Smoke filled the cabin of an Allegiant Air jet after it landed at a California airport on Monday, forcing coughing passengers to cover their faces with shirts and firefighters to board the plane, authorities said. None of the 150 passengers or six crew members was injured when the plane from Las Vegas landed at Fresno International Airport, Allegiant Air said. As the plane was taxiing in Fresno, it came to an abrupt stop and smoke started to fill the cabin from the front of the aircraft, said passenger Estevan Moreno, 34, a Fresno police officer. “We used our shirts to mask our faces from the smoke,” he said. “I was coughing pretty good from it.” At one point, the flight crew said they would pass out wet napkins to help passengers cover their mouths, Moreno said, but that didn’t happen.<br/>
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JetBlue Airways is urging US regulators to reject Boeing’s fair-trade complaints against Bombardier as the New York-based airline considers adding new planes to its fleet. Boeing’s claim that Bombardier sold its C Series jets in the U.S. at less than fair value thanks to Canadian government subsidies presents “a threat to JetBlue’s ability to continue to innovate and provide benefits to the flying public,” CEO Robin Hayes said in a letter filed Monday with the US International Trade Commission. JetBlue plans to decide by the end of the year on changes to its fleet, including whether to replace its Embraer SA E190s, possibly with the C Series. The airline has held talks off-and-on with Bombardier, Bloomberg reported last year. In his letter, Hayes urged the commission "to reject the petitions and permit free and unfettered competition in the aircraft manufacturing sector." The C Series is the only aircraft offering five seats abreast, aligning it with JetBlue’s “history of product differentiation,” he said, and has potential to reduce operating costs in line with JetBlue’s low-cost model. Boeing makes no comparable aircraft, the letter said.<br/>
Russian private air carrier VIM Airline has faced a severe economic adversary and has asked the state for financial aid with a possibility of going into a receivership, the company said on its social media accounts Monday. The company, top 10 among the Russian airlines, also known as VIM-AVIA, has cancelled or delayed dozens of flights for the past few days. “Unfortunately, we have to state that the VIM-AVIA airline has been faced with a hard economic situation. The working capital has run out, financing has been frozen, while servicing at the airport has been suspended,” the company said. “The air company is counting on support of the state bodies as well as partners in the tourism industry. And as the airline is not ably to carry out flights without additional funds, we plan to enter into an anti-crisis receivership.” <br/>
Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s flagship carrier, said a scarcity of jet fuel is threatening its operations in the Central Asian nation as Russian rivals suck up supplies. “Regular air service in Kazakhstan is in jeopardy,” Air Astana said Monday in a statement, citing lower fuel deliveries from Russia. Four suppliers -- Gazprom Neft PJSC, Rosneft PJSC, Lukoil PJSC and Tatneft PJSC -- have sent an average of 15,000 tons a month this year, down from 44,000 tons in 2016, it said. Russian airlines are booming as cheaper fuel and an economic recovery spur travel. Passenger volumes in August expanded more than 16% year-on-year and shares of No. 1 carrier Aeroflot PJSC rose to a record the previous month. But increased demand for fuel has had a knock-on effect on neighboring Kazakhstan, which relies on Russia for about 70% of its jet fuel, according to Air Astana. Gazprom Neft has given notice that fuel exports won’t resume until next May, the Kazakh carrier said. The Russian company said it hasn’t broken any contract. “The 2017 summer season has seen unprecedented and unpredictable growth” in the volume of air transport and jet-fuel consumption in Russia, Gazprom Neft said. The St. Petersburg-based company has increased fuel production at its refineries to keep domestic supply uninterrupted, it said.<br/>
Alaska Airlines is retiring its last four combi planes, special Boeing 737-400s designed to carry cargo in the middle of the plane and 72 passengers in the rear, company VP Marilyn Romano said ahead of this week's unveiling of the first of three new cargo planes for the state. "They've been our workhorses," said Jason Berry, manager of the company's cargo division. The new cargo planes are a dedicated fleet of three 737-700s, and they are the first ever to be converted from passenger jet to cargo planes. Passengers will now fly separately in 737-700s. Alaska Airlines is the only major airline in the US that had combi planes, which were designed for the special challenges of the nation's largest state. The combi planes made sense to deliver people and goods to remote hub communities in Alaska in the most cost-efficient manner.<br/>
Thai Lion Air is on course to acquire its first three wide-body jets, regardless of whether Thailand's red flag imposed by a UN aviation safety<br/>auditing agency is lifted. Aswin Yangkirativorn, CE of the budget airline subsidiary of Indonesia's Lion Group, Monday confirmed the arrival of the first Airbus A330-300 jet this November, to be joined shortly after by two more aircraft. The three wide-body jets will be instrumental to TLA's debut of medium- and long-haul routes and high-capacity aircraft, adding to its current short-haul services rendered by narrow-body Boeing 737 aircraft. TLA intends to use these wide-body jets to launch flights from its Don Mueang airport base to Japan, South Korea and northern China. But the launch of flights, especially to Japan and South Korea, is subject to the removal of the punitive restrictions on Thai-registered airlines'<br/>international flights by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). "Even if ICAO keeps the red flag, we will continue to take delivery of A330-300s as planned, but we will deploy in other destinations such as China [where ICAO's red flag is not strictly enforced]," Aswin said. ICAO is expected to wrap up its work later this week and may issue its result soon after.<br/>