Airlines must eventually begin raising wages – even with the cost pressures they face – if they want to attract and retain employees, an aviation consultant said Monday.

Michael Boyd, president of the Boyd Group International, said airlines face the possibility that they won’t be able to attract employees, particularly pilots, without reversing the cost pressure to lower pay.

“We have an airline industry that is no longer going to be operating on low wages,” Boyd said at his company’s annual aviation conference in New Orleans. “We’re not going to have that anymore.” Read the rest of this entry

Asia’s economies are booming, and so is demand for air travel across the region. Flying for business and pleasure is increasingly affordable for the combined 1.1 billion middle-class residents of China and India.

All those potential fliers have translated into new orders for aircraft makers—Asia-Pacific airlines will buy about 8,000 planes worth $1.2 trillion over the next 20 years, according to Airbus. Less noticed is another group of beneficiaries: Asian pilots. Read the rest of this entry

Philippine Airlines said flight attendants and stewards have been getting huge salaries, disclosing details of their compensation for the first time.

PAL said it was releasing details of the salaries as it was “exasperated by the cabin crew union’s propaganda” amid a deadlock over collective bargaining talks.

Cielo C. Villaluna, PAL spokeswoman, said in a statement on Saturday flight attendants and stewards were “well paid and receive some of the best benefits that are the envy of other Filipino workers.” Read the rest of this entry

Union officials say they’re hopeful the return of 800 furloughed American Airlines crew members could mean future employment for more than 2,500 workers lingering on the furlough list.

Even after the recall, there will be 797 flight attendants and 1,730 pilots left on furlough, according to union officials.

Flight crews have been short-staffed for some time and it’s been a frustrating few years for both working and furloughed employees alike, said Jeff Pharr, national communications coordinator for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants. Read the rest of this entry

British Airways, Iberia Airlines and American Airlines on Wednesday presented a long-awaited shared project and announced four completely new flight routes that will commence next April.

American Airlines said they intend to re-hire approximately 800 furloughed flight attendants and pilots partially to capitalize on the opportunities created by the new business. Read the rest of this entry

Ryanair, which announced Tuesday it was forced to cancel 1,400 flights and delay more than 12,000 others as a direct result of Belgian, French and Spanish ATC strikes in recent months, formally called on the European Commission to “end this ATC chaos” by removing the “right to strike” provision of essential ATC services in Europe and reforming the controversial EU261 passenger rights legislation.

The LCC, like all other airlines, wants a waiver of the obligation on airlines to provide care and assistance at the airlines’ expense in “force majeure” cases such as ATC strikes, which are clearly outside of airlines’ control. Read the rest of this entry