An American Airlines mechanic charged with purposely damaging an aircraft in July during a dispute between the airline and its mechanics union involving stalled contract negotiations will remain behind bars until at least Sept. 20, according to a court filing on Thursday. The FAA also disclosed Thursday that it had issued an emergency order earlier this week revoking Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani’s mechanic certificate with immediate effect. Alani was ordered temporarily detained on Friday. Pilots of a flight from Miami to Nassau, Bahamas, on July 17 aborted takeoff plans after receiving an error message involving the flight computer, which reports speed, pitch and other data, according to a criminal complaint filed in US District Court in Miami. It said after returning to the gate for maintenance, a mechanic discovered a loosely connected pitot tube, which measures airspeed and connects directly to the flight computer. When Alani was interviewed, he told law enforcement officials he was upset at the stalled contract between the union and American, which he said had affected him financially, according to the complaint. Unions have complained that American is trying to outsource more maintenance jobs, a move American has said is necessary to cover increased wages.<br/>
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BA has begun cancelling flights ahead of a second strike by pilots later this month. The airline confirmed cancellations with thousands of passengers around 27 September, when pilots in the Balpa union are due to walk out for another 24 hours, in a dispute over pay and conditions. BA cancelled about 1,700 flights during the first strike on Monday and Tuesday, with some disruption continuing into Wednesday. The cost to the airline was estimated to be about GBP40m a day. Pilots have demanded a profit-share scheme and rejected a three-year pay deal worth 11.9%, claiming they have been let down by the airline after supporting it through several lean years. The travel plans of tens of thousands of passengers are likely to be affected, although the airline had warned customers of likely cancellations when the first wave of strike dates were announced on 23 August. It also removed flights from sale. BA would on a normal day carry an average of 145,000 passengers. BA said: “It is now a month since we shook hands on a pay deal. We urge [Balpa] to call off their strike and return to negotiations. To give our customers as much certainty as possible, we are now contacting all those affected to offer them a full refund or a rebook on an alternative date, destination or airline. We are very sorry that Balpa’s actions will affect thousands more travel plans.” Balpa had said it would hold talks to avert further strikes but that it wanted “meaningful negotiations”, adding that BA had to improve its offer.<br/>
Cathay Pacific Airways has put a freeze on new hiring, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters, as the airline battles a slump in demand from fliers avoiding Hong Kong amid massive anti-government protests in the city. In a memo to staff on Wednesday, new CE Augustus Tang said he had asked executives to examine spending and focus on cutting costs. The airline will also not replace departing employees in non-flying positions unless approved by a spending control committee, he said. Cathay has said it will cut capacity for the upcoming winter season after reporting an 11.3% fall in passenger numbers for August. The airline does not expect September to be any less difficult, while analysts have projected it could swing to a loss in the second half. The weak demand and cuts to capacity will heap more pressure on Cathay and its new management, appointed after CEO Rupert Hogg quit last month in a shock move and the resignation of Chairman John Slosar last week. Cathay, which is trying to complete a three-year financial turnaround plan, has become the biggest corporate casualty of the Hong Kong protests after China demanded it suspend staff involved in, or supporting, the demonstrations that have plunged the former British colony into a political crisis.<br/>
Russia’s S7 Airlines has named Vadim Klebanov as CEO to succeed Vladimir Obyedkov, who has stepped down from the position. Klebanov has headed Globus Airlines, S7 Group member, for the past five years. Within the next few months, Klebanov will unite the two S7 carriers, Globus and Sibir Airlines, into one company, S7 said. The Globus fleet will be transferred to Sibir’s air operator’s certificate by year-end. Globus Airlines was launched in March 2008. Its fleet comprises 21 Boeing 737-800s and two Boeing 737 MAXs, which are painted in S7 livery. Sibir’s fleet includes 61 Airbus A320 family aircraft and 17 Embraer E170s. Sibir, the second biggest carrier in Russia, reported traffic was 7.5m, up 15.4% year-over-year (YOY) from January-July 2019. Globus carried 2.6m passengers for the same period, up 9% YOY. Vladimir Obyedkov, who has headed S7 Airlines since 2009, will lead S7 Group’s general aviation project.<br/>