Ryanair has decided to close its Spanish bases in Las Palmas, Tenerife South, Lanzarote and Girona from January, putting the jobs of more than 500 pilots and cabin crew at risk, the local USO union said Friday. Ryanair told staff last month it planned to cut its presence on the ground at airports due to delays in the delivery of the grounded Boeing 737 MAX, that has left it with 900 more pilots and crew than it needs. The airline's chief people officer said last week that it would likely close its base in the Portuguese city of Faro and 2 on the Canary Islands but that a final decision had yet to be made on how many bases, jobs and routes would go. Ryanair confirmed the closures to the USO union Friday and also announced the opening of a collective dismissal process, the union said. It said 512 workers could be affected. <br/>
unaligned
Ryanair announced plans to add Bucharest and Vilnius routes from London Southend – just hours after rival Wizz Air confirmed its intention to serve those same destinations from the UK airport. Ryanair and Wizz both plan to fly 5 times weekly to Bucharest from Southend. Lithuanian capital Vilnius will be served twice weekly by Wizz and 3 times a week by Ryanair. Ryanair had announced Aug 21 that it would begin flights from Georgia, linking capital Tbilisi with Bergamo and Kutaisi with another Italian destination, Bologna, and with Marseille in France. Ryanair's 279 flights from Southend this month account for 27% of the total from the airport. EasyJet has a 34% share, with 358 flights. Activity at the airport has grown significantly over the past year: the number of flights in August is up 13% on the same month last year. <br/>
An EasyJet pilot has been grounded after reportedly telling friends he was suicidal. He was stood down by the airline after it was alerted to messages he sent to a WhatsApp group stating he was “probably going to kill myself”. He has since told bosses he is not suicidal, according to reports. Concerns about the mental health of flight crew have been raised since a Germanwings airliner was deliberately flown into a mountain by co-pilot Andreas Lubitz in March 2015. An EasyJet spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that the pilot was stood down from flying several days ago, in line with our procedures, while we investigate. We have offered support in the meantime. She added: “We always take steps to ensure that EasyJet’s pilots are fully fit to operate." <br/>
South African authorities impounded an Airbus 220-300 aircraft leased by Tanzania's national flag carrier following a court application by a retired farmer who is owed compensation by the Tanzanian govt, the farmer's lawyer said. The plane had been scheduled to fly from the Oliver Tambo International in Johannesburg, South Africa, to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Friday, but was seized on an order issued by the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, Tanzania's transport ministry said Friday. Roger Wakefield, of Werksmans Attorneys, said his client, an elderly farmer, was owed US$33m, including interest, in compensation from the Tanzanian govt after his land in the country was expropriated several decades ago. The farmer was subsequently awarded the compensation in an arbitration, he said. <br/>
Rakesh Gangwal, the billionaire co-founder of Indigo, will support company proposals at a shareholder meeting next week to expand its board after an agreement on policy changes, months after he accused his fellow co-founder of corporate-governance lapses. The board of IndiGo has approved a new related-party transaction policy, Gangwal said Friday. Gangwal now intends to support a move to expand the company’s board to 10 directors at its annual general meeting scheduled for Aug 27, reversing his earlier stance. “In light of this positive and important development, I will be supporting the proposed changes to the Articles,” Gangwal said. “While much work lies ahead, including mending some fences... it is gratifying to see progress towards better governance.” <br/>
A Hawaiian Airlines jetliner made an emergency landing in Honolulu Thursday after smoke filled the cabin and cargo hold, and 7 people were taken to hospital, officials said. Hawaiian Airlines Flight 47, an Airbus A321neo flying from Oakland, California, was about 20 minutes away from its scheduled noon landing in Honolulu when an emergency was declared, officials said. There was no official explanation of the cause of the incident but Hawaii News Now said that a seal on the left engine failed and leaked oil onto hot engine parts. After touching down, the plane deployed its slides for the 191 passengers and crew to escape. Hawaiian said the passengers had smoke inhalation symptoms. Fire officials at the scene said that 5 adults and 2 children were taken to hospital, but that their injuries were minor. <br/>
In retrospect, it was probably not a fantastic idea to leave Iceland’s economic fortunes tethered to an airline called WOW. Before it collapsed in March, WOW Air delivered more than one-fourth of all international visitors to the island nation. Its credulity-straining fares — US$199 round trip from New York and San Francisco — were key elements of a tourism bonanza that lifted Iceland from its catastrophic 2008 financial crisis. Now, 5 months after WOW’s jets ceased flying, Iceland is suffering a pronounced drop in tourists that threatens to push the country into recession. WOW cannily exploited the financial crisis, which made the country a more affordable tourist destination. Millions of visitors propelled economic growth. And then, WOW disappeared, sending Iceland back to trouble. <br/>