Aviation

Bloomberg A former Boeing Co pilot was charged with deceiving US aviation regulators in the first prosecution related to two fatal 737 Max accidents that plunged the aviation titan into crisis. Mark Forkner, a former chief technical pilot for the company, was indicted on charges that he deceived the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Aircraft Evaluation Group during the agency’s evaluation ...

Bloomberg Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc is pushing the start of commercial flights further into next year after rescheduling a test flight, disappointing investors with the unexpected delay to its space tourism business plans. A program to upgrade the company’s spaceplane is taking place a month later than anticipated, forcing the delay of a planned research mission with a crew of ...

Bloomberg United Airlines Holdings Inc is planning its largest expansion into Europe, anticipating a surge of pent-up demand following two years of weak bookings because of the coronavirus pandemic. The significant trans-Atlantic capacity increase reflects the airline’s expectation that next summer will deliver record traffic. Flights essentially shut down industrywide in 2020 and capacity was limited last year because of ...

Bloomberg London Heathrow airport called on the UK to mandate the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) to help the industry lower carbon emissions while fending off pressure from climate groups to curtail air travel. The hub is also seeking other policies that would scale up the production of SAF in the country, including a price-support mechanism and loan guarantees, ...

Bloomberg The UK is facing a pilot shortage that could hamper the reopening of the travel industry, after hundreds of aircrew took early retirement or changed career during the pandemic, the Telegraph reported. The number of pilots who retired during the pandemic is believed to be at least double the usual levels, the newspaper said, citing sources in the aviation ...

Bloomberg Singapore Airlines Ltd’s website was temporarily down over the weekend and travel agencies are seeing a surge in demand for flights after the city-state announced a plan to start quarantine-free travel with more countries as early as next week. Inquiries jumped more than five times the usual on Chan Brothers Travel’s website, according to the travel agent’s senior marketing ...

Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co cancelled more than a quarter of its scheduled flights, citing issues with air traffic control and disruptive weather as it works to resume normal operations. Some 1,018 flights — 28% of Southwest’s total for the day — were cancelled by the Dallas-based carrier as of 4:15 pm New York time on on October 10, according to ...

Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co pilots asked a court to temporarily block the company from carrying out federally mandated coronavirus vaccinations until an existing lawsuit over alleged US labour law violations is resolved. The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association’s (SWAPA) filing also asked for an immediate hearing on the request before a federal court in Dallas, claiming the carrier has continued to ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong said its coronavirus policy will become increasingly tethered to China’s, as the financial hub recorded its first local Covid-19 case since mid-August, raising the specter of an outbreak in one of the world’s densest cities. An airport worker has been infected, officials said at a briefing. His close contacts and some 400 people in his residential neighbourhood ...

Bloomberg Tata Sons Pvt was selected as the winning bidder for India’s flag carrier, ending decades of attempts to privatise a money-losing and debt-laden airline, and potentially ending years of taxpayer-bailouts that’s kept the company alive. Tata Sons, which originally launched Air India Ltd with a namesake branding in 1932, bid 180 billion rupees ($2.4 billion) as an enterprise value ...