Australia, China and Malaysia have officially announced the end of the search for the missing Boeing 777-200ER that operated Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which crashed in March 2014. “Despite every effort using the best science available, cutting edge technology, as well as modelling and advice from highly skilled professionals…unfortunately, the search has not been able to locate the aircraft. Accordingly, the underwater search for MH370 has been suspended,” the countries said, adding that the last search vessel now been stood down. The 120,000 sq-km underwater search in the southern Indian Ocean was described by the authorities as “an unprecedented challenge.” Families of the victims, represented by the Voice370 group, said they were “dismayed” to hear that the underwater search had been terminated. <br/>
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Qantas will flick the switch on its free inflight Internet service next month as the airline begins 'technology trials' on a Boeing 737-800 jet. Passengers on its domestic flights will be able to connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot and jump online for what Qantas promises will be a broadband experience good enough for streaming movies and live TV. The Boeing 737 will connect to the NBN's pair of Sky Muster satellites which take all of Australia under their wing. Each Sky Muster satellite blankets Australia with 101 'spot beams'. The Sky Muster satellites use Ka-band signals which Qantas technology partner ViaSat says will deliver a 12Mbps pipeline to each connected device on the plane. That's about the same clip as the fastest ADSL2+ home or office Internet services, and more than twice what's needed to watch Netflix in high definition. <br/>
Qantas has had to temporarily ground 10 of its Bombardier Q400s after it discovered that they had missed an inspection required by the manufacturer. Sources say that the affected aircraft required inspections on some fasteners that were replaced under an earlier airworthiness directive issued by Transport Canada. The airline subsequently discovered that follow-up inspections on the aircraft had not been completed, and removed the affected aircraft from service to complete them. It self-reported the issue to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. “This is an administrative issue that relates to technical compliance and not a safety issue with the aircraft,” the carrier says. It adds that one of the aircraft has already returned to service, while the remaining 9 will re-enter service in the coming days. <br/>
American Airlines has been named the recipient of the 2017 ATW Airline of the Year, taking the top honour of the 43nd annual ATW Airline Industry Achievement Awards. American Airlines was selected by ATW’s editorial board in recognition of the "phenomenal achievements by American’s leadership and employees this past year. The integration of American and US Airways was practically flawless despite it being the largest, most complex airline merger in history", editors noted. "And throughout the integration process, American has maintained a close eye on delivering profitability and shareholder return while also investing more than US$3b in new customer products...American is also spending billions more to upgrade its fleet with hundreds of new aircraft." <br/>