Boeing and Aeromexico Celebrate Delivery of Airline's First 737 MAX

Boeing and Aeromexico celebrated the delivery of the first of up to 90 737 MAX aircraft for the airline yesterday.  Aeromexico is looking to refresh its fleet and expand its reach and has chosen the fuel-efficient and longer-range MAX jets to do this at rates 20% below list price. 

In 2012 Aeromexico placed an order for up to 90 MAX aeroplanes, mixed between the MAX 8 and the larger MAX 9 varieties. The two different models offer will give the airline the flexibility to fly between approximately 160 and 190 passengers on flights of about 3,550 nautical miles (6,570 kilometres). 

Mexico's global airline to open new routes 

with up to 90 new MAX jets

"We are very proud to be one of the first airlines in Latin America operating this aircraft, which allows us to provide operational efficiencies that translate into multiple benefits for our clients, both in terms of their experience on-board and the options they have to reach their destination," said Andrés Conesa, CEO of Aeromexico.

Aeromexico, the largest airline in Mexico, operates one of the most technologically-advanced fleets in the region. It is a leading operator of the 787 Dreamliner.

"We are honoured to expand our partnership with Aeromexico and welcome them to the 737 MAX family," said Ricardo Cavero, vice president, Latin America sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The 737 MAX will provide Aeroméxico with unmatched reliability, fuel efficiency and a premium onboard experience for its passengers."

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Delta Vacations continues European expansion with the addition of vacation packages to Portugal, France, Greece and Austria

An escape to some of Europe's most charming destinations is now viable with Delta Vacations. The official vacation provider for Delta Air Lines announced the addition of the Azores, Portugal; Bordeaux, France; Crete, Greece; and Salzburg, Austria to its portfolio. Travellers can now book vacation packages to these destinations. 

Cabin Bag Fire

A portable charger battery pack burst into flames in the overhead luggage compartment of a China Southern Airlines aircraft on Sunday 25th February afternoon while passengers were in the process of boarding.  

The fire caused a three-hour flight delay to flight CZ3539, which had been scheduled to depart Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport heading for Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport at around noon.

Which airline is adding extra capacity on key US routes from London Gatwick

 Norwegian is adding extra capacity on key US routes from London Gatwick
Norwegian, voted world’s best low-cost long-haul airline, is continuing its rapid growth at London Gatwick with the addition of over 150,000 extra seats for this summer on its long-haul network, following high demand on some of the airlines most popular routes to the US.
From the 25th March 2018 passengers will now be able to book an additional 10 weekly flights to Los Angeles, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Oakland and Boston, giving passengers even more choice and flexibility when travelling to the US. Additional flights now on sale are:

WOW air To Launch $149 Flight Deal From JFK And EWR To Europe This Spring

The super low low-cost long-haul Icelandic airline WOW air, is offering some super low fares for American's heading to Europe to help celebrate the carriers new New York JFK flight launching on 27th April. 
WOW says passengers can, for a limited time book flights from JFK and Newark EWR to Iceland for $99 and or $149 to fly from EWR to Amsterdam (AMS), Berlin (SXF) and Paris (CDG) and from JFK to London (STN), Paris (CDG) and Amsterdam (AMS).
Tickets are on sale now and offered for flights departing April through June 2018.
"We are excited by the success of our Newark Liberty International Airport partnership and are looking forward to offering New Yorkers more flight options with John F. Kennedy International Airport," said Skúli Mogensen, founder and CEO of WOW air. "As always, our goal is to make travel more affordable and accessible providing high-value to those looking to expand their horizons through travelling the world."

Top US airports for cancelled flights - 2017

New York's LaGuardia airport tops the 2017 chart of all the US airports, however, it isn't one to be celebrated, for the New York airport is the top of the percentage of cancelled flights. 

The United States of America top cancellation hotspots.  2017.

Rank	Airport	Total flights	Canceled	Percentage
1	New York, NY: LaGuardia	93,326	3018	3.23
2	Houston, TX: George Bush Intercontinental/Houston	129,271	3529	2.73
3	Fort Lauderdale, FL: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International	90,078	2429	2.7
4	Newark, NJ: Newark Liberty International	115,968	2982	2.57
5	New York, NY: John F. Kennedy International	94,454	2076	2.2
6	Boston, MA: Logan International	125,456	2665	2.12
7	Washington, DC: Ronald Reagan Washington National	74,408	1488	2
8	Orlando, FL: Orlando International	131,998	2606	1.97
9	San Francisco, CA: San Francisco International	174,631	3299	1.89
10	Baltimore, MD: Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall	101,015	1730	1.71
11	Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia International	73,194	1197	1.64
12	Atlanta, GA: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International	364,655	5419	1.49
13	Chicago, IL: Chicago Midway International	87,203	1238	1.42
14	Chicago, IL: Chicago O'Hare International	266,460	3719	1.4
15	San Diego, CA: San Diego International	84,056	997	1.19
16	Charlotte, NC: Charlotte Douglas International	113,095	1270	1.12
17	Dallas/Fort Worth, TX: Dallas/Fort Worth International	181,208	1868	1.03
18	Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles International	214,297	2107	0.98
19	Detroit, MI: Detroit Metro Wayne County	126,609	1196	0.94
20	Las Vegas, NV: McCarran International	151,720	1367	0.9
21	Denver, CO: Denver International	223,165	1592	0.71
22	Seattle, WA: Seattle/Tacoma International	137,176	833	0.61
23	Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis-St Paul International	134,591	767	0.57
24	Phoenix, AZ: Phoenix Sky Harbor International	154,508	870	0.56
25	Salt Lake City, UT: Salt Lake City International	111,912	448	0.4

Data Source: The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) tracks the on-time performance of domestic flights operated by large air carriers.  

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Ryanair to drop almost all routes from Glasgow and more strikes loom

Photo By Thomas Nugent

The low-fare high fee airline Ryanair has confirmed it will almost completely cease operations from Glasgow Airport. The airline which also operates out of Edinburgh, Prestwick and Aberdeen will cut the number of routes out of Glasgow from 23 to just three which will force more than 300 people to lose their jobs.
Chief commercial officer David O'Brien blamed the change on the cost of air passenger duty and said Glasgow "simply could not bear the burden". He also said it had to do with Brexit.
Glasgow Airport said it was "bitterly disappointed" by Ryanair's decision and the spokesperson said there was "no doubt" that the failure to replace air passenger duty (APD) with a cheaper air departure tax (ADT) in Scotland was behind the move. "We are bitterly disappointed at this decision by Ryanair which is not only damaging for Glasgow and wider Scottish connectivity, it will impact approximately 100 jobs locally." the spokesperson said, adding, "This is a result of the airline's review of its single aircraft bases. However, we have been left in no doubt it is also a consequence of the Scottish government's inability to introduce its proposed 50% cut in air departure tax.
"Despite clear and repeated warnings from both airports and airlines about the potential impact of this policy not being implemented, we are now faced with a stark scenario that includes the loss of 20 services and a significant number of jobs."

Southwest Airlines 737 returns to Salt Lake City following engine fire.

A Southwest Airlines 737-700 bound for Los Angeles on Monday was forced to make a rapid return to Salt Lake City shortly after take-off due to an engine fire.
A witness Al Oshiro was arriving for work when he saw flames coming out of the jet's engine, "All of a sudden I started seeing these orange flames just coming off the right side of the engine,” said Oshiro, an aerospace engineer for Moog Inc. He heard a sound “so loud that a lot of people came out of the building because people thought the building was getting hit.”

Passenger Che Cullenbine said he was sitting in the 5th row and spoke to local media about his experience "I heard what sounded like small little explosions," Cullenbine said. "Almost like somebody had an assault rifle and they were firing three round bursts like duh-duh-duht. Duh-duh-duht. Really loud so I looked out the window and I noticed that at the same time the sounds were happening there were flames coming out the back of the engine on the right side."
Another passenger Craig Johnson commented "I was sitting right on the row where the engine was and I looked out to the right and the right engine kept exploding, that's the best way I can describe it. Saw balls of fire and it got pretty tense for a few minutes."
The aircraft, a Boeing 737-700 landed safely, with about 110 passengers and five crew members onboard the flight. Southwest Airlines have confirmed in a statement that The passengers were re-accommodated on another aircraft at Los Angeles. The low-cost carrier advised the second flight arrived in Los Angeles at 11.43 local time, just 3 hours and 38 minutes after the original flight was scheduled to land and apologised for any inconvenience. 
Southwest said the pilots returned to the airport after they received a cockpit indicator of “a potential performance issue” with one of the jet’s engines.

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Miracle Flights Performs 570 Free Medical Flights in January

 Miracle Flights, the nation's leading medical flight charity, today reported a total of 570 free commercial airline flights provided in January to those in need of specialized medical care far from home.

Established in 1985, the Las Vegas–based charity has to date performed a total of 114,437 flights and flown more than 64 million miles to help increase access to life-changing treatments and valuable second opinions for children and adults with complex medical needs.

Montréal-Trudeau Airport wishes you an enjoyable spring break!

With rising passenger traffic and a particularly harsh winter, many travellers are expected to visit Montréal-Trudeau Airport during spring break to fly to sunnier destinations.

Aéroports de Montréal would like to take this opportunity to provide some advice that will help you start your holiday on the right foot by making your visit to the airport more pleasant:

Inflight Dublin Pioneering Wireless IFE With Travel Service

Travel Service, the biggest Czech air carrier, launched a completely unique in-flight entertainment service on its flights, providing a superior level of comfort for passengers. The service is initially being rolled out on scheduled flights under the SmartWings brand.
In October 2017 Travel Service agreed to increase its stake in the national flag carrier CSA Czech Airlines, from 44% to almost 98%. Although Travel Service Group carries fewer scheduled passengers than CSA, its overall operation is much larger, as evidenced by its fleet of 34 Boeing 737s, compared with CSA's 18-strong fleet. The fast-growing group has ambitions to operate a fleet of 70-80 aircraft.

Challenger 350 Dominates 2017 Deliveries in the Super Midsize Segment, Tops the Medium Category

Bombardier announced last week that deliveries of its best-selling Challenger 350 business jet continue to dominate the super-midsize segment and the Medium aircraft category in 2017, according to the annual shipment and billings report published by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA). Bombardier delivered 56 Challenger 350 aircraft in 2017, capturing 53 percent of the super-midsize segment.
“Thanks to their exceptional cabin comfort, connectivity, reliable performance and ultra-smooth ride, our Challenger 350 business jets continue to lead the market in unit sales and have earned their place as the leading choice among experienced flight departments and charter operators,” said Peter Likoray, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Bombardier Business Aircraft. “The result extends a remarkable record for our Challenger 350 aircraft program, which has tallied more deliveries in the last decade than any other business jet platform.”

Compass Airlines Reaches Agreement with Pilot Union on Two-Year Contract Extension

 Compass Airlines is pleased to announce it has reached an agreement with its pilot group to extend the pilots' Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) through 2022.  The extension contains a number of pay and quality of life improvements, while simultaneously allowing for new initiatives that will improve Compass's ability to recruit pilots. 

Complementing Compass's competitive First Officer compensation are increases for Captains that will allow Compass to remain among the leaders in Captain pay among comparable regional carriers.  Additionally, the extension includes an agreement to allow new hire First Officers with previous 121 experience to carry over longevity from their previous carrier, as well as the ability to offer new hire pilots a signing bonus.  These improvements will allow greater responsiveness to market conditions in a competitive market for attracting pilots.

Garuda to cut more routes after $213 million loss

Garuda retired its 747's in Oct 2017

The airline of Indonesia,  Garuda has confirmed it will be cutting more routes and renegotiating contracts after posting losses of $213.4 million net last year. Airline executives said on Monday they will cut at least 10 routes this year, on top of the 17 routes axed last year as the carrier struggles to stem its losses. Chief Executive Pahala Mansury declined to name the affected routes at a meeting on Monday, saying only that Denpasar in Bali to Chengdu in China is among several of those under review for possible termination over the next few months. The Denpasar - Chengdu service is less than a year old after only starting in May last year. 

BA cancels flights at Heathrow as the 'beast' from the east arrives

The beast from the east is starting to cause more problems for British Travellers.  The beast, in this case, is the cold front coming from the east bringing snow and a bitterly cold wind causing temperatures to plummet.

At Heathrow British Airways has cancelled a number of short-haul flights into and out of its main London hub.  The carrier is warning passengers on Monday that cold, wet or snowy weather is likely to lead to some delays and disruptions through the week until at least Friday.

It says some flights will have to be cancelled and said passengers should consider re-booking.

In light of the weather conditions expected, British Airways advises that passengers travelling on short-haul routes between Monday and Friday will be given the option of re-booking even if their flights currently remain on schedule.

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