Investigators have downloaded data detailing the last 19 flights of a new Boeing jetliner that crashed into the Java Sea, raising confidence Sunday that they will be able to build a picture of what went wrong before its doomed trip with 189 people on board. The downloads amounted to 69 hours of data from the flight data recorder recovered from the seabed Thursday. Divers were still hunting for a second black box, the cockpit voice recorder, which officials said was likely buried under more than 3 feet of mud. The memory unit of the flight data recorder was found at a depth of about 100 feet and had been stripped from its casing. The cockpit voice recorder has emitted locator pings through the water but has so far eluded divers. The beacons are designed to emit signals for at least 30 days. <br/>
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More Ryanair passengers have taken compensation claims for cancellations or delays to arbitration this year than any other airline, figures show. Statistics from the Alternative Dispute Resolution service showed the airline accounted for the largest proportion - 30% - of all appeals. In the first 9 months of 2018 it received 22,159 complaints but only processed 1,347 of 6,653 Ryanair cases. Ryanair denied "holding up" the compensation process. In comparison, the ADR was able to resolve 74% of cases involving EasyJet which received 3,747 complaints - the second highest number. In the 9-month period to Sept 30, only 20% of cases involving Ryanair were resolved, with 68% of these people seeing their claim upheld, matching the average successful resolution rate for all airlines. <br/>
Aer Lingus plans to nearly double its long-haul fleet from 17 to 30 aircraft by summer 2023, using the extra capacity to grow its North American presence. Aer Lingus CE Stephen Kavanagh has outlined plans for 11% compound annual growth on the North Atlantic by 2023. Seat capacity will increase from 2.8m to 4.7m and frequencies would rise 70%, to hit 196 North Atlantic flights per week. Roughly 63% of this growth will be in established markets, with the remainder used to add new city pairs—some of which will be unlocked by the addition of its first Airbus A321LRs. By 2023, Aer Lingus expects to serve 18 North Atlantic destinations, compared with 13 today. This growth will be supported by fleet changes, with the net addition of 3 widebodies and 10 narrowbodies. <br/>
Aer Lingus last week offered top pilots E5,000 in extra pay - as well as 10 days' extra holidays - to captain flights to the US on their day off in a bid to avoid chaos in its transatlantic schedule. The airline's Airbus A330 captains - who pilot the airline's most lucrative transatlantic routes - turned down the offer and a Dublin-Boston flight had to be flown by a hired-in charter airline, according to a number of separate aviation sources. Flights from Chicago were also delayed by as much as 7 hours both this weekend and last weekend. However, when contacted for comment, an Aer Lingus spokeswoman insisted: "There is no shortage of pilots in Aer Lingus." The pilots claim that the airline must bring in new recruits to ease the strain they believe they are under due to rapid transatlantic expansion since Aer Lingus was taken over by IAG. <br/>
A new campaign being driven by News Corp Australia – and which has been backed by the prime minister, Scott Morrison – aims to recognise veterans and their service using newspapers and Foxtel in association with select corporations. Sunday Virgin announced it would join forces with News and acknowledge defence force veterans on its flights before take-off. It also plans to offer priority boarding but has stopped short of offering discount fares. In the US, airlines which ask passengers to stand and applaud servicemen on board their aircraft and to offer a “Thank you for your service”. Australia’s veterans affairs minister, Darren Chester, welcomed the Virgin announcement, but acknowledged many veterans would sooner embrace discounted airfares. <br/>
A man who recently suffered a stroke said he was left humiliated and out more than C$1,000 after WestJet kicked him off a flight to Cuba and stranded his family at the Toronto airport. The airline removed Stephen Bennett from the Oct 13 flight after he took a sleeping pill and fell into a deep sleep, raising concerns from at least one crew member who mandated he be awake before take-off. WestJet says it was acting within its rights, as it needs to use an "abundance of caution" when determining if passengers are fit to fly. But Bennett claims the decision to oust him was unjust, because he was ultimately wide awake before take-off and multiple medical professionals deemed him fit for air travel. A passenger who was a nurse also assessed Bennett. "She said that he was fine," said another passenger. <br/>
Norwegian Air Shuttle has agreed to sell 5 Airbus A320neos in a transaction expected to raise US$62m in liquidity. The LCC said the aircraft, which belong to its Arctic Aviation Assets subsidiary, are leased out and not operated by its own airlines. “Delivery will take place during Q4 of 2018,” the company said Nov 2. “Sale proceeds will be used to repay debt and to increase the company´s liquidity.” Norwegian operates more than 150 aircraft, with an average age of 3.6 years. Earlier this year, Norwegian announced plans to sell most of the A320neos it has on order, a strategy that was reaffirmed Sept 4 in an investor presentation. The large-scale asset disposal will cover up to 140 aircraft. The airline has reported a poor financial performance for some time as it continues with rapid expansion, particularly on long-haul routes. <br/>
Emirates is edging towards a deal with Rolls-Royce to power its latest Airbus A380 superjumbos but has not yet reached a final agreement, the airline said Sunday. The fate of a lifeline order for up to 36 of the double-decker aircraft, of which Emirates already has over 100 in operation, has been widely questioned due to inconclusive talks over a separate deal between Emirates and engine makers. "We are getting closer (to a deal with Rolls-Royce) but have not crossed the line yet," a spokesperson for carrier said. A French newspaper last week reported the two sides had reached an agreement. Industry sources have said Emirates is unhappy with the performance of Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines on A380s already in service and that a shortfall in efficiency has meant Rolls-Royce having to pay hefty penalties. <br/>