Singapore Airlines has the financial firepower to make a bid for the remainder of Virgin Australia, but it may not do so unless a Chinese rival makes an offer for Air NZ's 25.9% stake, according to aviation experts. Maybank Investment Bank analyst Moshin Aziz said based on his estimates, SIA had a net cash balance of $S3b at the end of March, giving it one of the strongest airline balance sheets globally. An acquisition of the remainder of Virgin would cost around $1.5b, including an expected recapitalisation of the carrier. "[Singapore Airlines] clearly have the financial muscle, the money required to buy this airline," said Aziz. "But to put so much money in, you want clarity of the management of the airline and the [Australian] government would need to give its blessing." Airlines, as of January, had Foreign Investment Review Board approval to own up to 25.9% of Virgin. After increasing its stake slightly last week, it now holds 23.11%. Etihad Airways, a competitor to Singapore Airlines on the Kangaroo route, owns a 25.1%. Most market speculation about the possible buyer for the Air NZ stake has centred on Singapore Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Chinese carriers. Strategic Aviation Solutions chairman Neil Hansford said United Airlines, an alliance partner of Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand, could also be a potential buyer.<br/>
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When United Continental turned to a board member last fall to replace its former CE who resigned under a cloud, the airline was following a playbook it has used not altogether successfully twice before. In the late 1980s, United had become a travel conglomerate that owned hotels and a rental-car company under then-chairman Richard Ferris. After an early version of activist investors, Coniston Partners, pressed for the empire to be dismantled, Ferris resigned in 1987 and the United board tapped then-director Frank Olson, CEO of Hertz Corp., to succeed Ferris as chairman and CEO. Only months later did United conclude an executive search and name airline industry executive Stephen Wolf to take over. Wolf, responding to pilot pressure, sold the airline to a majority of the workers in 1994 and left the company. He was succeeded by a union-backed auto-industry executive, who lasted five years. In 1999, the company then turned to a 32-year United veteran, Jim Goodwin. Shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Goodwin fell afoul of the company’s unions after telling employees that the company would “perish” if it didn’t get its costs under control. Again, United’s board turned to a director. It selected Jack Creighton, a retired paper-company CEO, as chairman and CEO on an interim basis. Creighton said at the time that he “didn’t take this job to preside over a bankruptcy.” He was succeeded nearly a year later by an outside candidate produced by an executive search, Glenn Tilton. Tilton, who came from the oil industry, quickly put United into bankruptcy-court protection. After the three-year reorganisation, he brought the airline out of Chapter 11 in better shape and began searching for a merger partner. That hunt culminated in United’s 2010 marriage to Continental Airlines. The combined company took on Jeff Smisek, the former Continental chief, as CEO. After a federal investigation into airport operations in New York and New Jersey cast a harsh light on Mr. Smisek, he was abruptly ousted last September. United director Oscar Munoz, a railroad executive, got the job.<br/>
Videos of the dramatic moments a crane dropped an Air India plane onto the ground when trying to move it have been shared on social media. The Airbus A-320, which had been parked up since 2007, was being moved from Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad in southern India on Sunday morning when the incident occurred. It’s understood that the 200 tonne crane lost balance while in motion, causing it and the plane to fall to the ground with the aircraft smashing through a wall as it landed. Some of the crane fell on top of the plane’s fuselage.The aircraft was being moved from the airport to a nearby training facility with a truck waiting to take the plane on its 4km journey when the incident happened, reported NDTV. Although pictures from the scene clearly show the plane has been damaged, Air India have said that it will still be used for training purposes as initially planned. No injuries have been reported and police are not thought to be treating the incident as suspicious.<br/>
As many as 110 passengers onboard an Air India aircraft were forced to sit in the plane for two and half hours on Wednesday after its commander insisted for a “particular woman” co-pilot to operate the flight. The incident happened at Air India’s flight to Male from Chennai via Thiruvananthapuram, sources said. In between, the commander also complained of high blood pressure and was treated for the same, they said.The Commander quit Air India last week and is serving a six-month notice period, the sources said. According to the sources, the commander insisted roster section on Tuesday to schedule the woman flight officer along with him on flight AI 263/264 for Wednesday. “Roster section, however, informed him that his demand can’t be met as she was already scheduled for a Delhi flight,” a source said. Later the commander called up roster section and threatened to report sick, if the particular woman pilot was not put on duty with him.<br/>
To meet the increasing needs of health-conscious travellers, SIA has announced that it will start offering a healthier menu option for its customers on board, from this month. SIA said the launch of the “Deliciously Wholesome” programme is the result of an extensive meal development process. Feedback from customers about the current range of in-flight meals was also taken into consideration, it added. Mayura Mohta, a nutrition expert engaged by the airline to analyse the nutritional properties of the food offered, said: “The dishes also contain special active micronutrients which can help alleviate travel-induced stresses such as dehydration, fatigue and jetlag.” The healthier-choice meals will be served on selected flights departing from Singapore, SIA said.<br/>