Archive for April, 2012
Monday, April 30th, 2012
Parent of British Airways, International Airlines Group, is moving closer to formal talks about acquiring a share of former Japanese flag carrier JAL. Head of IAG Willie Walsh said that the idea of investing in the airline had been met with a positive reaction.
JAL is looking to re-launch on the Tokyo stock market in September having been in bankruptcy protection since 2010. Rescue for the company came in the form of the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp which is currently in control of 96.5 per cent of the airline.
Although the Japanese regulator is said to be looking at the possibility of a deal between IAG and JAL there are still regulations in place which mean the airline is not supposed to be actively pursuing investment as it has still not formerly declared its intention to re-float.
Walsh said the plans should not be seen as a warm up for a takeover and that IAG would be looking for a 10 per cent share. He explained that moves like investing in partners was a way of making relationships with other carriers more concrete. He added that such agreements were more about commitment to future joint ventures. Both IAG and JAL are members of the Oneworld airline alliance.
Walsh was attending the World Travel and Tourism Conference which is being held in Tokyo when he made his comments. He also took the opportunity for another dig at the British government and its lack of a policy on aviation after David Cameron said it was important that the country remains linked to the world’s growing economies.
Tags: airline, British Airways, David Cameron, IAG, jal, Oneworld, willie walsh
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Friday, April 27th, 2012
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union has been attacked by Transport for London for saying that a tunnel on the London Underground had collapsed. According to TfL, the incident involved a train clipping a bulging wall between Waterloo and Embankment which caused only minor damage to the train.
The RMT claimed initially that the tunnel had suffered a collapse later saying that there had been a minor collapse. TfL has called the report irresponsible. RMT members working for the maintenance firm Tube Lines are currently on strike, which has complicated the situation.
TfL is saying that the RMT is using the incident on the Bakerloo Line to support its claims that running services during the protest is a threat to passenger safety. Tube Lines workers are responsible for maintaining the Northern, Piccadilly and Jubilee lines. They are also used for emergency repairs on other parts of the network.
General Secretary of the RMT, Bob Crow, said the emergency highlighted how cavalier the transport body was when it came to the safety of the public. TfL claims that the industrial action has not affected the way in which the London Underground runs services and the RMT claims that the body is trying to mask a far more serious situation.
Operations director for London Underground, Nigel Holness, confirmed that there had been no collapse, no flooding and that nobody had been injured.
Tags: Bob Crow, London Underground, rmt, Transport for London, Tube Lines
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Thursday, April 26th, 2012
London Underground cleaners are being called on to vote whether or not to strike over pensions, pay and benefits. The Rail, Maritime and Transport union is still to set a date for the ballot, but said it would be held shortly. The RMT said that employees of ISS and Initial deserved a fair deal and were being treated like dirt.
Bob Crow, the union’s general secretary, said it was scandalous that staff who worked in appalling conditions to keep the Tube network running were being treated so poorly, especially in the run up to this summer’s Olympic Games.
ISS said it was confused by the decision to ballot staff over industrial action since the RMT had refused to attend meetings to discuss the situation. The company added that staff had in fact received a more than 30 per cent increase in wages over the past two years.
In a statement ISS said the move by the RMT disregarded an agreement which was signed less than a year ago. It added that the ballot had been announced before any proper discussions. ISS said it had already organised three meetings with the union, but that it had failed to attend the second one even though it was held at the offices of the RMT. The third meeting is scheduled for this Friday.
ISS is confident that if the RMT turns up it can come to a workable solution. A strike by Tube maintenance workers is currently under way over pensions and travel concessions. The industrial action which began on Tuesday is due to end on Friday.
Tags: Bob Crow, Initial, ISS, London Underground, Olympic Games, rmt, strike, tube
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Wednesday, April 25th, 2012
Transport bosses in London have revealed the railway stations they expected to be the most crowded during the Summer Olympic Games and where commuters can expect to experience the greatest amount of disruption.
Among the stations Network Rail expects to be exceptionally busy are Stratford, Blackheath, Greenwich, Charlton, Waterloo and London Bridge. Commuters are being advised not to try and use these stations if there is an event going on unless they are prepared for long waits just to get inside.
London Bridge will be operating an exit-only rule on 30 July for at least two hours because of the unprecedented crowds expected following the cross country horse riding event in Greenwich Park. Spectator numbers are expected to hit 55,000. Southeastern train services are to be suspended during the period, although Network Rail said that services would still be operating to Brighton and Croydon. The authorities have not ruled out implementing the exit only rule at other peak times if the crowds get too big.
Commuters are being advised to make there way to Victoria, Charing Cross and Cannon Street rather than London Bridge. Rail bosses said that they had decided to part close London Bridge rather than attempt to divert crowds onto the Underground which is already likely to be feeling the strain of extra passengers.
Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy said that London was going to be operating differently in the summer as the capital transforms into an Olympic cultural and sporting venue.
Tags: commuters, London Bridge, Network Rail, Olympic Games, transport
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Tuesday, April 24th, 2012
The future of Bmi Regional and Bmi Baby is looking uncertain at the moment as new owner International Airlines Group say if it cannot sell the units then it will have to consider shutting them down. The airline, which was created through the merger of British Airways and Iberia, has just completed a deal with Lufthansa for the loss making British carrier.
IAG has always maintained that it is only interested in Bmi. This is because of the valuable take-off and landing slots the airline owns at Heathrow. These will now be handed over to British Airways so that it can increase its domination at Europe’s busiest airport.
The deal has angered other airlines including Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic. They claim that by giving IAG more slots competition will be damaged meaning less choice for passengers.
Originally the deal with Lufthansa allowed the German giant to sell off Bmi Baby and Bmi Regional as it saw fit. IAG’s agreement to take over the smaller units means that the airline will also get a significant reduction on the price it will have to pay.
IAG chief executive, Willie Walsh, said the company was reviewing all of its options as far as the smaller Bmi units are concerned and that every effort will be made to find a buyer. Bmi Baby employs 470 staff and Bmi Regional has 330 workers. British Airways has already said that the deal for Bmi is likely to see 1,200 workers lose their jobs.
Tags: bmi, Bmi Baby, Bmi Regional, British Airways, IAG, Lufthansa, virgin atlantic, willie walsh
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Monday, April 23rd, 2012
Passenger satisfaction with the London Underground is higher under Boris Johnson than it was when Labour’s Ken Livingstone was Mayor, according to recently published figures. Since Mr Johnson took over the reigns, investment has grown four times, delays have been cut and people are happier with the service they are being given, according to Transport for London.
Satisfaction has gone up by 2.5 per cent to 79.1 per cent since Mr Johnson took power in 2008. The mayor has also pumped £2.6 billion more than Mt Livingstone did into investing in the Underground. This money has been spent on replacing around 200kms of train track and upgrading 80 stations.
According to a spokesman for the mayor’s office, the cost of running the underground fell to £2.3 billion in 2008 from £2.7 billion in 2006. He said that this showed that the investment was working and that Mr Livingstone should not be allowed to undo all of the hard work by removing £1.14 billion from the transport budget.
Labour’s candidate for mayor claims that Mr Johnson has been fiddling the figures. He has also said that he will cut tube fares by seven per cent if he is elected to power.
The Rail. Maritime and Transport union said that the reason people were happier with the Tube was because of the hard graft of its workers.
Tags: boris johnson, Ken Livingstone, London Underground, Transport for London, tube
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Friday, April 20th, 2012
The latest negotiations aimed at averting a strike by maintenance workers on the London Underground have ended without resolution meaning that commuters are likely to have their travel disrupted next week. A strike by Tube Lines employees is scheduled to commence on Tuesday at 16.00 and continue for 72 hours.
A meeting between London Underground and the Rail, Maritime and Transport union took place at Acas earlier to try and resolve the dispute over pensions and travel concessions. However, it ended with neither side agreeing to the others demands. A joint statement has been issued which said that both sides regretted to announce that no deal had been struck.
Tube Lines workers look after maintenance on the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines. They are also responsible for emergency work across the rest of the network. In a ballot, RMT members voted in favour of a walk out by four to one.
Jon Lamonte, chief executive of Tube Lines, said the company had tried to hold constructive discussions with the RMT, but the union had refused to suspend the strike action and continue at the negotiating table. He added that industrial action would achieve nothing and was unnecessary. He urged the leadership of the union to return to the discussions.
Bob Crow, head of the RMT, said the union had come prepared to strike a deal, but management hadn’t been able to offer anything. He confirmed that the strike was still scheduled to commence of Tuesday and that senior management would have to answer for the disruption likely to affect travellers.
Tags: Acas, Bob Crow, London Underground, pensions, rmt, strike, Tube Lines
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Thursday, April 19th, 2012
Major players in the airline industry are again calling on the government to reconsider its decision not to expand Heathrow Airport. A new survey conducted by the Board of Airline Representatives UK reveals that 53 per cent of airlines are already looking at moving their schedules to airports in other countries because of Heathrow’s lack of capacity.
However, 86 per cent of scheduled airlines claim that they would actually increase the number of services in and out of Britain if Heathrow’s capacity problem could be solved. BAA chief executive Colin Matthews is one of those asking the government to rethink expanding Europe’s busiest airport.
He said the survey proved that airlines unable to use Heathrow would not look at other airports around the country as alternatives, but would quit the UK altogether. He added that Britain should be leading the way by forging business links with growing economies like China and that this will not be possible if Heathrow can no longer cope.
Aviation Minister Theresa Villiers said she realised how important it was that Britain remained one of the most connected countries on the planet and that the government was committed to looking at all of the options available.
She added that it was important for all in the transport industry to come together and work out the best solutions for the economy and the future of the country.
Tags: airlines, airport, baa, Heathrow, Theresa Villiers
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Wednesday, April 18th, 2012
Holiday firm Pontins has upset dozens of customers by cancelling trips it claims were sold over the internet at an incorrect price. Those trips have since apparently been put back on sale at 15 times the original amount. Holidaymakers are furious that Pontins has only just cancelled bookings which were made for trips over the Jubilee weekend at the beginning of the year.
The deal, which was offered by Hot UK Deals, was for a trip to the resort at Brean Sands in Somerset. At a cost of £33.07, the offer attracted a great deal of interest. Although the low price has reportedly been blamed on a computer glitch, customers are claiming that at the time of booking Pontins said it would be honouring the deal.
Customer Nicky Biggs says she saw the deal on 3 January and decided to book the holiday as a treat for her family. She claims that she even spoke to the company to make sure that she had the correct price. The 38-year-old said she was told that the price was an error but that it would be honoured.
On 16 January she received an invoice acknowledging the booking. However, on 13 April she opened an email from Pontins which said her holiday had been amended. When she clicked on the attached document she found it had in fact been cancelled.
A spokesman for the firm said it had informed all customers of the cancellations as soon as it was apparent that something had gone wrong with the booking system.
Tags: holidaymakers, Hot UK Deals, Jubilee, Pontins
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Tuesday, April 17th, 2012
Further disruption on the London Underground is being threatened by workers who upgrade and maintain lines across the network. A fight over pensions and travel benefits has resulted in around 1,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union voting in favour of industrial action.
Workers for Tube Lines look after maintenance of the Northern, Jubilee and Piccadilly lines and are also vital for providing emergency repair work on other sections of the Tube. They are demanding membership of the pension scheme run by Transport for London and also want to be given the same concessions for travel as other London Underground employees.
Disruption across the network could be caused if the RMT decides it is necessary to set dates for walkouts. Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT, said that all workers on the London Underground deserved to be rewarded with the same benefits.
He explained that the union had been trying to explore all avenues of negotiation, but that Tube Lines had failed to enter into any meaningful talks. He said that the result had been anger from the workers. Mr Crow added that because Transport for London owned Tube Lines it had a responsibility to offer employees the same travel pass and pension rights it offered other employees.
Tube Lines’ operations director, Lee Jones, pointed out that only 44 per cent of RMT members had in fact voted to strike and that discussions with the unions would continue until a satisfactory solution to the problem could be found.
Tags: Bob Crow, London Underground, pension, rmt, Transport for London, Tube Lines
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