Delta Air Lines said Thursday it will proceed with plans to buy some Canadian-made CSeries jets from Bombardier this year, after a US trade ruling stopped the US from imposing steep duties on the aircraft. The airline said it intended to meet “contractual commitments” and would start taking deliveries this year of the 75 CSeries jets it ordered in 2016. The jets are made at a plant in the Canadian province of Quebec. Production is set to begin for US customers at an Airbus plant in Mobile, Alabama, after the European planemaker closes a deal this year to acquire a majority stake in the CSeries program. “Delta still intends to take as many deliveries as possible from the new Airbus/Bombardier facility in Mobile, Alabama, as soon as that facility is up and running,” the carrier said. <br/>
sky
Nigeria’s Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has commenced an investigation into the aircraft incident involving Delta Air Lines in Nigeria. The bureau interrogated the crew of the airline in Lagos Thursday. A sources said that the pilots and the cabin crew were among those interrogated by the agency. This is as the airline has tendered apologies to the federal govt over the late report of last Tuesday’s incident to the bureau in which one of its engines was engulfed in fire mid-air forcing the airline to return and land in Lagos on emergency AIB had told journalists Wednesday that the airline refused to report the incident to it as required by the ICAO recommended practises and standards. Rather, the airline went ahead to report the incident to the US NTSB. <br/>
Efforts are being made for a 4-way consortium, made up of Air France, EasyJet, Delta and Cerberus, to buy Alitalia, sources said Thursday. This is one of the hypotheses being explored before exclusive negotiations are opened with a potential buyer for the troubled carrier, which was put into extraordinary administration last year after staff rejected a restructuring plan. The consortium has requested a meeting next week with Alitalia's extraordinary commissioners and this is likely to take place Feb 22, the sources said. Alitalia was the world's most punctual airline in January with 91.89% of flights arriving on time. The January data follow those for 2017 which confirm "the excellent operational trend of the airline," FlightStats said, "with 82.78% of flights arriving on time, placing it third among main European airlines". <br/>