Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co’s 2022 nightmare before Christmas is unlikely to inflict long-lasting damage to the carrier’s reputation if management compensates customers and makes good on vows of operational changes, communications and management professionals say. In recent days, social media has been flooded by angry Southwest customers after storms and shaky computer systems forced the airline, the largest domestic ...
Read More »Aviation
Hong Kong scraps quarantine rules for international air crews
Bloomberg Hong Kong scrapped its closed-loop requirement for international airline crews, ending almost two years of pandemic-related restrictions on flight staff. Transport officials in the Asian financial hub told airline industry representatives of the change, which took effect immediately, people familiar with the matter said, declining to be identified because they’re not authorised to speak publicly. The change means ...
Read More »Milan reports 50% of travellers on China flights have Covid
Bloomberg Italian health authorities will begin testing all arrivals from China for Covid after almost half of the passengers on two flights to Milan were found to have the virus. They are also sequencing the Milan tests to see if there are new variants, the Health Ministry said in a statement. If a new strain is found, officials may ...
Read More »Ryanair cancels Belgian flights on crew strike
Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc is scrubbing some flights to and from Belgium over the New Year’s weekend because of a strike by cabin crew. The airline was forced to cancel “a small number†of its 2,500 flights into and out of the country on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Europe’s largest discount carrier said. Brussels South Charleroi airport told customers ...
Read More »Airlines keep capacity tight despite China demand boom
Bloomberg The world’s airlines are taking a cautious approach to China’s reopening, reluctant to immediately change up schedules and divert planes from other routes despite the internal pent-up demand for international travel. Scheduled flights into China during January, February and March are up no more than 2.9% this week compared to last week, according to aviation data provider Cirium. That’s ...
Read More »US aviation agencies dispute elements of Ethiopian crash report
Bloomberg US aviation agencies disputed certain elements of Ethiopia’s latest report into the deadly Boeing Co 737 Max crash near Addis Ababa in 2019, including findings related to actions taken by the flight crew. In comments attached to the near-350 page document, the US groups including the National Transportation Safety Board also said there was enough evidence to suggest ...
Read More »Lockheed challenges Textron’s $7 billion army helicopter win
Bloomberg Lockheed Martin Corp is protesting the US Army’s choice of Bell Textron Inc to build the service’s replacement for its mainstay Black Hawk assault helicopter by 2030, a potential $7 billion project that includes development and production if all options are awarded. Lockheed filed its challenge with the Government Accountability Office, which has 100 days to render a ...
Read More »India brings back Covid tests for flyers from Asian nations
Bloomberg India will reintroduce mandatory Covid-19 tests for flyers coming from a number of major Asian nations, including China, amid fears of a fresh wave of infections hitting the world’s second-most populated country. RT-PCR tests will be required from travellers coming from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand, effective from January 1, India’s Health Minister Mansukh ...
Read More »Southwest reins in flight cancellations
Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co has cancelled just over three dozen flights for Friday, suggesting the beleaguered carrier may be close to resuming relatively normal operations after a meltdown stranded thousands of passengers. Friday’s tally of 39 cancelled flights has been consistent for the past day, according to flight tracker FlightAware.com. The website so far lists no Southwest flights that ...
Read More »Airlines face huge shortage of planes as travel roars back
Bloomberg As travel springs back and even China dismantles the last remaining Covid curbs, one stark truth is beginning to emerge — the world is running desperately short of planes. With carriers from United Airlines Holdings Inc to Air India Ltd placing, or looking to place, jet orders that number in the hundreds, Boeing Co and Airbus SE are ...
Read More »