News and notes from around the interweb:
- Aer Lingus suspended a pilot who refused to let non-union flight attendants sit in business class on an empty repositioning flight, defying orders from management. The pilot union blasts the company for intervening in a ‘safety/operational decision’. (HT: One Mile at a Time)
The captain who has been suspended flew an Aer Lingus aircraft from Barbados to Manchester early last week. The only passengers on board were members of a cabin crew who were not on flying duty, known as a “positioning crew”.
…The captain assigned them economy class seats. Their manager complained to Aer Lingus in Dublin as such crews normally sit in business class. Mr Dunne contacted the aircraft mid-flight to say that the positioning crew could sit in business class. The captain did not comply with this but made a safety report after landing. Management suspended him last week.
[Union] Ialpa maintains that Mr Dunne had no authority to instruct the captain on the crew’s seating as this had implications for the aircraft’s balance and safety. The union also says he should not have contacted the aircraft mid-flight.
- Air Canada sued Seats.aero two years ago for scraping their website for award results and for trademark infringement (use of their logo in results display). It looks like the case will settle although we don’t know the settlement terms under discussion.
- FAA To Encourage More Flight Schools To Conduct Testing Themselves Progress.
- JetBlue has started charging more for one-way travel in many markets
- Hawaiian Airlines now has inflight trading cards and wings for kids. United and Delta both have these cards available from pilots, too.
- The Housekeeping Olympics! And here all I wish for – and far fewer hotels deliver – is my trash collected, bed made, and towels refreshed each day.
Evil union members believing they can harm honest non-union folks. Typical.
Hilarious, Ben included in his article: “Aer Lingus Chief Operations Officer Adrian Dunne (no relation to… nevermind)” … @Tim Dunn, did you catch that one?
That incident with Aer Lingus seems far less about ‘unions’ than it does about a captain on a ‘power trip.’ And, as I reminded @George Romey over there, ‘poor man’s lie-flat’ is not the same as actual lie-flat, sir, even if they are ‘dead-heading.’
The word ‘union’ alone is triggering for some of you, it seems. I presume, @This comes to mind, will regurgitate his anti-union sentiments on here, shortly, as he did on Ben’s site. It’s a shame to witness such irrational hatred for such a good thing in our society. We need strong worker rights, consumer protections, and a robust social safety net, progressive taxes, especially during periods of economic strife, which we are clearly in, and only getting worse.
Make the captain produce the load sheet.
@This comes to mind — I wrote my comment above, before I saw yours post, but, clearly, I knew what to expect based on your drivel from the other site. I patiently await @Mike P to ‘pile on.’ Folks, you cannot lift yourselves up by your bootstraps, but it’s fun to watch you try. There’s a better way.
@ This comes to mind – Amen to that. Union proponents defend a system that protects mediocrity, punishes initiative, and drains everyone else to keep their own power intact. Evil is right.