Hawaiian Airlines says it has not seen fallout from concern in the US the Trump presidency may harm tourism. The airline says it has not seen any fall in demand for Hawaii as a tourist destination. Donald Trump's rhetoric and unpopularity abroad is likely to reduce international arrivals by 4.3m this year, according to market strategy firm Tourism Economics. Roger Dow, CE of the US Travel Association, said that there was no ''big damage yet". President and CE of Hawaiian Airlines Mark Dunkerley said that the welcome mat was still out in the US. ''Obviously there is a narrative out there that is being driven by big political events that makes that at first blush seem so but we're not seeing any reduction in demand for a Hawaii vacation, certainly as a community we're very welcoming there of overseas visitors.'' <br/>
unaligned
An airline pilot who was so drunk he appeared to pass out in the cockpit before take-off was sentenced Monday to 8 months in jail in Canada. Miroslav Gronych, 37, pleaded guilty last month to having care and control of an aircraft while he had a blood alcohol level 3 times the legal limit. The Slovakian pilot was escorted off a Sunwing Airlines plane in Calgary Dec 31 before a flight scheduled to end in Cancun, Mexico. The court heard that when Gronych got on the plane, he struggled to hang up his coat, was slurring his words and was staggering. The court was also told the co-pilot suggested Gronych should leave the plane, but he eventually returned to the cockpit, sat down and appeared to pass out with his face resting on the window. Judge Anne Brown also banned Gronych from flying for 1 year after his release. <br/>
Gol plans to launch a live TV service by the end of Q2, as it pushes ahead with plans to equip its Boeing 737-700 and -800s with Gogo on-board connectivity. Twenty-two of Gol’s 120 aircraft offer on-board connectivity and streaming through Gogo’s 2Ku satellite technology, the airline’s chief experience officer Paulo Miranda said. “We are getting fairly close with who will be our provider for the TV channel,” Miranda said. Miranda said the airline wants to equip a total of 78 aircraft with the technology by the end of 2018, and the whole fleet by Oct 2018. It takes 5–6 days to equip an aircraft, he added. Gol is offering free connectivity as part of a trial phase, but it plans to start charging for the service around the same time as the live TV service launches. <br/>
Mesa Airlines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), have requested mediation services from the National Mediation Board (NMB) to facilitate negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement. The decision to file for mediation comes weeks after company management delivered a proposal that was rejected by pilots. According to ALPA, once the NMB processes the request, a federal mediator will take control of the bargaining schedule and oversee negotiations going forward. Mesa pilots have been in contract negotiations for more than 6 years with no pay increases since 2010, ALPA said. “Since negotiations began, the company has added more than 70 new aircraft to the fleet and offered bonuses to new hires while existing pilots continue to fall further behind in pay rates compared to their peers”. <br/>
Tigerair Australia is looking at “bring your own device” (BYOD) intranet solutions for its remaining Airbus A320s, as it transitions to an all-Boeing 737-800 fleet. The move follows Tigerair Australia’s July 2016 decision to swap from an all-A320 fleet to 737-800s over the coming 3 years. Tigerair Australia has already taken 4 737-800s from parent carrier Virgin Australia, which it used on international routes to Bali, Indonesia until these services were discontinued. The 737s are equipped with Kontron hardware and Arconics’ CloudStore software. This is an offline solution, where content like films, TV shows and music are manually uploaded to the aircraft once a month and accessed via passengers’ own devices. Passengers can use the TV and music services free of charge, but there is an US$7 fee for the film content. <br/>