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The CEO of Southwest says that a spike in planes grounded by mechanics' concerns is costing the carrier millions each week by causing more delayed and cancelled flights. Gary Kelly didn't give a precise figure Tuesday, but said the financial damage prompted the airline's lawsuit last week against the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, which Southwest claims is aiding an illegal work slowdown. "The company filed suit against AMFA last week to recover those damages and prevent more from occurring," Kelly said. Southwest says some workers are writing up minor mechanical problems such as missing seat-row numbers and grounding planes to gain leverage in negotiations over a new labor contract. Mechanics rejected a proposed deal last year, and the sides remain apart on wages and outsourcing. The union denies that mechanics are conducting a work slowdown. It says they are simply doing their job and keeping the airline safe. In a statement Tuesday, the union said Kelly and Southwest are trying to "distract the public from Southwest's own degrading safety standards." The union accuses Southwest managers of improperly pressuring mechanics to approve planes for flying.<br/>

JetBlue Airways is still considering a business case for a potential launch of transatlantic flights from New York and Boston, CCO Marty St. George said on Tuesday, a decision that is expected this year and possibly as soon as next month. Speculation has circled that JetBlue, the sixth-largest U.S. airline, could announce a transatlantic launch at an April 10 event with employees. St. George said the success of its Mint premium class product has “emboldened” the company about its ability to capture premium revenue but it was aware of different cost structures for international flying. Under consideration is whether the Airbus A321 aircraft will offer better returns flying to Europe or domestically, and whether JetBlue could gain access to London’s Heathrow airport, St. George said.<br/>

It’s official: Paine Field (PAE) in Everett, Washington, is the newest dot on the USA’s commercial aviation map. Alaska Airlines became the first commercial carrier in decades to fly from Everett, located about 25 miles north of downtown Seattle, on Monday, launching service from the nation’s newest passenger terminal with a flight to Portland, Oregon. It was a ceremonial flight, filled with staff from the airline and airport as well as other invited guests celebrating the opening of the new terminal. The first flight carrying paying customers departed Everett for Las Vegas a half-hour later, according to The Seattle Times. The newspaper says the “aviation enthusiasts, politicians and airline brass” all turned up at the terminal to witness its debut.<br/>

The long-haul, low-cost segment of the airline industry is going through a period of turbulence, but AirAsia Group CE Tony Fernandes remains confident in the business model's viability. Speaking with FlightGlobal in New York on 4 March, Fernandes said the trick to a sustainable long-haul, low-cost operation was the combination of using the right equipment, squeezing ancillary revenues from customers, and reducing costs via investment in technology. "We were the pioneers in it, but because the kit wasn't there, we became a medium-haul [carrier] – six or seven hours," says Fernandes, noting that profitable low-cost long-haul operations are more practical with the A330neos and 787s. Cirium's Fleets Analyzer shows that long-haul operator AirAsia X has 47 A330neos on order over the next decade and will take its first in October this year. The Malaysia-based carrier plans to operate the A330neo on its first route to the US West Coast. It started serving its first US destination in 2017, operating from Kuala Lumpur to Hawaii via Osaka. Fernandes confirms that the carrier is waiting to obtain fifth-freedom rights to operate to the West Coast and is aiming to operate A330neos to Californian cities Los Angeles and San Francisco by 2020. Fernandes also reconfirmed that Thai Air Asia continues to work on approvals for routes to Scandinavia and eastern Europe. He specified Vienna, Prague and Budapest as targeted European destinations. Interview has more details.<br/>

Asia Aviation has decided to walk away from a potential stake acquisition in struggling low-cost rival Nok Air. “With respect to announcement of Asia Aviation Public Company Limited to the Stock Exchange of Thailand on February 25, 2019 regarding the clarification of news in relation to an acquisition of shares, please be advised that the Company shall not further proceed on such matter,” says the parent of Thai AirAsia in a brief stock exchange statement. Asia Aviation gave no details for its decision. The news comes just five days after Nok confirmed that multiple parties have expressed interest in acquiring shares from its majority shareholders, the Jurangkool family. Prior to its recent capital raising that closed earlier in February, members of the Jurangkool family collectively owned a 55% stake in the struggling low-cost operator. THAI is the second largest shareholder with a 21.8% stake.<br/>

AirAsia has withdrawn its tickets from Traveloka. The move follows an incident in which the low-cost airline’s flights were unavailable on the sites of several online travel agents, namely Traveloka and Tiket.com. “As a group, AirAsia has discontinued the sales of all of our tickets on Traveloka. It’s based on our disappointment with them,” said Dendy Kurniawan, president director of AirAsia Indonesia. AirAsia is still waiting for official clarification from Tiket.com. AirAsia flights were missing from Traveloka and Tiket.com from Feb. 14 to 17. At the time, Traveloka told tribunnews.com that it was due to the airline’s system upgrades, while Tiket.com had remained silent on the matter. However, Rifai Taberi, AirAsia Indonesia commercial director, wrote on his Facebook account that it was not caused by AirAsia’s system. The flights then reappeared on Feb. 18, but have been missing for the second time since March 2 on both sites. Dendy said he had received reports that Traveloka had not provided a clear explanation about the unavailability to their customers and that the online travel agent had not directed AirAsia customers to the airline’s official website or app to book tickets. “But they suggested that people choose other airlines that were available on their website. We perceive this as something that hurts our good business relations with them,” said Dendy.<br/>

Bangkok Airways is looking to further entrench its Indochina market position through new regional services, expand the number of codeshare partners, and enhance its non-airline businesses, as part of its business plan for 2019. In terms of network, the carrier began Bangkok-Nha Trang service in January. This will be followed by Chiang Mai-Krabi and Chiang Mai-Luang Prabang services in March and April. The Bangkok-Da Nang frequency will be doubled to twice-daily, and the Bangkok-Krabi route will see a fourth daily flight, all set to take place this month. Having secured four new codeshare partners in 2018, the airline is expecting to sign two to three more codesharing agreements later this year. For 2019, Bangkok Airways will add one A319 and two ATR 72-600s. Five ATR 72-500s will be phased out, leaving the carrier to operate 38 aircraft this year, a slight decline from the 40 aircraft it operated in 2018. It is setting aside US$57.1m to buy the two ATRs, acquire new spare parts, and embark on a two-year cabin refurbishment project on its Airbus A319s. Aircraft proposals from Airbus and Boeing are now being reviewed, as it gears towards fleet commonality.<br/>