Crash pilot was psychiatric patient, planned big gesture - paper

The co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing an airliner, killing 150 people, had told his girlfriend he was planning a spectacular gesture so "everyone will know my name", a German daily said on Saturday.

The Bild newspaper published an interview with a woman who said she had had a relationship in 2014 with Andreas Lubitz, the man French prosecutors believe locked himself alone in the cockpit of the Germanwings Airbus on Tuesday and steered it into the French Alps, killing all on board.

"When I heard about the crash, I remembered a sentence... he said: 'One day I'll do something that will change the system, and then everyone will know my name and remember it'," said the woman, a flight attendant the paper gave the pseudonym of Maria W.

"I didn't know what he meant by that at the time, but now it's obvious," she said. "He did it because he realised that, due to his health problems, his big dream of working at Lufthansa, of a having job as a pilot, and as a pilot on long-distance flights, was nearly impossible."

"He never talked much about his illness, only that he was in psychiatric treatment," she told the paper, adding they finally broke up because she was afraid of him.

"He would suddenly freak out in conversations and yell at me," she recalled. "At night he would wake up screaming 'we are crashing' because he had nightmares. He could be good at hiding what was really going on inside him."

The woman also told Bild: "We always talked a lot about work and then he became a different person. He became upset about the conditions we worked under: too little money, fear of losing the contract, too much pressure."

A Lufthansa spokesman declined to comment. The company and its low-cost subsidiary Germanwings took out full-page advertisements in major German and French newspapers on Saturday, expressing "deepest mourning".

Lufthansa and Germanwings offered condolences to the friends and families of the passengers and crew and thanked the thousands of people in France, Spain and Germany it said had helped since the crash.

German officials said there would be a ceremony on April 17 in Cologne Cathedral attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and senior officials from other countries including France and Spain.

Also on Saturday, relatives of the Germanwings captain whom Lubitz locked out of the cockpit before the crash visited a memorial to the victims in the French Alps, while a special mass was held at the small cathedral in nearby Digne-les-Bains.

"OVERSTRESS SYMPTOMS"
German authorities said on Friday they had found torn-up sick notes showing the co-pilot had been suffering from an illness that should have grounded him on the day of the tragedy. Germanwings, the budget airline of the flag carrier Lufthansa, has said he did not submit a sick note at the time.

German newspaper Welt am Sonntag quoted a senior investigator as saying the 27-year-old "was treated by several neurologists and psychiatrists", adding that a number of medications had been found in his Duesseldorf apartment.

Police also discovered personal notes that showed Lubitz suffered from "severe subjective overstress symptoms", he added.

The New York Times on Saturday quoted officials as saying Lubitz had also sought treatment for vision problems that may have jeopardized his ability to work as a pilot.

German state prosecutors and police spokesmen declined to comment on the media reports, adding there would be no official statements on the case before Monday.

Investigators have retrieved cockpit voice recordings from one of the plane's "black boxes", which they say show that Lubitz locked himself alone in the cockpit, as his fellow pilot desperately tried to break in, and caused the airliner to crash.

A chief French investigator said on Saturday it was too early to rule out other explanations for the crash.

"There is obviously a scenario that is well known to the media and which we are focusing on," French investigator General Jean-Pierre Michel told French media.

"But we have no right today to rule out other hypotheses, including the mechanical hypotheses, as long as we haven't proved that the plane had no (mechanical) problem," he added, pointing out that a second black box containing flight data had not been found yet.

(Additional reporting by Georg Merziger, Maria Sheahan, Tom Käckenhoff, Ingrid Melander and Reuters television; Editing by Andrew Roche and Raissa Kasolowsky)

SOURCE

150 killed in plane crash in French Alps

A plane operated by the budget carrier of Germany's Lufthansa crashed in a remote area of the French Alps on Tuesday (Mar 24), killing all 150 on board in France's worst aviation disaster in decades.

With the cause of the accident a complete mystery, authorities recovered a black box from the Airbus A320 at the crash site, where rescue efforts were being hampered by the mountainous terrain.

Local MP Christophe Castaner, who flew over the crash site, said on Twitter: "Horrendous images in this mountain scenery. Nothing is left but debris and bodies. Flying over the crash site with the interior minister - a horror - the plane is totally destroyed."

Video images from a government helicopter flying near the area showed a desolate snow-flecked moonscape, with steep ravines covered in scree.

Budget airline Germanwings said the Airbus plunged for eight minutes but French aviation officials said the plane had made no distress call before crashing near the ski resort of Barcelonnette.

"A black box was found and will be delivered to investigators," Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said. Weather did not appear to be a factor in the crash, with conditions "calm" at the time.

"There was no cloud at the plane's cruising altitude", winds were "light to moderate" and there was no turbulence that could have contributed to the crash, French weather officials said.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls said there were no survivors, adding that the authorities "can't rule out any theory" on the cause of the disaster.

The plane, carrying 144 mainly Spanish and German passengers - including two babies - and six crew, was travelling from Barcelona to the western German city of Duesseldorf when it came down.

German authorities said 16 German teenagers on a school trip were on board the doomed plane, as tearful relatives rushed to the airports in the two cities anxiously seeking information about their loved ones.

'IT IS A TRAGEDY'

It was the first fatal accident in the history of Germanwings, and the deadliest on the French mainland since 1974 when a Turkish Airlines crashed, killing 346 people.

French President Francois Hollande said he would meet his German and Spanish counterparts at the crash site on Wednesday. "It is a tragedy, a new airline tragedy. We will determine what caused the crash," Hollande said.

The dead included Germans, Spaniards and "probably" Turks, Hollande said, while Belgium said at least one of its nationals was on board.

Germanwings said 67 Germans were believed to have been on board while Spain said 45 people with Spanish sounding names were on the flight.

A crisis cell has been set up in the area between Barcelonnette and Digne-les-Bains along with an emergency flight control centre to coordinate the chopper flights to the crash site.

Authorities commandeered a large meadow with dozens of helicopters taking off to head to the crash site. Valls said one helicopter had been able to touch down at the site of the accident but locals described the difficult terrain that awaited rescue teams.

"Ground access is horrible, I know the Estrop massif, it's a very high mountainous area, very steep and it's terrible to get there except from the air during winter," local resident Francoise Pie said. A witness who was skiing near the crash site told French television he "heard an enormous noise" around the time of the disaster.

'DARK DAY'

The plane belonged to Germanwings, a low-cost affiliate of German flag carrier Lufthansa based in Cologne. "We've never had a total loss of aircraft in the company's history until now," a company spokeswoman told AFP. Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr described it as a "dark day."

A spokesman for Airbus, the European aerospace giant, did not give any information about possible causes but said the company had opened a "crisis cell" and was sending experts to the scene.

French civil aviation authorities said they lost contact with the plane and declared it was in distress at 10.30am (5.30pm Singapore time). However, the aircraft's crew did not send a distress signal, civil aviation authorities told AFP.

"The crew did not send a Mayday. It was air traffic control that decided to declare the plane was in distress because there was no contact with the crew of the plane," the source said.

In 1981, a plane crashed on the French island of Corsica with 180 people on board.

In July 2000, an Air France Concorde crashed shortly after take-off from Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport en route for New York, leaving 113 people, leaving mainly Germans dead and eventually leading to the supersonic airliner being taken out of service.

The world's worst air disasters remain the Mar 27, 1977, collision of two Boeing 747s on the runway at Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 people, and the Aug 12, 1985 crash into a mountainside of a Boeing 747 belonging to Japan Airlines, killing 520 people.

SOURCE

Air France estimates strike cost at US$632m

Struggling French flag carrier Air France on Wednesday (Oct 8) said last month's two-week strike would have an impact of around €500 million (US$632 million) on its bottom line for this year.

Taking into account the lost revenue during the strike and the knock-on impact of disgruntled passengers staying away in future, the impact over 2014 will be "in the order of €500 million", said financial director Pierre-Francois Riolacci. "We need a few more days to finalise completely our estimates. But we think the impact on the third quarter will be in a range of €320 to €350 million," Riolacci said.

He warned the knock-on consequences were harder to put a figure on but said there would be an impact both on the last quarter of the year and the first part of next year as Air France, Europe's second-largest airline, battles to win back its reputation.

"We made some savings (like in aviation fuel) because the planes were not flying," he noted. "On the other hand, we had additional costs: putting passengers up, compensation or buying tickets from our competitors for some of our passengers, which we did not always get at the best price," he said.

Pilots at Air France waged the longest strike in the company's history between Sep 15 and 28 in protest at the group's plans to expand its low-cost subsidiary Transavia France. The airline sees the development of Transavia France as crucial to compete in the cut-throat world of aviation which has been revolutionised by the arrival of low-cost operators like easyJet and Ryanair.

But the pilots, some of whom earn up to €250,000 per year, were worried their flights could be replaced by Transavia services or that the company would seek to use the cheaper Transavia pilots.

SOURCE

Air France pilots end record strike

Air France's main pilots' union Sunday (Sep 28) ended the longest strike in the carrier's history to allow "calmer" talks to go ahead over the contentious issue of the airline's low-cost subsidiary Transavia.

A spokesman for the SNPL union, Guillaume Schmid, told AFP the pilots were ending the protest - which has cost Air France more than 200 million euros (S$323 million) over the past two weeks - so that the negotiations over Transavia can proceed.

Air France sees Transavia's development as vital in the struggle to retain market share in the cutthroat medium-haul sector, which is steadily being overrun by no-frills airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair. But Air France pilots, who earn up to 250,000 euros a year, fear some of their flights will be replaced with services operated by Transavia, or their contracts will be squeezed by the expansion of the subsidiary.

Immediately after the pilots' union announced the end of the strike, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls called on all sides to "regain the confidence of everyone and resume the development of Air France and its subsidiary Transavia, which is an asset". Valls said the 14-day strike was "misunderstood and penalised passengers, the company and the country's economy".

The protest saw half of Air France's fleet grounded, and cost the airline between 15 million and 20 million euros a day. Thousands of passengers had travel plans disrupted.

TALKS DEADLOCKED

On Friday, Valls ruled out a proposal by the pilots to lift the strike if an independent mediator was named to run the thorny negotiations. Talks over the issue have been deadlocked. The latest round, which ended early Sunday, "did not suit us," Schmid said. But he said the decision had been taken to lift the protest to allow discussions "in a calmer climate".

The pilots are fighting for a "single contract" across Air France-KLM and its subsidiaries to avoid being forced to accept less attractive working conditions at Transavia, which serves holiday destinations across Europe and the Mediterranean. A Transavia captain earns up to 160,000 euros a year but clocks up significantly more flights than one flying for Air France. Co-pilots on both airlines earn roughly the same amount at the beginning of their careers, according to sources.

The French state holds a 16 per cent stake in Air France-KLM, the second-largest European carrier after Germany's Lufthansa. Air France's share price plunged nearly 15 per cent since the stoppage began and the protest fuelled wide concern in France.

The strike was "catastrophic for the French aviation sector," a joint statement from key industry unions, including those representing travel operators, had warned. "In a more-than-morose economic context, it is compromising a future that is already seriously under threat," read the statement.

Air France has already implemented an ambitious restructuring plan to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

While the Air France management agreed to scrap the development of Transavia abroad, it has vowed to maintain at least some part of its plans to enter the low-cost market.

SOURCE

Airbus test-flies less-thirsty A320neo

Airbus on Thursday (Sep 25) sent its new A320neo - an updated, more fuel-efficient version of its hugely popular medium-haul A320 passenger plane - into the skies on its first of several test flights before deliveries next year to waiting customers.

The narrow-body, two-engined aircraft took off from Toulouse-Blagnac airport in southwest France where Airbus is headquartered for a two-hour flight, an AFP reporter witnessed.

The European planemaker has orders from 60 customers for 3,257 of the A320neos after they start to be delivered in October 2015, Airbus chief operating officer John Leahy told reporters. The stated catalogue price is between US$94 million and US$120 million (€74 million and €94 million) each, depending on configuration, but is often discounted.

The plane - whose "neo" designation stands for "new engine option" - is designed to consume 15 per cent less fuel than the current A320s in service, a significant selling point for airlines in the cutthroat medium-haul sector. The neo boasts aerodynamic improvements including little curved winglets, trimmed weight and more efficient engines.

Airbus says its current version of the A320 family, which includes the smaller A319 and bigger A321, has 60 per cent of the medium-haul market, ahead of US rival Boeing with its 737 aircraft.

SOURCE

Union makes offer to end marathon Air France strike

Air France's main pilots' union offered to lift its crippling strike late Friday (Sep 26) if an independent mediator was named to run negotiations in a bitter battle over the fate of the company's low-cost subsidiary.

The SNPL union, in what it called a "gesture of appeasement", said it was "ready to end the conflict as soon as this mediator is named" by the government. The French prime minister's office told AFP there were "no grounds for new negotiations with a mediator".

Over half of Air France's planes were grounded for the 12th day running, and the strike was extended until at least Tuesday, after pilots blocked the most recent management proposals to scale back development plans for its low-cost Transavia airline.

The strike at Europe's second-largest flag carrier is costing an estimated €15 million to €20 million (US$19 million to US$25 million) a day. Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Friday renewed his call for the "unbearable" strike to end. Air France's share price has fallen nearly 15 per cent since the stoppage began. "This strike is catastrophic for the French aviation sector," read a joint statement from key industry unions, including those representing travel operators. "In a more-than-morose economic context, it is compromising a future that is already seriously under threat," read the statement.

Air France's management also rejected the idea of a mediator, and voiced surprise that pilots' representatives had left the negotiating table on Friday while "discussions were going well". "We aren't far from a solution," said spokesman Eric Schramm. He stressed however that the company was in an "extremely delicate" situation, losing €20 million each day of the strike.

The protracted strike, and fruitless negotiations, have also prompted anger among aviation staff grounded alongside their planes, around 200 of whom protested against the stoppage on Friday.

CONCESSIONS NOT ENOUGH

A concession from management to scrap plans to expand Transavia further into Europe was "necessary, but not enough" to stop the strike, SNPL spokesman Guillaume Schmid said on Friday. Schmid later called on the government to name an "independent mediator as quickly as possible". He blasted Air France-KLM chief executive Alexandre de Juniac for "his inability to carry out a respectful dialogue" with the unions.

The pilots are fighting for a "single contract" across Air France-KLM's subsidiaries to avoid being forced to accept less attractive working conditions at Transavia. Transavia currently serves holiday destinations across Europe and the Mediterranean.

Air France pilots, who earn up to €250,000 a year, fear some flights will be replaced with services operated by Transavia. They fear they will end up earning less and having shorter recovery times between flights. A Transavia captain earns up to €160,000 a year, although co-pilots on both airlines will earn roughly the same amount as each other at the beginning of their careers, according to sources.

LOW-COST A GROWTH OPPORTUNITY

While Air France management agreed to scrap the development of Transavia abroad, it has vowed to maintain at least some part of its plans to enter the low-cost market, a key "growth opportunity", according to de Juniac. The Air France-KLM board of directors has thrown its support behind management.

The withdrawal of plans to expand Transavia will come as a blow to the airline's efforts to be more competitive in the crowded and changing European skies, increasingly dominated by no-frills operators such as Irish airline Ryanair.

France's MEDEF employers' association said on Thursday the conflict at Air France - which is 16 per cent state-owned - encapsulated the malaise gripping the country's crisis-hit economy. The union action is "again dragging a company into the red", said MEDEF vice-president Jean-Francois Pillard. "For those who want to invest or travel in France, this does not contribute, at an already extremely difficult time, to improving the image of the country," he said.

Air France has already implemented an ambitious restructuring plan to reduce costs and improve efficiency. "Low-cost airlines now represent between 25 and 45 per cent of air traffic in Europe, depending on the country," said Didier Brechemier, an aviation expert at consultants Roland Berger.

Ryanair will soon expand its fleet to 400, which would take it above Air France's 350 aircraft. "With competitors like that it's not hard to see why Ryanair is the fastest-growing airline in Europe," company boss Michael O'Leary said dismissively of Air France's offer to put its expansion plans on ice.

SOURCE

Pilots reject Air France offer to end strike

Air France pilots on Monday (Sep 22) rejected a last-ditch management attempt to end the longest strike at the airline since 1998 that is costing up to €20 million (US$25.7 million) every day.

The main pilots' union dismissed as a "smoke screen" the chief executive's offer to freeze the development of a subsidiary budget airline that management sees as vital to compete in the cut-throat aviation market. The management proposal "is nothing but a smoke screen that offers no more guarantees than previous offers and does not solve any problem," the SNPL union said in a statement.

Air France chief executive Alexandre de Juniac said earlier on Monday that this was the "last offer" to break the deadlock that has grounded on average 60 per cent of the French flag carrier's fleet.

The pilots are on strike in protest at the airline's plans to develop Transavia France, which serves holiday destinations, primarily in the Mediterranean. They fear the airline will attempt to replace expensive Air France pilots, who can earn up to €250,000 (YS$321,000) a year, with Transavia pilots, who are paid considerably less.

De Juniac offered "to suspend the plan to create Transavia subsidiaries in Europe until the end of the year" in order to have "a deeper dialogue" with pilots, but insisted the overall project could not be called into question.

Air France said the strike was costing them "up to €20 million per day" and said it would update its profit forecasts when the strike was over. "The pilots' strike has had disastrous consequences for customers, employees and the company's finances," the airline said in a statement.

Unions have threatened to extend the strike - already the longest in 16 years - until Friday unless their demands are met.

AIR FRANCE FATE 'AT STAKE'

Air France has made concessions - notably an offer to limit the Transavia fleet to 30 planes compared with 37 originally planned - but to no avail so far.

"This strike is becoming interminable," said Jean-Claude Delarue, president of a travellers' federation. "You have to ask yourself whether Air France will end up losing market share because travellers will end up going elsewhere," said Delarue.

The government has called several times for an end to the strike, with Prime Minister Manuel Valls warning that the image of the eurozone's second largest economy was at risk. Transport Minister Alain Vidalies warned over the weekend that "the fate of the company could be at stake". "The low cost (arena) is not a choice, it's an obligatory move, that's reality. I think pilots are fully aware of this," he told French radio.

Management has sent an email to its pilots to try to put an end to what it said were attempts of "intimidation" against pilots who were continuing to work. "Air France management will not tolerate any misdemeanour and will initiate steps necessary to punish those who engage in such acts," read the email, obtained by AFP.

The company also wrote to its passengers to express its "frustration" and "unhappiness". It asked customers who have booked a ticket before September 26 to delay their trip or change their flight free of charge.

In an apologetic message to its frequent flyers, the wider Air France-KLM group has said its aim was to offer "competitive" fares and Transavia was meant to complement Air France's operations without creating any "adverse impact on Air France staff".

Throughout the strike, the atmosphere at airports has been remarkably quiet, as the company has been warning travellers in advance that their flights are cancelled.

SOURCE

EasyJet fined 60,000 euros in discrimination case

A French court on Thursday fined British budget airline easyJet 60,000 euros (over US$80,000) for refusing to let a partially paralysed woman fly unaccompanied to her son's funeral.

The fine for discrimination is the second slapped on the airline this year in France. In February, the carrier was fined 50,000 euros for having forced a disabled woman off a flight.

The court in the Paris suburb of Bobigny also slapped a 30,000-euro fine on Europe Handling, a company hired by easyJet to carry out passenger registrations and check-ins at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport.

The complainant, a 65-year-old woman who is paralysed on one side, was prevented by easyJet from travelling from Paris to Portugal in October 2009 because she was unaccompanied.

She then bought a ticket with another airline and made it to the funeral and filed a suit for discrimination upon her return.

In the other case, easyJet was fined for forcing a wheelchair-bound woman off a Paris-Nice flight in March 2010 on the same grounds.

Cabin crew had told the 39-year-old that she could not travel alone because she could not reach an emergency exit without assistance.

SOURCE

French union calls off potentially-damaging pilots' strike

A potentially-damaging French pilots' strike has been called off at the last minute, the union organising the work stoppage said Friday, just days after Air France warned it risked hampering the airline's painstaking recovery.

The strike from May 3 to 30, which was called by the country's main SNPL pilots' union, would have seen pilots stop work at specific times every day, which Air France said would severely disrupt its medium- and long-haul flights.

On Friday, SNPL head Yves Deshayes said the union had decided to call off the strike "on the basis of (government) proposals" after representatives met with Transport Minister Frederic Cuvillier -- a move welcomed by Air France chief Frederic Gagey.

The pilots had planned to protest against a law stipulating that those who strike must declare their intention to do so 48 hours before the start of a work stoppage.

The regulation was put in place to give airlines more time to warn passengers about flight disruptions, but the SNPL says it actually allows them to hire temporary replacement pilots from other European countries.

"The government recognised for the first time that these practices were not acceptable," Deshayes told reporters Friday, adding the government had made "a strong commitment" on looking to modify the law, although "no guarantees" had been given to the union.

Earlier this week, Air France chief Gagey had warned that the strike -- which had nothing to do with the airline itself -- was "taking place at a crucial time in Air France's recovery".

After six years of financial losses that led to radical cost-cutting measures including thousands of job cuts, the airline is aiming to generate a positive operating income this year -- a target it said could have been damaged by the strike.

On Friday, Gagey welcomed the cancellation of the strike, saying it was "excellent news for Air France clients and employees".

"Air France can now devote all its energy to pursuing its recovery."

SOURCE

France sells 1% stake in Airbus Group for 451 million euros

The French state has raised 451 million euros ($614 million) by selling a one per cent stake in European aircraft and defence corporation Airbus Group, the economy minister said on Thursday.

The divestment, of around eight million shares to institutional buyers, brings France's stake in the publicly traded group to 11 per cent -- the same as Airbus Group partner Germany.

Airbus Group -- the new name for what used to be known as EADS -- has seen its shares gain 74.63 per cent over the past year, to 56.44 euros per share, in large part thanks to management reforms carried out in 2013.

French Economy Minister Pierre Moscovici late on Wednesday announced the sale, saying it would lower the French government's stake to a level on par with that of Germany's, as per a bilateral pact. Germany recently raised its stake to the 11 per cent level.

Spain's government holds a smaller stake of just over four per cent in the European group.

Moscovici on Thursday revealed that 451 million euros had been raised from the stake sale.

France has been selling off some of its state holdings in companies in a bid to bring down its debt mountain, which is equivalent to 94 per cent of GDP. Last year it raised 2.4 billion euros through divestments, nearly half of that through an earlier sell-off of Airbus Group shares.

Airbus Group is riding high after announcing this week its best commercial performance in its history, with notably 2013 being a record year for orders of Airbus aircraft, though deliveries still trailed those of US rival Boeing.

SOURCE

Aerospace giant EADS to cut 5,800 jobs

European aerospace giant EADS, the maker of Airbus aircraft, announced plans Monday to cut 5,800 jobs in its defence and space division over three years.

The layoffs, part of a major restructuring in the face of falling orders, will affect the group's work force in Germany, France, Spain and Britain, the company said in a statement.

The news came after a meeting of its European works council with EADS chief executive Tom Enders, whose bold plan to merge the conglomerate with Britain's defence group BAE Systems was torpedoed last year with a surprise veto by Germany.

"We need to improve our competitiveness in defence and space -- and we need to do it now," Enders said, according to the statement.

"With our traditional markets down, we urgently need to improve access to international customers, to growth markets. For that to work, we need to cut costs, eliminate product and resource overlaps, create synergies in our operations and product portfolio and better focus our Research and Development efforts."

He added: "That's what the restructuring and integration plan for our defence and space business is all about."

Anticipating fierce resistance from labour representatives, the company said it would do what it could to cushion the impact of the job cuts, due to be completed by the end of 2016.

Furloughed employees will be offered redeployment with 1,500 jobs at the company's Airbus and Eurocopter divisions.

About 1,300 short-term contracts will not be renewed, and with voluntary measures, the company estimated final redundancies to come in at between 1,000 and 1,450 employees.

"The Group also intends to enter into negotiations with its works councils to seek agreements on labour cost reductions which could help mitigate the social impact of the restructuring plan," it added.

EADS has previously announced that it is changing its name the name of the group to Airbus to raise its public profile.

The overhauled defence and space division, to be called Airbus DS, will have a streamlined legal structure to cut costs and be up and running by January 1, the company said.

Shares in EADS rose 0.82 per cent to 50.49 euros in Paris on the news.

A French union, the FO Metalworkers' Federation, reacted angrily to the announcement, protesting that EADS on the whole "is doing well financially and its order books are in good shape".

It said the group's focus on improving its profit margin should not come at the expense of its staff and urged the French state as a major shareholder to fight to protect jobs.

"FO calls on EADS to avoid layoffs and appeals to its sense of responsibility and solidarity so that no employee will be left behind," it said.

Enders has stressed that the company cannot continue with business as usual while government clients are increasingly resorting to cuts to the military to shore up strained public finances.

He has cited lost orders worth several billion euros (dollars) in Germany alone that the company had thought were certain.

In November, Germany's biggest union IG Metall held industrial action as a warning against the company's expected restructuring plans.

However, the overhaul is seen by management as unavoidable after the failed plan to merge with BAE.

That was shelved after objections from Germany, which had worried it would trigger major job losses.

The success of the Airbus division came after a radical restructuring in 2007 in a plan that originally called for 10,000 job cuts, but in the end cost 7,900 jobs.

SOURCE

Aerospace giant EADS could change name to Airbus, its plane-maker

European aerospace giant EADS may decide to change its name to Airbus, its better-known plane-making subsidiary, by the end of July to simplify and strengthen the brand, a source said on Wednesday.

But executives are torn over how useful a name-change would be for the group, which makes helicopters, missiles, drones and satellites.

The Airbus commercial plane division accounts for more than half of annual sales.

The issue highlights the big risks and opportunities involved in choosing, or changing, the name of a company or brand.

"This topic is in more-than-serious discussions. It's very probable that the name change will happen," said a source close to the situation, who declined to be named.

"In any case, it should be on the agenda at the board meeting validating half-year results," the source added.

EADS is due to publish these results on July 31, and the board meeting will take place beforehand.

The name change would mean that Airbus -- maker of the A380 double-decker superjumbo airliner and an arch-rival of Boeing -- would now group both military and civilian products.

EADS was created in 2000 by a merger of leading German, French and Spanish aerospace companies.

The name change has been on the cards for a long time, since it was believed that EADS, standing for the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, suffered from weak brand recognition.

But a hugely-publicised failed attempt by EADS and Britain's BAE Systems to merge last year has boosted recognition of the EADS name, causing some executives to question any potential name change.

"When EADS wasn't known, it (a name change) was of real interest, it would definitely have been added-value for the group," said one top executive, who refused to be named.

"But today, studies show that EADS is known, people know what EADS is particularly since the aborted merger with BAE Systems last year."

Others believe that naming the whole group Airbus could lead to a slight loss of identity for the plane-making division.

According to French economic daily La Tribune, EADS chief Tom Enders has set up a working group to study the technical and judicial implications of a name change.

SOURCE

A good change perhaps? It is true that everyone recognises Airbus, but when probed with EADS, they start scratching their heads. It's going to be cute though, to have the name "Airbus" when you're also manufacturing flying machines for the military.

Doric orders 20 Airbus superjumbos

European aircraft maker Airbus made a big breakthrough for its flagship A380 superjumbo airliner on Monday, taking the first order for the plane this year after a setback over cracks in the wings.

The provisional order, worth about $8.0 billion (6.0 billion euros) at list prices, came from Doric Asset Finance, a leasing group which will make the A380 giant accessible to many airlines via rental agreements.

The deal, important for Airbus in its efforts to boost sales of the aircraft, the giant of the skies, comes just three days after another milestone, the maiden flight of its new long-range A350 aircraft.

Airbus head Fabrice Bregier told the Wall Street Journal newspaper on the opening of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget on Monday that the firm hoped to more than double its operating profit in the next two years.

It intended to raise the operating margin from 4.0 per cent to 10.0 per cent, he said, adding that this target excluded the launch costs of the A350.

Last year was a difficult one for the A380 superjumbo because micro cracks were detected where the wings join the fuselage.

Airbus is correcting the problem, but the manufacturer had taken no orders for the A380 since the beginning of 2013.

Boosting sales of the A380 is of particular importance to Airbus, which said in a statement that with this investment Doric would be able to offer the aircraft on tailor-made terms for airlines.

This would facilitate use of the plane by airlines around the world, Airbus said.

Doric Asset Finance has provided finance for orders by airlines such as Emirates and Singapore Airlines.

Under leasing arrangements, an airline enters into a rental agreement with the leasing company, thereby avoiding having to find the purchase capital from its own resources.

Airbus said that Doric was the third-biggest such company in the world, in terms of value, providing leasing arrangements for jumbo aircraft and was the biggest in terms of managing such deals for the A380 superjumbo.

Doric currently manages aircraft worth $6.0 billion, including 18 A380 airliners purchased under sale and leaseback agreements, so the latest deal represents a substantial increase for the leasing group.

The latest agreement in principle, or outline deal, is expected to be confirmed in a few months.

SOURCE

More A380s available for lease from Doric after this purchase, and it is a real huge one, after Airbus receiving naught order for a good half a year of 2013. Perhaps this should kick start the ball and keep it rolling through the rest of the airshow.

Japan's Skymark orders four Boeing planes

Japan's Skymark Airlines on Monday announced it would buy four of Boeing's 737 MAX planes, the first Japanese airline to choose the US firm's new mid-range plane.

"It's a commitment to a minimum of four firm orders and we're still in discussions on how the transition of the whole fleet will go," John Wojick, vice president of global sales for Boeing, told reporters at the Paris Air Show.

Skymark currently has 30 of the US firm's mid-range 737 planes, and will have five more of those by next year. It then intends to gradually renew its entire fleet with the newer 737 MAX aircraft, which has yet to come into service.

At catalogue prices, Skymark's order for four planes announced on Monday is worth $402 million (301 million euros).

The air show just north of Paris kicked off on Monday, with Boeing and Airbus announcing a slew of orders as they battle for supremacy at the major event.

SOURCE

A relatively small order for Boeing with a minor airline based in Japan.

New Airbus A350 comes through first test flight

Airbus's new A350 plane glided smoothly through its maiden flight on Friday, leaving company executives relieved and brimming with confidence for the battle with Boeing that lies ahead.

Designed to help the European manufacturer catch up with its American rival in the market for long-haul, fuel-efficient planes, the new Airbus completed a faultless test flight from an airport close to the company's headquarters in southern France.

After just over four hours in the air, the new plane touched down to jubilant cheers from thousands of Airbus employees and aviation enthusiasts who had assembled to watch the landmark flight.

"We were on time and everything went perfectly," relieved Airbus boss Fabrice Bregier said after watching his "new baby" cruise past the crowds on the ground at a height of just 100 metres (yards) before looping round against clear blue skies and coming in to land.

Although the flight was only the first in an intensive year-long testing programme, Airbus needed Friday's showcase to pass off without any hiccups in order to maximise the potential for further orders at next week's Paris Air Show.

"I'm confident it will be a roaring success in the market," declared Tom Enders, the chairman of Airbus's parent company EADS.

Peter Chandler, Airbus's chief test pilot who was at the controls when the plane took off for the first time, sounded like he had just climbed down from a thoroughbred.

"We received the airplane from the final assembly line almost exactly two weeks ago and for the last week or so it has been quite obvious the plane is ready to fly and wanting to fly," the British pilot said.

"That was obvious this morning as it was clearly much happier in the air than it has been running down the runway and stopping all the time."

Boeing expressed its congratulations to its rival. "A new airplane is a very complex endeavour and this is a milestone the industry can celebrate together," it said.

Much like its competitor - Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner, in service since September 2011 - theA350 makes extensive use of light composite materials that significantly reduce fuel consumption and costs.

Arnaud Verneau, one of the flight engineers on board on Friday, revealed that the flight had been smoother and quieter than anyone had hoped for.

"We were even able to put it on auto pilot on after two hours, which we had not anticipated doing," he said, adding that the plane's lighter materials had not resulted in more noise inside the cabin.

"We will see as the tests progress but for the moment, it is the same (as a traditionally constructed plane)," he said.

More than 10,000 hours of ground tests had been done on the airliner before the flight, and over the next year five test planes will criss-cross the globe in the warmest and coldest regions, at low and high speed.

If all goes well, first delivery is expected at the end of 2014.

Confirmed customers so far include Qatar Airways, British Airways and Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific, and Airbus is hoping for a slew of new orders next week.

Boeing still dominates the long-haul market, and Airbus has positioned its A350 between the US firm's popular 777 and its new 787, hoping to eat away at both planes' markets.

The test flight may cast a shadow over Boeing at the Paris Air Show, where the US firm is hoping to prove its Dreamliner is back on track after recent technical problems with overheating batteries - one of which caught fire - forced the worldwide grounding of the fleet.

Christophe Menard, aerospace and defence analyst at Kepler Capital Markets in Paris, said that despite its own delays on the A350, Airbus was getting the plane out faster than Boeing managed with the Dreamliner.

Still, the 787 is ahead of the A350 in terms of orders - 890 versus 613.

Airbus says the A350 will consume six per cent less fuel than the 787 and 25 per cent less than the 777, and the year-long test flying phase will help verify that claim, as well as diagnose any problems.

"The risk is they find other things that they hadn't expected," said Nick Cunningham, an aviation analyst at the London-based Agency Partners.

SOURCE

A new plane, another step forward in aviation. With its touted fuel saving capability, it will be a great saviour to our environment if it is proven to be true. Orders may still be lagging behind the Dreamliner but the Paris Air Show will prove to be a test bed of the saleability for both of them.

Airbus A350 to take maiden flight

French aircraft maker Airbus on Tuesday said its new long-haul carrier, the A350, is scheduled to make its maiden flight on Friday after having successfully passed a series of tests.

The company said in a statement the flight would take place at 0800 GMT at the Toulouse-Blagnac airport in southwestern France, "weather conditions permitting".

Flight test teams were however carrying out a final round of controls before giving "their final green light".

Airbus hopes the 314-seater will compete with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner by being both lighter and more fuel-efficient than previous models.

The first deliveries of A350s to airlines are scheduled for the second half of 2014. So far, Airbus has received 613 firm orders for the aircraft.

SOURCE

Finally the zorro plane takes flight!! Let's all hope everything goes well and no further delays will occur.

Flight chaos as French controllers strike over EU airspace plan

Hundreds of flights in France were cancelled Tuesday as air traffic controllers kicked off a three-day strike against EU plans to create a single European airspace.

Controllers across the continent are due to stage various protests such as working to rule on Wednesday against what the European Transport Workers' Federation calls "a never-ending process of liberalisation, deregulation and cost cutting."

The day of action, which will involve staff in 11 countries, centres around a decade-long attempt to create a single EU airspace that controllers fear will cut jobs and affect work conditions.

France has been hit by two separate actions. Tuesday's strike was called by one of the controllers' main unions and will last three days, while other unions will join Wednesday's Europe-wide movement only.

Some 1,800 flights were cancelled Tuesday -- just under a quarter of the daily average -- after authorities asked airlines to cut some flights in advance to avoid mayhem on the day.

The situation is "on the whole quite calm in airports", said a spokesman for the Directorate General for Civil Aviation, France's aviation authority.

But Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair blasted the work stoppage, saying passengers were being "taken hostage" and calling on the European Commission to put an end to controllers' strikes after it cancelled more than 100 flights.

Air France, meanwhile, said it expected all long-haul flights from Paris would go ahead, but did not exclude "last-minute delays and cancellations."

The work stoppage is just one of the planned strikes in France this week, with railway workers due to stop work from Wednesday evening until Friday morning, and postal service employees expected to strike Thursday.

The air traffic controllers' main union, the SNCTA, called the three-day strike to denounce "the direct consequences on national policies of European constraints" on the sector.

Other unions that also represent controllers are planning to join Wednesday's protest movement to protest mainly against the "Single European Sky", which aims to bring management of European airspace under EU control.

Fragmented country-by-country air control is estimated to bring extra costs of close to five billion euros (US$6.6 billion) a year to airlines and passengers in Europe.

It adds 42 kilometres to the distance of an average flight as controllers are not able to manage more than a certain amount of flights at the same time, thus also harming the environment and causing delays.

By way of comparison, the United States controls the same amount of airspace with more traffic at almost half the cost.

The European Commission wants to redesign the EU's 27 national airspaces into just nine bigger sectors, saying a "single" European sky would improve safety ten-fold, slash pollution by 10 percent and reduce costs by 50 percent.

It will put forward proposals later Tuesday to speed up the reform, amid strong resistance from unions.

"The problem doesn't lie in the 'single sky' regulations that aim to harmonise air traffic management at a European level, we're for that," said Olivier Joffrin of the USAC-CGT, one of the unions involved in Wednesday's strike.

"What we don't accept is that the Commission use this to privatise and liberalise some activities."

SOURCE

A strike which hits France rather than the usual Germany. This is the culture of the Europeans which you will hardly see in Asia. The ones suffering the most will be passengers themselves. Perhaps the Europeans should start changing the way they handle issues so as to come to solutions in a more amicable way.

Air France launches offer to fight low-cost carriers

French airline Air France on Monday launched an offensive to compete with low-cost carriers, offering flights from four French hubs to 58 destinations in Europe and around the Mediterranean at fares starting from 49 euros ($64) for passengers who travel with carry-on baggage.

"Air France aims to adapt to the changes in purchasing behaviour and the new expectations of travellers, while at the same time attracting new customers," it explained in a statement.

It said that the programme was aimed at the 60 percent of clients for whom the lowest price was the most important factor.

The new offer is part of a restructuring plan presented a year ago which is designed to save Air France two billion euros by 2015, chairman Alexandre de Juniac told a press conference.

Low-cost tickets went on sale on Monday for flights beginning on February 6, and were expressly "aimed at clients who might be tempted by low-cost airlines," de Juniac said.

Although the group posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results in late October, it is under severe financial and cost-cutting pressures and is trying to fight against competition from budget European carriers such as EasyJet and Ryanair.

The new fares, which apply to flights from Orly airport south of Paris and growing Air France regional low-cost hubs in Marseille, Nice and Toulouse in southern France, "are a long-term offer" according to the airline's deputy director at Orly, Florence Parly.

Air France has found through a study that on short and medium-haul flights, 40 percent of its passengers do not check in bags at present.

The so-called MiNi offer, which does not include frequent-flier credits, is not limited to a specific time period, but customers who buy tickets will have to pay a surcharge if they subsequently seek to check in luggage, and cannot request specific seats via the airline's website.

The fares also complement a strategy by Air France-KLM simultaneously to raise standards for passengers who pay more for business and "Premium Economy" seats.

Commercial director Christian Boireau said that the airline expected to sell more than one million tickets at prices which would vary from 49 to 69 euros, and noted on Monday that the company's website was quickly saturated.

De Juniac said: "Our forecasts show that we will make money. The business plan is viable."

The plan was integrated in the carrier's Transform restructuring strategy so "it will not by itself require additional cost-cutting measures," he said.

SOURCE

Premium airlines are one by one jumping into the low-cost business model. For this case, Air France found out that on short and medium-haul flights, 40 percent of its passengers do not check in bags at present.

This is a very good find and it enables the airline to reduce ticket costs for the passengers and yet not make a loss.