Hurricane Irma took a bite out of American’s Q3 revenue, the carrier said Tuesday. The storm slammed into Florida Sunday, forcing airports to close, including Miami International, the state's largest and an American Airlines hub. Last month, the airline had expected Q3 revenue for each seat flown to rise from 0.5% to 2.5% year over year. The carrier revised that to flat year-over-year revenue growth to an increase of up to 1%. American said that Q4 revenue growth would be higher than in Q3.<br/>
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Some Air Berlin pilots added to the carrier’s problems Tuesday after 200 called in sick, causing the cancellation of more than 100 flights. CE Thomas Winkelmann said some employees are “playing with fire”, as the number of short-notice sick days was much higher than usual. “Today has cost us several million euros. We are currently conducting final talks with potential investors. It is essential that operations be stable in order for these negotiations to go well,” he said. Air Berlin is in preliminary insolvency proceedings and continues to operate only through an EU-approved E150m loan. The deadline for offers for the airline is Friday, with the creditors' committee hoping to make a decision Sept 21.<br/>
Insolvent Air Berlin has attracted buyer interest from China's LinkGlobal Logistics, which is likely to join a growing list of suitors,. LinkGlobal, which operates German regional airport Parchim, expressed its intention of making a bid to the airline's administrator in a letter dated Aug 31 from LinkGlobal's managing director Jonathan Pang. LinkGlobal pledged to hand in a bid by the Sept 15 deadline, according to the letter. The logistics group also said it would look to move Air Berlin's headquarters to Parchim, in north-eastern Germany. Air Berlin's administrator declined to comment. Air Berlin filed for bankruptcy protection last month after its biggest shareholder, Etihad Airways, withdrew funding following years of losses.<br/>
Malaysia Airlines and Boeing have signed an MOU for an order for eight 787-9s and purchase rights for eight 737 MAX 8s. The memo converts a previous order for Boeing 737 MAXs to the larger 787-9, and adds the 737 MAX purchase rights. If the deal is firmed up, Malaysian is effectively adding a 787 order and converting 737 orders to purchase rights. If the 737 rights are converted to firm orders, a 16 aircraft deal would be worth just over US$3b at list prices. “New wide-body aircraft are a key to making Malaysia Airlines a premium airline offering a five star product again,” CE Peter Bellew said. He said the 787’s range will allow the airline to reach any point in Europe and some US destinations from its Kuala Lumpur base.<br/>
JAL and Delhi-based Vistara signed an MOU “to pursue enhanced cooperation, such as codeshare, frequent flyer partnership as well as other operational arrangements to leverage each other’s network, expertise and assets,” the two carriers said. The partnership is subject to necessary approvals. Earlier this year, JAL and Vistara entered an “Inter-Airline Through Check-In” partnership, giving customers a seamless check-in when connecting to/from a Vistara flight in India and more than 50 countries on Japan Airlines’ network. Vistara is a full-service airline and joint venture between Tata Sons and SIA. JAL operates a daily nonstop service between Tokyo and Delhi, with plans to strengthen its presence in the country through a suitable partner.<br/>