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Related Newslog Items 15 June 2010 Delta Air Lines and Air France KLM "expect to add Alitalia to the joint venture in the coming weeks," according to Delta president Ed Bastian. SkyTeam partners Delta and Air France KLM began their transatlantic joint venture in 2008. In 2009, Italian flag carrier Alitalia--also a SkyTeam member--signed a new deal with and agreed to sell a minority stake to Air France KLM. 16 March 2010 British Airways announced contingency plans ahead of a planned cabin crew union strike called for 20-22 March. The airline intends to serve "60 percent of customers originally booked to fly on these days" by operating 60 percent of longhaul and "some" shorthaul flights from Heathrow (supplemented by 22 leased aircraft and crews); "all" longhaul and "more than half" of shorthaul flights from Gatwick; and "all" flights to and from London City airport. Flights by BA subsidiary OpenSkies are unaffected. BA is offering rebooking options and "has also agreed with 40 other carriers that customers can be rebooked free of charge during the actual strike period," according to the airline. For a second strike planned for 27-30 March, the airline has not changed or cancelled the "the vast majority" of scheduled flights. 22 February 2010 A four-day walkout by Lufthansa pilots is expected to cost the airline thousands of flights, mainly domestic, as the carrier maintains international service on routes where it has no alliance partner and otherwise seeks to accommodate passengers on partner airlines, The New York Times reported. Lufthansa is rebooking domestic passengers on trains where possible, and has estimated that the action would cost it €25 million (US$34 million) per day. The union is seeking to block Lufthansa from moving jobs to the lower pay scales of foreign subsidiaries; the airline has offered to guarantee this until 2012. 13 October 2009 Lufthansa in mid-2010 plans to relaunch inflight Internet connectivity. Satellite-based FlyNet service will include wireless Internet access, the ability to connect to virtual private networks and "data transfer over standard GSM/GPRS mobile networks." Working with Panasonic, Lufthansa "plans to equip a major part of its long-range fleet with FlyNet within the first year of operation." The airline announced no specific price points, but said customers will be able to select hourly or monthly flat rates, or redeem loyalty program points as payment. Lufthansa offered inflight Internet access between 2004 and 2006, furnished by now-defunct Connexion by Boeing. 1 October 2009 Lufthansa on 1 November will own all of bmi after a Lufthansa-affiliated holding company acquires a 20 percent bmi stake held by SAS Group. According to a Lufthansa statement, LHBD Holding Limited will pay SAS £19 million (US$30 million) for its stake plus another £19 million "for the cancellation of its rights resulting from the shareholder agreement dated 1999." Lufthansa in June reached a deal with bmi chairman Sir Michael Bishop to acquire a controlling interest in the U.K. carrier. 31 August 2009 JetBlue Airways and Lufthansa signed a codeshare deal. Pending government approval, the two carriers would cooperate on JetBlue flights to 12 U.S. destinations, and on Lufthansa flights from Boston and New York JFK to cities in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The two airlines have been discussing potential commercial cooperation since early 2008 when Lufthansa purchased a 19 percent stake in JetBlue. 30 July 2009 Lufthansa Group reported a net loss of €216 million (US$303 million) for the six months ended 30 June, reversing the €381 million profit achieved in the month earlier period. The Passenger Airline segment result was €66 million (US$93 million) versus €362 million (US$535 million), dragged down by weaker demand and business travelers shifting to "cheaper booking classes." Lufthansa noted that "both the tendency for companies to be restrained about business travel and the structural change in travel behavior persisted into the second quarter of 2009." To improve performance of the Passenger Airline segment, the company announced a target to improve results by "by €1 billion (US$1.4 billion) by the end of 2011; thereby, the focus will lie on cutting costs." Details will be announced in "the upcoming weeks." 24 July 2009 Alitalia added 13 destinations to its network via codeshare flights operated by partners Air France and KLM. Destinations include Berlin, Dubai, Hong Kong, Lisbon, Montreal and Singapore. Air France-KLM in January agreed to acquire a 25 percent stake in Alitalia and create joint ventures with its SkyTeam ally covering services between Italy, France and the Netherlands. 10 July 2009 The U.S. Department of Transportation with some caveats approved Continental Airlines' application to join the antitrust-immunized Star Alliance. "Continental is working to provide a seamless transition for its customers from the SkyTeam alliance to Star Alliance this fall," according to Continental chairman and CEO Larry Kellner. The decision grants immunity for Continental and Air Canada, Austrian, bmi, Lufthansa, LOT Polish Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Swiss, United and TAP Air Portugal.
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