AIRLINE BRIEFS NEWS FROM AROUND
THE AIR INDUSTRY
AIRPORT VOICE, OCTOBER 2019 31
KLM ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES
which first flew on October
07, 1919 and is the oldest
airline in the world turns
100 on Monday, October 07,
2019.
Delta/Latam Deal. In a
surprise to the industry and
to the dismay of American
Airlines, Delta Air Lines will
take a 20% stake in LATAM
for $1.9 billion. This give
Delta new opportunities in
South Americas with this authorized
purchase as a similar
joint venture with American
Air Airlines was denied
earlier.
Norwegian. Impending
news on increased number of
Norwegian flights and destinations
out of JFK Airport after
pulling out of Stewart Airport.
LATAM Airlines Group
and Finnair, members of
oneworld, announced a new
codeshare agreement on
flights between LATAM’s
São Paulo/GRU (Brazil) and
Santiago/SCL (Chile) hubs
and Finnair’s Helsinki/
HEL hub via five European
gateways. LATAM also announced
that its CEO, Enrique
Cueto Plaza, will step
down from his role. The position
will be assumed by
the group’s current Chief
Commercial Officer, Roberto
Alvo Milosawlewitsch.
Alitalia consortium.
Moves to invest in bankrupt
Alitalia are reportedly progressing
with a consortium
of investors including Delta,
Italian railway group Ferrovie
dello Stato (FS, Italian
holding company Atlantia,
active in Italian airport
management, and the Italian
treasury investing near a
billion Euros to put the company
on solid ground.
IAG, British Airways parent,
hit by strikes, soft travel
business and lower ticket
prices reports lower profits
lowering shares by about
3.4%. “Most airlines are moderating
their capacity-growth
plans for the fourth quarter
this year and into 2020,”
Chief Executive Officer Willie
Walsh said on a call with
analysts. “A number of airlines,
weaker ones, are either
disappearing or significantly
reducing capacity.”
However with the recent
demise of Thomas Cook
travel, this could unexpectedly
boost the company’s future
growth.
Thomas Cook done.
Startling the travel world,
the Thomas Cook Travel
agency, UK tour operator, retail
shops and airline ceased
operations quite suddenly,
leaving 21,000 employees in
the air job wise and stranding
hundreds of thousands of
passengers around the world
without a flight as of September
23, 2019. According to the
UK Civil Aviation Authority
(CAA), all Thomas Cook
bookings, including flights
and holidays, were cancelled
as of that date quite suddenly.
CAA, the U.K.’s aviation authority,
began preparations
for Operation Matterhorn,
a massive airlift that were
to take care of about 600,000
affected passengers. It was
expected that other carriers
will jump in on those uncovered
passengers with ‘rescue
fares.’
JAL Fined. Japan Airlines
(JAL) has been fined
$300,000 by the U.S. Department
of Transportation (US
DOT) for violating tarmac delay
rules. On two occasions,
the airline kept passengers
stuck on aircraft. Fueling
commenced approximately
3 hours and 24 minutes into
the delay, but 4 hours and 4
minutes into the delay, while
Flight 004 was still in the process
of receiving fuel, the crew
onboard Flight JL004 timed
out. Flight JL004 requested
deplaning assistance and passengers
were provided the opportunity
to deplane the aircraft
onto a mobile lounge 4
hours and 59 minutes into the
delay. In this instance, JAL
violated 14 CFR 259.4 and 49
U.S.C. § 41712 when it failed to
provide passengers on Flight
JL004 an opportunity to deplane
by the required fourhour
mark. JAL flight JL004,
which departed Tokyo-Narita
International Airport (NRT)
bound for JFK, experienced
a tarmac delay of 4 hours and
31 minutes when it diverted
to ORD on January 4, 2018.
, but JAL did not know until
57 minutes into the delay that
JFK would be closing until
the next morning.
Boeing battles. Cracks
in an integral part of the
Boeing 737 NG , the Picklefork,
have been found. Boeing
and safety engineers are
investigating the scope of
the problem found in a few
planes. ”Safety and quality
are our top priorities. Boeing
has notified the FAA and
been in contact with 737NG
operators about a cracking
issue discovered on a small
number of airplanes undergoing
modifications. No inservice
issues have been reported.”
said the company.
Since the design of the 737
NG there have been a few reports
of skin panel cracking
over the decade. Boeing has
addressed these issues over
time but another battle faces
Boeing with this potential
problem.
$250k JFK heist. Theft
of approximately $250,000
from a cash shipment has
disappeared from a Delta
flight bound for Florida
from John F. Kennedy International
Airport. The FBI
and Port Authority police
are now investigating the
missing cash Port Authority
spokesman Scott Ladd said
the heist is under investigation.
According to law officials
the money was part of
a large shipment made from
an armored-car company to
the airport, but it’s unclear
whether the cash was stolen
while it was being loaded
onto the plane or before it arrived
at the airport.
Lithium battery concerns
still in the news. Canada’s
Westjet has put a halt to
shipments containing these
batteries including UN3481
and 3090 for restricted and
unrestricted with or contained
in equipment. Lufthansa
had recently temporarily
placed a similar
embargo which was lifted.
For more on the Canadian
rules on lithium batteries,
please go to https://www.
tc.gc.ca/eng/tdg/shippingimporting
devices-containing
lithium-batteries.html
WOW Air is coming back
into the picture after American
company USAerospace
Associates injected $85 million
into the business, according
to aviation experts.
Michele Ballarin, Chairman
of USAerospace Associates
agreed to the acquisition of
the assets of the liquidators
of WOW Air’s liquidator.
WOW will begin low-fare operations
to the United States
and Europe, but the first
flight is planned between
Dulles Airport in Washington
and Keflavik Airport in
October.
A lone Thomas Cook plane remains at JFK after company went bankrupt.
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