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Welcome to London Air Travel’s Monday Briefing for the week beginning 22 August 2022.
Alan Joyce Faces Calls To Quit
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce faces renewed calls to resign from the airline.
Yesterday, Qantas offered AU$50 discounts on flights and added frequent flyer benefits as an apology for its operational performance.
Alan Joyce also appeared, sans a high vis jacket, in a video apology:
Judging by coverage on breakfast television in Australia this morning, where Qantas would not put anyone up for interview, this seems to have done little to placate disgruntled passengers.
Alan Joyce has been a lightening rod for criticism, partly because of Qantas’ decision to outsource ground handling and Alan’s previous comments that returning passengers were not “match fit”.
Qantas releases its annual results later this week so there may be further business updates then.
Possible Iberia Express Strike
There is possible disruption to Iberia Express flights from this Sunday, 28 August.
The Unión Sindical Obrera (“USO”), which represents more than 500 Iberia Express cabin crew, has called a 10 day strike from this 28 August to Tuesday 6 September. The USO has held strike action at easyJet and Ryanair in Spain this summer.
The dispute at Iberia Express is over pay and there is every chance it could be called off.
As Iberia’s sister airline, Iberia Express flies between London Gatwick and Madrid. It is also operating a lot of BA short haul flights at Gatwick as a wet lease.
London Open House Festival
The long established “Open House” architecture festival returns to London between Thursday 8 and Wednesday 21 September.
The full programme will be published online this coming Wednesday 24 August. In previous years some buildings have opened for booking early on Eventbrite.
From a transport architecture & history perspective, we would recommend a tour of the London St Pancras Chambers & Clock Tower.
If you feel like travelling vicariously, or want a taste of international diplomacy at work, a number of embassies open their doors, including Canada House. If it is participating this year, the impressive Australian High Commission is worth a visit.
Sadly, we don’t have confirmation whether the National Audit Office in Victoria, formerly the home of the Imperial Airways Empire Terminal, is also participating this year.
Also of interest this week:
Over the summer we’ve heard many stories of how passengers have used Apple’s Air Tags to keep track of missing luggage. In this case, the Air Tags helped establish that missing luggage was not lost, it was stolen. (New York Times)
Staying with the New York Times, its “The Daily” podcast looks at the summer flight cancellations. (The Daily)
News from London Air Travel you may have missed:
International Airlines Group takes a 20% stake in Air Europa. (London Air Travel)
BA Suspends London City – Luxembourg. (London Air Travel)
Late post publication updates:
[Reserved for updates throughout the day]
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