US airport workers protest

On January 15 in New York, amongst other cities, airport workers staged a protest to demand higher wages in one of several protests planned to mark the birthday of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

About 200 service workers blocked bus and car drivers by sitting down on a street bridge leading to New York’s LaGuardia Airport. The crowd was moved on, however, after only a few minutes, following the threat of arrest by police. Additionally about 100 non-unionized airport workers at Philadelphia Airport marched silently through four terminals to a designated ‘free speech zone’ where they held a rally accusing contractors of disregarding minimum wage rules. Similar protests were planned elsewhere.

Most workers contracted by the three major airports serving New York City that work in cleaning, baggage handling and security (amounting to some 12,000 staff), earn US$9 per hour. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which operates the airports, ruled last year that its contractors must pay at least US$10.10 an hour to most airport workers starting in February 2015, a Port Authority spokeswoman said. A US Representative and New York Democrat, called the economic disparities “a disease” and deplored the immorality of neglecting those that contribute to America’s economic strength.

Frontier to outsource a third of workforce

On January 16, Frontier Airlines announced that it will outsource about 1,300 workers in a move to replace these employees with contract workers. Frontier’s outsourcing will target about 1,160 jobs in Denver and another 140 in Milwaukee, affecting about a third of the carrier’s total workforce. Frontier plans to hire a unit of Swissport International to take over its ground operations at the Denver airport, its biggest hub by far. The airline also plans to outsource the jobs of 140 Milwaukee-based reservations workers to a privately held company based in Nashville. A Frontier spokesman stressed that the decision had nothing to do with the level of work provided by its employees and that those affected by the change would be given priority for interviews if they wished to seek employment with the contractors. He added that it was a “difficult but necessary decision to transition the management of these departments to business partners who specializes in these areas.”

United Airlines reinstates workers

On January 12, United announced they were considering cutting up to 2,000 jobs at 28 airports around the country and hiring a contractor to provide bag-handling and other services currently provided by these employees. This came as part of an effort to ensure its costs are competitive, to increase revenue and improve customer service. United Airlines Senior Vice President of Airport Operations Jon Roitman has since said that it will complete ‘insourcing’ work at nine large airports early summer 2015. Following discussions with leaders of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, who represent the affected United employees, the airline plans to bring back other jobs that had been turned over to contractors. Since this announcement, the airline has decided to reinstate 40 previously furloughed ramp employees, after massive baggage-handling issues at Denver International Airport. The 40 recalled workers are among 159 United employees let go as part of budgetary cutbacks. “These recalled full-time workers will help us meet operational needs for spring and summer,” said airline spokesman Charles Hobart. United’s baggage operations were subject to criticism following passenger reports of lost luggage, delayed flights and waits lasting several hours for checked luggage to appear at baggage claim, though these problems are now starting to subside.

US partially lifts embargo with Cuba

The Obama administration has eased travel restrictions and opened a wide range of new export opportunities with Cuba, as they begin work on ending the five-decade Cuban embargo in 2015. Although only Congress has the authority to fully end the 54-year embargo, President Barack Obama announced that he would soften the restrictions, saying: “we are ending a policy that was long past its expiration date. When what you’re doing doesn’t work for fifty years, it’s time to try something new. ”

Following 18 months of secret discussions and the exchange of imprisoned spies, a new co-operative attitude developed between the two countries, meaning that almost any US organization can now offer trips to the location without the previously necessary paperwork and inspections that discouraged expansion of travel to Cuba in the past. The US Chamber of Commerce previously estimated that the embargo cost the US economy US$1.2bn per year in lost sales and exports, while the Cuban government estimated that the embargo cost the island US$685m annually.

United Considering Outsourcing Some Airport Jobs

In an effort to cut costs by US$2bn a year as per 2013 objectives, United Airlines gave some 2,000 of its workers notice on January 12 that their jobs are on the line. The airline announced that jobs up for review included baggage handlers and gate and customer service agents at 28 airports, from Atlanta to Connecticut, but no firm decisions have been made as yet. In an investor update on January 9, United announced that it expects 2014 unit costs to increase by up to 1.4% year-on-year, not including fuel and other special charges.

“We need to ensure our costs are competitive and we are considering transitioning some of our operations at select airports to an outside vendor,” United spokesman, Luke Punzenberger, said. United has long faced competition from Delta Air Lines and American Air Lines, United Senior Vice President of Operations Jon Roitman said in a letter to affected employees: “our major competitors… have workforce arrangements, including market competitive sourcing, that allow them to operate in these stations at significantly lower costs that are more in line with local markets.”

This is the latest in a series of manoeuvres by the airline to cut costs by cutting labour, with the company having outsourced nearly 500 jobs to outside vendors in 2013 and more than 600 jobs at 12 other US airports in autumn 2014. Subsequently, United reported an increase of 99% in the third quarter of 2014 over the third quarter of 2013, its highest-ever quarterly profit.

Most of the jobs under review are held by workers who were employed before April 2006, whose union contracts prevent them from being laid off. If United decides to proceed with outsourcing, it would have to offer these workers a job elsewhere in the company, although employees could decline, according to a source close to the situation.

Now that United has notified the International Association of Machinists officially of its review, it will enter negotiations with the union to see how it could retain workers within the airline.

Textron acquires Douglas Equipment

Douglas Equipment, a manufacturer of GSE based in Cheltenham, England, will now operate as part of Textron Specialized Vehicles’ companies’ GSE business. Textron Ground Support Equipment UK acquired the Douglas Equipment business from Curtiss-Wright Flow Control UK, a subsidiary of Curtiss-Wright Corporation. The Douglas brand will join the Textron Specialized Vehicles companies’ stable of brands alongside TUG™, E-Z-GO, Cushman, and Bad Boy Buggies. Douglas Equipment is well suited to the Textron Specialized Vehicles group, as its specialization in towbarless and conventional aircraft tractors and runway friction measurement systems complements TUG Technologies’ leadership in baggage and tow tractors, pushbacks, belt loaders, ground power units, air-starts, and mobile HVAC units. Douglas will continue to operate from its UK facilities in Cheltenham and Poyle, UK with its workforce of more than 90 employees intact. Kevin Holleran, president of the Textron Specialized Vehicles group of Textron said: “We are excited to welcome Douglas to the Textron Specialized Vehicles family and to our ground support equipment business. The acquisition of Douglas and its unique brand and products, only a few months after our acquisition of TUG last spring, demonstrates our commitment to the GSE industry and our many customers.”

IAG Cargo expands Cargo Connector service

On 14 January, IAG Cargo announced it has launched its new Cargo Connector service in San Francisco, the tenth of an original seven cities on its global network to benefit from the service. In addition to services available in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle and Houston, IAG Cargo’s collection service is also available in the UK, at London Heathrow, and in Frankfurt, Germany. Drivers in IAG Cargo-branded vans collect freight and process new cargo bookings on-the-spot, making connection to IAG Cargo’s network of 350 destinations simple and efficient. The Connector vans are never far away when a pickup is required, with 95% of customers based within a 5 mile radius of the airport.

Freight forwarders in San Francisco can now also have IAG Cargo collect and courier shipments of less than 300 kilograms direct from their premises to the airport, at no extra cost. Joe Le Beau, Regional Commercial Manager North America, at IAG Cargo, said: “It’s great to see that we’ve already expanded Cargo Connector to ten cities worldwide. Following the positive response from the trial period, Cargo Connector in San Francisco has become a firm favourite with the local freight forwarding community. Not only is Cargo Connector proving more cost efficient for smaller freight forwarders that would normally pay a third party to deliver their freight, but also with our GKA’s who really appreciate the peace of mind this service offers.” He went on to say: “Our customers have been pleasantly surprised how quickly the Cargo Connector van arrives at their facility to collect freight just 15 minutes after we have finalised their booking details. As well as offering our customers two daily flights to our Heathrow hub, the Connector van has been the perfect addition to our business at San Francisco, and has taken our customer service to a completely higher level.”

Baggage delays for United Airlines passengers

From early December to the first week of January, United Airlines passengers have struggled to reclaim their baggage following flights into Denver, with delays of delivery lasting several hours to several days. The root of the problem is thought to lie with the ground handling staff for United’s regional Express flights. In their efforts to rectify the problem and ensure the right luggage is on the right aircraft, several United flights have consequently been delayed in addition to the delays surrounding baggage.

In September 2014, United terminated its contract with its previous ground handling contractor, SkyWest Airlines, and signed up with Simplicity Ground Services in the hope of improving operations. It is clear that the airline and Simplicity Ground Services – who blame the issues on the influx of fliers during the festive season – have some kinks to iron out before it can expect operations to run smoothly.

Sodexi opens freight warehouse at Paris CDG airport

A new 7,600 square metre express freight warehouse has been opened at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport by airport operator Aeroports de Paris and the Sodexi, which handles freight for airlines including Air France-KLM and Estonian Air, amongst others. The warehouse, which will be used to process air freight and mail, cost €22m to construct and was completed in autumn 2014. It is estimated that the facility, located adjacent to the passenger terminals, will be able to process up to 55,000 tonnes of freight per year from more than 160,000 commercial flights. Jerome Balbi, managing director of Sodexi, praised the performance of the facility and expressed high hopes for its rôle in transporting international freight in a timely manner.

“A parcel collected at the end of the previous afternoon in Hong Kong will arrive in Paris in the morning, and can be connected straight away to a flight to southern Europe or Scandinavia, for example, with delivery in the early afternoon,” he said.

Southwest Airline’s largest cargo operation

Despite being only the tenth largest airport in terms of departures, Los Angeles holds the impressive title of largest cargo station for Southwest Airlines. The cargo handled here, which includes anything from live tropical fish to organs for transplants, exceeds 30m pounds a year, or 80,000 pounds a day. This grand number is somewhat overshadowed, however, by Southwest’s figures for 2013, which state an enormous 3.5bn pounds of cargo was handled at the station over the course of that particular year.

Gun-trafficking suspect waives preliminary hearing

Eugene Harvey, a Delta Air Lines baggage handler in Atlanta, was arrested just before Christmas on charges of smuggling firearms on to passenger aircraft to New York City at Hartsfield-Jackson International airport. On January 6 he waived his preliminary hearing in the federal court and was freed on an unsecured US$25,000 bond. According to his lawyer, he has denied any wrongdoing despite an FBI statement that there was enough evidence to charge Harvey with trafficking firearms, violating airport security and assisting others in the scheme.