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The CEO of Lion Air, whose Boeing 737 Max 8 jet crashed a year ago off the coast of Indonesia killing 189 people, vowed Tuesday to follow recommendations from a probe into the disaster. Improving safety is a "never ending job," Edward Sirait, Lion Air's CEO, said as he expressed condolences to relatives of those who died when the flight from Jakarta crashed into the Java Sea minutes after it took off on Oct. 29, 2018. Relatives of victims scattered flowers Tuesday on waters where the aircraft went down. "We from the Lion group deeply feel the loss of our brothers and sisters and hope that the families left behind will share their strength," Sirait said. Indonesian transport officials released a report on the Lion Air accident Friday that said faulty design by Boeing, inadequate training for the pilots and lapses in maintenance doomed Lion Air flight 610. A lawyer for Boeing expressed his sympathies and urged family members of the victims to seek compensation from a $50m fund set up to help them. The lawyer, Ibrahim Senen, said 25 people had received compensation and 40 were in the process of obtaining it. Other relatives should come forward, he urged. Each family is entitled to $144,500, Senen said. Boeing has also set up a scholarship fund. Senen said families should not worry that by accepting compensation they might give up their right to sue over the crash. "These funds are voluntary in nature and there is no obligation for recipients to sign any letters relinquishing victims' rights,' Senen said. <br/>

One year after a Lion Air plane crash that killed 189, relatives and friends of victims held prayer vigils and cast flower petals into the Java Sea at the site where the carrier’s Boeing 737 MAX jet went down. The almost new Boeing aircraft had been flying from the Indonesian capital of Jakarta to the town of Pangkal Pinang, on the Bangka-Belitung islands off Sumatra, when it crashed within minutes of take-off. “This cannot be forgotten because it was such a tragic and unbelievable event,” said Epi Samsul Komar, whose 24-year-old son, Muhammad Rafi Andrian, was on the doomed flight, JT610. ”Hopefully this flower-scattering ceremony can heal our longing for our child,” Komar said. He was among the families of victims who went by boat to the crash site off the West Java district of Karawang to throw petals into the sea, a tribute they also performed last Nov. 8. Tuesday’s event came days after Indonesian investigators issued their final report on the disaster, setting out Boeing’s failure to identify risks in the design of cockpit software and recommending better training for Lion Air’s pilots. Stan Deal, newly appointed president and CE of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, attended the ceremony in Jakarta, at which he said he was there to pay his respects. Deal’s predecessor, Kevin McAllister, was ousted by Boeing last week, the first high-level departure since the two crashes. In the town of Pangkal Pinang, tax office employees held special prayers for seven colleagues killed in the crash, the office head, Krisna Wiryawan, said.<br/>

Airbus won one of its biggest-ever contracts with a deal for 300 jets from Indian budget carrier IndiGo that’s worth more than US$30b at sticker prices. The order for the A320neo narrow-body planes includes the latest XLR long-range variant and takes IndiGo’s order book for the family to 730 aircraft, it said Tuesday. The deal marks the latest victory for Airbus as rival Boeing reels from the idling of its 737 Max. For IndiGo, the purchase will help widen its lead in the world’s fastest-growing major aviation market, as it embarks on an ambitious expansion plan, seeking to eventually connect cities such as London with India. Founded in 2005 by ex-US Airways CEO Rakesh Gangwal and former travel agent Rahul Bhatia, IndiGo has quickly outpaced all its rivals to grab almost half of the local market, making both founders billionaires. Its smallest order so far was for 100 A320 jets in 2005 worth US$6 billion at list prices at the time. Airbus’s new A321 XLR has extended the range of the A320neo family to 4,700 nautical miles, so that buying the model would allow IndiGo to offer narrow-body flights between city pairs that can’t support larger jets. The XLR also overlaps with the market Boeing would target with its long-planned New Midmarket Airplane or NMA. <br/>

More than a dozen Airbus A320neo jets operated by IndiGo could be grounded if the Indian budget carrier doesn’t update some Pratt & Whitney engines within two weeks, the nation’s aviation safety regulator said. IndiGo won’t be allowed to fly A320neo jets fitted with two 1100 production series engines that have been in operation more than 3,000 hours, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said following three in-flight engine shutdowns on three IndiGo planes last week. Failing that, as many as 16 jets could be grounded, the DGCA said. IndiGo, operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., had 89 A320neos as of 30 September. United Technologies Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney has seen delivery delays and groundings in India after spending $10b to develop fuel-efficient engines for single-aisle jets. IndiGo, the world’s biggest A320neo customer, decided in June to order $20b-worth of engines from a joint venture of General Electric and France’s Safran, which competes with Pratt & Whitney. Indian aviation officials held a meeting with IndiGo executives Monday after visiting the airline’s premises to review maintenance and safety data in the wake of the in-flight failures, the DGCA said. In August, the regulator ordered IndiGo and smaller rival Go Airlines India to not accept engines without a modified version of the 1100-series turbines. On the recent failures, pilots had to shut down engines mid-flight, the DGCA said, without detailing their routes. The glitches follow 15 in-flight shutdowns, turnarounds or rejected takeoffs Indian carriers experienced due to failure of the low-pressure turbines in the past three years through August, according to the DGCA.<br/>

WestJet says it earned $119.4m in Q3, the second-highest level in the airline’s history. The Calgary-based airline says that equated to $1.02 per diluted share, compared with 61 cents per share or $70.1 million a year earlier. Revenues increased 10.5% to $1.39b, up from $1.26b in the prior year despite carrying fewer passengers. The airline was expected to earn $91.4m or 80 cents per share on $1.35b in revenues, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv. WestJet says it won’t hold a conference call to discuss the quarterly results ahead of its planned $3.5b acquisition by Onex Corp., which is being contested by Air Canada over foreign ownership limits. WestJet shareholders approved the proposed acquisition in July, with 92.5% voting in favour. The same month, an Alberta court approved the deal, which Onex and WestJet expect to complete following further regulatory green lights later this year. “We are very pleased with these remarkable results, achieving our highest ever third quarter load factor, second-highest ever third quarter net earnings and the third-highest quarterly net earnings in WestJet’s history,” said Ed Sims, WestJet president and CEO.<br/>

Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways said Tuesday it will take delivery next month of the country’s first Airbus A320neo aircraft, as it looks to expand with its own fleet. “This is the first one in the purchase order of 50 aircraft signed by Bamboo Airways and Airbus in 2018,” Bamboo Airways said. “It is also the first Airbus A320neo in Vietnam.” Bamboo Airways, owned by property and leisure company FLC Group, currently operates with 10 hired aircraft and expects to also receive two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner planes in 2020, it added. The airline plans to be the first Vietnamese operator to launch direct flights to the United States from Vietnam, its chairman Trinh Van Quyet said in August. Last month it revealed a plan to raise around $100m from a proposed IPO in 2020. Vietnam’s aviation market has recorded double-digit annual growth over the past 10 years, making it one of the fastest growing markets in the world. The country’s airports served 106m passengers in 2018, up 13% from a year ago, official data showed. Bamboo Airways, which competes against budget carrier VietJet and state-owned Vietnam Airlines, has been banking on its network of golf courses to draw in visitors, especially from Northeast Asia, to its resorts across Vietnam.<br/>

Air Nostrum’s fleet renewal, after the carrier was pledged up to E9m in local-government support on environmental grounds. The probe relates to the funding of 10 Bombardier CRJ1000s that Air Nostrum committed to acquire in 2017. “At this stage, the Commission has doubts that the total intended aid support of €9 million to Air Nostrum falls within the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) and complies with the guidelines on state aid for environmental protection and energy,” the Commission said, announcing the investigation Tuesday. The Valencia regional government granted Air Nostrum a subsidy of up to E3m in 2018 and intends to grant up to a further E6m in 2019-2020. Spain is claiming an EU state-aid exemption on environmental grounds, because the funds are being used to renew Air Nostrum’s fleet with more efficient aircraft. If certain conditions are met, EU member states are allowed to support measures that have a positive impact on the environment, but the Commission questions whether the state aid actually incentivized Air Nostrum to take more fuel-efficient aircraft, or whether it would have placed the order regardless of the aid.<br/>