THAI is not at risk of shutting down and recent news reports about the airline's situation were "misinterpreted", THAI president Sumeth Damrongchaitham insisted Wednesday. He was responding to media reports about a possible closure during remarks he made to high-ranking THAI staff. He said the remarks were to encourage staff to make an all-out effort to ensure the struggling airline's rehabilitation plan succeeds. Sumeth said the remarks made during a discussion with executives Tuesday were "misinterpreted" as meaning the airline faced possible closure. The discussion took place during a training session at the airline's headquarters to remind them of the level of competition in the aviation industry. Sumeth admitted having to battle stiff competition, including from low-cost carriers. <br/>
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It’s not often that an airline decides to design its own airplane. Sunday, United Airlines will fly customers on a new regional jet crafted to its exact specifications, an aircraft that comes with 10 first class seats. By putting premium perches on a small regional jet with a total of only 50 seats, United hopes to close an amenities gap for a highly competitive group of travellers from smaller cities to its Chicago and Newark, New Jersey hubs. From the outside, the jet looks like every other Bombardier CRJ-700, a 70-seat workhorse flown widely across the regional airline industry. Inside, however, the plane is a brand new type, called a CRJ-550, from which United has removed 20 seats—a counter-intuitive move in an era when airlines are eagerly stuffing more seats on their airplanes to help reduce costs and goose profits. <br/>
A probe into a series of engine failures on the Airbus A220, is studying whether a software change set off unexpected vibrations that damaged fast-moving parts and forced 3 emergency landings, people familiar with the case said. SWISS briefly halted its fleet of A220 jets for checks Oct 15 after a third flight in as many months was forced to divert with engine damage. Pratt & Whitney also expanded checks on similar engines worldwide. Investigators are focusing their attention on recent changes in engine software that may have caused parts that compress air inside the engine to be set in a way that caused destructive vibrations. Pilots have been told to avoid certain combinations of thrust settings and altitude to avoid the risk of a new problem until the root cause of the SWISS engine failures can be found. <br/>