Hundreds of flights cancelled as Iberia workers go on strike

by Sean McLachlan on

Thousands of passengers were left stranded today as workers at Iberia Airlines walked off the job for the first day of a two-day strike.

Iberia was forced to cancel more than 400 of its 2,000 flights for this Monday and Tuesday as cabin crews protested the fact that they haven’t received a pay increase in four years. This is a tough situation for Spanish workers, who live in a country with one of Europe’s highest inflation rates, between 3.6 and 4 percent annually in the past few years. And that’s just the official rate. Living in Madrid I can say that here at least it seems to be much higher.

Spain’s national airline has been hit hard by the recession and this new blow will only worsen its situation. It couldn’t be helping Iberia’s chances of clinching a proposed merger with British Airways either.

Information on the affected flights is available here.

Heading to Palermo, Italy? Bring an air freshener!

by Scott Carmichael on

This is not exactly a “photo of the day“, but it is still an impressive destination photo, albeit a smelly one…

The garbage men in the Sicilian capital of Palermo are on strike – and the photo above shows the results of just one week of no garbage pickup. The situation is starting to look a lot like the mess in Naples last year.

Unfortunately for the residents of Palermo, the weather is nice and warm, so the stench is unbearable. And to make matters worse, the fire department is constantly busy putting out fires popping up in the massive piles of garbage.

Yuck.

Boeing, the unions and your commercial jets

by Grant Martin on

Like many of you waiting for your 777 or 787 to arrive, I’ve been closely watching the progress of Boeing against their rival unions for the last two months.

As the manufacturing woes go, the International Association of Machinists (IAM) has been striking against the airframe manufacturer since early September, primarily citing worries about their jobs going overseas. For, Boeing, who has a long queue for 777s and 737s let alone the roll out of their new 787 Dreamliner to worry over, this strike can’t come at a worse time. Already the company is falling drastically behind on its production schedule, and with every day of delay, airlines cancel orders, demand repercussions and become more agitated.

V Australia is a prime example. The new long haul carrier was originally slated to receive six 777s from Boeing, with three to begin service in this quarter. Planning for launch, the airline sold a deluge of cheap fall and winter tickets, riling up passengers and building up the buzz — only to have their aircraft delayed by the manufacturer. To make commitments, the airline booked passengers on other carriers at what must have been an immense loss. And they’re not even operating yet.

As the strike winds down this week and the two opponents finally come into agreement (hopefully), lets all be thankful that this bickering is over and that we can get back to fulfilling orders, making passengers happy, earning money and most of all, making damn good airplanes.

You can read more about the strike at fleetbuzzeditorial.

Strike Shuts Down Bollywood

by Josh Lew on

Over 100,000 Indian TV and film workers went on strike in Mumbai today. They are protesting unfair wages and the prevalent practice of hiring non-union crew members. Some of the industry’s biggest stars, like Shah Rukh Khan, showed solidarity by agreeing to not cooperate with movie studios until the strike ends. Union members complain that studios and production companies have not honored an agreement which they signed nearly two years ago.

This is bad news for fans of the epic song-and-dance-filled melodramas. Most of the industry’s highly anticipated, big-budget productions were slated to hit theaters in the upcoming months. Now their releases are in doubt. Also on ice are the productions of insanely popular TV soap operas. The bottom line: if you are traveling to India and dreaming of taking part in a Bollywood film (like Sylvester Stallone) or are a connoisseur of Indian TV, hold your breath (or, rather, don’t). Surely theaters won’t be closing down or TV going off their air, but it’ll be reruns until the studios and unions make nice.

Actor on NWA plane strikes a flight attendant and hits an officer

by Iva Skoch on

After the issue with the wife of Joel Osteen, here comes another anger management case from the pressurized cabin.

A veteran character actor, E.D. Nixon Jr., was arrested for allegedly assaulting a flight attendant and a police officer at Memphis International Airport on Tuesday.

The 80-year-old actor, the son of a leading organizer in the Montgomery bus boycotts, is accused of striking a flight attendant on a Northwest Airlines plane and then hitting an officer.

Nixon was taken to the local hospital for treatment of high blood pressure and elevated blood sugar before being transported to jail in Memphis.

(He is being held on $1,000 bond, in case anyone is interested in bailing him out.)

Other crazy tales from the sky …