IT & Distribution-March 15, 2017

Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings have reached a deal with the Vereinigung Cockpit pilot union (VC) on all collective bargaining agreements concerning wages, productivity, transitional payments and pensions, in a contract that runs through June 2022.

Berlin’s Tegel and Schönefeld airports have canceled hundreds of scheduled flights from March 13-15 because of an ongoing ground staff strike over wages.

The General Court of the European Union has annulled a European Commission ruling, which blocked a 2012 merger between express delivery companies United Parcel Service (UPS) and TNT.

The latest French air traffic control (ATC) strike has caused a record-breaking 1,500 flight cancellations, according to estimates by commercial aviation group Airlines for Europe (A4E).

Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsia, has set a budget of RUB2.9 billion ($49 million) for 10 carriers to take part in a government-subsidized program on flights between Russia’s Far East and other parts of the country this year.

German trade union Verdi has called for around 2,000 ground staff at Berlin’s Tegel and Schönefeld airports to strike from Monday, March 13, to Wednesday, March 15, in a continuation of the strike called last week for Friday, March 10.

The number of fatalities caused by airline accidents totaled 268 people in 2016, nearly double those killed in 2015, but the industry’s five-year safety trend shows the rate of accidents is significantly improved.