Where have all the Pilots gone? Will another Transatlantic Airline Survive, and what about those First-Class Seats?

The “one-off” Global Airlines service to New York carried less than 100 commercial passengers on a 500-seat aircraft, departed late, and received scathing reviews from those on board based on the YouTube snippets. Not a great start, lots of work to do, and not good PR, especially when seats sell at half price a week before travel. 
The strange #pilot shortage continues. #Swissair canceled 1,500 flights for the summer, citing a pilot shortage, and Finnair canceled another 100 flights over the weekend as their pilots’ strike again.

Etihad announces Charlotte as their latest US destination, making them the first ME carrier in the market; it’s only a year before they launch services so plenty of time to plan. The partnership with #AmericanAirlines will be crucial, with 88% of capacity dominating the market and connecting flows.

American Airlines is finally removing First Class on their newly delivered B787s that will operate on selected #LHR services in the summer. An expanded Business Class means that nearly 50% of capacity will be in Premium Cabins, which highlights just how lucrative the transatlantic can be….if you have the right product, aircraft type, frequency, connectivity and FFP programme….which brings us back to why Global flopped last week...