Investigators have called on Lion Air to improve its safety culture, after a probe into the loss of its Boeing 737 Max 8 found that pilots on the flight directly prior to the crash had continued a journey even though the aircraft was in an “un-airworthy condition”. That Oct 28 flight from Denpasar to Jakarta had experienced similar technical issues to the doomed flight a day later. Shortly after take-off, an indicated air speed disagreement message appeared on the primary flight display. The aircraft’s stick shaker was activated and remained active throughout the flight. “This condition is considered as an un-airworthy condition and the flight shall not be continued,” said Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee in its preliminary report of the crash. <br/>
unaligned
Boeing has assured passengers and operators that its 737 Max aircraft remain safe following the release of a preliminary report into the Lion Air 737 Max 8 crash. In an unusual move, the manufacturer's detailed statement largely re-iterated key points from the interim report released by Indonesia's NTSC. These include how the aircraft had encountered repeated problems with airspeed and altitude data in the days before the crash. Boeing points out that the flight directly before the doomed JT610, an engineer had informed the flight crew that the jet's angle-of-attack sensor had been replaced and tested. “The report does not include records as to the installation or calibration of the new sensor, nor does the report indicate whether the sensor was new or refurbished,” states the manufacturer. <br/>
CityJet was named regional airline of the year at an aviation awards ceremony in Berlin Tuesday night. The airline picked up the award at the CAPA Aviation Awards at the world aviation outlook summit and was singled out as the “best performer strategically”. The company was selected to its strategy change which sees it move away from operating branded flights to becoming a wet lease operator. “CityJet has pioneered a new vision of regional airline operations in Europe, focusing on third party wet leasing to offset revenue risk and driving consolidation in pursuit of greater efficiency,” said CAPA executive chairman Peter Harbison. Collecting the award, CityJet CE Pat Byrne said: “We set out on a journey to transform CityJet a few years ago and today have over 1,300 staff employed across 9 countries in Europe". <br/>
Norwegian Air is adding more US routes, announcing 2 new trans-Atlantic destinations from Boston. The airline also will begin flights from 2 new US airports – Miami and San Francisco – as it shifts its existing London service from nearby airports. Norwegian also announced plans to beef up its schedules on several of its existing US-Europe routes, including from Denver; Los Angeles; New York JFK; Oakland, California; and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In Boston, Norwegian will add seasonal service to Rome and Madrid this spring, operating both routes with its widebody Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Elsewhere, Norwegian’s Boeing 787s will begin flying from Miami and San Francisco March 31 as it shifts London Gatwick flights that currently operate from Fort Lauderdale and Oakland, respectively. <br/>
Jetstar Japan will add 3 Airbus A321LRs to its fleet from 2020, with plans to possibly use the jets to open up new routes to Southeast Asia. The new jets will join a fleet of 24 A320ceos that operate from 4 bases across Japan on a range of domestic and international routes. Jetstar Japan states that the A321LRs will be deployed across its existing network, and that there are also plans to use the jets' longer-range capability to “develop middle-range international routes, including Southeast Asia.” The aircraft will likely come from the Qantas group’s orderbook of 99 A320neo family jets. Jetstar said that the three jets are in addition to the 18 A321LRs that will enter into service with its Australian operation between 2020 and 2023. <br/>
Investigation of a Nordic Regional Airlines Embraer 190 evacuation found that nearly two-thirds of passengers retrieved carry-on baggage before exiting the aircraft. The Finnish Safety Investigation Authority says the aircraft had landed at Turku following a smoke alert relating to the air conditioning packs. It sharply criticises the manner of the passengers’ evacuation, stating that 63% stopped to retrieve coats or carry-on baggage beforehand, despite being ordered to leave belongings behind. “Groping for carry-ons in an emergency shows blatant disregard for others and may cause deaths or injuries,” says the authority. All 6 exits were opened, with slides functioning normally it says, and the cabin crew issued evacuation instructions “loud and clear” during the incident, Dec 3 last year. <br/>
Southwest Airlines was forced ground 34 planes Thanksgiving Eve because of a paperwork problem. The carrier found that paperwork related to the grounded planes as not in compliance with FAA safety rules. As a result, Southwest had to do immediate, detailed visual inspections on the planes before they could return to service. The inspections focused on damaged fuselage areas that had been previously repaired. The inspections were required by an FAA mandate that Southwest voluntarily followed. The federal DoT's inspector general is currently investigating the FAA's oversight of Southwest's safety and maintenance culture, but the groundings were not related to that work. All were Boeing 737-700s. Southwest said the groundings and inspections had "minimal" effects on its operations that day. <br/>
Nok Airlines has sought to reassure investors that its moves to staunch its losses and create sustainable growth are on track. Prawet Ongartsitthikul, acting CE, said that the airline is continuing to operate its business as set out in the plan to halt the losses, bring stability and promote continuous growth. The airline is now in the first phase of this plan, rushing to mop up the red ink on its balance sheet. “[Nok’s] financial statements are in difficulty as we all know, given that the overall situation is difficult to control and that has required us to have a ‘C’ (caution) sign posted,” Prawet said. In response to a rumour of a planned sale of Nok's stake to other airlines, he insisted that there has not been any negotiations on this matter. However, he said that in the future, if Nok has to expand its business, it may become necessary. <br/>