expect more delays or cancellations related to the problem as they wait for answers from Collins and the FAA. A Collins spokeswoman says the company "identified a technical issue" with one or more of its GPS products impacting availability to connect to the network. On 10 June the company says it "determined the root cause and the resolution". "We are engaging with our customers to ensure continued safe operational capability," she adds. "We are working to determine the cause of the problem, which may have resulted from a software update to the aircraft navigation systems," the FAA says in a statement. "The FAA tracks flights on radar in addition to using satellite technology so airborne aircraft are under continuous surveillance by air traffic control."
Avianca Argentina ceases operations
June 10, 2019
Avianca Argentina has suspended operations, becoming the second airline owned by Avianca majority shareholder. The financially distressed airline requested to halt scheduled service for 90 days from 9 June, says Argentina's civil aviation authority ANAC. However, the airline's flights scheduled for today have been cancelled. "The request is based on the start of a process of restructuring the company with the re-engineering of the regular route plan and the company's business model," says ANAC of the airline's request. The 90-day extension may be extended for another 90 days upon expiration, adds the regulator. Before suspending its service, the airline operated 2 ATR 72-600's on 2 routes only.