South African Airways needs a new capital injection “now” to stay afloat and is in discussions with banks and the National Treasury for “an open credit line”, its CE said Tuesday. State-owned SAA, which has not generated a profit since 2011, is regularly cited by ratings agencies as a drain on the government purse and has already received state guarantees totalling nearly US$1.6b. “We do need access to capital to sustain the operations and we are having discussions with Treasury, as well as the banks around how we have an open credit line,” CE Vuyani Jarana told parliament. Asked by an opposition lawmaker when the airline would need to access billions of rands of extra state support, Jarana responded “Now”. He later said that SAA would need around 5b rand this year to pay down debts and for operational costs. The struggling airline has not had credit facilities since August when bank lenders pulled the plug after a debt repayment scare. “Over the next six months we will need... in the range of 5b rand to make sure we can support the working capital,” Jarana said, adding that amount included arrear payments. The National Treasury said that SAA needs an equity partner to pump money into the company to address a liquidity crisis and to help with the implementation of a turnaround plan.<br/>
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United has taken delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX-family aircraft, a 737-9, and confirmed plans to start service with the newest Boeing narrowbody twinjets in early June. The carrier, which has 161 737 MAX-family aircraft on order, expects to take delivery of three 737-9s in April and six before the aircraft enters scheduled service on June 7. It will have 10 737-9s by year-end, meaning the aircraft will make up nearly half of the 24 planned additions to the carrier’s mainline fleet in 2018. Initial 737-9 routes will connect United’s Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport hub and five cities: Anchorage, Alaska; Austin, Texas; Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Florida; and San Diego, California. The Anchorage service marks the return of a seasonal route. Additional 737-9 flights will begin June 29. United’s 737-9s are configured with 179 seats, including in 20 first-class and 44 in economy plus. Like the carrier’s 787s, the 737 MAXs will feature a special livery the airline said is intended to emphasize its eco-friendliness.<br/>
A former pilot is asking the Canadian Human Rights Commission to resurrect her "lifelong dream" to fly for a major airline -- an ambition she abandoned five years ago after she was allegedly discriminated against by an Air Canada colleague because she's a woman. Jane Clegg fought back tears and paused several times Monday during her testimony at a human rights tribunal as she described the 2009 incident that eventually led her to quit the airline in April 2013. Clegg, who wants the commission to order her reinstatement, was working as a second officer when she said she got into a heated argument with the captain of a flight bound for Fort Lauderdale after she raised concerns that the plane didn't have enough fuel. "I believed the incident was motivated by gender discrimination," Clegg told the tribunal as she described being replaced on the flight for refusing to sign the flight plan over concerns about safety. When she was later assigned to work on another flight with the same pilot, and raised concerns about it, she was effectively suspended without pay under what's known as the airline's "bidding around" system. Air Canada, she said, defended the male pilot. Commission lawyer Daniel Poulin said a settlement was reached Friday with Air Canada over concerns the commission raised about the system. However, details of that settlement were not expected to be revealed until the tribunal releases a decision on Clegg's case. That could take up to a year.<br/>