Norwegian Air has told its female staff that they must carry a doctor’s note at all times if they want to wear flat shoes. The airline, which has been fiercely criticised, told its women employees that they must wear heels which are at least 2 centimetres tall in a 22-page dress code. Women are required to have a doctor’s note at all times and update it every 6 months if they want to wear flat shoes. The airline has been accused of being trapped in a “Mad Men universe”. Norwegian Air said its staff are allowed to wear flat shoes while in the cabin and the doctor’s note refers to female footwear when worn outside the aircraft cabin. “Like all global airlines, Norwegian has a comprehensive set of uniform guidelines to ensure that our flying crew represent our brand in a smart and consistent manner." <br/>
unaligned
In the past 2 months, Southwest Airlines’ stock price has fallen over 9%. That’s worse than the airline industry as a whole, and it’s one metric that reflects the costs of Southwest’s recent disruptions. First, it was bad weather, then a labour fight and, still underway, the grounding of the 737 Max aircraft. Southwest has canceled thousands of flights since mid-February. It stranded passengers across the country, took a hit on social media and sued its mechanics union to keep planes in service. Last week, Southwest moved proactively to suspend the Max from its schedule for another 2 months, until Aug 5. While the move is aimed at reducing the number of last-minute cancellations during summer travel, all the Southwest news has shaken Wall Street. <br/>
Philippine Airlines parent company PAL Holdings posted an operating loss of PHP5.24b (US$101m) in 2018, as fuel and aircraft lease costs drove expenses higher. The loss was nearly double the PHP2.64b reported for the previous year, and came despite a 16% increase in revenue to PHP150b, driven by stronger passenger, cargo an ancillary revenues. Load factor for the year stood at 77.4%. Total expenses rose 17.8% to PHP156b, as fuel jumped 36% from the previous year, and it incurred higher aircraft leasing costs. Attributable net loss fell 41% to PHP4.33b. Cash and cash equivalents as of Dec 31 stood at PHP7b, down from the PHP10b it had at the end of 2017. Over the next year, the airline says it plans to expand its network, with a focus on developing secondary hubs at Clark, Cebu, Davao and Kalibo. <br/>
Hong Kong’s airline licensing authority has again called for Hong Kong Airlines to clarify how it will improve its financial situation, while the airline insists that its financial issues will not affect its services during upcoming peak travel periods. Hong Kong's Air Transport Licensing Authority (ATLA) has sought additional clarification from the airline on its plans, one month after asking it to “submit a concrete plan with a view of improving its financial situation”. The authority will review the additional details provided by the airline “take appropriate actions” where necessary. ATLA can revoke or suspend an airline’s licence should it deem that it has failed to meet applicable regulations, including those around its financial position. HKA has also told the regulator that it has made partial repayments to some creditors. <br/>
Icelandair is wet-leasing Boeing 767s and acquiring a Boeing 757 on a temporary basis to compensate for its 737 MAX 8s affected by the global grounding. The carrier has 4 MAX 8s in its fleet, 3 more on order and orders for 6 MAX 9s. Icelandair said it was bringing in the 767s and 757s on the assumption that the MAX will be grounded until June 16. The airline is wet-leasing 2 767s in 2-class, 262-seat configuration. One will arrive imminently and the second at the start of May. Both will be in service until the end of September. The airline is also temporarily acquiring a 757-200 with 184 seats, from May 15 until end September. The carrier is a major operator of the 757, with around 25 in service. The airline said that it intended to reduce its schedule by around 100 flights during the period April 1 to June 15. <br/>
A 66-year-old woman has been sentenced to 10 days in detention for throwing coins into a plane engine for good luck as she boarded a Tianjin Airlines flight in northern China Monday. The woman threw half a dozen coins at the engine before the flight between the Inner Mongolian cities of Hohhot and Chifeng. The service was due to take off soon after 8 am but was delayed by more than 2 hours as staff searched for the coins and moved the remaining passengers to another aircraft. All of the coins were recovered. News outlets published surveillance footage of an unidentified woman in a red jumper throwing coins into a jet engine as she boarded. Police took the passenger and a woman she was travelling with off the flight for further questioning. The incident is the fifth confirmed case of its kind in 2 years. <br/>