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Spirit AeroSystems‘ engineering union expects the company to present a counterproposal on a labor agreement today, the union said.
“We remain far apart on major issues,” officials of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace said in a memo. “While the company is showing signs that movement may be possible on some issues, negotiations are very difficult.”
The two sides are in the midst of negotiating a new contract for more than 700 Spirit AeroSystems engineers.
The current contract is scheduled to expire July 11. But provisions have been made to extend the contract if it’s necessary, the union said.
If you’re like me when you fly, you don’t pay much attention to the safety instructions given at the beginning of the flight. After all, we’ve heard it over and over again.
But Air New Zealand has come up with a surefire way to change that.
In a new safety video posted on YouTube, flight attendants and pilots — wearing nothing but full body paint — demonstrate how to fasten your seatbelt and what to do in case of an in-flight emergency.
The body paint is well done, and the camera shots are controlled carefully.
The safety video follows a marketing campaign by the airline using staff — including CEO Rob Fyfe - wearing only the body paint. “Our fares have nothing to hide,” it says.
Boeing is planning to announce its intent to buy the 787 operations run by Vought Aircraft Industries in North Charleston, S.C. from the Carlyle Group, according to a report by FlightBlogger’s Jon Ostrower, which cites unnamed sources.
In the last two years, Boeing has worked to gain control over its supply chain for the troubled 787 program. The purchase may set the stage for a second final assembly line for the new 787.
Once an announcement is made, there will be a week-long transition to shift operational control of the facility to Boeing, the report said.
The transition will draw on the lessons learned after Boeing sold off its Wichita commercial operations to Onex Corp. in 2005, forming Spirit AeroSystems. Spirit is a key supplier to Boeing on the 787 program.
More than 100 airplanes from around the country are expected to be landing at the Newton City/County Airport in Newton for the annual Fourth of July Fly-in.
The 46th annual fly-in is hosted by the Experimental Aircraft Association Jayhawk Chapter 88. A $5 donation is requested for adults.
Some of the activities include airplane judging, flying contests, Young Eagle airplane rides and the building of airplane toys. Children between the ages of 8 and 17 can experience what it takes to be a pilot with a brief ground school to learn how an airplane flies and how a pilot prepares for a flight, followed by a ride in an airplane. The program is free.
An annual banquet will be held at the Fox Ridge Country Club at 800 S. Kansas in Newton. The dinner begins at 6 p.m. followed by a presentation by aircraft photographer Paul Bowen. Tickets for the banquet are $15 and can be purchased at the fly-in.
The union representing more than 700 Spirit AeroSystems engineers presented the company with a counterproposal on wage and benefit issues today.
The engineers are represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace. The current contract expires July 11.
Significant differences still exist between the parties, the union told workers in a memo.
But “SPEEA is working diligently to arrive at an agreement that is of mutual benefit and our team is able to recommend to members,” it said.
Talks on Wednesday will focus around the final major issues.
Frontier Airlines and Midwest Airlines formed a ticketing agreement that will allow Frontier to travel to destinations currently served by Midwest, the airline said this week.
But whether the marketing alliance will help Wichita fliers is too soon to say.
“It’s too early to know what’s going to happen,” Valerie Wise with the Wichita Airport Authority said. Frontier already serves Milwaukee, which is Midwest’s hub.
Both airlines were acquired by Republic Airways Holdings of Indianapolis last week. Frontier was bought out of bankruptcy. Republic, through its subsidiaries Chautauqua, Shuttle America and Republic, operate flights for other mainline airlines. Therefore, Republic does not have a hub or network of its own.
The marketing agreement between Frontier and Midwest will begin late this summer.
Frontier operates two daily flights from Wichita to its hub in Denver.
Negotiations between Spirit AeroSystems and its engineering union continue this week, but the union has a tough challenge ahead of it, Midwest director Bob Brewer said this morning.
The contract between Spirit engineers and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace expires July 11.
The talks took a “grim and disappointing” turn on Friday when discussions turned toward benefits and compensation, the union said.
“We were thoroughly surprised by the first run of the economic issues,” Brewer said.
SPEEA is continuing to work with the company, Brewer said. He is hopeful talks will conclude this week.
WICHITA: It’s not a good feeling when you step off an airplane and realize your bag didn’t make it with you.
AirTran Airways CEO Bob Fornaro talked about lost bags last week while in Wichita for the Wichita Aero Club luncheon. Fornaro said that he considers an airline’s most important metric is its baggage performance.
“We want customers to make it with their bag,” Fornaro said. The airline got high marks on baggage handling in the Airlinperofe Quality Rating study co-authored by Wichita State University’s Dean Headley.
In my own experience, one case sticks out the most. A photographer and I arrived in Naples, Italy, to spend a week working on a reporting project for the Eagle. My bag arrived the day before I left. Thankfully, I had stuffed a pair of pants in a backpack. I wore khaki pants every day for work and jeans every night. The photographer wasn’t so lucky. Her bag never did arrive.
Fornaro said it best last week.
“Nothing good happens when you don’t have a bag.”
I’ll be out of the office for few days, but will return soon. Thanks for reading and check back often.
Tailwinds,
Molly
State and local subsidies that help cushion AirTran Airways against losses are what keep the carrier flying in and out of Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, AirTran’s CEO said this morning.
“We’d have a tough time getting the profitability,” AirTran CEO and president Bob Fornaro said this morning when asked what would happen without the subsidies. “The subsidy is necessary.”
Fornaro will be the keynote speaker at today’s Wichita Aero Club luncheon.
The state provides AirTran with a $5 million per year revenue guarantee. The city and county each provide $1 million in guarantees.
The state’s money for air service must be approved each year, however.
Wichita’s geography in the middle of the country hurts, because customers want to go north, south, east and west.
“That makes it hard to get the volumes,” Fornaro said. “People who want to go to Denver don’t want to go to Atlanta. It requires more service.”
