Ryanair has been ordered to tell hundreds of thousands of passengers how it proposes to provide alternatives to cancelled flights by 5pm on Friday. As criticism of the Ryanair’s treatment of affected passengers intensified, the aviation regulator told the Irish airline to explain how it will reroute passengers and email all those affected by Wednesday to explain their options. In a strongly worded letter, the CAA’s CE, Andrew Haines, told Ryanair: “This issue is urgent, as passengers may already have been disadvantaged by taking a decision based on misleading information provided by Ryanair.” Ryanair responded, saying it had reminded its customer service agents on Wednesday “of the refund and re-accommodation entitlements of customers in cases of flight cancellations”. But a Ryanair memo, seen by the Guardian, appears to instruct call centre staff that if offering flights with other carriers to do so provided the price “does not exceed three times the value of the original Ryanair fare”. The document was criticised by consumer group, Which? – its managing director Alex Neill said: “Ryanair appears to be plucking figures out of thin air as there is no legal basis for the arbitrary figure they’ve set. The law says passengers must be rerouted and there’s no specified limit on cost. This yet again highlights the importance of the action which the Civil Aviation Authority has started.”<br/>
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Southwest says natural disasters will cut $100m from Q3 revenue by causing the carrier to cancel about 5,000 flights. The airline said Thursday in a regulatory filing that a closely watched figure of revenue for every seat flown one mile will be flat to down 1% for the quarter, compared with a year earlier. Hurricane Harvey stopped flights at Houston's Hobby Airport, a major outpost for Southwest, for several days. Southwest flights were also canceled because of Irma and Maria in Florida and the Caribbean.<br/>
Wizz Air joined rivals in a pilot recruitment drive on Thursday, its biggest ever hiring spree, as Ryanair continued to grapple with the shortage of pilots on its rosters. Ryanair, Norwegian Air Shuttle and easyJet are all recruiting hundreds of pilots this year, with competition especially fierce for experienced crew. Hungary-based WIZZ said it was seeking to recruit over 1,300 new cabin crew, including around 400 pilots, before it takes delivery of 21 new Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft, which are due to arrive by the end of 2018. Ryanair has so far cancelled flights of 700,000 customers after pilot rostering issues left it short-staffed. Having offered some pilots pay rises and cash incentives, it backtracked on a plan to ask others to postpone leave on Wednesday. A spokesman for WIZZ said that the airline was looking to attract a mixture of new and experienced pilots. WIZZ said it would offer the "option of several guaranteed working patterns for its pilots", saying that first officers and captains could commute or relocate to any of the 28 operational bases across 15 European countries. They would also receive "attractive compensation and benefits packages", the company said.<br/>
Philippines Airlines said Thursday it is cooperating with the government in resolving what authorities said are 7.28b pesos (US$143m) in unpaid navigational fees and other charges. Philippine Airlines said the allegedly unpaid charges involve "complex legal issues" which it has been trying to thresh out with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines for years. President Rodrigo Duterte has warned PAL to settle its arrears in 10 days or risk the closure of its airport terminal. "I said 'you solve the problem yourself. I will give you 10 days,'" Duterte said in a speech. "'If you don't pay, I will destroy that and there will be no more airport.'" The Department of Transportation said letters were sent to PAL as early as August 2016 demanding full payment of all unpaid charges. PAL suggested the possibility of paying its arrears over seven years, but the request was denied. The final demand for full payment has been sent to the airline in preparation for legal action, according to the department.<br/>
JetBlue Airways has been talking about the first full revamp of its workhorse jetliner for a long time. This fall, almost 18 years since the popular low-cost carrier arrived at airports, it’s finally going to happen, and while there are plenty of bells and whistles to get you oohing and ahhing, there’s a little surprise that may leave you groaning. Along with a larger, 10-inch touch screen, more than 100 live television channels, and a new link to the aircraft’s WiFi system that lets you watch your own content on the plane’s screen, the new versions of the A320 will also include a dozen more seats squeezed in among the 150 already there. That’s the picture of a cabin-refresh happening over the next three years. Longer-term, JetBlue wants to get even more stylish with a redesign aimed at creating the perception of larger, more spacious cabins. <br/>
Pakistani investigators believe consumption of alcohol prior to flight affected the judgement of a Shaheen Air Boeing 737 which suffered loss of both main landing-gear after touchdown at Lahore. The aircraft slid off runway 36L and came to rest nearly 200ft left of the centreline and just over 8,300ft from the threshold. Pakistani investigation authority SIB states that the aircraft had conducted an unstable approach to the runway, with high speed having already followed an "incorrect" flightpath. The aircraft had deviated from the correct track and the assigned altitude during the flight. SIB says the crew's situational awareness had deteriorated and that the captain was suffering loss of concentration, "probably due to effects of alcohol". The captain was found to have a blood-alcohol level of 83mg/dl. Impairment of the central nervous system, says the inquiry, begins at around 50mg/dl. No trace was found in the first officer.<br/>
AirAsia Group has firmed up a deal with Inmarsat first agreed in April to provide broadband access on its Airbus A320s and A330s through the GX Aviation service. Inmarsat says the deal, which was signed through AirAsia's Rokki subsidiary, will cover more than 120 of the group carrier's existing fleet. The agreement will also cover the future A320 and A330 deliveries, as well as the A350s that AirAsia X is set to receive. Installation of the system and its launch are scheduled to take place in the first half of 2018. This is a slight delay from the previously announced target of installation in late-2017, and service availability of 2018. "Coupled with our Rokki entertainment and e-commerce platform featuring free movies, music, articles and games as well as shopping, AirAsia guests will soon be able to enjoy one of the richest digital in-flight experiences in Asia, while also enhancing our knowledge of our guests with very rich data," says AirAsia's group CE Tony Fernandes.<br/>