China’s COMAC added a trio of new airline operators for its ARJ21-700 aircraft over the weekend. China Eastern, China Southern, and Air China each took delivery of their first aircraft during a joint ceremony. And, still, COMAC’s grand ambitions to challenge Western manufacturers remains years away.
Air Canada brings back inflight meals, lounges, middle seat passengers
Travelers on Air Canada flights will soon have a few more of the creature comforts they’re used to when traveling. But they’ll also be sharing them with more creatures. The carrier joins a growing list of airlines halting the process of blocking middle seats.
Air Canada fights back on refund demands, disputes DOT authority
Facing dozens of customer complaints to the US Department of Transportation, Air Canada is fighting back. While the carrier has only filed one response publicly so far the contents suggest that passengers may well come up short in their efforts to get their money back. Not only does the airline intend to not provide refunds to passengers on flights it canceled, but it now also suggests that the DOT should not and can not regulate such policies.
Gogo’s Business Aviation sector shows strong rebound
Business Aviation is making a strong comeback, with Gogo’s BizAv unit topping 3,000 daily flights last week, a significant milestone and nearly 90% of the numbers from early this year.
LIAT looks to liquidate; can CARICOM respond?
Caribbean airline LIAT is on the brink of liquidation, according to Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne. Flights are suspended through at least 15 July 2020 and that could be enough to kill the carrier.
JetBlue adds Cash & Points redemptions for TrueBlue
JetBlue customers can now choose a new option to pay for flights. The company’s TrueBlue loyalty program introduced a Cash & Points offering today, allowing members to redeem points for a partial value of the fare.
Burrana launches RISE, a new inflight entertainment (and more) platform
Launching an entirely new inflight entertainment platform is no small task. Doing in the face of a massive market retrenchment and global budget cuts adds to the difficulty. But Burrana is up to the challenge, introducing its RISE platform this week, with plans to deliver a new approach to the single-aisle market that is faster, lighter, and less expensive than the competition.
Retail inMotion, Bluebox team up for touch-free inflight sales
Reducing contact between crew and customers is good for safety but bad for inflight ancillary revenue sales. A new partnership between Retail inMotion and Bluebox hopes to bridge that gap.
JetBlue’s crazy summer of new routes
If ever there were a time to try something completely crazy in the route planning department, this is it. JetBlue’s new route plan brings the carrier deep into competitor hubs and away from its own as the carrier aims to bring planes and crew back to the skies.
A big hint that British Airways will retire its 747s soon
More than half the British Airways 747 fleet is parked, with little reason to believe that it will return to the skies soon. But late on Friday another bit of news leaked out that could see the fleet fully grounded indefinitely.