Norwegian i allianse med Ryanair
Dermed får Air France KLM, easyJet, International Airlines Group (i hovedsak British Airways og Iberia), Lufthansa Group og Ryanair selskap av den norske lavprisaktøren. Finnair melder seg også inn, ifølge en pressemelding.- Norwegian har alltid vært tilhenger av konkurranse i luftfarten fordi det vil gi de reisende billigere billetter og flere valgmuligheter. Medlemskapet i Airlines for Europe er viktig fordi alliansen forener bransjens felles utfordringer og muligheter på tvers av landegrenser og selskap, sier administrerende direktør Bjørn Kjos om bransjeforeningen til NTB.
Airlines for Europe skal «fremme interessene til europeiske flyselskaper og deres passasjerer», og er en slags europeisk utgave av arbeidsgiverforeningen NHO Luftfart.
Dette er med andre ord ingen allianse i begrepets tradisjonelle betydning innenfor luftfart, og neppe noe passasjerene direkte vil merke noe til.
- Airlines for Europe er klar til å representere interessene for alle europeiske flyselskaper, sier A4E-sjef Thomas Reynaert.
Eurowings project caused
no internal rifts: Lufthansa chief
11 FEBRUARY, 2016 - BY:
MICHAEL GUBISCH - LONDON
Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr has rejected
the notion that his strategy of directing growth initiatives away from the
mainline and towards budget unit Eurowings had a divisive
effect among the group's staff.
Eurowings'
expansion has been at the centre of a long-standing labour conflict with pilots
and flight attendants that, over the past two years, has triggered the most extensive series of strikes
in the Star Alliance carrier's history, though union negotiations are now being
held.
Speaking in London yesterday,
Spohr insisted that "these people [employees] love their job, even when
they strike".
He adds: "They don't always
agree what management tells them. That's fine, I accept that."
But Spohr suggests that a smooth
return to normal operations after industrial action – something he describes as
"probably very German" – is indicative of a workforce that
fundamentally supports its employer.
"Within two hours after the
strike, we were up on regularity of 99.8%," he says.
Nevertheless, Spohr argues that Lufthansa must leave behind pay structures
that originate from a period when it was state-owned.
The carrier was fully privatised
in 1997, the German government having reduced its shareholding to a minority
stake three years earlier.
"If we want to maintain a
leading role, we obviously need to change those [pay arrangements]," says
Spohr, who argues that the existing cost bases prevent Lufthansa from growing its business
"in the way we want".
He sees
"price-sensitive" leisure traffic as a growth area in Europe's mature
market. On the basis that concentration on traditional network airline
operations alone will not sustain the group, Eurowings has been set up to capture that
leisure traveller market.
Spohr acknowledges it is
"difficult" for employees to accept cutbacks "at a time when you
make record profits".
He admits: "I wish we had
done it in a time when we had less profits." But he adds: "I do it
now, rather than waiting even longer."
Management of legacy airlines
must strike a "balance" between keeping historically-grown structures
and responding to new market developments, Spohr asserts: "How much of
your history, your heritage, your brand do you want [and] need to maintain, and
how much change do you have to accept to maintain your ability to cope with the
challenges of the future?"
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