An engine on a Dallas-bound Southwest flight with 149 people aboard apparently exploded on Tuesday, forcing an emergency landing in Philadelphia as one passenger was killed and another one was nearly sucked out a window of the plane, the airline and federal officials said. The fatality on the flight from New York was the first in a US commercial aviation accident since 2009, according to NTSB statistics. After an engine on the plane’s left side blew, it threw off shrapnel, shattering a window and causing cabin depressurisation that nearly pulled out a female passenger, according to witness accounts and local news media reports. “We have a part of the aircraft missing, so we’re going to need to slow down a bit,” the plane’s captain, Tammy Jo Shults told air traffic controllers. Asked by a controller if the jet was on fire, Shults responds it was not but added, “They said there is a hole and someone went out. A woman was partially, was drawn out of the plane and pulled back in by other passengers,” said Todd Bauer, whose daughter was on the flight. NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said that one person had been killed, but declined to elaborate. The fatality was a passenger, according to Southwest CEO Gary Kelly. “The entire Southwest Airlines Family is devastated and extends its deepest, heartfelt sympathy to the customers, employees, family members and loved ones affected by this tragic event,” Southwest said in a statement. Flight 1380 had 144 passengers and five crew members, Sumwalt said.<br/>
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Sun Country Airlines now says it plans to reimburse passengers left stranded in Mexico after the carrier cancelled its last flights of the season following a late-season blizzard in Minnesota. Instead of extending its schedule or sending charters to bring home about 250 passengers from the Mexican resort cities of Cabo San Lucas and Mazatlán, Sun Country opted instead to refund fliers’ fares and then told them they were on their own to find a new way home. Sun Country’s reversal comes after intense social media backlash and a wave of negative publicity about how it handled the situation. In a Tuesday email, Sun Country CEO Jude Bricker told airline employees that the company has decided to cover the travel costs incurred by "rightfully frustrated" customers who had to pay for a new way home after the cancellations. Sun Country has faced criticism from numerous corners about not doing more, and Bricker conceded in the e-mail that Sun County should have considered at least one "rescue flight" to bring home the marooned fliers. "With hindsight, we should have flown a rescue flight to MZT (Mazatlán) as service options are limited. SJD (Cabo San Lucas) has more service options and we felt the best option for those customers was giving them a full roundtrip refund on their Sun Country flight to make alternative arrangements as quickly as possible," Bricker said. He continued, saying Sun Country would refund fliers original round-trip fares and some additional transportation costs paid by passengers in their attempts to return home.<br/>
Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings has expressed interest in buying into Chinese conglomerate HNA's Hong Kong-based carriers, Hong Kong Airlines and Hong Kong Express Airways, according to a source familiar with the matter. However, an investment in the unlisted Hong Kong carriers by Temasek remains subject to a due diligence process that has yet to begin, said the source. The Singaporean investor would likely emerge as only a minority holder in the Hong Kong airlines, which control valuable slots at Hong Kong's capacity-constrained airport, if a deal is completed, the source said. Temasek and the debt-laden HNA, an aviation-to-financial services conglomerate, last week signed a memorandum of understanding to explore business partnerships in aviation and logistics. A second source familiar with the matter said HNA is looking to raise funds for the Hong Kong airlines and Temasek is a potential investor. Buying into the Hong Kong airlines would help Temasek get an aviation foothold closer to mainland China, in a market dominated by Cathay Pacific Airways.<br/>
South Korea's Air Busan came under fire Tuesday after a flight attendant uploaded a photo to her social media allegedly mocking passengers. A flight attendant aboard a plane heading for Busan from Jeju Island three months ago uploaded a photo of passengers to her Instagram account on Saturday. She added a caption reading, “All same permed hair (feat. Omegi rice-cake 400 boxes).” The identity of the flight attendant was not revealed. Colleagues of the cabin crew left comments reading: “looks like a broccoli farm,” “is this plane heading to China?” and “they are all ajumma (middle aged women).” Immediately after the controversy surfaced online, Air Busan posted a letter of apology from the flight attendant in question to its official social media account. “I was careless and thought a photo showing the back of the passengers does not violate the portrait rights,” said the flight attendant. “I also apologize for uploading inappropriate text, making many people feel unpleasant. I know I did wrong and my behavior is inexcusable.” <br/>
Philippine Airlines will receive a total of 21 new aircraft by 2019, which will be used to boost its secondary hub operations of Cebu, Clark, and Davao. The carrier says it will take 15 aircraft in 2018, comprising six Airbus A321neos, four A350-900s, and five Bombardier Q400s. An additional six aircraft, comprising two A321neos, two A350s, and two Q400s will arrive in 2019. Five new services will be launched in 2018. These include a four-times weekly Davao-Siargao service, which began on 25 March. This will be followed by the launch of non-stop Manila-New York flights, along with Manila-Delhi, Manila-Mumbai, and Manila-Sapporo services in Q4 2018. Rights to launch new services from Cebu and Puerto Princesa to points in China, South Korea, and Taiwan are being sought, while studies are underway on the possibility of starting new Europe and US services, such as Chicago and Seattle. International services from Davao are also being assessed, with Bangkok or a Japanese destination being considered. "Our current fleet of 85 aircraft is already the largest in the Philippines," says PAL president Jamie Bautista. "We are aiming for 100 aircraft by 2020, which places us in the category of a major carrier. But we are not merely adding more planes, we are constantly upgrading the cabins, seats, amenities, inflight entertainment and technology."<br/>
JetBlue Airways flight attendants voted to join the Transport Workers Union, becoming only the second employee group represented by organized labor at the carrier. Flight attendants voted 2,661 to 1,387 in favour of joining the TWU, the union said Tuesday. Two earlier attempts to organise the group failed, although those efforts didn’t get to a vote. JetBlue aviators joined the Air Line Pilots Association in 2014 and still are negotiating their initial contract. Adding another collective-bargaining unit raises the prospect of higher costs at JetBlue as it negotiates pay rates and new, less flexible work rules for its 4,800 flight attendants. The carrier for years has touted the value of its “direct relationship” with employees over having to work through unions. The flight attendants sought representation, in part, to improve wages and increase job protection -- particularly in the event of any mergers involving JetBlue -- and to have a voice in lobbying policy makers on issues affecting the industry.<br/>
Spirit Airlines is considering adding smaller planes to its fleet of Airbus SE jets as the carrier looks for ways to expand its service. The ultradiscounter expects to seek proposals from planemakers “shortly,” having completed an evaluation of the options, CCO Matt Klein said. He declined to say when the airline might make an order. Adding smaller planes, such as those made by Canada’s Bombardier or Brazil’s Embraer, would further Spirit’s goal of adding flights from midsize and smaller cities to popular tourist destinations. The airline already has plans to expand its fleet of Airbus A320-family planes to 161 by the end of 2021. Spirit had 112 of the single-aisle planes at the end of last year. “We feel like there are some route opportunities that are not being properly served today,” Klein said Monday. Any aircraft choice would need to let the airline maintain the lowest cost structure in the industry, he said. The evaluation could mean more planes from the Airbus A320 line, which comes in a range of sizes. Boeing also is in the running. Spirit has said it wants to increase capacity by as much as 15% next year and in the low to mid-teens over the following several years.<br/>