Aviation

Bloomberg Boeing Co engineers discovered in 2017 that a software glitch had rendered a warning light on the newly introduced 737 Max inoperable on 80% of the planes. But the company chose not to fix it or to inform US regulators. The next year, a Lion Air jet suffered the malfunction the alert was designed to detect and crashed in ...

Bloomberg An interim report into the deadly Boeing Co 737 Max crash in Ethiopia that led to the grounding of the US company’s top-selling model is set to be released in time for the first anniversary of the tragedy. The report will be published by March 10, Ethiopian Transport Ministry spokesman Musie Yehyies told Bloomberg. The decision not to release ...

Bloomberg The airline industry expects the first annual decline in global passenger demand in 11 years, after tallying up the initial impact of the thousands of flights cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak in China. The estimate shaves about 4.7 percentage points off of a passenger-traffic forecast issued just two months ago, with almost all of the impact in the ...

Bloomberg Boeing Co put three employees who worked with the former chief technical pilot of the 737 Max on administrative leave as a federal grand jury investigates whether he intentionally misled the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about a software system tied to two deadly crashes, people familiar with the matter said. The employees were notified of the action, according to ...

Bloomberg The $35 bag fee is gaining traction as US airlines contend with the financial fallout of the grounding of the 737 Max jet and a viral pandemic that has decimated travel to China. United Continental Holdings Inc will increase the charge for passengers’ first and second checked bags by $5, to $35 and $45, respectively. The fee changes applied ...

Bloomberg Business-jet shipments last year jumped to their highest level in a decade, spurred on by new models and solid US economic growth. Deliveries rose 15% to 809 aircraft, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) said. Sales jumped 17% to $21.1 billion, driven in large part by big corporate planes. New aircraft, including the Gulfstream G500, Bombardier Inc’s Global 7500 ...

Bloomberg Zimbabwe’s troubled national airline has failed to secure outside investment, dealing a blow to government plans to sell state-owned assets and secure much-needed revenue. The airline, which in October 2018 was placed under administration, a form of bankruptcy protection, received expressions of interest from 10 international investors and had short-listed three bidders. “A process to solicit for a strategic ...

Bloomberg Qantas Airways Ltd is slashing capacity on international flights in Asia by 15% and freezing recruitment as the coronavirus drives down travel demand. The reductions apply to flights to mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore and will be in place until at least the end of May, the Australian airline said in a statement. The cuts are the equivalent ...

Bloomberg Air France-KLM warned the coronavirus outbreak will wipe as much as 200 million euros ($216 million) from earnings, hammering home the financial impact of the crisis even thousands of miles from its epicenter in China. The estimate includes losses from halting flights to the Asian nation this month and next, and assumes that services will resume in April, the ...

Bloomberg Aviation enthusiasts take note: Look for bigger jets flying around North America over the next two months as the coronavirus forces carriers to redeploy some of their largest aircraft from suspended China routes. The US carrier with the most service to China, United Airlines Holdings, is moving 19 wide-body aircraft to mainly domestic service through April 23, when discontinued ...