34 years of serving the international business
and non-profit communities
The union representing British Airways cabin crew has
said its members will go on strike for three days from
20 March and for four days from 27 March.
The union confirmed it would not strike over Easter,
but warned there could be further action after 14
April if a resolution had not been agreed. The union
said it would also ballot its members on a new offer
from BA, but added it could not recommend it. But BA
boss Willie Walsh told the BBC that the offer was no
longer available. He said the offer was conditional on
strike action being averted, and so had been
withdrawn. Unite's assistant general secretary Len
McCluskey said this latest move by British Airways
"beggared belief" and denied that the offer was ever
conditional.
After months of
negotiations the two sides failed to agree on a
package of measures aimed at saving the loss-making
airline more than £60m. They have both reasserted that
they are available for further talks, but language on
both sides has hardened since the strike announcement.
Walsh said the two parties were "not close at all" to
coming to an agreement.
BA has announced
that for all
LHR and short-haul LGW BA flights booked to travel
March 19 through March 31, 2010, passengers have the
choice of rebooking or canceling and obtaining a
refund.
Policies are all subject
to change. For the latest policies and updates, visit
batraveltrade.com/strike
A message to our
customers from British Airways CEO, Willie Walsh
I wanted to update you, our customers, on what we
propose to do in the event that a strike does go
ahead. Unite, the union that represents our BA cabin
crew, has not as yet announced any strike dates. It
must tell us by March 15 whether a strike will happen
and it cannot go on strike without first giving us
seven days notice of the first day. Any action must
then start by March 22. In the meantime we continue to
have talks with Unite and we want to resolve the
issues between us. I want to reassure you that a
strike will not ground British Airways. We have had
nearly 6,000 volunteers in total to support our flying
program, including nearly 1,000 who have trained as
cabin crew and the number is growing. We have been
putting plans into place and although we cannot
announce the precise schedule we will operate until we
know for sure what Unite would do, I can tell you what
our plans are:
- We will operate all our flights from London City airport, including
long-haul
services to New York.
- We will operate all our long-haul schedule at Gatwick, and about half of
our short-haul schedule.
- At Heathrow, we will operate a substantial proportion of our long-haul
program and a good number of short-haul flights too,
assisted by chartered aircraft with crews from a
number of UK and European-based airlines.
We have also arranged to secure seats from other
carriers, so thousands more of you can reach your
chosen destinations. At this stage our plans do not
include crew at Heathrow who may choose to work
normally. More than 4,000 of all crew did not vote for
strike action....We want to help you as much as we
possibly can. Should a strike be called, we will offer
rebook and refund opportunities (please check
batraveltrade.com for details) but every day we will
fly tens of thousands of our customers to where they
want to go.
Contract talks between American
Airlines and its flight attendants broke off
with the union declaring
that negotiations were hopelessly stalemated while the
company said it is looking forward to more bargaining.
The union said that it would ask federal officials to
start a 30-day cooling-off period, after which the
flight attendants could strike. There is no guarantee
that officials will grant the union's request. The
National Mediation Board has rejected many similar
requests from other unions in the airline industry,
and it could order both sides to resume negotiations.
Lufthansa
plans flights to Iraq.
Baghdad and
Erbil
to be new
Middle
East destinations.
As Iraq’s civil aviation continues to
open up, demand for flights to the country is growing.
Lufthansa is therefore examining the possibility of
launching several new services to
Iraq
and is currently planning to serve the capital,
Baghdad,
and the city of Erbil in Northern Iraq from its hubs
in
Frankfurt and Munich. Lufthansa aims to launch
the new services in the summer of 2010, once it has
obtained the necessary traffic rights. Further
infrastructure requirements are also being examined.
With the resumption of flights to Iraq, Lufthansa is
pursuing its policy of expanding its route network in
the
Middle East, which it presently serves with 88
flights per week to 14 destinations in eleven
countries. Lufthansa operated flights to Baghdad from
1956 until the start of the
Gulf War
in 1990. Erbil is already being served from
Vienna
by
Austrian Airlines, which is part of the
Lufthansa Group. From next summer, Baghdad and Erbil
will be linked to Lufthansa’s hubs in Frankfurt and
Munich and will thus be integrated into Lufthansa’s
global route network. The fares and exact
flight times with connections from and to the
U.S., will be announced at a later date as soon as
booking for the new routes opens.
Michelin releases 2010 Red
Guide, 26 French restaurants get top ratings.
USA Today story.
Airline passengers flying to the U.S. from 14
countries with terrorism problems will face extra
checkpoint screening at overseas airports
according to the Transportation Security
Administration. The TSA directive targets people
flying from or through 10 "countries of interest" as
well as the four nations that are considered sponsors
of terrorism. The countries of interest are:
Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria,
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen. The State
Department lists four countries that sponsor
terrorism: Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria.
Celebrity now offers a
new series of palate-pleasing,
intellectually-enriching and life-enhancing programs
designed to deliver the most unique and sophisticated
onboard experience in premium cruising called
“Celebrity Life”. The 3 program categories called
“Savor,” “Discover,” and “Renew” are led by a host who
will help customize a program around the individual
guests interests: “Savor”, the culinary series, takes
an already stellar culinary experience to new heights,
with eight new wine enrichment events, six spirits and
mixology tastings, and more than seven different
interactive programs for guests, hosted by the ship’s
Executive Chef and team.
“Discover” the enrichment series,
presents an opportunity for guests to do or learn what
they have always wanted to try, but never had time to
accomplish. Whether it’s ordering a bottle of Chianti
in Italian, or exploring the universe in 40 minutes,
guests can delve into a wide variety of interests.
“Renew” the health and wellness
series offers an expansion of our spa and wellness
programs designed to help guest on their journey to
looking younger, feeling better and living longer.
Another exciting news reminder is Celebrity Solstice
sailing year round Caribbean . Celebrity Solstice
visits ports such as but not limited to: San Juan ,
Puerto Rico; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Tortola, BVI;
Labadee , Haiti ; and Basseterre , St. Kitts.
Contact Linda Olson at
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To learn more about our travel services for the international
business and not-for-profit communities, contact Audrey Anderson
703-834-6100 or
audrey@ewatravel.com
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