Bloomberg Qantas Airways Ltd grounded three Boeing Co 737s after discovering cracks near their wings during industry-wide inspections of high-mileage models of the workhorse jets. The Australian airline found hairline cracks on a structure known as the pickle fork, which connects the wings to the fuselage. The planes will be back in service by the end of the year, Qantas ...
Read More »Aviation
Lufthansa cabin crew vote for further strikes
Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG faces strike action after a cabin crew union voted to escalate its conflict with Europe’s biggest airline group. The UFO union said in a statement that members voted for strike action at the group’s airlines including Lufthansa and Lufthansa CityLine after pay talks with company bosses broke down. The union will now decide when the strikes ...
Read More »India warns to ground Airbus aircraft after engine failures
Bloomberg Close to 30 Airbus SE A320neo jets operated by two Indian airlines will be grounded if they don’t update some Pratt & Whitney engines within 15 days, the nation’s aviation safety regulator said. IndiGo, India’s biggest carrier, and rival Go Airlines India Ltd won’t be allowed to fly planes fitted with two unmodified PW1100-series engines that have been in ...
Read More »Boeing chief defends ‘delegation’ in sometimes testy hearing
Bloomberg Boeing Co’s chief executive declined to endorse specific reforms to bolster safety oversight of the aerospace giant during a sometimes angry grilling in his first appearance before Congress since two 737 Max crashes killed 346 people. Several senators pressed Dennis Muilenburg on possible changes to the so-called delegation programmd in light of lapses that occurred in the Federal Aviation ...
Read More »Frank Sinatra’s ride, Pink Floyd’s muse: Learjet goes on life support
Bloomberg Learjet — once the epitome of luxury travel for celebrities like Frank Sinatra — is gasping for breath, and Bombardier Inc is making a last-ditch attempt to revitalise the brand. It’s a tall task as demand for corporate planes has shifted to larger, more comfortable, longer-range aircraft. That has left the Learjet 75 Liberty competing in a shrinking market ...
Read More »Lockheed, Pentagon to seal $34b F-35 deal
Bloomberg Lockheed Martin Corp and the Pentagon are set to announce a final agreement on a long-awaited contract for the next-generation F-35 jets that would be the biggest yet, according to three people familiar with the decision. The purchase of the stealthy F-35 for US and allied militaries is likely to be valued at about $34 billion for 478 fighters. ...
Read More »Investigators blame 737 Max design, pilot failure for crash
Bloomberg Indonesian investigators found sweeping problems and missteps in connection with last year’s fatal Lion Air crash, including design flaws in Boeing Co’s 737 Max jet, certification failures by the US regulator and a raft of errors at the airline by pilots and mechanics. In a much-anticipated report, the National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) listed its findings and recommended fixes ...
Read More »India’s top airline posts ‘biggest’ quarterly loss
Bloomberg InterGlobe Aviation reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, amid fierce competition in India, illustrating how even the country’s biggest airline isn’t immune to challenges in one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets. Loss at the operator of IndiGo widened to 10.7 billion rupees ($150 million) for the three months ended on September 30, compared with a loss of 6.5 billion ...
Read More »American rises as CEO sees cash flow poised for takeoff
Bloomberg American Airlines Group Inc surged as executives sketched out a robust outlook for 2020 after two punishing years for investors. Profit and cash flow are poised to rise as the company improves operations and reaches the end of heavy investments in new jets, Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker said. That will enable the company to cut debt even if ...
Read More »Apple, United in early talks to upgrade SFO terminal
Bloomberg United Airlines and Apple Inc are in early discussions about upgrading United’s terminal at San Francisco (SFO) International airport. The talks between the companies have just begun and the specific upgrades that would come to the SFO airport terminal are unclear. “The Apple team in San Francisco has been in our baggage hold areas, customer service and the lobbies,†...
Read More »