Alaska Air Group said Wednesday it plans to begin scheduled flights from a second Seattle-area airport next year, giving it exclusive access to a growing part of the Pacific Northwest's Puget Sound region. Alaska Air's plan to fly Boeing 737 and Embraer 175 jets from Paine Field in Everett, Washington, starting in the fall of 2018 marks the first commercial service from the airfield, located 31 miles north of Seattle. Alaska plans to provide nine daily flights from the airfield, which is adjacent to Boeing's widebody aircraft factory. Alaska has not yet specified the destinations. "As our region continues to grow at a record pace and Sea-Tac Airport nears capacity, the time is right to bring air service to ... the North Sound," Alaska Airlines CE Brad Tilden said. The move will relieve the carrier's dependence on Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, which is not expected to add capacity for 10 years, said Brett Smith, CE of Propeller Airports.<br/>
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Southwest Airlines may have sidestepped a scheduling headache by letting other carriers take the first deliveries of Boeing’s upgraded 737 Max jetliners. The discount airline, the initial buyer of the plane, is awaiting inspection results for 10 engines on its future jets to see if the turbines have a potential manufacturing defect. But that shouldn’t delay Southwest’s first flights with the aircraft, which aren’t scheduled until October. “They’ll take those engines off, examine the discs,” Southwest COO Mike Van de Ven said Wednesday at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Phoenix. “If they have issues, then they’ll replace them. If not, they’ll go back on the airplane.” The inspections involve two engines on each of five 737 Max aircraft built for Southwest but not yet delivered. That’s about a third of the powerplants being examined by supplier CFM International, after flights were temporarily suspended last week. CFM alerted Boeing earlier this month to a possible manufacturing quality problem with low-pressure turbine discs in the Leap engines.<br/>
Vistara, Singapore Airlines’ Indian venture that operates an all-Airbus fleet, is seeking to recruit pilots trained on Boeing aircraft, people familiar with the matter said. The airline is hiring first officers with at least 750 hours of experience flying Boeing aircraft, according to a letter the New Delhi-based airline sent to pilots, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is not public. Vistara now operates a fleet of 13 Airbus SE A320 jets. Vistara is considering buying or leasing wide-bodied aircraft for long-haul routes and will seek funds from its owners to finance the purchase, the company said last year. The company may opt for the Boeing 777X jets, Sydney-based CAPA Centre for Aviation said in May.<br/>
Iranian state media says four ATR 72-600s are being delivered, the first installment of a deal with the French manufacturer to purchase 20 passenger planes following the lifting of sanctions under the 2015 nuclear deal. The IRNA news agency said the first plane landed in Tehran early Wednesday, with the other three expected later in the day. The planes were officially given to Iran Air in a ceremony Tuesday in Toulouse, where ATR is based. Iran Air finalized a deal last month with ATR for 20 twin-propeller aircraft, with an option to buy 20 more. The planes are worth $536m at list prices.<br/>