The families were still mourning relatives lost in the crash of Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia when they were crammed into a hotel conference room a few weeks after the crash. Sign this form, they were told by employees of the carrier, and they would receive $91,600. That amount, while not insignificant for desperate families with bills to pay and children to school, was roughly the minimum they were entitled to receive under Indonesian law. And the conditions imposed by Lion Air before it would disburse the payments were complicated and shocking, with some legal experts questioning their legality. To collect the money, families had to sign a pledge, called a release and discharge, that they would not pursue legal action against Lion Air, its financial backers and insurers, as well as Boeing. <br/>
unaligned
Indonesian investigators said Thursday the cockpit voice recorder from a crashed Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet showed pilots were searching for the right checklist in their handbooks and were experiencing airspeed and altitude issues. Nurcahyo Utomo, an investigator at Indonesia's national transportation committee (KNKT) said the recording showed there was "panic" in the cockpit in the last 20 seconds of the flight. "At the end of the flight it seemed the pilot felt he could no longer recover the flight, then the panic emerged," he said. A different crew on the same plane the evening before encountered the same problem with the computer ordering the plane's nose down but solved it after running through 3 checklists, according to a preliminary report released by KNKT in November. <br/>
Lion Air has started preparations for a domestic initial public offering, people with knowledge of the matter said, as the carrier seeks to move past an October crash that triggered the crisis surrounding Boeing’s 737 Max plane. The company is working with advisers on the planned share sale, which could take place as soon as this year, the people said. Lion Air has been discussing a fundraising target of around US$1b, though it hasn’t set precise terms for the deal, the people said. Lion Air is planning to start preliminary meetings with investors as soon as this week to sound out early interest ahead of the potential deal, the people said. The company will decide whether to proceed after seeing their feedback and could target to list sometime after next month’s presidential election, according to the people. <br/>
Most of the focus in the aftermath of the Ethiopian air crash this month has focused on Boeing, the manufacturer of the ill-fated 737 Max aircraft. But a different aerospace company — Norwegian Air Shuttle — has been harder hit by stock markets since the crash. Its shares fell by close to 10% Wednesday on the back of a brutal analyst downgrade from HSBC, bringing its total losses since the Ethiopian crash to more than 16%. Boeing is down 10% in the same period. Norwegian itself had 18 of the 737 Max aircraft, out of a fleet of about 160 planes, and is demanding compensation from Boeing for their grounding. But for analysts and investors, the fallout from the crash has raised renewed questions about Norwegian’s stretched finances and its ability to survive. <br/>
Extra computer-based training will be required after a planned update to the software on the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, Southwest Airlines pilot union said Wednesday, adding that it was seeking additional information for pilots. Boeing has been working on a software update to an anti-stall system called MCAS since a Lion Air plane crashed in Indonesia in October. That effort has become urgent after a second 737 MAX 8 crashed in Ethiopia last week. Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association said it had previewed the proposed Boeing training, including a required test at the end, which would be mandatory for Southwest pilots before flying the 737 MAX again. "It is still very disturbing to us that Boeing did not disclose MCAS to the operators and pilots," the association told members in a memo. <br/>
EasyJet CE Johan Lundgren is not actively looking at any other acquisitions after withdrawing from the Alitalia sale process. He also ruled out a shift to a group structure, as rival LCC Ryanair plans, or branching out into long-haul, low-cost operations. March 18 EasyJet announced that it had withdrawn from the running to invest in Alitalia, after previously weighing a joint investment in the airline with Delta Air Lines and Italian railway company Ferrovie dello Stato. Ahead of that decision, Lundgren had said he was “not desperate” for a transaction to materialise. EasyJet is keeping a close eye on market developments, but Lundgren said the carrier is not currently evaluating any other acquisitions. “There is nothing else we see as necessary from an acquisitions point of view,” he said. <br/>
Indigo Partners has cancelled its proposed investment in Wow Air, prompting the airline to resume talks with Icelandair Group. Wow Air says it aims to conclude talks with Icelandair Group by March 25. "The discussions will be based on the doctrine of competition law regarding the failing firm defence," said Icelandair Group. It is not immediately clear why Indigo cancelled the proposed investment. Indigo was prepared to increase its planned investment in Wow Air to US$90m, up from $75m previously. Icelandair Group had in Nov 2018 announced plans to take over Wow Air but abandoned that plan later that month, after several pre-conditions were not met in time before a shareholders meeting on the proposed takeover. <br/>
Wizz Air has accelerated the expansion of its base in Krakow, Poland, adding a third Airbus A321 and 6 new routes. Krakow is a new Wizz Air base, which was announced in Nov 2018. At the time, the LCC said it planned to station 2 A321s at the airport, with the first arriving in May, followed by the second in September. Giving an update on its Polish plans, Wizz Air said: “The airline will allocate the second Airbus A321aircraft to the Krakow base Aug 1, one-and-a-half months ahead of the originally planned mid-September, while an additional—the third—Airbus A321 aircraft will join the Krakow fleet already in Sept 2019.” Wizz had already announced 12 new routes from Krakow, starting from April. Under the upgraded plan, the airline will be adding another 6 new routes, in addition to the original 12. <br/>
Chinese planemaker Comac is nearing an order from an airline in Ghana, a rare advance overseas for company as it attempts to become a real challenger to Boeing and Airbus. Africa World Airlines, partly owned by China’s HNA Group may agree this month to buy 2 Comac ARJ21 regional jets, the carrier’s CE, John Quan, said. So far, its orders have mostly been limited to domestic buyers such as China’s state-owned carriers and HNA. “Our Chinese shareholders are very keen to introduce the aircraft to boost China-Africa trade relations,” said Quan. Comac executives will be in Ghana in late March to possibly sign a memorandum of understanding with the airline, he said. China is pushing for jetliner orders from a number of other African countries. <br/>
JetBlue's newest cabin redesign now features the most legroom of any US airline for economy-class cabins. Similarly, seats have also been expanded to become the widest available for the A320. The carrier has rolled out the final phase of its cabin restyling for the A320s which make up the majority of its fleet. At an expanded width of more than 18 inches, JetBlue seats are now the widest available for the A320. Other new features include adjustable headrests, redesigned seatback stowage options and easy access power connections at every seat. The airline also expanded its coverage area for Wi-Fi to the Caribbean and Latin America, and updated their in-flight entertainment system with high-definition seatback television screens, the addition of more channels and pairing capabilities with mobile devices. <br/>
Kuwait Airways has rejected reports it has imposed a ban on some nationalities boarding flights at Kuwait International Airport. The airline took to Twitter to deny claims published online by a local newspaper Wednesday. “The company would like to clarify that what was published on social networking sites about the ban on the travel of a number of nationalities on-board of Kuwait Airways is completely untrue. The company has not issued such a statement,” Kuwait Airways said. The statement follows a report on a Kuwaiti daily website quoting Kuwait Airways chairman Yousef Al Jassim as saying that 9 nationalities would be banned from boarding Kuwait Airways planes. The daily claimed the ban covered citizens from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Bangladesh and North Korea. <br/>
Philippine Airlines is postponing the launch of its planned Manila-New Delhi route because political tensions between India and Pakistan have reduced demand. PAL said it was forced to take the step “as news of the India-Pakistan border tensions has prompted many travellers to cancel bookings and defer their travel plans.” The route, scheduled to launch in April, will be suspended “until further notice,” the airline said. PAL was set to launch the route with 4 weekly services, using its new Airbus A321neos. The airline operated the route with A320s from 2011 to 2013, but flights included stopovers in Bangkok because of the aircraft’s range limitations. The A321neos will fly nonstop and are a more suitable size for the market, the airline said. The New Delhi route was one of 3 new international services announced by PAL in January. <br/>
More Chinese airlines are applying for more service rights to Paris from Beijing, raising the total of recent proposals to 31 weekly flights. The CAAC must now decide how much additional capacity to allow on the route and which airlines will be allowed to provide it. The latest applications are from privately owned Juneyao Airlines, seeking permission for 7 flights a week beginning in Jan 2020, and HNA Group’s Capital Airlines, which wants 3 weekly flights beginning 2 months later. Both carriers propose to use Beijing Daxing International, which is scheduled to open Sept 30, as do China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines, which each has an application pending for 7 flights a week. The proposed additional 31 weekly flights would more than double the current service frequency of 28. <br/>