Bloomberg Theresa May will use her time at this week’s United Nations General Assembly to push for a resolution for countries to work together on aviation security, in the wake of a series of attacks on airplanes and airports in the last year. The new UK prime minister, who was responsible for counter-terrorism efforts in her previous role as ...
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Air Force grounds F-35 over coolant line flaw
Bloomberg Seven weeks after the Air Force declared its first F-35 jets combat ready, 10 of the aircraft aren’t flying after service mechanics discovered “peeling and crumbling†insulation wrapped around lines that carry liquid to cool combat systems and computers. The poor insulation is suspected on 57 aircraft, including 42 on Lockheed Martin Corp.’s production line. The issue is ...
Read More »Lufthansa fails to secure pilots deal
Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s pilot union said negotiations over pay, pensions and promotion have failed, adding to concern about the carrier’s debt and liabilities after S&P Global Ratings cited pension costs as a prime reason for putting it on watch for possible credit downgrade. Talks that began early this year on contracts and career paths for flight crew at ...
Read More »S African Air says competition, weak Rand lead to loss
Bloomberg South African Airways said tougher competition, rising finance costs and a weakening of the rand led to the state-owned carrier’s biggest loss in more than a decade. The loss of 4.7 billion rand ($331 million) in the year through March 2015 was also exacerbated by the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa, which hurt traffic between ...
Read More »Pratt & Whitney cuts jet-engine delivery goal
Bloomberg Pratt & Whitney cut the 2016 target for deliveries of its new jet engine as the company grapples with production issues that have marred the turbine’s rollout. The engine maker will hand over about 150 units this year, down from the 200 it previously expected, according to Greg Hayes, chief executive officer of Pratt parent United Technologies Corp. ...
Read More »Air France valuation lures buyers where many fear to go
Bloomberg Even by the cut-throat standards of the aviation industry, Air France-KLM Group has been a dire case: labor fights that have turned violent, cost-cutting efforts blocked by politicians, low-cost carriers aggressively taking over its home market. Yet more investors are starting to buy in. The arrival in July of new Chief Executive Officer Jean-Marc Janaillac, who promises a ...
Read More »A trans-Atlantic trip on Boeing’s diminutive 737
Bloomberg The smallest aircraft made by Boeing Co. and Airbus Group SE are about to find a new role operating trans-Atlantic routes that were previously the preserve of some of the world’s biggest planes. The re-engined 737 Max and A320neo jets offer a 15 percent fuel saving meant to cut costs on the shortest inter-city services. At the same ...
Read More »Opening Argentina’s air routes to competition will take time
Bloomberg Argentina’s airline passengers must wait for a more competitive market while the government focuses on improving the country’s infrastructure to be able to handle more flights, even as Avianca Holdings SA and others show interest in entering the market. Argentina is spending $1.35 billion over four years to upgrade its air transport infrastructure, partly to refurbish 17 airports, ...
Read More »â€˜Irrepressible’ air travel defies global economic growth slump
Bloomberg For all the world’s economic malaise, there’s a bright spot above the clouds: Airline passenger traffic grew 6.4 percent last year, the most in five years. Total passengers rose across all major regions to 7.2 billion, almost the population of the planet, according to Airports Council International, the industry’s Montreal-based trade association. And as with the global economy, ...
Read More »Lufthansa’s Eurowings arm faces strike over lower cabin crew pay
Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG may face more disruption to flights that have been beset by strikes over the past 2 1/2 years as a union representing cabin crew at the carrier’s low-cost arm weighs industrial action. The Ver.di labor group said it could call a walkout at the Eurowings unit after four rounds of talks failed to produce a pay ...
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