India’s govt, which is planning to sell a stake in Air India, is considering options such as keeping out at least a part of its US$8b of debt to help lure investors, the nation’s civil aviation minister said. Air India’s assets such as real estate could also be spun off into a separate company, Ashok Gajapathi Raju said Friday. A call will be taken by a group of ministers headed by Finance minister Arun Jaitley, and the govt is open to all options, including allowing foreign investment in the carrier, he said. “Its books are bad, you can’t leave it like that,” Raju said. “Suppose a portion of its debt is removed, non-aviation-related assets are removed and put into a shell company owned by the govt, I think things will work.” <br/>
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United Airlines' aging fleet of widebody Boeing 767s suddenly are taking on a whole new appeal <br/>— particularly for travellers stuck in the economy cabin who might like a roomier seat. United said it has completed the first retrofit of 14 widebody Boeing 767-300 aircraft scheduled for a makeover by the end of 2018. The really good news about the overdue retrofits is that United is installing a significantly wider leather-upholstered seat in the economy cabin of the made-over planes. The new seat is an extraordinarily spacious 18.5 inches wide. The new economy cabin seat replaces one that was 17.6 inches wide. By way of further comparison, United's brand-spanking-new Dreamliner 787-9 going into service has economy cabin seats that range from 16.3 to 17.3 inches wide. <br/>
If ultra-long haul flying is the last frontier of aviation, just waiting to be explored, than Air NZ can't wait to get started. Geography makes Air NZ an obvious player. The 2 longest flights in the world both serve Auckland, and 4 of the top 5 longest flights (operating or scheduled to operate) serve Auckland or Sydney. “We are one of top 5 airlines in world in terms of distance,” said CE Christopher Luxon. “We end up flying a normal [international] flight 12 or 13 hours.” In Dec 2015, Air NZ began Auckland-Houston, a flight of about 7,400 miles, not quite long enough to crack the list of the world’s 10 longest flights. Luxon said he envisions flying to New York (about 8,800 miles) and Chicago once the airline secures new airplanes. <br/>