Friday has become my day to blog about major changes to airlines. So far, this year, there has been a lot to write about vis a vis airline bankruptcies (Cirrus, Spanair, US3000,  Air Australia, Malev, Air Zimbabwe, Direct Air, Red Jet, GMG) or near bankruptcies ( Armavia, Kingfisher,  Pinnacle).

Kingfisher is still flying despite being borderline insolvent. Its has gone from being India’s largest airline to its smallest in just over six months! Pinnacle are re organising. Armavia seem to be still flying. Austrian Air’s CEO has said their situation is “critical”.

One of my fellow Boarding Area Bloggers has a great post on Austrian’s re-organisation. The airline has shifted its contracts with pilots and flight attendants to Tyrolean Airways (Austrian Subsidiary). This will save Austrian 45 million Euro annually but mean staff will no longer have automatic wage rises. The airline is desperate to become profitable after losing 62 million Euro last year. Owner, Lufthansa may pump as much as 140 million to keep its subsidiary aloft.