An airline pilot has been jailed for 10 months after turning up drunk to fly a plane to the United States. Glendon Gulliver, 63, was due to fly United Airlines flight UA162 from Glasgow to Newark on 2 August 2019. But a member of the public saw Gulliver drinking heavily the night before and reported him to Glasgow Airport via Twitter. Paisley Sheriff Court heard that the pilot failed a breathalyser test and was arrested before the 09:00 flight. Scottish Courts said he admitted "attempting to perform an aviation function with alcohol in breath" in breach of the Railways and Transport Safety Act. Gulf War veteran Gulliver was four times the legal limit for flying. Sheriff Gillian Craig told him: "I find it hard to envisage a more responsible role than that of a pilot in a commercial aircraft - these people placed their lives in your hands. "They expect the pilots to be sober. There were 177 men, women and children. I dread to think what the consequences could've been."<br/>
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Portugal’s ailing flag carrier TAP said on Tuesday it expects the EC to approve its E3.2b restructuring plan, which has been under investigation over its compliance with EU rules, by Christmas. EU antitrust regulators have been examining since mid-July whether the plan, which involves around 2,000 job cuts and pay cuts of up to 25%, is proportionate and complies with state aid rules, and whether it affects competition. “There has been a deep investigation... the case has been closed and we have answered to all questions,” TAP’s CE Christine Ourmieres-Widener told a news conference. “We are now in final discussions and our expectation... is to have the approval this side of Christmas,” she added. The airline, which is 72.5% controlled by the Portuguese state, was working closely with the government through the process, she said. The CEO said the group was “focused on delivering the plan” and had already cut 2,000 jobs, taking its workforce to 7,000. “We are waiting for an approval (but) that doesn’t mean the work hasn’t started yet,” she said. TAP posted losses of E1.2b in 2020 as passenger numbers fell due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but reported a slight improvement in the first half of this year as travel rules were eased.<br/>
Singapore Airlines will start flying freshly fitted Boeing 737 Max jets to countries including Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand in the coming weeks, the company said Tuesday. The carrier is absorbing six of the 154-seat narrow-body planes into its fleet with the integration of its SilkAir unit. Another is expected to enter service before March, and then seven more are due to join operations next fiscal year. Boeing’s Max was grounded globally in March 2019 following crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed everybody on board. Regulators worldwide have been gradually clearing the jet to fly again, with Singapore approving it in September. China is the major market where the Max is still banned. The Max jets in Singapore Airlines’ fleet will be used on short- and medium-haul routes, offering 10 business-class seats that can be turned into fully-flat beds. They have 16-inch monitors for entertainment. Economy-class offers 10-inch monitors on slim-line seats made by Collins Aerospace, the carrier said Tuesday. Singapore Airlines spent about $170m on the design and installation of the new cabin products, which it said will help deliver a customer experience similar to on its wide-body aircraft.<br/>
Singapore Airlines has revealed the interior of its new Boeing 737 Max 8, with 154 seats divided between business and economy class. The new business class cabin features 10 lie-flat seats in a 4-2-4 staggered configuration. The pair of second row seats – which SIA dubs the ‘throne’ – feature extra privacy and additional workspace for executives travelling alone. To allow all business class seats to be lie flat, it was necessary to restrict the second row to just two seats. As for the 144 economy class seats, they feature a full Panasonic X-series seat-back inflight entertainment system. United Kingdom-based Factorydesign is the designer behind the business class seats, which were manufactured by Thompson Aero Seating. Collins Aerospace produced the jet’s economy class seats. The move marks a major departure for SIA, which retired its Silkair brand in order to bring regional, narrowbody flights in line with the premium SIA brand.<br/>
China’s ‘Golden Week’ holiday at the start of October failed to provide any meaningful uplift for domestic traffic, as the country’s three largest carriers saw a drop in traffic against 2020 levels. In October, the ‘Big Three’ — comprising Air China, China Eastern and China Southern — carried more passengers against September, but a fast-growing wave of coronavirus infections in swathes of the country put the brakes on any significant increase in traffic. Chinese domestic traffic bottomed out in August as the country battled one of the countries worst waves of infections, which saw onerous travel restrictions imposed. Since then, it has slowly climbed back up, but the continued wave of cases — coupled with China’s strict zero-infection policy — have dampened recovery momentum. Air China carried 6.4m domestic passengers in October, 16% higher than September, but a 23% drop against October 2020 numbers. Traffic for the month fell 23% year on year, while capacity dropped 16.1%. Month on month, the Beijing-based carrier saw a 14% increase in traffic and a 9.6% rise in capacity.<br/>