SIA is ready to claim the title of “world’s longest flight” this October when it resumes non-stop service between Singapore and Newark. The Singapore-bound leg will clock in at 18 hours, 45 minutes .The return flight will last 18 hours, 25 minutes. The new flight marks SIA’s return to the New York market with a non-stop flight. SIA had flown the Newark to Singapore route until 2014, when it phased out the 4-engine Airbus A340s it had been using. The 4-engine planes weren’t fuel-efficient enough to allow the airline to profitably fly the route. CE Goh Choon Phong said: “Since then, we’ve been trying to see what is a viable way to serve New York non-stop...We pushed Airbus to come up with a solution.” And Airbus delivered. SIA will be flying the A350 ULR, which will be 30% more efficient. <br/>
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The pilot of an Austrian Airlines flight had to leave the cockpit and convince several women to change their seats after Haredi Orthodox men refused to sit next to female passengers. The Friday morning flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna left 40 minutes late and was delayed for another half hour in Austrian airspace after failing to miss the morning rush hour. Stewardesses on the flight reportedly tried to convince the men to take their assigned seats but those next to women refused. Eventually, the pilot came out and convinced several women to move their seats. The incident comes a week after an El Al flight from New York to Israel was delayed by more than an hour after 4 Haredi Orthodox men refused to take their assigned seats next to women. <br/>
Pilots and cabin crew from South African Airways will be loaned to other airlines, as the debt-ridden carrier tries to save itself. The airline’s CE, Vuyani Jarana, said that it was part of his cost-cutting scheme to save South African Airways. Jarana hopes that South Africa’s underused pilots can take advantage of the global pilot shortage, instead of having to lay off staff. The South African Airlines pilots association said it was “dismayed” that its members would have to be contracted to airlines like Emirates, Turkish Airlines and Cathay Pacific “as a result of extremely poor fiscal control and mismanagement.” The union has approached the courts to compel the govt to place SAA under business rescue, which could force the company to restructure and undertake any other means to save it from its current financial distress. <br/>