All articles by David Kaminski-Morrow – Page 231
-
NewsScottish government attempts again to sell Glasgow Prestwick airport
Scotland’s government is to embark on a renewed effort to sell Glasgow’s Prestwick airport to a private investor, following the recent withdrawal of a potential buyer. Prestwick had been managed by New Zealand firm Infratil until 2013 when it sold the airport, for a token price, to the Scottish government. ...
-
NewsCockpit union dissuades prospective pilots from enrolling to train
UK cockpit crew representatives have taken the unusual step of warning against embarking on a career as a commercial pilot, given the expense and diminished prospects of employment. The UK pilot union BALPA says the crisis means there are fewer jobs for cockpit crew, and competition for places will be ...
-
NewsUK fraud investigators probe Bombardier over Garuda Indonesia deals
UK fraud investigators are probing aircraft manufacturer Bombardier over contracts relating to Asian carrier Garuda Indonesia. The Serious Fraud Office states that it is investigating the manufacturer over “suspected bribery and corruption” in connection with orders or agreements with Garuda. It has not elaborated on the probe, pointing out that ...
-
NewsWizz maintains focus on A321neo as fleet expansion slows
Wizz Air’s latest fleet plan projects a slower overall increase in the number of aircraft, compared with the beginning of this year, but with a focus on expanding the A321neo rather than the A320neo fleet. At the beginning of 2020, before the onset of the air transport crisis, the carrier ...
-
NewsWizz Air confident of surviving worst-case winter
Budget carrier Wizz Air is confident that it would be able to survive a severe deterioration in the air transport crisis, having considered scenarios in which the entire fleet had to be grounded for the second half of the year. Wizz Air turned in a net loss of €243 million ...
-
NewsTurkish A350s quietly begin operations as crisis saps profits
Turkish Airlines has been operating its newly-delivered initial pair of Airbus A350-900s on domestic routes, but has yet to confirm a schedule for the remaining aircraft. The airline had 25 A350s on order but, while it had been intending to take five this year, the carrier has not detailed the ...
-
NewsLanding 747 crew unaware of short runway before striking construction vehicles
Nigerian investigators have disclosed that the crew of a Boeing 747-200 freighter did not receive critical information about reduced available landing distance at Abuja before the aircraft landed, veered off the runway and collided with construction equipment. The Armenian-registered Veteran Avia aircraft (EK-74798) had been operating a wet-lease cargo service ...
-
NewsUAE’s Flydubai to open Israeli services in November
United Arab Emirates operator Flydubai is to open services to Tel Aviv this month, following the normalisation pact signed between the Gulf state and Israel. Flydubai says it will carry out a twice-daily service between Dubai and Tel Aviv from 26 November. The carrier uses a fleet of Boeing 737-800s ...
-
NewsJazeera liquidity ‘sound’ as losses persist in third quarter
Kuwaiti carrier Jazeera Airways is confident that it remains a going concern, with sufficient resources, after turning in a KD5.6 million ($18.3 million) third-quarter net loss. The performance brings overall net losses, for the nine months to 30 September, to KD15.5 million. Jazeera Airways says there is a “risk of ...
-
NewsWet-lease operator Hi Fly to axe A380 in favour of A330s
Portuguese operator Hi Fly is ending its Airbus A380 services, just two-and-a-half years after taking on the type to explore its potential for the wet-lease market. Hi Fly acquired a former A380, MSN6, in mid-2018. The aircraft, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines and configured with 471 seats, had been ...
-
NewsPoorly-maintained Air Namibia scissor-lift collapsed while overloaded
Investigators in Namibia have concluded that poor maintenance of a scissor-lift passenger assistance vehicle, and possibly its overloading, resulted in its collapsing during disembarkation of an Air Namibia aircraft at Windhoek. The vehicle was offloading people from flight SW708, which had arrived from Cape Town on 13 December last year. ...
-
NewsCapacity concerns forgotten as embattled Berlin Brandenburg finally opens
One of the ironies of Berlin Brandenburg airport’s much-delayed opening is that the onset of the air transport crisis has brought an excess of capacity to a hub which, at one point, was thought to have a shortage. Combined passenger numbers for Tegel and Schoenefeld airport for the first eight ...
-
NewsKLM pilots outline concerns after government freezes rescue loan
KLM pilots have requested talks with the Dutch finance ministry after the government suspended a rescue loan to the airline over its failure to meet the attached labour conditions. Pilot union VNV had held off from signing a commitment clause intended to ensure that labour agreements could be extended for ...
-
NewsRyanair looks beyond hard winter towards 737 Max arrival
Ryanair envisions taking delivery of 30 Boeing 737 Max jets before the peak of summer 2021, but is expecting to face heavy losses over the upcoming winter season. It is not prepared to forecast full-year performance but states that it is expecting “higher losses” over the second half to 31 ...
-
NewsDutch government suspends rescue loan to KLM
KLM’s proposed restructuring plan has been rejected by the Dutch government, over the failure to secure crucial union commitments, and the airline will not be permitted to make further draws on the loans put forward to support the carrier. The Dutch finance ministry has informed parliament that the first draw ...
-
NewsKLM urges pilots to sign crucial pact necessary to secure ‘survival’ loan
KLM has urged pilot and cabin crew representatives to join other unions in committing to labour contributions, in order to secure a €3.4 billion ($4 billion) state-backed loan. The Dutch carrier says the cockpit union VNV has not signed a commitment clause, while the FNV union – representing cabin and ...
-
NewsEl Al chief Usishkin to step down in January
Israeli flag-carrier El Al’s chief executive, Gonen Usishkin, is to step down from his position in January next year, three months after a board shake-up by the airline’s new controlling shareholder. Usishkin was named as the airline’s head in early 2018. He oversaw the transformation of El Al’s fleet, as ...
-
NewsIAG looks to seal restructuring agreement with BA cargo operation
IAG is turning to attention to securing personnel agreements with British Airways’ freight-handling operation, in order to round off its cost-saving and restructuring measures. Chief executive Luis Gallego, speaking during a third-quarter briefing, said that the company had achieved substantial savings at the UK flag-carrier but “still has to close ...
-
NewsBritish Airways parent IAG takes €275m charge for staff cuts
IAG has recorded exceptional charges of €275 million ($321 million) in the third quarter relating to staff restructuring at British Airways and Aer Lingus. The parent company says the restructuring corresponds to a reduction of 10,000 in employee numbers, of whom over 9,000 had left by the end of September. ...
-
In depthHow Atlas freighter crash revived scrutiny of pilot performance tracking
When investigators delivered their scathing verdict on the loss of Giant 3591, the Atlas Air Boeing 767-300F that disintegrated after diving into a lake on approach to Houston on 23 February 2019, the language barely contained their frustration over the missed opportunities to prevent the accident.