According to a new ranking by The Wall Street Journal released Wednesday, Delta was the best major US airline for 2019. American Airlines came in last on the Journal’s overall ranking. The Journal also found flight cancellations, long delays and customer complaints were up across the board. Some airlines were able to handle the mishaps (mainly caused by weather and congestion) better than others, the report said. For instance, Delta averaged 36 flight cancellations a day in 2019 while American averaged 159 a day, according to the Journal. What’s more, Delta reported bumping a total of nine passengers from its flights last year while American bumped more than 15,000. American also ranked last in two-hour tarmac delays and mishandled baggage. American mishandled more than 2,600 bags compared to Delta’s 1,345 last year. United, which ranked next to last overall, had poor rankings in two-hour tarmac delays, mishandled baggage and canceled flights but did better in involuntary bumps. JetBlue (sixth overall) also had poor standings when it came to lost or mishandled luggage but performed better with number of canceled flights and involuntary bumps. Story has full list.<br/>
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An expert committee Thursday recommended the FAA require Boeing and other aircraft manufacturers to adopt new safety management tools in the wake of two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people. The expert panel, led by a retired Air Force general and a former head of the Air Lines Pilot Association, also called for improvements in how the FAA certifies new planes. It did not back ending the long-standing practice of delegating some certification tasks to aircraft manufacturers. The panel, which was named by US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao in April, recommended the FAA mandate Safety Management Systems (SMS) for “design and manufacturing organizations.” The FAA currently requires them for airlines. The special committee report released on Thursday said “unlike the current certification system’s focus on compliance, SMSs foster a holistic assessment of whether the combinations of actions such as design, procedures, and training work together to counter potential hazards.”<br/>
Bombardier shares shed nearly third of its value Thursday after the company warned its 2019 profits would be lower because of problematic rail contracts and said it might have to write down the value of a plane partnership with Airbus. Bombardier, which sold control of the A220 program to Airbus in 2018 for a token Canadian dollar as part of broader efforts to improve its financial footing, said the venture needed more investment and might be subject to a writedown during fourth-quarter results next month. Bombardier also said it is “reassessing” its minority stake in the A220 jet program, which will require additional cash to ramp up production. The Canadian plane and train maker is shedding underperforming commercial plane programs to focus on its stronger business jet and rail units. But Bombardier’s rail division, its largest unit by revenues, is wrestling with three rail projects in Europe, resulting in a $350m charge. “Although Bombardier’s transportation segment has been volatile, cost problems out of Europe look worse than the market has been anticipating,” Citi analyst Stephen Trent said in a note to clients.<br/>