China Southern Profits Dive

China Southern Airlines, Asia’s biggest carrier by passenger numbers, said first-half profit tumbled 84 percent because of an economic slowdown, higher fuel prices and currency fluctuations. Net income fell to 449 million yuan ($70.6 million) from 2.76 billion yuan a year earlier, the Guangzhou, China-based company said in a filing to Shanghai stock exchange today. That compares with the 570 million yuan median of three analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg News.

Air Canada low cost option to launch next year.

Air Canada, after overcoming union resistance to the launch of a low-cost carrier, the troubled Canadian airline is about to start offering cheap flights to a range of holiday destinations with the low cost launch next year

New Congo Airline Faces Risks

By Jonny Hogg

KINSHASA | Mon Aug 27, 2012 9:24am EDT

Its tarmac littered with dozens of dilapidated planes, the airport in Congo's capital Kinshasa makes clear the dire state of aviation even by Africa's generally low standards.

Qantas Loss

Australian airline Qantas  has reported a $245 million annual loss,  that is £162 million, loss in profits, as the airline has been hurt by increasingly rapid rising fuel prices, a series of damaging strikes that temporarily grounded its fleet and its struggling international division.

The Australian flagship carrier's reputation has been greatly dented by recent action and accidents, including those afflicting its new airbus A380 aircraft.  

Clothing stop travel....

You can't wear that???

Reasons for not being allowed to travel.

A woman flying from Las Vegas on Southwest this spring says she was confronted by an airline employee for showing too much cleavage. In another recent case, anAmerican Airlines pilot lectured a passenger because her T-shirt bore a four-letter expletive. She was allowed to keep flying after draping a shawl over the shirt.

Dreamliner arrives for Ethiopian Airlines

Ethiopian Airlines' first Dreamliner is hosed down on arrival in Addis Ababa. Photo: AFP

Ethiopian Airlines received Africa's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner on Friday, making Ethiopia the only country aside from Japan to operate the innovative aircraft.

"As a continent this shows how much we are making progress as Africans... competing on the global stage and changing our image," Ethiopian Airline CEO Tewolde Gebremariam told reporters at Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport.

The plane arrived from Dulles airport in Washington, DC, home to the largest Ethiopian diaspora population globally.

State-owned Ethiopian Airlines -- Africa's fastest growing carrier -- has purchased ten 787 Dreamliners from Boeing. Each has an official list price of some $US207 million ($198 million), although airlines rarely pay such figures, especially for bulk orders.

More woes at Kingfisher

Cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines Ltd is seeing an exodus of people with at least 3,500 employees having resigned in the last one year, also reflected in falling employee costs in the April-June quarter.

The headcount is down to 4,200 from 7,700 a year ago, according to two executives of the Vijay Mallya-promoted airline. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.

“Out of the 4,200, 40% are not working as the airline closed at least 20 airport stations as part of downsizing its operations,” said one of the officials.

A Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson declined to comment.

Three United Aircraft Emergency Landings

 (Image Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

ABC News’ John Schriffen reports:   United Airlines says it is conducting a thorough review this morning of three weekend incidents that left hundreds of passengers stranded and some wondering whether the airline’s rocky merger with Continental has undermined its operations.

Since their merger two years ago, the two airlines have combined operations this year. Since 2010, the new United has suffered a rash of bad publicity and now has the worst records in the industry for delays.

In June, the last month for which the government released data, United passengers filed nearly 600 complaints. That’s five times higher than its nearest competitor and five times higher than before the merger.

“We’ve seen this huge spike in customer complaints,” said ABC News aviation consultant Steve Ganyard. “Now that we’re seeing a rash of in-flight emergencies, the FAA is going to want to ask are they having the same problem integrating their maintenance.”

United Flight 96 heading from New Jersey’s Newark Airport to Berlin was reportedly forced to make an emergency landing Saturday, and witnesses on the ground said they saw fire coming from the Boeing 757′s engine as they watched in suspense.

“I ran to the window, looked outside, saw the airplane and saw fire coming out,” D’Jenaba Johnson Jones said.

Alex Jackson said, “As it was elevating, I noticed that there was a flame spitting out of the left engine; it was kind of going like pop-pop- pop-pop.”

Cellphone video showed the plane circling for two hours and 15 minutes to burn off fuel before all 173 passengers and crew members landed safely back at Newark Airport.

“The crew followed standard procedures in returning to Newark, where the airplane landed safely,” United Airlines officials said in a statement Saturday.

United Flight 409 had to return to Newark Sunday morning after the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit. The Boeing 757 was bound for Seattle. And United Flight 1124 bound for Boston had to return to Houston a few hours later because of engine problems.

“The question is, how well is maintenance being done on those airplanes?” Ganyard said. “Is it a coincidence or is there a greater underlying problem that needs to be investigated.”

American Airlines Crews Approve New Contract

 Flight attendants at American Airlines voted to approve a new contract offer from the airline, which is seeking to cut costs in bankruptcy protection.   The results released Sunday showed attendants voted to accept the contract by 59.5 percent to 40.5 percent, according to the Association of Professional Flight Attendants.

Stansted Airport For Sale

Airports operator BAA has decided to sell Stansted Airport, ending its long-running legal battle.

It has been fighting a 2009 Competition Commission ruling that it must sell Stansted because of the lack of competition between London airports.

BAA was told to sell off Stansted and Gatwick, but by then it had already started the process of finding a buyer for Gatwick.

Short of fuel - a common problem?

Two Virgin Atlantic passenger jets issued emergency alerts on the same day this year because they were running out of fuel.  Air traffic controllers dealt with a total of four low-fuel emergencies at Stansted Airport, Essex, that day  – including a ‘mayday’ call.

Two were Virgin 747s, which can carry 451 passengers each. They needed priority landing after flying from America, according to an investigation by the Exaro website.

United To Remove Cockpit Protection

United Airlines is paying to remove a gate from some of its newest planes that’s meant to protect the cockpit from intruders, according to the union for its pilots.

United is getting Boeing Co.’s newest plane, the 787, later this year. Those planes were to come with a folding metal gate that blocks the cockpit when the door is open, according to the Air Line Pilots Association. But United is paying extra to have those gates removed, according to a letter from the union to the airline obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Federal rules do not require the gates, although United has them on its 777s. Most planes flown by U.S. airlines do not have the gates.

Cockpit security became a huge issue because of the hijackings of Sept. 11, 2001, prompting airlines to strengthen all of their cockpit doors.

However, the doors still need to be opened during flights, especially on longer flights when pilots need to use the lavatory or go to bunks while other pilots fly the plane. The secondary barrier blocks access from the passenger cabin to the cockpit even when the door is open.

“It makes no logical sense for a safety and security conscious airline with the history of United to pay for the removal of this device that further protects the flight deck from those with hostile intent,” the letter dated Monday said.

United spokeswoman Christen David said secondary barriers are just one component of flight security, and the combination of security measures can vary from one type of plane to the next. She declined to discuss the barriers in detail, but said “we are thorough in carrying out our security responsibilities for every flight. The safety and security of our employees and customers are our top priorities.”

United expects to get at least five 787s this year. The airline is part of Chicago-based United Continental Holdings Inc.

Virgin Blue High Tech Inflight Entertainment

Virgin America's new in-flight entertainment system will help passengers multitask. (Photo: Virgin America)Gone are the days when a cross-country flight meant being stuck for hours without a way to contact the outside world. In-flight connectivity is going mainstream. Virgin America--one of the most tech-embracing airlines in the nation--announced substantial tech upgrades to its in-flight entertainment system at the Airline Passenger Experience Association Expo in Seattle today.

A380's of Thai and Malaysian

The first Thai Airways International (THAI) A380 rolled out of the Airbus paint shop during June 2012, marking completion of its painting and cabin installation work.  Photo by Airbus.

Yesterday, Airbus showed off photos of Thai Airways International’s (THAI) first A380 that is in full livery.

The airline’s first double-decker has also completed interior installation and will now go through its final phase of ground and flight tests in Hamburg, before the aircraft will be believered to THAI sometime during the third quarter of 2012.

THAI will become the ninth operator of the A380 and the airline has firm orders for six A380s.

TAKE A PHOTO INTERIOR TOUR OF THAI’S A380 via Australian Business Traveler

The first A380 for Malaysia Airlines (MAS) was unveiled today bearing its special celebration livery, ahead of entry-into-service next week on the Kuala Lumpur-London route. Image from Airbus.

Airbus also showed off Malaysia Airlines (MAS) first A380, sporting a special “celebration livery.” The A380′s new paint scheme was added post-delivery and highlights the A380 as the flagship for the airline. The plane will start operations on the MAS Kuala Lumpur-London route next week and is configured in three classes with a total of 494 seats.

LAN and TAM to Merge.

Chile's LAN Airlines merged with TAM Airlines of Brazil on Friday, forming LATAM Airlines Group S.A., the largest airline in Latin America and one of the largest in the world, in terms of network connections.LATAM Airlines Group is based in Santiago, Chile, with secondary offices in San Paulo, Brazil.