Shadow foreign secretary says party needs to show it is fit for government by seeking negotiated outcomes over strikes
Labour should categorically refuse to back demands from airline workers for a pay rise of about 10% in order to show it is serious about seeking negotiated outcomes to disputes, David Lammy has said.
The shadow foreign secretary said Labour had to act like a party of government and that responsible governments believed in negotiation and compromise.
Continue reading...Airlines, reeling from pilot and staff shortages and the effects of bad weather, have interrupted 19,000 flights since Thursday
The confluence of two holidays, Father’s Day and Juneteenth, and a season of “revenge travel” continued to heap pressure on the already stretched airline industry as 4,200 additional US flights were delayed and 900 canceled on Sunday, pushing the total number of flights interrupted since Thursday to 19,000.
Delta was hit hardest, with 6% of its total flights on Sunday cancelled. A further 200 flights were cancelled early Monday.
Continue reading...General secretary Mick Lynch confirms strike action will proceed, as transport secretary Grant Shapps says rail unions to blame
Tim Shoveller, the chief negotiator for Network Rail, told the Today programme this morning that he did not think the government needed to get involved in the talks on the rail dispute. He said this was an issue for the industry to resolve with trade unions.
He said managers wanted to make the rail industry “more efficient to generate the funds so that we can make the pay awards that our colleagues want”.
I think it would be a disaster for the country. It would be a disaster for our passengers and, look, really bad for our employees, who would lose loads of money by having a long, drawn-out strike – that really is the worst place we can get to.
At the end of the day, the facts about the support the government’s provided in terms of the £16bn through Covid, etc – all of those are well-known and documented.
The Criminal Bar Association (CBA), which represents barristers in England and Wales, said several days of court walkouts will begin from next week.
The promised industrial action, announced on Monday following a ballot of members, comes at a time of significant backlogs across the court system.
This extraordinary commitment to the democratic process reflects a recognition amongst criminal barristers at all levels of call and across all circuits that what is at stake is the survival of a profession of specialist criminal advocates and of the criminal justice system which depends so critically upon their labour.
Without immediate action to halt the exodus of criminal barristers from our ranks, the record backlog that has crippled our courts will continue to inflict misery upon victims and defendants alike, and the public will be betrayed.
Continue reading...Airline says it is reducing services after London Gatwick and Amsterdam announced caps on flights
EasyJet is cutting thousands of flights over the summer, after government orders designed to avoid further travel disruption at airports.
The Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority told airlines last week to review their schedules and ensure flights were deliverable, after post-lockdown staff shortages left airlines and airports unable to keep up with an increase in travel as Covid restrictions lifted.
Continue reading...1,000 flights cancelled Sunday after approximately 14,000 flights were cancelled or delayed on Friday and Saturday
Travelers were subjected to a new wave of flight chaos across the US on Sunday, with about 1,000 flights cancelled. The toll added to about 14,000 flights within, out of, or into the US that were cancelled or delayed on Friday and Saturday.
Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta was one of the worst hit airports – the facility saw passengers stranded over the weekend as Delta cancelled or changed dozens of scheduled flights.
Continue reading...Number of flights in August will be below pre-pandemic levels to ensure those on sale are ‘deliverable’
Gatwick airport will reduce its summer capacity to ward off potential chaos, after dozens of last-minute cancellations wrecked the travel plans of holidaymakers over the platinum jubilee and half-term holiday.
London’s second busiest airport will limit the number of daily take-offs and landings to 850 in August – about 50 more than the average in early June, but more than 10% below its pre-pandemic maximum.
Continue reading...Move could add to Europe’s travel problems, although airline does not expect widespread disruption
Cabin crew working for Ryanair in Spain have voted to hold six days of strikes at the end of June and early July, potentially adding to the disruption affecting air travel across Europe.
The Spanish-based staff in the USO and SITCPLA unions will walk out for two three-day strikes from 24 June to 26 June and 30 June to 2 July.
Continue reading...Low-cost carrier makes ‘pre-emptive cancellations’ of about 40 flights a day to ensure no repeat of half-term disruption
EasyJet has reduced its flight schedule for the rest of June in a bid to overcome the travel chaos seen in the school holidays when staff shortages meant thousands of people were hit by last-minute cancellations.
Britain’s biggest carrier has come under fire for its handling of the disruption which also saw passengers endure long delays. In a message to staff on Friday, its chief operating officer, Peter Bellew, said the carrier was making pre-emptive cancellations for the “coming days and weeks” to “increase resilience across the network”.
Continue reading...US sees rise in travel after ‘two years of pent-up demand’ – but issues continue to cloud the industry
On a recent Friday night Laura Waring needed to fly from Newark, New Jersey, to San Diego to help set up her healthcare information technology company’s conference, which was scheduled to start the next Monday.
But after her flight was repeatedly delayed and then canceled, Waring slept for about 45 minutes on a cot at Newark airport before she woke up cold and uncertain how she would get to California.
Continue reading...Airline accused of discrimination after it introduces test due to ‘high prevalence of fraudulent passports’
Ryanair is facing accusations of racial discrimination after forcing South Africans to take a test in Afrikaans before boarding flights home from the UK and Europe.
The budget airline, which claimed the “simple questionnaire” was part of efforts to tackle fraudulent South African passport holders, is facing criticism for conducting the general knowledge test in a language that is the third most used in the country and had a controversial role in the oppression of black citizens during apartheid.
Continue reading...More holidaymakers caught up in travel chaos as nearly 200 flights are cancelled and roads clog up
UK holidaymakers have faced yet more travel chaos as easyJet cancelled another 80 flights on Sunday and roads began to clog up with drivers returning from half-term and jubilee weekend breaks.
Tens of thousands of British travellers are estimated to be stranded at airports across Europe after close to 200 flight cancellations over the weekend.
Continue reading...GMB union says passengers should consider not checking bags into hold amid shortages of ground and air staff
Holidaymakers facing long queues at UK airports amid shortages of ground and air staff have been told they should travel with only hand luggage to minimise the disruption.
GMB, one of the unions that represents aviation workers, said passengers should consider taking a small bag and not checking anything into the hold, as the country’s travel hubs battle delays and cancellations amid a surge in half-term demand.
Continue reading...Rebounding demand and a string of last-minute flight cancellations have compounded half-term travel woes
Holidaymakers are facing flight cancellations and the prospect of delays on the road as half-term starts and the UK gears up for an extended bank holiday weekend.
The June half-term traditionally heralds the start of the summer tourist season, and this year comes amid rebounding consumer demand for leisure breaks following the relaxation of UK Covid travel restrictions.
Continue reading...EasyJet cancelled 14 flights, while ferry passengers at Dover face queues, and jams await drivers
Half-term holidaymakers are navigating the busiest day at British airports since the start of the pandemic with some hit by further flight cancellations, while cross-Channel ferry passengers face long queues at Dover and drivers are warned to expect jams.
EasyJet cancelled 14 more flights at London Gatwick in the early morning peak, in the aftermath of IT problems on Thursday that took out 200 of its flights around Europe.
Continue reading...Airline forced to scrap 200 flights due for early afternoon takeoff and delay many others as a result
Airline passengers faced fresh disruption on Thursday after an IT glitch forced easyJet to cancel about 200 flights around Europe.
The airline scrapped a stream of flights due to take off between 1pm and 3pm, affecting dozens to and from UK airports, including its biggest base at Gatwick.
Continue reading...WSJ sources suggest black box recorders from Boeing 737-800 indicate intentional input from cockpit
A China Eastern Airlines plane that crashed in March, killing 132 people, appears to have been intentionally flown into the mountainside below by someone at the controls, according to reports.
Analysis by US officials of the black box flight recorders found amid the wreckage suggests deliberate input from the cockpit forced the Boeing 737-800 plane into its catastrophic dive.
Continue reading...Charity’s report says nearly all targets set since 2000 have been missed, revised or quietly ignored
The international aviation industry has failed to meet all but one of 50 of its own climate targets in the past two decades, environment campaigners say.
A report commissioned by the climate charity Possible assessed every target set by the industry since 2000 and found that nearly all had been missed, revised or quietly ignored. The charity says the findings undermine a UK government plan to leave airlines to reduce their emissions through self-regulation.
Continue reading...Maxwell Berry, 23, who was restrained in his seat with tape, also was sentenced to a year of supervised release after his jail time
An Ohio man who had to be restrained in his seat with tape after groping and assaulting flight attendants during a flight from Philadelphia to Miami last year has been sentenced by a federal judge to 60 days in prison.
Maxwell Berry, 23, also was sentenced by US district judge Robert Scola Jr to a year of supervised release after his jail time.
Continue reading...Warning that ‘This is not the time to be pulling back on mitigation measures’ as CDC appeals judge’s overturning of face-covering rule
When the US federal government’s mandate requiring masks on transportation was lifted this week, reports of celebration ensued.
Videos were shared of people removing their masks and cheering, music was blasted over plane speakers, pilots shared the news from the cockpit and flight attendants jumped with joy.
Continue reading...Qantas apologises as passengers told they could be without bags for days
Travellers visiting friends and family for the Easter long weekend could be left without their luggage for days as airlines and airports continue to struggle with staff shortages.
The busy holiday travel period combined with Covid isolation orders and a workforce cut and outsourced during the pandemic has resulted in chaotic scenes at airports across Australia, and many passengers arriving at their destinations without their luggage.
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