Air Transport

Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pennsylvania), the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, submitted an amendment to proposed FAA reauthorization legislation that would require a “call to action” review of airline engine safety in the wake of the Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 engine failure.

Inflight connectivity and entertainment provider Gogo continued its leadership overhaul with several reassignments for top executives.

KLM Cityhopper, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines’ regional subsidiary, plans to increase its Embraer jet fleet’s productivity, enabling it to reduce its number of standby aircraft from three to one by 2020.

Boeing HorizonX’s latest venture capital investment is in Morf3D, a California-based startup specializing in the engineering and manufacturing of 3D-printed metal parts.

Irish LCC Ryanair said it was exercising options on 25 Boeing 737 MAX 200 aircraft, bringing its total firm orders for the MAX to 135, the first of which are due to arrive in the first half of 2019.

Most of the major Asia-Pacific carriers are not affected by an emergency requirement for inspection of CFM56-7B engines on Boeing 737s, although some are subject to a less urgent inspection timeframe.

Sichuan Airlines will begin connecting Chengdu, in southwestern China, with Prague and Zurich from June 23.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has highlighted three key priorities for the ground handling industry to support the growing demand for air travel: harmonizing global standards to improve safety, improving collaboration between stakeholders, and developing talent.

Airbus and Boeing ramp up production and roll out new models as new competitors undergo flight testing.

United Airlines has taken delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX-family aircraft, a 737-9, and confirmed its plans to start service with the newest Boeing narrowbody in early June.

The scale of the challenge facing new South African Airways (SAA) CEO Vuyani Jarana has been brought into sharp focus with the announcement of vastly-worsened financial figures for the 2016-17 financial year.

Privately owned Egyptian carrier Nile Air is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) later in 2018.

More than 600,000 passengers have either taken advantage of increased co-operation between Emirates Airline and LCC sister-company flydubai, or plan to do so over coming months, the LCC.

Load factors between mainland China and Australia are sagging under the weight of capacity that has been growing faster than 20% a year.

Alaska Air Group is preparing to switch over to a single passenger service system (PSS) for Alaska Airlines and Virgin America overnight from April 24 to April 25, marking one of the most significant merger integration milestones in the 16 months since Seattle-based Alaska acquired San Francisco-based Virgin America.

City officials in Prescott, Arizona, responding to community input, have told the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) that they no longer support a bid from Boutique Airlines to provide short-term air service in the wake of Great Lakes Airlines’ decision to stop flying.

The management board of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) announced the reelection, by a unanimous vote, of Patrick Ky as EASA’s executive director for a second term of five years.

Frontier Airlines has agreed to a flow-through program for Trans States Airlines pilots, giving the mainline carrier feed for its aggressive expansion plans, while the regional carrier gets a benefit to help it attract more pilot applicants.

Air France’s hybrid, low-cost airline Joon is aiming to operate 18 medium-haul and 10 long-haul aircraft by 2020.

The European Commission (EC) said it had opened an indepth investigation to assess whether Italy’s €900 million ($1.1 billion) bridge loan to Alitalia constituted state aid and whether it complied with EU rules for aid to companies experiencing difficulty.

The Airbus A350-900ULR (ultra-long range) made its first flight on April 23, starting a short flight test program ahead of a planned first delivery in the second half of 2018.

Thai long-haul LCC NokScoot is preparing to launch its first route to Japan, part of the carrier’s plans to expand its fleet and international network this year.

Air New Zealand has been forced to ground two of its Boeing 787-9s for what could be an extended period after some of the 787 fleet’s engines failed inspections directed by safety regulators. Four of the carrier’s Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines have had to be sent to a Rolls facility in Singapore for repairs, an airline spokesperson told Aviation Daily.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the FAA late April 20 issued emergency airworthiness directives (AD) calling for inspections of fan blades on CFM56-7B engines that power Boeing 737NGs.

General Electric (GE) leaders on April 20 acknowledged CFM International, the GE Aviation/Safran Aircraft Engines joint venture (JV), is behind on expected 2018 Leap engine deliveries, but still expects to reach the planned target of 1,100-1,200 deliveries by the end of the year.