American Airlines is extending daily Max 8-related flight cancellations deep into the busy summer travel season, following a similar move by Southwest Airlines last week. The impact for travellers: 115 daily summer flight cancellations through Aug 19. The airline has more than 7,000 daily flights in the summer. In a letter to employees Sunday, American CE Doug Parker and president Robert Isom said the airline is "highly confident'' the Boeing 737 Max will be recertified by the FAA before that date following fixes underway at Boeing following two fatal crashes in 5 months. But they said they are removing the planes from the schedule through mid-August, up from June 5, a date that was announced just a week ago, to help ensure a smooth summer travel season. <br/>
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Qatar Airways issued a sharp rebuke to what it described as “false accusations” from US lawmakers and the Trump administration, saying that its investment in Air Italy is “fully compliant” with the US-Qatar Open Skies Agreement, as well as the Jan 2018 US-Qatar Understandings and an accompanying side-letter. The carrier pointed out that its 49% stake in the Italian carrier “is the same level that Delta holds in both Virgin Atlantic and Aeromexico, and that Etihad held in Alitalia.” “The ‘Big 3’ US carriers have consistently demonstrated their hostility to new entrants into the US-Europe market, and their attacks on Air Italy based on the identity of its minority shareholder are just another manifestation of this hostility,” the airline wrote. “Air Italy…has a fleet of just 15 aircraft and only serves 1 US city”. <br/>
An Airbus offer of new and used A380s to British Airways in its recent widebody competition "did not even come close" to the winning Boeing bid of 777Xs, the airline's CE Alex Cruz has revealed. BA in February signed a deal with Boeing for up to 42 777-9s, comprising 18 firm aircraft and 24 options, to replace 747-400s and 777-200s. The airline already operates 12 A380s and Cruz confirmed that it had examined expanding the fleet. "The proposition that Airbus put forth simply did not even come close to comparison with the [Boeing offer]," says Cruz. He adds that a crucial driver around the trading of second-hand A380s is the high cost associated with refurbishing the ultra-large aircraft's 2 passenger decks. <br/>