Jazz Pilot Pathway Program Expands again to welcome Keewatin Air

Jazz Aviation, part of Chorus has signed an agreement with Winnipeg, Manitoba-based Keewatin Air for the carrier to become the eighteenth organization in the Jazz Aviation Pathways Programme -("Jazz APP").

"Our Jazz APP program was introduced 11 years ago to provide a clearer pathway for professional pilots across Canada," said Steve Linthwaite, Vice President, Flight Operations, Jazz. "We're very pleased to continue delivering on this commitment by welcoming Keewatin – who has operational bases as far north as Cambridge Bay, Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit, NU – to elevate our Jazz APP further, into a truly Canadian concept."

Alaska Air Group reports April 2018 operational results

Alaska Air Group today reported April operational results on a consolidated basis for its mainline operations flown by subsidiaries Alaska Airlines Inc. (Alaska) and Virgin America Inc. (Virgin America), and for its regional flying operated by subsidiary Horizon Air Industries Inc. (Horizon) and third-party regional carriers SkyWest Airlines and Peninsula Airlines.

On January 11, 2018, Alaska and Virgin America consolidated their operations onto a Single Operating Certificate (SOC). Results for Alaska and Virgin America have been combined into a single mainline operation.

Naked passenger causes concern on Alaska Airlines flight.

Passengers on an Alaska Airlines got an eyeful and far more than they bargained for on a flight from Seatle to Anchorage on Monday.  

An unidentified male passenger on flight 107 stripped off his clothes and ran up and down the aisle screaming and waving, before being tackled by fellow passengers and bundled into a toilet to restrain him.

At first many passengers were really scared, according to social media posts, however, once the man, estimated to be in his early twenties, had been restrained, they began to relax, with some even laughing. Daniel Roberts, a writer for Yahoo was on the flight and tweeted "Very scary at first. all are okay, many now laughing. guy is restrained in back of plane,"

An Alaska Airlines spokesperson has confirmed that a disruptive male passenger was detained during the flight but the plane landed without incident. Upon arrival at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, law enforcement officers took the man into custody. It's understood that he was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

When Harry Met Meghan.......British Airways arrange a special crew in tribute to the royal wedding.

British Airways is adding some extra sparkle to customers’ journeys ahead of His Royal Highness Prince Harry’s marriage to Meghan Markle.

To celebrate the Royal wedding, the BA93 on May 19 to Toronto - the city where their relationship took off - will be operated by an all-star crew of only Meghan and Harry’s.

The 10-strong cabin crew, made up of two Harry’s, seven Megan’s and one Meghan, will operate the flight that departs Heathrow at 1.10pm, an hour after the couple say ‘I Do’ at Windsor Castle, just seven miles from the airport. Senior First Officer, Harry Blake, will be behind the controls of the flight deck, alongside the Captain.

To celebrate the Royal couple, any customer departing from Terminal 5 on the big day, who is called Harry, Meghan or Megan and their travel companions, will be invited to use the airline’s First lounge, accessed through the exclusive First Wing.

Air Canada makes political statement as it moves Taiwan's capital Taipei to China

Air Canada makes a political stand as it moves Taipei into China on its booking website, despite the fact that Taipei, is the capital of Taiwan.

It is unclear why Air Canada has made the change within the last seven days, with their spokeswoman Isabelle Arthur saying the carrier’s “policy is to comply with all requirements in all worldwide jurisdictions to which we fly.” 

Taiwan is claimed by Beijing as a Chinese territory and has thus become one of China’s most sensitive issues and a potential military flashpoint. China has been pressuring airlines to refer to Taiwan as part of China.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said in a statement it was “deeply concerned” about Air Canada’s move to refer to Taiwan as part of China on the booking website and has asked the company to make a rapid correction of its website.  So far Air Canada has refused to correct the error on the site.

WOW air to introduce new route to Delhi.

WOW air,  one of Iceland's fast-growing and expanding airlines will soon connect Canadians to the hustling and bustling of colourful Delhi!  Yes, the low-cost airline has decided to open a new route from Iceland to Delhi starting this winter on 6th December 2018. 

Passengers from the US and Canada will be able to connect via the carriers Reykjavik hub and the new service will be on one of the airlines new Airbus A330's.   

Fares for the new service start from just $299 CAD / $199 USD and WOW premium starting at $899 CAD / $699 USD—a premium flight price you won't find on other airlines. 

"We are very excited to count New Delhi among our list of growing destinations outside of Europe," said Skúli Mogensen, CEO and founder of WOW air. "This addition expands on WOW air's promise to connect more travellers to as many diverse and exciting cities at the best possible prices."

The exciting new Delhi service will be available from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI), Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT), Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW), San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) in the USA and Montreal and Toronto in Canada, all via Iceland.

More details about Boston Logan Airport can be found here.

United Airlines Expands East Coast Schedule From New York and Washington.

United Airlines is expanding its schedule at two of its East Coast UA hubs, New York/Newark and Washington-Dulles the carrier has announced this week. 

The network adjustments build on United's leading route network at New York/Newark where the airline serves more destinations than any other carrier from the New York City metro area. Additionally, the changes to its Washington-Dulles schedule will offer more customers easy access to the nation's capital and seamless connections to flights throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean.  

Expands service between New York/Newark and 17 destinations and adds more mainline and larger regional jets

Beginning in October, United will maximize the unique strengths of each hub by adding new destinations, additional frequencies and larger two-cabin aircraft. The schedule adjustments are designed to offer more nonstop flights to destinations popular with New York area customers while reallocating largely connecting passenger flights on short-haul routes to United's hub at Washington-Dulles. United will transition service between New York/Newark and Chattanooga, Tennessee; Ithaca, New York, and Scranton, Pennsylvania to Washington-Dulles. 

"We approached these schedule adjustments with our customers in mind, knowing that we wanted to create a schedule that offers customers beginning their travel in the New York City area convenient flights to many of the business and leisure destinations they frequent the most," said Ankit Gupta, United's Vice President of Domestic Network. "Since more of our customers begin their travel from New York/Newark than any other United hub city, we've created a more customer friendly schedule that removed connection times and provided convenient nonstop service to multiple U.S. destinations."

Sichuan Airlines cockpit window shatters mid-flight

Drama in the skies over China today when one fo the cockpit windows cracked at 32,000 feet on a Sichuan Airlines Airbus A319.  

The aircraft was operating flight 3U8633 from Chongqing to Lhasa. It departed Chongqing at 6.27am and was due to arrive in Lhasa at 9.27 am, however an hour into the flight one of the cockpit's windows cracked and then, according to local media, shattered. The aircraft was flying over  city of Chengdu att he time of the incident which caused the co-pilot to be partially sucked out of the aircraft. 

Delta to start direct Boston - Philadelphia

Delta Air Lines is adding another top destination to its growing nonstop options from Boston's Logan International Airport, with new daily nonstop service to Philadelphia, beginning 1st Oct.

"Philadelphia is a Top 10 destination for Bostonians, and we are pleased to offer customers this new service to Delta's growing portfolio of nonstop flights at Logan International Airport," said Joe Esposito, Vice President — Network Planning - Americas. "This schedule provides convenient trip options and amenities, with departures in popular morning and evening time channels and First Class seating on every flight." 

The service will be flown four times daily on CRJ-900 aircraft operated by Delta Connection carrier Endeavor Air on the following schedule:

MH370 - It was murder says investigator

It was a murder-suicide that caused the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 according to Martin Dolan, the Australian investigator who led the search for the missing aircraft for two years. 

During an Australian 60 Minutes television, he and other investigators asserted that Captain Zaharie Amad Shah orchestrated the crash and did everything he could to ensure it went as planned. They claim the pilot had “deliberately evaded radar” and affected the crash of the aircraft in a drastic murder-suicide, murdering 239 people. 

The Boeing 777 had been flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it seemed to disappear causing a multimillion dollar search, which has, as of yet not succeeded in locating the aircraft or what debris is left of it

Asiana A330 slices through Turkish Airlines A321 tail

There is a massive repair bill for Asiana Airlines and Turkish Airlines after an Asiana Airlines Airbus A330 aircraft crashed into the rear of a Turkish Airlines A321 almost completely slicing off its tail.

Extensive damage has been caused to the vertical stabilizer of the Turkish Airlines aircraft which was entering an airport parking apron, whilst the A330 of Asiana was departing on a flight bound for Seoul Incheon on 13th May at around 5.30pm local time. 

A Turkish Airlines spokesperson said: "Turkish Airlines confirms that the Airbus A330 type aircraft of the South Korean airline, Asiana Airlines, hit the tail of Turkish Airlines' Airbus A321 while it was taxiing. There were no passengers and crew injured due to the incident, it just caused physical damage on both aircrafts."

Asiana has refused to comment on the incident, only saying that a joint Korean and Turkish investigation is underway. 

Air New Zealand Honolulu - Auckland service operated by HIFly after Dreamliner power problems

Air New Zealand is one of the many airlines experiencing scheduling difficulties as a direct result of the ongoing engine issues with its Dreamliners.  The Kiwi carrier is having resort to lease in an A340 aircraft from European based company Hi Fly to operate its Auckland - Los Angeles service.

Air New Zealand warned its passengers that they would likely notice a difference in the products and service style onboard as well as the different livery on the outside as the HiFly aircraft doesn't feature the familiar koru on the tail. The flight will be operated by Hi Fly crew and pilots as Air New Zealand crew ate not trained/rated to operate the A340 aircraft. Apparently, Air New Zealand will also put on an additional member of its cabin crew on the HiFly operated flights to assist with service. 

British Airways Run Gatwick.......

There were many smiling faces, and a few red ones, as well as the first British Airways Run Gatwick, took place on Sunday, with more than 3600 runners putting themselves through their paces on routes through the Sussex countryside and around Gatwick Airport.

The race, which incorporated an international half marathon, a corporate 5K and a family run attracted runners of all ages and abilities, with elite, club and amateur runners from the UK and abroad as well as a number of British Airways employees.

“If I can’t go to Las Vegas, Nevada, neither can y’all,” Spirit Airlines passenger's vile rant

A vile foul-mouthed tirade from a disgruntled Spirit Airlines passenger went viral as she Facebook live streamed her aggressive and belligerent behaviour after she stormed an aircraft after being told boarded had closed. 

Safira Allen, aged 25 arrived late at the gate, after boarding had been completed and allegedly harangued the staff at the gate before storming down the jetway and board the Spirit Airlines flight from Atlanta to Le Vegas.

The aggressive Allen then filmed herself being asked to leave the flight by the flight crew and a security officer. She blamed Sprit for closing the boarding gate 20 minutes early and for the reason she was late to the gate, both allegations proved to be unfounded.

Air Canada in top five most attractive places to work

Air Canada has been named as one of the top five most attractive company brands to work for in Canada, according to the Randstad Employer Brand Research (REBR) independent survey of Canadians to determine which brands they would most like to work for.