Creditors' hopes of resurrecting India's Jet Airways and salvaging some value from the bankrupt airline were dealt a fresh blow on Monday as two potential investors said they were no longer interested in putting money into the business. The billionaire head of Vedanta, Anil Agarwal, whose family trust Volcan Investment had said it was looking at taking a stake in Jet, backed out on Monday. Etihad Airways, which already owns a minority stake in Jet, also said it was not interested in reinvesting in the airline. The announcements are a setback for creditors hoping to recover a portion of the more than US$3b that the airline owes to its lenders, lessors, staff and other suppliers. "The EOI (expression of interest) for Jet Airways by Volcan was exploratory in nature. On further evaluation and considering other priorities, we intend to not pursue this further," Volcan said, a day after it had disclosed it had submitted an EOI for the airline. The firm declined to provide any detail on its reasoning. Separately, Abu Dhabi's Etihad said it was not interested in reinvesting in Jet because of unresolved issues concerning the Indian airline's liabilities. "Etihad remained engaged in the process, but despite the endeavors of everyone involved there remained very significant issues relating to Jet’s previous liabilities," it said.<br/>
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An employee of regional carrier Piedmont Airlines has died in Charlotte after the baggage-hauling tug he was driving flipped, pinning him underneath. The accident Sunday night at Charlotte Douglas International Airport occurred on the ramp, an area restricted to planes and service vehicles. Airport officials said in a statement that the man was taken to a hospital, where he died. A spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Labor said Monday that the agency has opened an investigation that is likely to take several months. American Airlines, which owns Piedmont, declined to identify the man. An airline spokeswoman said American was focusing on helping his family and co-workers. Piedmont operates many American Eagle flights in Charlotte, a major hub for American.<br/>
Brazil’s Azul said Monday it would start operating 17 flights per day between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the country’s most transited route, currently dominated by the country’s No. 1 and 2 carriers. Flights on the route between Brazil’s two largest cities came up for grabs after the No. 4 airline Avianca Brasil ceased operating in May after filing for bankruptcy. LATAM Airlines Group and Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes, which already operate the lion’s share of the more than 100 daily flights on the route, had in recent months spent millions of dollars to try to further increase their shares. But Brazil’s antitrust regulator in June issued a report raising concerns about market concentration in the domestic airline industry. The civil aviation regulator, ANAC, also said it would take back Avianca Brasil’s landing and departure rights in Sao Paulo’s airport as part of a plan to redistribute them later. Azul will begin to operate the flights on Aug. 29, the company said in a securities filing.<br/>
Mexico’s Interjet said on Monday that a judge has suspended an order for the airline to pay off fiscal debt and that it is challenging the tax authority’s assessment of what it owes. “Interjet is clearing up differences over taxes that it believes are erroneous,” it said. Shortly after Interjet’s announcement, however, Mexico’s finance ministry and the tax authority SAT issued a joint statement that said SAT had taken steps to collect debt from “an airline” and that the process is in litigation. Mexican newspaper Reforma reported on Monday that the SAT has aimed to retain 10% of Interjet’s cash earnings to compensate for debts accumulated between 2013 and 2017. A judge’s order from last month, cited by Reforma, was redacted to black out the total amount owed, but showed that taxes in those years were only partially paid.<br/>
Italian investigators are probing an incident in which a Norwegian Boeing 787-8 appears to have shed engine parts shortly after take-off from Rome Fiumicino. The aircraft – powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines – was operating flight DY7115 to Los Angeles on 10 August. Norwegian says it suffered a "technical problem" a few minutes after the departure. The flight took off from runway 16R at around 16:45, a course which took it over the town of Fiumicino just south of the airport. While Norwegian did not specify the nature of the problem, unverified photographs circulating on social media purport to show metallic fragments collected by local citizens as well as damage to car windows claimed to have resulted from falling parts. Norwegian says the twinjet returned to the airport and landed "in complete safety". It touched down around 25min after departure. The airline says 298 passengers were on board along with three pilots and nine cabin crew members. Italian investigation authority ANSV confirms that "engine problems" were the reason for the aircraft's return to the airport. It says it has opened a safety probe into the "serious" incident. Norwegian says it is "collaborating" with airport operator Aeroporti di Roma and other authorities over the event.<br/>
A Norwegian airlines jet sustained damage while pushing back for the flight from London's Gatwick Airport to New York's JFK, prompting the aircraft to be taken out of service. No one was hurt. Passengers left the plane Monday without incident and were boarding a replacement plane to continue their journey. The budget airline did not elaborate on how the incident on flight DI7017 unfolded or how the damage was sustained. Norwegian says in a statement it would "like to apologise to our customers for the inconvenience."<br/>