I49 Air and Space Transport

Virgin, Jetstar to face joint action

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Original article by Anthony Klan
The Australian – Page: 19 : 7-Aug-14

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission recently launched Federal Court action against Jetstar Airlines and Virgin Australia over allegedly misleading practices. It is being claimed that the carriers’ online booking web sites hide additional fees and charges when they advertise fares for flights. The ACCC’s legal team has now agreed with a suggestion by the judge to combine the two actions into a single one

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES

Air NZ ‘adamant’ Virgin stays listed

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 14-Jul-14

Air New Zealand (NZ) is Virgin Australia’s largest shareholder, with a 25.99 per cent stake. The carrier, Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways and Virgin Group have a combined stake of 79.4 per cent in Virgin Australia, but Air NZ CFO Rob McDonald has downplayed speculation that they could seek to privatise the airline. He stresses the importance of maintaining a sharemarket listing, while he has ruled out spinning off Air NZ’s frequent flyer program in the near-term

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, AIR NEW ZEALAND LIMITED – ASX AIZ, SINGAPORE AIRLINES LIMITED, ETIHAD AIRWAYS, VIRGIN GROUP LIMITED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED

Qantas engineers face axe in $2bn cut

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Original article by Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 20 : 9-Jul-14

Qantas Airways has cut another 167 jobs from its engineering division. The retrenchments in Sydney and Melbourne are due to the retirement of older aircraft and the consolidation of the engineering operations. The airline aims to reduce costs by $A2 billion. At the end of June 2014 it had cut employee numbers by 2,200, and it expects to shed another 1,800 jobs by June 2015

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Virgin’s new directors focus on profitability

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Original article by Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 19 : 8-Jul-14

The board of Virgin Australia has been joined by three new directors, representing foreign carriers that hold major stakes in the Australian-listed airline. They are Etihad Airways CEO James Hogan, Air New Zealand (NZ) CEO Christopher Luxon and Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong. Hogan said on 7 July 2014 that he and his counterparts at Singapore Airlines and Air NZ will focus on Virgin Australia’s return to profitability

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, AIR NEW ZEALAND LIMITED – ASX AIZ, ETIHAD AIRWAYS, SINGAPORE AIRLINES LIMITED, VIRGIN GROUP LIMITED, TIGER AIRWAYS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TIGER AVIATION PTE LTD, MANCHESTER CITY FOOTBALL CLUB, MELBOURNE CITY FOOTBALL CLUB

Capacity war rages between budget airlines Jetstar, Tigerair

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Original article by Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 3-Jul-14

Competition between Qantas Airways’ and Virgin Australia’s respective low-cost businesses is intensifying. Virgin has reported that Tiger Airways recorded a 46.8 per cent increase in available seat kilometres in May 2014, compared to the same month in 2013. At Qantas’s Jetstar Airways, domestic capacity increased 11.1 per cent compared to May 2013. Its international capacity rose 8.6 per cent

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, TIGER AIRWAYS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD

ACCC hits airlines over hidden fees

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Original article by Lucille Keen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 20-Jun-14

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has launched legal action against Virgin Australia and Jetstar Airlines. The corporate regulator alleges that the airlines use inadequate disclosure of fares when passengers book tickets online. It states in court documents that the practice of "price dripping", which involves the incremental disclosure of fees and charges, is detrimental to the interests of consumers

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD, PAYPAL INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

CASA crackdown threatens to ground colour blind pilots

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Original article by Heath Aston
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 16 : 18-Jun-14

Australian senator David Fawcett of the Liberal Party wants Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss to intervene after a move by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. It has contacted some 500 licensed pilots whose medical certificates indicate they failed colour perception tests. The watchdog is warning them of a possible tightening of regulations, and among those affected are 124 commercial pilots at carriers such as Virgin Australia. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal had ruled over two decades ago that colour blind pilots can still operate as co-pilots on passenger flights

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, VIRGIN INDEPENDENT PILOTS ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. CIVIL AVIATION SAFETY AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND. CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY