Malaysia Airlines warns of possible flight disruptions due to haze

by Devesh Agarwal

Malaysia Airlines is advising its passengers on the possible closure of airports, and disruptions of flights with little advance notice, due to the current haze situation which has deteriorated in parts of Malaysia over the last few days.

Specific stations under close watch for possible closure or interruptions are airline's main hubs in west and east Malaysia i.e. Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Kota Kinabalu International Airport, Kuantan’s Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport, Kota Baru’s Sultan Ismail Petra Airport, Kuala Terengganu’s Sultan Mahmud Airport, Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Kota Kinabalu International Airport.

Malaysia Airlines has formed a haze secretariat to monitor the situation on an hourly basis and provide updates three times daily.

Passengers are encouraged to check the status of their flights with Malaysia Airlines at www.malaysiaairlines.com or within Malaysia call toll free 1 300 88 3000 prior to leaving for the airport and for updates.

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Houston Intercontinental airport terminal B sealed after shooting incident

Houston's George Bush Intercontinental airport (IATA: IAH) is undergoing severe disruptions, as officials have effectively sealed up Terminal B after a fatal shooting earlier today.

The Houston Police report on its Facebook page says

The armed suspect in the airport incident has died from his injuries. He entered Terminal B and fired at least one shot in the air. A nearby Department of Homeland Security Officer heard the gunfire and immediately responded. The Homeland Security Officer and the suspect fired shots simultaneously. The suspect was struck and treated by responding paramedics who pronounced him dead in an ambulance. The Harris County Medical Examiner (Institute of Forensic Sciences) will determine the suspect’s cause of death.

No other travelers in the terminal were hurt. The airport remains safe and the area of the terminal was quickly contained. The investigation remains ongoing.

As a consequence, officials have sealed and closed Terminal B, which operates mostly United Airlines flights. Passengers are being screened and diverted to other terminals. There are severe delays and passengers should check with their airlines immediately. If you are picking up someone arriving, please check, as their flight, will most likely, be diverted to another terminal.

Check the important information page of the airport for latest information. You can also follow the IAH airport on Twitter.

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50 flights diverted due to Dubai airport closure

Air Traffic at the middle-east's busiest hub experience major snarls due to the fog and loss of power to a critical runway backup system.

The closures were caused this morning when reduced runway visibility. About 06:45 there was a loss of power to a critical runway backup system required to maintain runway lights during foggy conditions. While actual power was not disrupted, it is essential, for reasons of safety that the backup system remains functional.

This prompted Dubai International airport administrators to suspend flight operations. About 50 flights were diverted to a number of area airports in the Persian Gulf region including Dubai World Central, Al Ain, Doha in Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Dammam in Saudi Arabia, Muscat in Oman, and Bahrain, among others.

Runway operations were restored by 08:30. The airport operator is working with airlines, air traffic and ground services staff to restore operations, clear the backlog and limit customer inconvenience.

Further flight delays are anticipated as a result of the disruption, and so passengers are advised to check with their airline or airline websites for further information on flight arrival and departure time.

Image courtesy Dubai International airports

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Share your view: Strikers manhandle fellow employees at Kingfisher Airlines disrupting flights across the network

Our topic of this week comes thanks to the financial troubles at Kingfisher Airlines.

The flights of the financially ailing carrier have been disrupted across its India network due to striking engineers.

As per media reports, striking employees, after hearing that some employees received salaries, manhandled fellow employees, beat up a management executive, held passengers hostage aboard a flight for over three and half hours by refusing to connect aero-bridges or ladders to the arriving aircraft.

A statement issued by Prakash Mirpuri, Vice President-Corporate Communications, Kingfisher Airlines Limited, said

A section of employees of Kingfisher Airlines has not been reporting to work over the last fortnight and over the past 2 days, they have been threatening and even manhandling the other employees who are reporting to work as usual. We are anticipating disruptions and/or delays of flights across our network on October 1, 2012 as it is likely that a section of employees of Kingfisher Airlines may not report to work due to such threats. With a view to mitigating the impact of these anticipated disruptions, we are proactively cancelling several flights across our network for October 1, 2012.

As per the Press Trust of India, pilots from Mumbai have joined the striking engineers, adding to the disruptions. Mirpuri went on to say

We are monitoring the situation and continue to engage with this section of employees to see reason as such action is not only detrimental to the company but directly impacts the travelling public and it will be our endeavour to resolve the situation and restore normal operations at the earliest.

Unfortunately, it appears that non-payment of salaries have frayed the patience of the employees to breaking point. This does not appear to be a one or two wildcat strike. This is serious and appears long term.

The attack on an executive is a milder shade of one of the worst and recent industrial unrest in India, at Maruti's Manesar plant, which resulted in death, as is the holding of passengers hostage.

The country's civil aviation regulator the DGCA has indicated it will review the situation.

The platitudes offered by Mirpuri, though genuine, may not be enough to placate irate customers

We deeply regret any inconvenience that may be caused to our valued guests on account of this unprecedented action by a small section of employees and we are doing our best to minimise the impact of these anticipated disruptions.

Your thoughts please? What should Kingfisher Airlines now do? Share your thoughts via a comment.

Please remember, our DISQUS comment system also allows you to share your comments via Twitter and Facebook too. In case you want the airline to hear your comment via Twitter (we cannot guarantee they will read them), use their tag @flykingfisher in the start of your comment and share via Twitter. You can also tag the Chairman of the airline, @TheVijayMallya.

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Lufthansa faces cabin crew strikes and flight disruptions after talks fail

[Note: Most of the links are to web pages in German. Use a translation tool or a web browser with built in translation like Google Chrome.]

German national carrier Deutsche Lufthansa AG faces multiple flight disruptions after talks with the union representing over 18,000 cabin crew failed. The failure of the 13 month old talks has been acknowledged by both the airline and the UFO union.

The UFO union said it will resort to strikes with only a few hours' notice, which will have significant disruptions to the airline's over 1,850 daily flights. The strike actions can commence as early as Wednesday.

With a worsening of the economies in Europe, sky-rocketing prices of fuel, and intense competition from the Gulf carriers, Lufthansa is pressing ahead with a broad-based cost-saving program, which includes eliminating about 3,500 administrative positions (about 3% of the airline's 117,000 workforce), hiring of temporary staff, leasing of staff, and outsourcing some positions.

The union is pressing for a 5% pay increase after a three year wage freeze, against which Lufthansa has reportedly offered 3.5%. The union is has also demanded that there will be no leasing of personnel, ever, while the airline has reportedly offered a moratorium for now.

As per German media, both the main hub airports of Frankfurt and Munich have geared up for potential disruptions which could cost the carrier millions of euros each day. The airline is also reportedly examining its legal options while still trying to negotiate a deal.

For more information on potential flight disruptions visit this page on Lufthansa's web-site.

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Kingfisher Airlines' strikes lead to flight cancellations and disruptions

The Press Trust of India is reporting that disgruntled employees of the financially ailing Kingfisher Airlines went on a wildcat strike at Mumbai and Delhi earlier today which led to the cancellation of over 30 flights, with ripple disruptions across the airline's national network.

The protesters were mostly pilots and engineers who are protesting non-payment of their salaries for many months now.

Today also happens to be the first day of the monsoon session of the Parliament of India, and coincidence is too strong to ignore. The strike will surely attract the attention of law-makers. Whether it results in something positive, only time will tell.

Dr. Mallya's over-riding hope of saving his beleaguered airline is foreign direct investment (FDI), which has been stalled in political circles. If one has to believe the rumour mills, airlines from Mumbai and Gurgaon near Delhi, are putting political spokes in the veritable wrench, to ensure a decision on this policy issue is delayed for a long time, This would cause the implosion of Kingfisher and the elimination of a competitor that will surely rise like a Phoenix from the ashes if FDI is approved.

What are your thoughts? Should Kingfisher continue to limp along, not giving up the fight, and resurrect once FDI is approved? Or should Dr. Mallya recognise the writing on the wall, admit defeat, and gracefully exit the airline business?

Share your views via a comment in the section below.

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