American Airlines’ share price loses altitude after empty seats and higher labour costs weigh on profits October 20, 2016 The world's largest airline by revenue, American Airlines, has posted a 56 per cent drop in profit for its third quarter, but managed to beat analyst expectations. Shares took a hit however, falling some three per cent in New York after the announcement. The numbers AA's profit dropped out of the sky over the year, falling to $737m (£601m), [...]
London travel disruption: Delays to and from London Bridge until 8pm October 20, 2016 Trains to and from London Bridge are being delayed until 8pm, according to National Rail. A vehicle struck a bridge near the station and examiners were on site assessing the bridge. Delays of up to 20 minutes were initially expected from Southeastern services to and from the station, though an update from the train operator said [...]
Unite to begin balloting Gatwick staff on strike action over closure of pensions scheme October 20, 2016 Unite has announced it will begin balloting 1,800 members for strike action next Friday over the closure of Gatwick’s final salary pension scheme. Surface transport workers, firefighters and security officers are to be balloted, following a 96 per cent vote in favour of doing so in a recent consultative ballot. It will close on 16 [...]
Baggage handler Aviator pulls out of UK airports including Gatwick October 20, 2016 Scandinavian baggage handler Aviator is preparing to close its UK operations, spanning Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle airports, ahead of Christmas. The move by Aviator, which is understood to be ending its contracts for financial reasons, is set for the end of November and would leave the four airports short of around 1,700 staff. It is [...]
10m journeys have been made with Sadiq Khan’s new bus Hopper fare October 20, 2016 Over 10m journeys have been made in the first six weeks of the Mayor's new bus "Hopper" fare, according to Transport for London (TfL). The milestone journey was made at 4pm on Wednesday afternoon on bus route 322, running from Tesco in Brent Park to Paddington Station. Read more: TfL signs £79m deal with Serco [...]
Planned Southern rail strike on 3 November suspended – following a request from the British Legion October 20, 2016 A Southern rail strike planned for 3 November has been suspended following a request from the British Legion. Southern workers were originally planning to strike on 3 November, as part of a long-running industrial dispute over the role of train guards. However, 3 November is the date of this year's London Poppy Day, which sees thousands of [...]
Private equity house says Avio-derci to Italian space business October 20, 2016 Private equity house Cinven has announced the sale of its space launcher and propulsion company. Ten years after Cinven acquired Avio from Carlyle, alongside Finmeccanica as a minority shareholder, for €2.57bn (£2.3bn), the firm has agreed a sale to Space2 and Leonardo-Finmeccanica together with Avio’s management. Read more: Private equity firms backed to capitalise on [...]
For what it’s worth, Southern Rail has restored 63 services to its timetable October 20, 2016 Southern Rail, the company currently locked in a battle with unions over who gets to close the doors on its trains, has said it is restoring 63 more services to its ravaged timetable. In a statement today the company said its West London Line timetable will go back to full capacity on Monday, while it [...]
Heathrow praises PM’s “leadership” in airport expansion decision October 20, 2016 Heathrow airport announced steady earnings growth this morning and took the opportunity to butter-up the Prime Minister in advance of a government announcement on Britain's airport expansion. The numbers Revenue for the nine months to September 2016 nudged up by 1.2 per cent compared to the previous year. It stood at £2.1bn and earnings (Ebitda) were £1.3bn, [...]
15,000 people apply for 78 Virgin Trains driver jobs October 19, 2016 More than 15,000 people have applied to drive Virgin's new Azuma trains, after the rail operator launched its biggest recruitment drive on the east coast route since the 1980s. And there were only 78 positions up for grabs. There hasn't been quite so much excitement over a job listing since Tesco advertised for a Christmas tree [...]