SIA is poised for a major boost to its US footprint from Thursday evening as it resumes, after 5 years, the world's longest commercial flight - a near-19 hour non-stop from Singapore to New York. The route, combined with the airline's plans to restart non-stop services to Los Angeles and add more non-stop flights to San Francisco next month, will give the carrier its biggest-ever US presence. The airline has already ordered 7 new ultra-long range twin-engine Airbus A350-900ULRs fitted with just 161 business class and premium economy seats - and no economy class seats - for the US capacity increase. <br/>
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What Oscar Munoz, CE of United Continental, wants more than anything is to make the flying public love United Airlines. How will he know it’s succeeding? He’ll be hearing it from United’s flyers. “It’ll be how you respond and how you feel,” he said. Flying is stressful, a trying blur of things, much beyond United’s control. But United can control its customer service, Munoz says. The reaction he wants the airline to engender in flyers is, amid all the stresses of travel, that flying United means “someone’s going to take care of me and treat me nicely,” he said. That’s not a feeling for which United is known. <br/>
United Airlines this week unveiled what the carrier is touting as the world’s largest flight training center for pilots. The new facility is situated outside Denver, near where United has a hub at Denver International. The revamped and expanded facility's opening is the culmination of a decision management made 3 years ago to consolidate all United’s pilot training efforts at a single facility in Denver. That kicked into gear a plan to renovate and double the number of flight simulators at the Denver facility, which now total more than 30. United previously operated flight training centers in both Denver and Houston. <br/>
WestJet Airlines plans to launch non-stop service from Calgary to Dublin, Paris and London Gatwick using its first 3 new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, challenging Air Canada with transatlantic flights that target business passengers and the jet set. The airline aims to invest roughly C$4b in new airplanes over the next 6 or 7 years, including 10 Dreamliners, CE Ed Sims said. The new routes reflect not just a grab for more would-be Air Canada passengers, but also an attempt to entice new travellers. <br/>
The Polish govt has bundled 4 state-owned aviation companies into Polish Aviation Group (PGL) as part of its strategy to gain a leading position in the integration of the sector in the country and the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region. The strategy also calls for the construction of a new mega-hub airport in Warsaw, which ultimately would have 4 runways and a capacity to accommodate 100m passengers per year, or about 5 times the capacity of Warsaw Chopin. PGL stands as the new umbrella company of LOT Polish Airlines, MRO providers Lotams and LS Technics, and LS Airport Services. <br/>
Asiana Airlines announced Oct 9 that it settled wage negotiations for 2018 with the Asiana Pilot Union and had a signing ceremony Oct 8. Sept 18, 82.2% of the union members voted in favor of a tentative agreement. Asiana Airlines had a total of 7 wage negotiations for 2018 with the pilot union since the first meeting in August. The tentative agreement includes a base pay increase of US$219.68 a month for a pilot and $131.81 a month for a co-pilot; a pay raise of $131.81 for a senior pilot and $25.48 for a senior co-pilot. The two side pledged to maintain win-win management-union relations based on mutual trust. <br/>