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France’s air accident investigation agency Thursday released a picture of the doomed Ethiopian Airlines jet’s flight data recorder, which appeared to show the crash-proof housing protecting the critical recording chip intact. The recorder - one of two ‘black boxes’ whose data investigators will analyze to determine what caused Sunday’s crash - appears damaged at one side. Investigators will also analyze the cockpit voice recorder from the Boeing 737 MAX 8 which should have picked up the conversations between the pilots and between the pilots and air traffic controllers.<br/>

Lufthansa issued cautious guidance on Thursday for revenue and profitability this year as it battles rising fuel costs and strives to erase losses at budget carrier Eurowings, sending its shares down 5%. Germany’s biggest airline will, however, avoid disruption to its operations after safety regulators around the world grounded Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft after an Ethiopian Airlines crash last weekend. Lufthansa does not fly the model.“If there is any doubt, then grounding is the only right decision,” Spohr told a news conference after Lufthansa reported an 11 percent decline in fourth-quarter operating profit. Lufthansa dialled back expectations for growth in peak summer capacity to 1.9%. For 2019 as a whole, revenue should grow by 4-6%, with operating margins forecast at 6.5-8%. Both forecasts implying performance that is in line with or slightly weaker than last year. The downbeat view capped a year in which crew shortages and scheduling glitches caused summer holiday chaos at airports across Europe while Lufthansa also struggled to digest its takeover of the bulk of low-cost carrier Air Berlin’s fleet. The Air Berlin deal removed a key competitor in Lufthansa’s home market, but integration costs have undercut the record annual profit at Lufthansa’s carriers, which include SWISS and Austrian Airlines.<br/>

United will introduce its first Boeing 767-300ER with an expanded business class cabin on flights to London Heathrow today. The first reconfigured aircraft (MSN 29238) is scheduled to operate UA110 departing Newark Liberty for London at 19:10 on 14 March, the Chicago-based carrier's website shows. United plans to reconfigure 21 767s in the premium-heavy layout with 46 seats in Polaris business class – 16 more than its standard 767-300ER configuration – 22 in premium economy, 47 in extra-legroom economy and 52 in economy for a total of 167 passengers. The layout is dubbed the "76L". The new configuration is part of a larger premium push by the carrier, that also includes adding more first-class seats to its Airbus A320 family fleet and plans to introduce the new dual-class Bombardier CRJ550 with 50 seats this summer. "In an era where many airlines are adding seats to their aircraft to crowd more passengers onto the plane, we're reconfiguring more than 100 of our aircraft and doing exactly the opposite," said Andrew Nocella, CCO of United, in February. <br/>

Brazilian airline Azul hopes to take over 30 of struggling Avianca Brasil’s aircraft at cheaper lease rates, take control of two-thirds of Avianca’s airport slots and rehire many of its workers, while avoiding its crippling debts and any labor disputes, CE John Rodgerson said Thursday. If the bid is successful, it would restructure the domestic Brazilian air travel market, reducing the number of big players from four to three. It would also allow Azul to become a big competitor in Brazil’s most desirable domestic airports - Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo - which have profitable routes but where available airport slots are hard to come by. Rodgerson said the domestic routes Azul would operate in would represent a “back to the basics” move for the struggling carrier, which expanded to unprofitable international markets in recent years. Avianca Brasil filed for bankruptcy in December after it struggled to meet lease payments on its planes, which led to bitter legal fights to repossess the aircraft. But the carrier had been able to hold on to most of the planes so far. Azul already has a preliminary agreement with Avianca Brasil worth $105 million, which is not enough to cover all the carrier’s current debts. But any takeover of Avianca Brasil’s assets would have to take place through a public auction supervised by a Brazil bankruptcy judge.<br/>

Swiss International Air Lines posted a record operating profit of CHF636m (US$645.9m) for 2018, up 16% from CHF548m in the previous year. The carrier’s total annual revenue rose 7.1% to CHF5.3b, compared to CHF4.9b in 2017. The revenue gains were boosted by traffic growth and the introduction of more fuel-efficient aircraft into the fleet, the airline said. SWISS carried 17.9m passengers in 2018, a 6.2% year-over-year (YOY) increase and a record for the carrier. Traffic, measured in RPKs, was up 5.4% YOY as capacity increased 4.1%, resulting in load factor rising 1 point to 83.4%. The airline added two Boeing 777-300ERs and 13 Bombardier CSeries aircraft (now the Airbus A220) to its fleet in 2018. The investment in new, more efficient aircraft is paying off, CFO Michael Niggemann said at a press conference in Zurich. “For example, our Boeing 777s need 20% less fuel compared to the Airbus A340-300, but offer more seats,” he said.<br/>