Southwest said Thursday it would remove its 34 Boeing Co 737 MAX jets from its flying schedule through Aug. 5, leading to around 160 daily flight cancellations during the revised summer schedule. Southwest President Tom Nealon said the decision is meant to "increase the reliability of our schedule and reduce the amount of last-minute flight changes," especially during the summer travel season.<br/>
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Jet Airways disclosed Thursday that 10 more of its aircraft have been grounded due to lease payment defaults. The latest disclosure takes the number of aircraft grounded for lease defaults to 80, out of a fleet of 120 before the groundings started earlier in the year. While that would indicate that the airline still has around 40 aircraft in service, reports from India indicate that there are as few as 14 aircraft in service. Unlike previous disclosures, Jet’s statement to the Indian stock exchanges did not repeat its well-used line that lessors were supportive of its restructuring efforts. A number of lessors have filed deregistration requests for aircraft leased by Jet Airways with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) over the past two weeks. The latest records showing that Goshawk has filed to deregister a 737-800 (MSN 39051). A total of 11 737s from Jet’s fleet have now been deregistered by the DGCA, comprised of two managed by Avolon, five from MC Aviation Partners and four from SMBC Aviation Capital. Aergo Capital, however, has withdrawn requests to deregister seven ATR 72-500s leased to the distressed carrier.<br/>
Potential bidders have emerged for a strategic stake in India’s Jet Airways, prompting the airline’s creditors to extend a deadline for expressions of interest. A consortium of creditors led by the State Bank of India (SBI) issued an EOI invitation for potential investors on April 8 and set a deadline of April 10 for responses. However, on April 10 SBI said the deadline for responses would be extended to 6 p.m. on April 12. SBI released a statement on behalf of the creditors confirming they had received some EOIs, and additional parties “have expressed desire to participate if additional time is provided.” Because of this, “in order to allow better participation in the process the [creditors] have agreed to extension of the timeline” for the EOIs. The statement did not reveal the identity of the bidders, but some local media reports say they include large investment groups and overseas airlines. After the EOI process, binding bids must be submitted by April 30.<br/>
An Alaska Airlines flight was forced to land early on Wednesday after a "belligerent" passenger lit a cigarette. A flight from San Francisco to Philadelphia touched down in Chicago after a man became angry when a flight attendant told him to put out a lit cigarette. The airline told CNN that the plane was then diverted "due to a disruptive passenger on board and out of an abundance of caution." The man was escorted off the flight and turned over to law enforcement, both outlets report. No word yet if charges were pressed or an internal investigation filed, but the FAA is investigating the incident. <br/>