Southwest and Gol Linhas Aereas said Wednesday they had grounded a total of 13 Boeing Co 737 NG airplanes after US regulators ordered urgent inspections last week. Southwest said it had grounded two planes, while Gol said it had grounded 11. Both airlines are major operators of the 737, including the NG variant and the more recent MAX, which has been grounded for months after two deadly crashes. The US FAA last week told aircraft operators to inspect 165 Boeing 737 NG airliners for structural cracks within seven days after the issue was found on a small number of planes. Nearly all the 165 planes were Southwest aircraft, officials said. Southwest, which did not find any issues in the “vast majority” of the planes, said it “removed the two aircraft from our operation and reported the findings to Boeing and the FAA. The aircraft will remain out of our schedule until the issues have been fully resolved.” Boeing says it is working with airlines on 737 structural cracks issue<br/>Gol said that it had grounded 11 planes where it found “evidence of the need to replace a specific component, whose characteristics were not compliant with the standards set by the maker.” The Brazilian airline said the fleet change would affect 3% of its passengers between Wednesday and Dec. 15. Gol has a fleet of 115 Boeing 737 planes, setting aside its grounded MAX planes, according to its website. Last week, the FAA said more planes will eventually be inspected. The order covers a total of 1,911 U.S. registered planes. The inspections can be done visually and take about an hour per airplane. The cracks are on what is known as the “pickle fork” — a part that attaches the plane’s fuselage, or body, to the wing structure and manages forces. Aircraft with more than 30,000 cycles must be inspected within seven days, while planes between 22,600 and 29,999 cycles must be inspected within 1,000 cycles, which typically correspond to the number of flights.<br/>
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Indonesia’s largest private airline is among the more than two dozen local companies planning to sell shares for the first time as investors overlook a selloff in the broader market to lap up stocks from initial public offers. PT Lion Mentari Airlines, miners PT Ginting Jaya Energi, PT Dana Brata Luhur and PT Ifishdeco and developer PT Alamanda Investama may sell shares in the final quarter, according to I Gede Nyoman Yetna, director of listing at the Indonesia Stock Exchange. Investor appetite for shares of newly listed companies have already spurred 40 firms to tap the market this year, setting the exchange on course for a record number of IPOs this year. Lion Air began preparations for an IPO early this year and is targeting about $1b, people with knowledge of the matter said in March. Lion Air has mooted the possibility of listing as far back as 2005, though the plans have been delayed multiple times due to a flagging Indonesian economy and other issues. A $1 billion share sale would be Indonesia’s third-largest IPO on record, data compiled by Bloomberg show.<br/>
"I've been in my share of compromising positions," says the guy in the airline company video. "Here's my guide to getting lucky at 35,000 feet."...<br/>It sounds perilously close to the kind of sexual harassment experienced by Jessica Van Meir on a Virgin Atlantic flight this week. Van Meir was on an eight-hour flight from London to Washington, DC, when she says she received messages from what appeared to be a group of passengers she had passed on the way to the restroom. One called her "tidy" and "babe," while another, going by the name "big d*** swinger," sent her winking emojis. A third, "dirty mike," told her, "Welcome to hell." Van Meir says Virgin Atlantic crew addressed the situation immediately, and a spokesperson for the airline said that Virgin has "zero tolerance for any disruptive or inappropriate behavior." A spokesperson said Wednesday that, "This is the first time we've ever been made aware of unwanted messages appearing through the chat system," which was introduced 19 years ago. The airline says they are reviewing their inflight entertainment system, and that seat-to-seat messaging is already being phased out across the fleet. Virgin America's inflight entertainment system allowed travellers to pick out other passengers on a digital seatmap, message them, and send them a drink, meal or snack. The messaging system has been in place on Virgin Atlantic planes for even longer -- since 2000, according to a spokesperson for the airline. Virgin Atlantic planes, however, have never had the ability to send drinks or snacks to others on board. Virgin America was disbanded in 2018, when it was integrated into Alaska Airlines. And Virgin Atlantic confirmed that new aircraft joining the fleet will not have the technology. The 12 A350s set to join the fleet (of which two have already arrived) do not have the capability. They will eventually replace the 747s, A340s and A330s that do. The spokesperson said it was being phased out because "it's a really underused facility, especially now, with the evolution of on-board Wi-Fi in recent years.<br/>