PlaneBusiness Banter Now Posted!

home-typewriter copy 1This week’s issue of PlaneBusiness Banter is now posted!

This week we’re talking about the deal United Airlines announced Wednesday with the Continental AFA MEC. It guarantees a spot at the Continental operation for those  sUAL flight attendants who are on the furlough list. Bold courageous move on the part of the CAL AFA MEC, and the airline for that matter. Great for the flight attendants whose jobs were in jeopardy. Nobody likes to see jobs go away. A win-win. Kudos!

We’re also talking about Sabre. The company filed its IPO registration papers with the SEC this week. The thing about private companies filing for an IPO? They have to come clean about all that stuff they previously didn’t have to talk about. Including the fact the company hasn’t been profitable since 2008. Or that American Airlines got a bigger check than had previously been assumed to as part of the settlement of their lawsuit with Sabre two years ago. But that’s just the tip of the tidbits.

We are also talking about why it is that ALPA, United, American, US Airways and Delta are fighting Air Norwegian’s latest expansion efforts into the U.S.

We finish up our look into 2014 and what we see as important, and we also talk about the attempt by TWU to get a restraining order against Southwest Airlines, after the airline declared an “emergency” concerning sick leave. Yep, you know the situation we’re talking about. The meltdown at Chicago’s Midway Airport earlier this month where a large number of Southwest’s baggage handlers apparently didn’t show up for work. The judge here in Dallas refused to rule, said the matter was something for arbitration.

On the stock front, it was a so-so week, with shares of Air Canada taking the top spot and shares of Bombardier at the bottom. (The announcement that Bombardier’s CSeries aircraft rollout has been delayed, for the fourth time, did not make investors happy.)

All this and much more, in this week’s issue of PlaneBusiness Banter.