Hawaiian Airlines says it has become the first US airline to join an international research project on climate change and air quality. The airline said Monday technicians recently installed equipment on one of its Airbus A330 airplanes that will collect atmospheric air samples from take-off to landing and record key high-altitude greenhouse gas measurements. The project is run by an international not-for-profit organisation based in Belgium called In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System. Members include research organisations, universities and weather services from Germany, France and the UK. Scientists expect Hawaiian to produce valuable metrics thanks to its central Pacific location and non-stop flights around the Pacific and US. <br/>
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Bangkok Airways is the first Thai airline to be re-issued with an AOC by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAAT), with Thai AirAsia and THAI to follow. CAAT director-general Chula Sukmanop said the licensing process, in compliance with the standards of the ICAO, started Sept 12, 2016. A re-issued AOC would be valid for 5 years. CAAT would continually monitor the standards of licensees, he said. Thai AirAsia and THAI should receive their AOCs within the next month, Chula said. Six other airlines - Nok Air, Orient Thai Airlines, K-Mile Air, NokScoot, AirAsia X and Thai Smile - should get theirs by June this year. The govt is reissuing AOCs for the 9 main airlines to convince the ICAO to lift its "red flag" safety warning hanging over Thai airlines. The 9 airlines operate 70% of international flights from Thailand. <br/>
Billionaire Warren Buffett isn’t talking like a man who wants to buy Southwest Airlines or any air carrier outright, despite analyst speculation to the contrary last week. Buffett said Monday that it’s unlikely that Berkshire Hathaway will raise its stakes in American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Delta, United or any other carrier above 10%. Buffett’s Berkshire fund bought more than US$9b of airline stocks because he believes that consolidation and other industry changes have allowed airlines to operate more efficiently than they used to. Last week, Morgan Stanley analysts and others speculated that Berkshire Hathaway’s purchase of a massive stake in the 4 largest US airlines could be the first step in a takeover of one of them. The analysts went on to name Southwest as a leading candidate for a buyout. <br/>
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria Monday said Arik Air, under its previous management, owed IATA US$78m. The airline was taken over Feb 9 by the federal govt under the auspices of AMCON as a result of its huge debt profile. AMCON appointed Roy Ilegbodu, a veteran aviation expert, to manage the airline under the receivership of Oluseye Opasanya. An Arik spokesman said the debt was for all aviation services provided under the platform of IATA, which recently suspended the airline from its Billing and Settlement Plan and Cargo Account Settlement System. “The airline was also in credit to their fuel suppliers and was not able to pay staff salaries for months. There was no good corporate governance in Arik as most decisions were single-handedly taken by the executive chairman.” <br/>
Pakistan International Airlines said Monday that it was investigating reports that more passengers than the maximum allowed had travelled on an international flight, adding it launched disciplinary measures against the crew. A PIA spokesman denied a newspaper report that 7 extra passengers were forced to stand for the 3-hour flight from Karachi to Medina in Saudi Arabia Jan 20. "It is not possible for anyone to travel like that in an aircraft, regardless of the duration of the flight," said the spokesman. A pilot and 2 other crew members were being disciplined, he said. "Strict action would be taken against anyone found at fault," the spokesman said. PIA has been battling concerns about flight safety since a domestic flight crashed in December, killing all 47 people on board. <br/>
Chorus Aviation, the parent company of Canadian regional airline Jazz Aviation, posted 2016 net profits of C$111.8m (US$83m), more than quadrupling its $25.5m net result for 2015. “Our overall [2016] fiscal results were in line with our expectations,” Chorus president and CE Joe Randell said. “The capacity purchase agreement (CPA) with Air Canada continues to … deliver strong and stable financial results … we achieved a 44% increase year-over-year in our aircraft leasing revenue under the CPA, to $99m.” Chorus’ full-year operating revenue totaled $1.3b, down 17.3% from $1.5b in 2015. The company’s full-year expenses were $1.1b, down 19.3% from $1.4b in 2015. Operating income for the year was $151.5m, up 1.3% over $149.5m in 2015. <br/>