Horizon Air’s head of flight operations recently warned of a a lax safety culture among the airline’s pilots and called for urgent action to prevent a serious air accident. The Seattle Times reported that John Hornibrook, the Seattle-based airline’s president of flight operations, wrote in an internal Nov. 27 email message: “If we sit back and do nothing, we will have an accident. Nothing good can come of the trajectory we are currently on.” The email was sent to top airline managers and pilot leaders. The incidents Hornibrook listed ranged from pilots going over airspeed limits to aircraft approaching stalls, and also included weather-induced threats that perhaps could have been avoided. Hornibrook and Horizon president Joe Sprague said the distribution of the email should be seen as an example of Horizon’s high safety standards. “The memo was meant to respond to the spike we saw in irregular events,” Hornibrook said. “I’m not sitting back and waiting for something bigger.” Horizon Air's pilots fly Bombardier Q400 turboprops and Embraer E175 jets on routes that link smaller cities into a feeder network for Alaska Airlines.<br/>
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Jetstar ground crews and baggage handlers across the country have voted to strike in the weeks leading up to Christmas and beyond. The decision was taken after airline operators rejected their demands for better employment conditions. These included 30 guaranteed hours of work per week and increases in current wages, which the Transport Workers’ Union says are among the lowest rates in the industry. The final decision on whether Jetstar pilots also will take industrial action in a bid for better pay and conditions will be announced on Friday afternoon. The ballot for pilots voting to strike closes at noon on Friday after being open for a week. The results of the vote held by the Australian Federation of Air Pilots and scrutinised by Elections Australia will decide on a number of different actions. This could range from deciding not to work overtime, refusing to follow standard fuel-saving procedures or stopping work for up to 24 hours. More than 51% of the votes must be “yes” for any measures to become a protected industrial action. The union claims its members represent about 80% of the more than 800 commercial pilots employed by Jetstar in Australia.<br/>
Flydubai has finalised a wet-lease agreement with Czech Republic-based Smartwings for four Boeing 737-800s from Dec. 14- Jan. 25, 2020 as the MAX grounding drags on. The Dubai-based carrier has 14 MAXs in its fleet. Flydubai CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith said: “The continued grounding of our MAX aircraft has had a significant impact on our operations with a 30% reduction of our flying schedule … these four additional aircraft will enable more passengers to have more travel options during the holiday season.” The all-economy leased aircraft will operate on flydubai’s select routes, including Bahrain; Colombo (Sri Lanka); Faisalabad, Multan, Karachi, Sialkot (Pakistan); Kuwait; Muscat (Oman); and Prague (Czech Republic).<br/>
CAE on Dec. 5 announced an order from Emirates Airline for two Boeing 777X full-flight simulators and associated training suites. Plans call for CAE to deliver the first 7000XR Series Level D FFS to Emirates in early 2021. The Dubai-based carrier also has options for four additional training suites. The simulator order comes after Emirates reduced its order for two variants of the delayed 777X to 126 aircraft from 150, a decision announced at the recent Dubai Airshow. It will replace the cancelled aircraft with 30 Boeing 787-9s. “As we begin plans to integrate the Boeing 777X into our fleet over the course of the next two years, we are pleased to once again work with our longstanding partner CAE to provide our flight deck crew with best-in-class training technology,” Emirates COO Adel Al Redha said. “We want to ensure our flight deck crew are prepared to operate the 777X variants as they enter operation.”<br/>