unaligned

The Department of Transportation released the latest data on passenger complaints against airlines on Friday, and the numbers are pretty clear: travelers were most frustrated in the month of June with delays and cancellations. DOT received almost 35% more complaints overall in June than it did in the previous month – about 270% more grumbling than what was normal before the pandemic. More than a quarter of the 5,862 complaints the department received in June were related to flight delays, cancellations or other schedule deviations. "DOT remains committed to ensuring airline passengers are treated fairly and is concerned about recent flight cancellations and flight disruptions," The department said in a statement. "The Department’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP) is monitoring airlines’ operations to ensure that airlines are not engaging in unrealistic scheduling of flights and are complying with aviation consumer protection requirements." The high volume of reliability-related complaints reflected the fact that airlines operated fewer flights in June than May, with more than 3% of domestic flights canceled according to the June report. American, Delta and United had the most cancellations in June, cutting 4.4%, 3.9% and 3.5% of their schedules, including flights operated by their regional affiliates. Hawaiian, Alaska and Frontier had the fewest cancellations at 0.1%, 0.7% and 1.1% of their schedules. Alaska Airlines was also the most on-time carrier in June, with nearly 80% of its flights arriving on schedule. Allegiant Air, meanwhile, had the most delays. Almost 40% of its flights were late in June.<br/>

Pilots are in high demand lately -- such high demand, in fact, that pilots from the recently defunct ExpressJet Airlines are finding themselves with new job offers, without so much as an interview, days after their employer declared bankruptcy. Piedmont Airlines, a regional airline based in Maryland and subsidiary of American Airlines, announced Thursday that it would offer ExpressJet pilots conditional job offers based on seniority. The offer is based off of language in Piedmont's pilot contract, negotiated in 2021 with the largest pilot union in the world, the Airline Pilots Association, that allows for the company to offer a "safe haven for employment" for pilots at "distressed" carriers, according to the company. The offer isn't just coming from Piedmont Airlines, either. American Airlines subsidiary Envoy Air "has the same provisions and we are offering ExpressJet/Aha pilots conditional job offers with no interview," according to Ric Wilson, Vice President of Flight Operations from Envoy Air. Atlanta-based ExpressJet operated over 450 aircraft at its peak, but pandemic-induced woes proved a fatal blow for the regional carrier. The airline, which calls itself a "reboot" of the company formerly flying as Delta Connection and United Express, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday in Delaware and ceased operations, according to the company website. It pointed to stifled growth, rising costs and lower revenue due to the pandemic.<br/>

Canadian discount start-up Canada Jetlines has again pushed back its planned start of passenger flights, this time by about three weeks, until 22 September. The Vancouver-based company has also changed its first route to between Toronto Pearson International airport and Calgary International airport, the airline says on 26 August. Jetlines has pushed back its expected launch date countless times. Most recently, in early August, it delayed its start from 15 August to 29 August. In early August, Jetlines planned to begin service with two routes: from Toronto to both Winnipeg International airport in Manitoba and Greater Moncton Romeo LeBlanc International airport in New Brunswick. Then, on 18 August, Jetlines received its air operating certificate from Canadian aviation regulators, clearing a major hurdle to getting off the ground. Jetlines is now only selling seats on Toronto-Calgary flights, according to its website. The airline tells FlightGlobal it pushed back its launch until 22 September due to “delays in acquiring” the air operating certificate. “Once secured, Canada Jetlines [was] able to confirm a new inaugural flight date,” the company says. It does not say why it altered its launch routes. The carrier plans to operate the initial Toronto-Calgary route twice weekly, on Thursdays and Saturdays, it says on 26 August. Jetlines plans to increase flights on the route to three-times weekly starting 13 October. Jetlines has one Airbus A320, in storage, according to Cirium fleets data.<br/>

Mexican airline Volaris fired a pilot who filmed two of the carrier's planes nearly crashing at Mexico City's international airport in May, as the pilot broke airline rules by using a phone when she was not allowed to, Volaris said on Friday. The pilot, Libertad Salmeron, acknowledged in interviews that she broke the "sterile cabin" guidelines, but insisted she had asked her superior for permission to record the video and warned the pilots involved in the near-crash that the runway at Benito Juarez International Airport was occupied. The video, which Salmeron said she recorded as she was waiting on one runway to take off, shows a Volaris plane coming close to landing on top of another plane. "Volaris ended its working relationship with First Official Salmeron for not guaranteeing the fulfillment of sterile cabin procedures and the... care of our clients," the airline said. Sterile cabin procedures apply to anything below 10,000 feet, said independent aviation analyst Jose Suarez. Pilots are only allowed to focus on the task at hand to limit distractions, he said. However, Suarez added the rule is frequently broken, noting Salmeron had her plane's brakes in place, meaning she posed no risk. Volaris "is looking for a reason to justify the firing of this pilot," Suarez said. "Yes, there's the issue of 'sterile cabin,' but the real question is, is that really why she lost her job?" Pilots union ASPA, which represents workers at rival airline Aeromexico, said it was "worried" about Salmeron's firing and that she had subsequently joined the union.<br/>

IAG’s low-cost airline Iberia Express has confirmed the cancellation of 12 flights after cabin crew union USO announced a 10-day strike starting Aug. 28, while the union said that 92 flights had been cancelled in total. USO, the union representing 532 of the airline’s cabin crew, said the 92 cancellations would mainly affect flights within Spain, and around 17,000 passengers. It condemned the decision to scrap flights rather than seek a resolution to the dispute over working conditions. “This decision makes it clear that the airline is aware of the discomfort of its staff, however it does not come with proposals to the meetings,” union delegate Estefania Diaz said. Iberia Express said it was cancelling 12 flights on Aug. 28, 29 and 30, with a spokesperson insisting that no decision had been taken yet for flights scheduled for the remaining seven days of the strike. “These cancellations are intended to minimize, above all, the impact on our customers,” the company said. “We make a new appeal to the responsibility of the ‘USO’ union to call off the strikes and bet on dialogue and not social confrontation.” The labour dispute arose amid the travel industry’s turbulent post-pandemic recovery as cabin crews and pilots of several airlines across Europe demand better working conditions and higher wages to offset inflation. Iberia Express connects Spain’s capital with about 40 cities all over Europe. <br/>

Boom Supersonic insists it has the demand and technology to make ultrafast jet travel profitable almost 20 years after Concorde was retired, as it fights back against intense industry scepticism. “There’s a need for hundreds, if not thousands of these aeroplanes,” said CE Blake Scholl. Boom claims to have identified 600 global routes where airlines could operate the Overture, a plane which would nearly halve the flying time between some destinations. New York to London would go from 6.5 hours to 3.5 hours, while Tokyo to Seattle would drop to 4.5 hours from 8.5 hours. The absence of an engine maker for the Overture is one of several factors fuelling aviation industry doubts over whether it will ever take to the skies. Scholl said Boom was poised to make an “exciting engine announcement” in the coming months, but declined to say whether it had identified a partner for the project. “It’s not just about the engine technology,” Scholl added. “It’s about some breakthroughs in the sustainability and breakthroughs in the business model that will lead to better economics.” Denver-based Boom is developing a four-engine jet with a maximum cruising speed of Mach 1.7, or 70% faster than the speed of sound. Its subsonic speed would be Mach 0.94, greater than the Mach 0.75 to 0.85 of traditional commercial jetliners. The 200ft-long aircraft would carry 65 to 80 passengers across a range of 4,250 nautical miles with a full payload. By comparison a wide-body Boeing 787-8 can seat almost 250 passengers and travel 7,305 nautical miles. Boom has billed the Overture as “sustainable” because it is “designed to run on 100 per cent sustainable aviation fuel”, or SAF. The company has an order book of 130 jets. Last week, American Airlines put down a deposit on 20 Overtures with an option for 40 more, while Japan Airlines pre-ordered 20 aircraft in 2017. United Airlines became the first US carrier to order Overtures in 2021. Story has more.<br/>

The budget airline Wizz Air was the worst performer for UK flight delays among its peers last year, according to analysis that has raised fresh concerns about government plans to slash customer compensation schemes. The Hungarian carrier – which operates short-haul flights from 10 UK airports including Belfast International, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Gatwick and Luton – was found to have flights running an average of 14 minutes and 24 second behind schedule in 2021, months before the latest travel chaos took hold. Civil Aviation Authority data analysed by the PA Media identified Tui Airways as the second worst for punctuality on UK-departing flights, followed by British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Loganair. The budget airlines easyJet and Ryanair – two of the most-booked airlines in the UK – emerged as the most punctual among their peers. Only Ireland’s flag carrier, Aer Lingus, performed better, with a typical delay of three minutes and 12 seconds. Overall, flight punctuality was better in 2021 than before the Covid pandemic due to travel restrictions that reduced the number of flights. However, the situation has deteriorated this year, with staff shortages leaving airports and airlines struggling to keep up with a rebound in travel after Covid restrictions were lifted. The recruitment problems have led to tens of thousands of flights being cancelled. Consumer champions are calling for a U-turn on government plans to overhaul passenger compensation packages for UK flights. “While these findings are worrying, the reality has actually been far worse for many travellers this summer,” said Guy Hobbs, the editor of the consumer magazine Which? Travel. “Holidaymakers have faced a barrage of disruption over the last few months, and these latest figures only serve to underline the need for urgent reform of the travel industry. The government must drop plans to slash passenger compensation for delayed and cancelled domestic flights.” <br/>

Akasa Air, India's newly launched airline that began operations earlier this month, exposed the personal data of thousands of its customers because of a technical glitch that affected its login and sign-up service. The exposed data, discovered by cybersecurity researcher Ashutosh Barot, included full names, gender, email addresses and phone numbers of customers signing up and logging in on the Akasa Air website. The researcher found an HTTP request disclosing the data minutes after looking at Akasa Air's website on its inaugural day on August 7. He had initially tried to communicate with the security team at the Mumbai-based airline directly but did not find a direct contact. “I reached out to the airline via their official Twitter account, asking them for an email ID to report the issue. They gave me the info@akasa email ID to which I didn’t share the vulnerability details because it might be handled by support staff or third party vendors. So, I emailed them again and asked [the airline] to provide [the] email address of someone from their security team. I received no further communication from Akasa,” the researcher said. After not getting a response from the airline on how he can connect with the security team, the researcher informed TechCrunch about the issue. Akasa Air quickly responded when we reached out and acknowledged that the issue had put 34,533 unique customer records at risk. The airline also said the exposed data did not include travel-related information or payment records. On being made aware of the incident, Akasa Air shut down its sign-up service. The airline also said that it added additional controls before resuming its service to the general public.<br/>

Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia plans to resume deliveries of 362 Airbus A321neos remaining on order starting in 2024, the chief executive of parent Capital A said, having postponed the arrivals during the pandemic. The airline, one of Airbus' biggest customers, had only taken four A321neos before COVID-19 decimated air travel. It last year agreed with Airbus to restructure the order with deliveries due through 2035, though it had not provided a start date for the resumption at that time. "We will...be taking delivery of the new Airbus A321neos from 2024, which will further reduce our emissions per seat by 20% while further driving our business growth," Capital A CE Tony Fernandes said late on Friday after the group posted a narrower Q2 operating loss. The airline said it operated 65 planes during the quarter ended June 30, up from just 15 a year earlier when there were lockdowns and widespread border closures throughout Southeast Asia. "As of August, a total of 108 operating aircraft have returned to the skies and this is expected to increase to 160 by the end of this year to support strong and growing consumer demand," AirAsia Aviation Group CE Bo Lingam said, adding a return to full operations was expected by Q2 2023. Capital A posted an operating loss of 491.3m ringgit ($110.03m) for the three months ended June 30, compared to a loss of 792.2m ringgit in the year-ago period.<br/>

Tourism in this island province has been boosted by the introduction of the latest air link from Penang operated by Malaysia-based Firefly which launched its inaugural flight on Friday. The airline, , a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines and owned by the Malaysia Aviation Group, launched its first scheduled flight to Phuket using a Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The flight, FY 3600, touched down in Phuket on Friday with 134 passengers. It will be one of Firefly's four weekly flights serving Phuket, the airline's second international destination, after Seletar in Singapore. Philip See, Firefly's chief executive officer, said passengers were excited to get back to travelling free of pandemic-imposed restrictions as they look forward to taking their favourite holiday trips. The airline is making it possible for people to reconnect to the world and enjoy their holidays at popular destinations, he said.<br/>