Delta Air Lines and United Airlines came home the big winners in the most recent allocation of coveted route authorities at Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport. The pair combined for nine of the twelve available slots, with American Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines picking up the other three. The new flights should begin operation in Summer 2020.
Airplanes and Airports
Pepsi and Pouring: JetBlue switches up inflight catering plans
JetBlue is making two significant changes to its inflight service process in the coming months. The carrier will switch from Coke to Pepsi for the complimentary beverages in “Core” economy class. The carrier will also transition away from the single-serving mini water bottles to a poured offering from 1.5L bottles. The changes will begin to fly in early June 2019.
Air Canada to acquire Air Transat
Air Canada wants to buy its LCC competitor Air Transat in a half billion dollar deal. But can it get past the regulatory hurdles along the way??
Lilium’s "flying taxi" eVTOL jet takes flight
The world inched closer to a “flying taxi” reality this month as the Lilium Jet, an all-electric five seat eVTOL aircraft. took flight for the first time.
Highlights from the FAA and NTSB’s Congressional testimony on the 737 MAX grounding
Leaders from the FAA and NTSB were called before Congress to testify today about the 737 MAX grounding and what it will take to get the plane back into the sky. The tone and content from the two witnesses was impressively different. Here are some highlights from the 2.5 hours of hearings.
Who will oversee the final days of Jet Airways??
With no money and a bleak outlook for the future who would want to stick around to manage Jet Airways? It seems that the answer is no one, despite the critical work necessary to wrap up the company’s accounts. In the past two day three key executives resigned, making the situation even more pressing.
WestJet takes a $5 billion buyout from Onex
Very little in the global commercial aviation world can be adjusted successfully in three month increments. Today’s buyout news from WestJet give the carrier the opportunity to take a longer-term view of the market.
Aer Lingus launches AerSpace, joining the EuroBiz club
Aer Lingus passengers now have the option to purchase a “business class” seat on many short-haul routes. The carrier officially launched AerSpace, a EuroBiz-ish offering with a blocked middle seat on board and other amenities on offer.
Bombardier to restructure aviation, sell off Belfast composite wing facility
First Bombardier sold off the CSeries (now A220) to Airbus. Then the Q400 turboprop business was sold to Viking Air. Today the company announced further restructuring, with plans to consolidate remaining operations in the Americas while divesting its composite aerostructures businesses in Belfast and Morocco.
Etihad increases Heathrow flights to protect Jet Airways slots
How do you say “slot squatting” in Arabic? Etihad Airways plans a pair of additional flights to Heathrow from its Abu Dhabi home starting in the next two months, squatting on openings it picked up from Jet Airways as that carrier collapsed.