Transportinfo.org.uk - today's transport news in the uk, hand picked for you each morning

Wednesday, 31 May 2017

BBC News

• Pilots approaching Glasgow Airport spot drone above planeThe drone is thought to have been less than 200ft from the jet as it approached Glasgow Airport.
• Ryanair expects lower fares but reports record profitsThe airline says fares will fall by up to 7% this year as it reports a record annual profit.

Financial Times

• British Airways owner IAG drops 4% after bank holiday chaos
• Ryanair lifts profits despite slashing fares to stimulate demandAirline cut prices following terrorist attacks and Brexit vote
• British Airways under pressure to explain source of power surgeElectricity companies say there were no issues with networks that serve Heathrow
• Ryanair: restricted leg roomShares in the budget carrier are close to cruising altitude
• BA lacks the leaders and the resources to tackle a crisisCustomer-friendliness is as important as cost-effectiveness, writes Andrew Hill
• BA’s reputation on line as cost cuts questionedBritish flag carrier’s chief faces increasing doubts over handling of computer crash
• It will cost more than a coffee to recast BA as a favourite flierAnalysts say the disruption could cost anywhere between €50m and €100m

The Guardian

• British Airways IT failure: experts doubt 'power surge' claimData centre leaders question BA chief executive’s statement that worldwide disruption was caused by power surgeExperts have questioned British Airways’ claim that this weekend’s catastrophic IT failure was down to a “power surge”, as the company’s chief executive has claimed.Álex Cruz, BA’s chairman and chief executive, said on Monday that the surge was “so strong that it rendered the back-up system ineffective”. But multiple data centre designers have told the Guardian that a power surge should not be able to bring down a data centre, let alone a data centre and its back-up. Continue reading....
• Ryanair makes £1.1bn profit despite cutting faresChief executive Michael O’Leary says profitability doubled over three years even though fares were reduced by 13%Ryanair announced a record annual profit on Tuesday in a vindication of its strategy of cutting fares to boost market share, and said it planned to turn up the heat further on rivals.Its warning to competitors came as British Airways was counting the cost of its huge IT failure last weekend that left 75,000 passengers stranded. Continue reading...
• BA’s failures fly in the face of ‘customer as king’. This is the new normal | Peter FlemingThe chaos at Heathrow and Gatwick is further evidence that the popular corporate model ignores the customer in favour of shareholders – but could this backfire?As far as bride-to-be Laura Thomson was concerned, Heathrow Terminal 5 could easily be considered some new rendition of hell. She was one of the thousands of passengers stranded over the bank holiday weekend following a major British Airways IT meltdown. It’s not hard to sympathise. Gatwick and Heathrow are two of the most unpleasant airports in Europe at the best of times. Imagine having to camp out on the floor overnight to boot. Rela...
• British Airways should come clean about computer chaosWith two check-in meltdowns last year the airline must have known there were bugs in the system that needed fixingBritish Airways, with the insouciance the airline so frequently displays, is still to say precisely why its systems failed so catastrophically at the weekend.

Times Online

• BA storm clouds linger [Subscription]Good morning. Bank Holiday weekend. The most serious IT failure in UK aviation history. More than 1,000 flights cancelled or delayed. Some 75,000 people affected in 70 countries. While British Airways says it is now operating a full flight schedule, it will be feeling the consequences of the past few days for a long time to come.
• Price cuts will mean bigger profits, says Ryanair [Subscription]Ryanair will lower ticket prices by up to another 7 per cent this year but insisted yesterday that its plans to fly a record 130 million passengers over the next 12 months would also mean new levels of profitability.

Mail Online

• BA 'profited from trapped passengers over upgrades' British Airways has been accused of profiting from passengers trapped by the global IT crash who went on to pay huge sums for expensive upgrades just to reach their destinations.
• Heathrow's Terminal One awaiting demolition These are the amazing photographs from inside Heathrow's Terminal One, which after 50 years is awaiting demolition to allow the expansion of the west London airport.
• Did British Airways system overheat in the warm weather The blackout of a BA computer data centre at Heathrow and the failure of a back-up system meant flights across the world were grounded, with 75,000 people having their flights cancelled.

Buying Business Travel

• Ryanair fare cuts continue as profit risesAirline announces record profit as passenger numbers increase 13%
• Emirates to unveil new First Class cabin in NovemberA range of new features expected for business and economy

The Business Desk

• Advertising watchdop bans Jet2 ad over baggage allowance confusionJet2 has been banned from running a radio ad which the advertising watchdog deemed misleading.
• Ground handling business takes off at Birmingham Airport following mergerA new ground handling company has started operations at Birmingham Airport as it looks to capitalise on the increasing passenger volumes at the hub.

Aviation Industry

• British Airways mops up after tidal wave of IT problemsBritish Airways (BA) said May 30 it had fully recovered its schedules after the major weekend IT crash that grounded the airline’s fleet across the world. read more
• Ryanair full-year net profit up 6%Irish low-cost carrier (LCC) Ryanair reported a full-year net profit of €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion), up 6% from a €1.2 billion net profit in the year-ago period. read more
• Allegiant COO Jude Bricker resignsUltra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) Allegiant Air EVP and COO Jude Bricker resigned May 26, the Las Vegas-based carrier announced without further explanation. read more
• Russia sees 21% increase in passenger traffic Russian airlines carried 27.1 million passengers from January-April 2017, up 20.8% year-over-year (YOY). read more