Lufthansa is nearing an agreement to operate airplanes now flying under the Air Berlin banner, according to 2 people with knowledge of the matter, letting Lufthansa bolster its discount flights as Air Berlin cuts back its routes. Lufthansa’s supervisory board Wednesday will review a plan to let Eurowings use about 40 of Air Berlin’s aircraft and their crews, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. A deal may pave the way for Air Berlin to cut about 1,000 of its 8,600 staff in coming months, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported Sunday. The agreement is set to be unveiled at a press conference hosted by Lufthansa, Eurowings and Air Berlin in Frankfurt later this week, one of the people said. Using Air Berlin aircraft would help Lufthansa expand its Eurowings unit. <br/>
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Qatar Airways has become the first airline to sign on for the Aireon-FlightAware flight tracking solution GlobalBeacon. Using Aireon’s spaced-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology, Qatar Airways will be able to track its aircraft on a minute-by-minute basis starting in 2018. Aireon-generated data will be fed into FlightAware’s system, which includes information on a flight’s origin, destination, flight plan route, position and estimated time of arrival. Qatar Airways said GlobalBeacon will enable it to meet ICAO’s mandate that aircraft autonomously transmit location every minute during emergency circumstances, which is set to take effect in 2021. Aireon CE Don Thoma added that “no new avionics will be required” on Qatar’s fleet of 190 aircraft to enable GlobalBeacon. <br/>
Another major merger transition for American Airlines is scheduled for this weekend, as the carrier plans to integrate its 3 pilot-oriented flight operating systems into 1. American hopes to replicate the smooth transition that accompanied its cutover to a single reservations system a year ago, although it is sparring with the restive Allied Pilots Association over the union's involvement in the flight system integration. The conflict isn't expected to impact the weekend transition, however. The flight operating systems involve about 500 software applications that manage crew scheduling, aircraft dispatch and movement and other functions. American still has separate systems for America West and US Airways, which merged in 2005, and for American, which merged with US Airways in 2013. <br/>