Airline strike tips

It’s travel strike season in France once again. Travelers visiting or traveling through France over the next several weeks should prepare for the possibility of significant air and rail travel disruptions due to a series of planned travel strikes that have cut 30 percent of flights at major airports, and could cancel train departures for months.

In a setback to United’s new management team, led by Oscar Munoz, the airline’s mechanics today voted to reject the company’s “final offer” for a new wage and benefits package and to authorize a strike.

Lufthansa pilots are striking for the 14th time since 2014 in their attempt to extract better wages from the carrier.

Back in 2013, when Doug Parker, then US Airways’ chief, succeeded in what was in essence a hostile takeover of American Airlines, he was well regarded by American’s pilots union, whose support was crucial to his campaign. That was then.

If American Airlines’ recent scheduling glitch left you wondering whether your holiday flight would be cancelled for lack of available pilots, you can now rest easy.

It wasn’t that long ago that Southwest’s self-proclaimed identity as the Love Airline was a credible bit of branding, reflecting a virtuous circle of contentment among the airline’s customers, employees, and shareholders. For now, however, the love fest appears to be over.