United is removing the Boeing 737 Max from its schedule through Nov. 2, with flight cancellations growing each month the troubled jet remains out of service. United currently has 14 of the 737 Max in its fleet and had planned to expand to 30 by year’s end. That means daily cancellations will more than double from 40 to 45 in July to about 95 in November, the Chicago-based airline said Friday. Overall, United said it expects nearly 8,200 Max-related flight cancellations from July through early November. <br/>
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Lufthansa expects passenger numbers to rise about 4% this year, its CE told a newspaper, playing down talk that public support for teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg might be curbing air travel. “At this time we don’t see restraint - in fact, the opposite,” Carsten Spohr said in the interview published on Sunday. “In comparison to last year, already a record year, we’re expecting passenger growth of about 4%, (Lufthansa unit) Swiss International Air Lines is also showing growth. The discussion of climate change is not leading to restraint with bookings. People want to fly.” Media reports have suggested a “Greta effect” might curb demand for air travel, referring to the 16-year-old who has gained global attention for her efforts to convince people to reduce carbon-emitting activities. On Saturday, a group of about 80 protesters staged a “Flight Strike” at Zurich Airport near the facilities of Swiss International Air Lines, singing songs, handing out leaflets, and encouraging people to pledge not to fly in 2020. There were no arrests, and the demonstration dispersed without police intervention. Spohr cited figures from the International Energy Agency showing air travel produces 2.8% of human-caused carbon dioxide. He is frustrated that airlines are on the defensive over their contribution to climate-changing emissions. “We haven’t succeeded in explaining that air travel influences the world positively: We connect countries, economies and societies together,” Spohr, a trained pilot, told the newspaper. “Moreover, for years we’ve been able to reduce our per-passenger CO2 emissions.”<br/>
Turkish Airlines and Kuwait Airways have signed a new strategic partnership, which will see their respective codes added to their partner’s flights between Kuwait and Istanbul’s two hubs, the newly opened Istanbul Airport and the city’s secondary entry point, Sabiha Gökçen. The codeshare will start Aug. 1. The two airlines have had a commercial relationship since 1991, which was strengthened in May by signing a renewed special prorate agreement. The new codeshare is designed to improve further the links between the carriers. Turkey, and Istanbul in particular, is a popular destination for Gulf Arabs, particularly for leisure travel. Kuwait Airways operates seven flights a week with Airbus A330s/A320s and Boeing 777-300s to Istanbul’s newly opened main airport, and the same number to Sabiha Gökçen. Turkish Airlines has a significantly greater presence on the routes, operating 28 weekly flights with A330s/A320s and Boeing 737-800s from Istanbul, and a further 14 with A320s and 737-800s from Sabiha Gökçen. “Istanbul is the natural and historical connection point between Asia and Europe,” Turkish Airlines GM Bilal Ekşi said. “The opening of our new home base, Istanbul Airport, will further contribute and create new opportunities for our airline.”<br/>
Passengers on a flight from Canada to Australia said they had no warning about turbulence that suddenly slammed people into the ceiling of the plane and injured more than three dozen — a phenomenon that experts say can be nearly impossible for pilots to see coming. The Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Sydney faced "un-forecasted and sudden turbulence" about two hours past Hawaii on Thursday, and the plane diverted to Honolulu, airline spokeswoman Angela Mah said. The flight made an emergency landing after 37 people were injured, nine seriously, during the sudden loss of altitude that sent people flying into the luggage compartments and aisles of the airplane. The plane may have run into clear air turbulence , which is caused by wind patterns with no visible warning in the sky or ability for aircraft radar to pick it up. Weather forecasters also can't help warn pilots, said Thomas Guinn of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.<br/>"It's probably one of the most challenging forecast problems we have right now for aviation meteorology," he said. Pilots rely on data from weather balloons and other pilots to predict turbulence but there is less information on conditions over the ocean than for over places like the continental US, said Erik Eliel, a commercial airline pilot. "It becomes less predictable when you get to areas of the world when you have less data gathering capabilities," Eliel, who is also president of Radar Training International Inc., a company that trains pilots in the use of on-board weather radar systems. Forecasters are generally able to do a good job, but it's not a perfect science, he said. Climate change is affecting high-altitude conditions in addition to conditions on the ground, said Paul Williams, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Reading in England who studies clear air turbulence. "We expect more clear-air turbulence in the future," he said.<br/>