Even by the hard-nosed standards of budget airlines, Ryanair is notoriously tough on its staff. The carrier’s CE once referred to his pilots as “glorified taxi drivers,” and he makes them shell out for the coffee they drink in the cockpit. They endure a tight schedule of up to a half-dozen flights per day, with a goal of unloading passengers and getting the next bunch seated and ready to take off in just 25 minutes. Many pilots work for subcontractors that require them to pay for their uniforms and even training courses. Job-rating website Glassdoor.com gives Ryanair the lowest score among Europe’s 10 biggest carriers. So what does an airline with that kind of reputation do when it needs new pilots? It seeks candidates from places that seem even less attractive. In its quest for talent, Ryanair has dispatched recruiters to Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East—areas where embattled airlines are cutting costs and dismissing experienced aviators. Over the past year, Ryanair has held information sessions in Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Rio de Janeiro, and beyond, with an eye toward hiring disgruntled pilots from South African Airways, Etihad Airways, and carriers in Brazil. It’s hoping people at airlines that have gone through restructurings will be worried enough to bail out—if they haven’t lost their jobs already. “There’s a shortage of engineers and pilots all over Europe,” says Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary. “It’s a question of casting the net wide.” Story has further details.<br/>
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Tony Fernandes’ AirAsia is in talks with a potential partner to open an airline serving Myanmar, in a move that would help the low-cost carrier cover up to 95% of the Southeast Asian travel market. The airline’s group CE said he also expected AirAsia’s Vietnam joint venture to be flying by October. AirAsia now has businesses in Malaysia - its home - along with India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan and Thailand, as well as plans to launch an airline in China. “Once you’ve covered Vietnam and Myanmar, you’ve got all the big (Southeast Asian) populations,” Fernandes said. “Vietnam - we’re talking about October, we’ve had great support from the Vietnam government and we have a great partner. My team are very bullish.” A number of companies have also been looking at Myanmar for its policy of slowly opening to foreign investment and its rapid economic growth, although Japan’s ANA last year dropped a plan to form an airline with local partner Golden Sky World, after authorities rejected their application. “It’s not going to be a big airline there, because the airport infrastructure is not there. But it is 50m people and it will develop over time,” said Fernandes.<br/>
Bombardier appears to be demonstrating a CS300 to JetBlue Airways, which has been moving closer to completing a fleet review that could include a new aircraft order. The manufacturer confirms it has flown a CS300 to New York for demonstrations. Though the company declines to specify the potential customer, airport observers in recent days tracked a CS300 to a JetBlue hangar at New York John F Kennedy airport. Social media users also posted pictures of a CS300 in front of what they said is JetBlue's JFK hangar. JetBlue does not respond to a request for comment. The fact that the demonstration aircraft is Bombardier's larger CS300 variant does not mean the potential customer favours that type over the smaller CS100, Bombardier says. Rather, the company deployed a CS300 instead of a CS100 because the CS300 was available, it adds.<br/>
Southwest is inching ever closer to launching Hawaii service. The carrier has already confirmed its intent to fly to the state, though the start date for the service remains up in the air. Southwest CEO Gary Kelly has said that could come this year, though he cautioned that the first flights might slip into 2019 as the airline awaits federal certification to operate its Boeing 737 planes on the long over-water routes to the state. Despite the uncertain timetable, however, the airline’s Hawaii effort appears to have taken a tangible step forward. Southwest has reportedly been granted “a revocable permit” for space at Hawaii’s busiest airport in Honolulu. “We understand there is a lot of excitement regarding the service and we are working with the airline to accommodate its logistical needs,” Hawaii Department of Transportation spokesman Tim Sakahara said in a statement to the newspaper. “Southwest Airlines is currently seeking its Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards (ETOPS) clearance, which would allow the airline to make the trans-Pacific flights.” Southwest confirmed that it’s pushing forward as it works to firm up the exact launch date.<br/>
China’s Ruili Airlines is scheduled to open its first international route March 25 from Kunming to Sihanoukville, using a Boeing 737. The Kunming-based carrier is also scheduled to open 4X-weekly Kunming-Xishuangbanna-Chiang Mai service April 4 and 3X-weekly Kunming-Xishuangbanna-Chiang Rai April 10, both using 737-700s. Ruili said the three new routes launch its international expansion into Southeast Asia and South Asia from Kunming or Chengdu. In the future, the carrier plans to accelerate its international expansion pace by opening new routes to Northeast Asia and North Asia from Shenyang or Harbin, and launching new routes to Central Asia, West Asia and Europe from Lanzhou or Xi’an. When the carrier begins taking delivery of six Boeing 787-9s from 2021, it plans to open intercontinental routes.<br/>
Vietjet plans to become the third airline to enter the nonstop Vietnam-Australia market, starting with a route not yet served by either of the incumbent carriers. Vietjet signed an agreement to launch flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Brisbane, Australia, next year. The airline has yet to announce frequency or aircraft type. It currently operates Airbus A320s and A321s, but has A321neos and Boeing 737-8s on order. Vietnam Airlines already operates flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Australian cities Sydney and Melbourne. It also launched flights from Hanoi to Sydney in March 2017. A Vietnam Airlines executive recently said the airline does not plan any new services to Australia because there is already plenty of capacity in that market. Australia's Jetstar Airways became the second carrier and first LCC—in the Australia-Vietnam market—in May last year. The airline started 4X-weekly flights from Melbourne to Ho Chi Minh City and 3X-weekly flights from Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City, in both cases using 787-8s. These flights connect to 15 destinations via the Jetstar Pacific network, which is a joint venture with Vietnam Airlines.<br/>