Aviation

Bloomberg Nearly 20 years after abandoning his hostile bid for Air Canada, Gerry Schwartz finally got his airline by agreeing to buy WestJet Airlines Ltd for C$3.5 billion ($2.6 billion). Schwartz’s private equity firm Onex Corp agreed to pay cash for Canada’s second-biggest carrier, and plans to take the company private in one of the buyout firm’s biggest deals. Onex ...

Bloomberg Air France plans to cut as many as 465 jobs as it slashes short-haul capacity in a bid to stem losses amid competition from low-cost airlines and high-speed trains. The biggest division of Air France-KLM Group will eliminate the positions on French domestic routes over the coming year, it said in a statement. Consultation with unions and other stakeholders ...

Bloomberg Dirgantara Indonesia, a supplier of aluminum wing components for Airbus SE’s A320 and A380 model jets, is developing the production capability to supply non-metal aircraft parts as well. The company is “exploring opportunities” to produce so-called composite parts — typically made from fiberglass or carbon fiber — for both Airbus and Boeing Co within the next two years, President ...

Bloomberg As Boeing Co’s 737 Max was about to enter service in 2017 it became the subject of an unusual diplomatic exchange. Chinese officials, eager to enter the global aircraft manufacturing market dominated by Boeing and Europe’s Airbus SE, raised the prospect with their US counterparts of clearing Boeing’s aircraft for use in China in exchange for favourable treatment of ...

Bloomberg The most exclusive airline seats are becoming harder to find, with two South Korean carriers becoming the latest to eliminate first class on some of their flights. Korean Air Lines Co will do away with first-class seats on 27 routes starting from June 1, while Asiana Airlines Inc will no longer offer the products on any of its services ...

Bloomberg The amount of money Boeing Co and its insurers will pay to the families of those who perished aboard two doomed jets will be dictated in part by one particularly grim calculation: How long did the victims know they were plunging to their deaths. That measure is just one part of an expanding legal fight to determine financial liability ...

Bloomberg Viva Air, the Latin American group of carriers owned by a founder of Ireland’s Ryanair Holdings Plc, has plans for a third airline in the region plus an initial public offering, to cash in on strong demand for discount air travel. The company aims to sell shares in New York within two years, Viva’s biggest shareholder, Declan Ryan, said ...

Bloomberg IAG SA eked out a profit in the first quarter even after the impact of a European fare war that pushed its biggest rivals to a loss. Shares of the British Airways owner rose as much 5.1% after it posted an operating profit of 135 million euros ($151 million), while reiterating its full-year guidance and predicting that pricing will ...

Bloomberg Pilots’ unions at Southwest Airlines Co, United Continental Holdings Inc and American Airlines Group Inc received federal grand jury subpoenas for documents relating to Boeing Co’s grounded 737 Max. The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association was given until May 24 to comply with the demand from the US Justice Department’s criminal division, union President Jon Weaks said. The Air Line ...

Bloomberg Delta Air Lines Inc will provide free Wi-Fi on some domestic flights starting from May 13, testing a plan to make the offering a standard feature. The pilot programme will include about 55 daily flights of varying length and across economy and premium cabins, Delta said. Passengers will be notified ahead of time by email if they’re on such ...