unaligned

An Envoy Air flight returned to Chicago shortly after takeoff on Saturday night after a pilot was incapacitated and later died, the carrier said Tuesday. “Despite heroic efforts by those on board and first responders on the ground, our colleague passed away at the hospital,” Envoy Air, a regional carrier owned by American Airlines<br/>, said in a statement. “We’re deeply saddened and are doing all we can to support his family and our colleagues at this time.” Capt. Ric Wilson, vice president of Envoy’s flight operations, said in a note to staff that the pilot was a captain in training. Envoy did not comment on the cause of the medical emergency. The Air Line Pilots Association, the union which represents Envoy’s pilots, didn’t comment. Envoy Air Flight 3556, an Embraer E175, flying for parent company American Airlines’ American Eagle returned to Chicago O’Hare International Airport at 7:57 p.m. local time, 37 minutes after departing for Columbus, Ohio, according to FlightRadar24. An audio recording of messages to air traffic controllers indicates “captain is incapacitated,” according to ATCLive, which has an archive on its website. “We’re going to need paramedics,” said the person on the recording, who seemed to be another pilot on the flight. Commercial jetliners are crewed by a minimum of two pilots. The FAA said it is investigating and a spokeswoman said that such incidents are rare.<br/>

Canadian ultra-low cost carrier Swoop was fined $175,000 in civil penalties by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for failing to provide timely refunds to passengers affected by flights cancelled or significantly delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Served 22 November by the DOT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP), the order cites some 250 complaints from customers who said Calgary-based Swoop didn’t deliver refunds for flights to and from the USA that were disrupted in March 2020 – unless passengers had specifically purchased a “refundable” ticket. The airline provided travel credits to travellers affected by delays and cancellations. “Swoop was unable to provide the department information regarding the length of time that it took to process the thousands of refund requests that it received directly from consumers,” the OACP says. “It appears that Swoop took more than 100 days to process many of these refunds… OACP has determined that many consumers experienced significant harm from the extreme delay in receiving their refunds.” In its response, Swoop argued the situation was extraordinary and “had it not conserved cash out-flow… and reduced staff in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic shutdown, Swoop may have faced collapse, which is a compelling, offsetting consumer and public benefit – namely preserving one of the very few transborder [ULCCs] during the global pandemic crisis.” To avoid litigation and “without admitting the violations”, Swoop agreed to avoid future violations and the $175,000 fine – half of which is due within 30 days, with the other $87,500 being credited to Swoop for refunding passengers who chose not to travel and were not entitled to refunds under US law. WestJet’s low-cost subsidiary, Swoop is a leisure carrier operating a fleet of six new Boeing 737 Max 8s and 10 737-800s.<br/>

Start-up carrier Fly Atlantic has outlined ambitions to launch a string of transatlantic routes out of Belfast International airport from the summer of 2024 and is evaluating Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies for the operation. Under the plans unveiled today, Fly Atlantic would aim to launch low-cost operations basing six aircraft at Belfast airport with a view to trebling the fleet by 2028. The start-up says it is in discussions with the manufacturers over taking Airbus A321neo or Boeing 737 Max jets. Fly Atlantic is led by chief executive Andrew Pyne, who headed Russian budget carrier Avianova a decade ago. Pyne also served as chief executive of European carriers Cobalt Air and Tus Airways, and was a strategic advisor for Icelandic operator Wow Air – which also operated budget transatlantic flights. He has been chairman of Channel Airways since the end of last year, which Companies House records show is the owner of Fly Atlantic. “We looked at many options throughout the UK and Ireland. Belfast International and [airport operator] Vinci stood out in terms of the facilities that they offered us and by their enthusiasm for and commitment to making this project a reality,” says Pyne. “Our vision is of Belfast as a strong aviation hub linking Europe and North America. The lack of direct transatlantic air services has clearly been an impediment to Northern Ireland’s economic and tourism development, which we now intend to remove. ”The project can be a game-changer. We will be offering affordable fares with brand-new aircraft. We already have offices at the airport and will now be building out the infrastructure to support the airline’s launch. We start recruiting for the team early in 2023.”<br/>

A Gulf Air Airbus A321 passenger aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in Erbil, Iraq after a crew member suffered a heart attack mid-flight. The incident occurred on November 22, 2022, when the Gulf Air Airbus A321 plane, registered A9C-NE, was performing scheduled daily passenger flight GF19 between Bahrain and France. According to the flight history found on Flightradar24.com, the aircraft took off from Bahrain International Airport (BAH) at 10:22 p.m. (UTC) and was expected to reach Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) in Paris around six hours after the departure. But when the plane was nearing the Iraq-Turkey border it suddenly made a sharp ‘V’ turn and diverted to Erbil International Airport (EBL) in the Kurdistan region at around 12:26 a.m. (UTC). This was due to a crew member suffering a heart attack while on the flight. According to Gulf Air, the A9C-NE continued its flight to Paris once the employee had been taken by local medical services. Unfortunately, the crew member was later declared dead in Erbil. <br/>

Jeju Air, Korea's biggest budget carrier, said Tuesday it has resumed the Incheon-Nagoya route in two and a half years, as eased virus restrictions have unleashed pent-up travel demand. Jeju Air began to offer seven flights a week on the Nagoya route Tuesday. The route was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said. The low-cost carrier plans to increase the number of flights on other routes to Japanese cities, such as Tokyo, Fukuoka, Osaka, Sapporo and Okinawa, next month, it said. Japan began to receive tour groups of international travelers on June 10, and the number of arrivals permitted a day jumped from 10,000 to 20,000. Previously, Jeju Air resumed flights from Incheon to Saipan in July and Guam in November last year. Flights from Incheon to Weihai and Harbin in China, Cebu and Clark of the Philippines are currently available. To support increasing routes, the carrier has ordered 40 B737-8, formerly called the B737 MAX, for 5t won ($4b), with deliveries scheduled to begin next year and end in 2027. Jeju Air used to operate 45 B737-800NG chartered planes on 87 routes, including six domestic routes, before the pandemic. The number of planes has fallen to 39. The company aims to turn around next year on recovering travel demand. It posted a net loss for three consecutive years through 2021 due to the impact of the pandemic in the airline industry. Its net losses slightly narrowed to 273b won in 2021 from 307b won a year earlier. In 2019, it logged a net loss of 33b won, shifting from a net profit of 71b won a year ago. <br/>

Qudrat Baloch, a businessman in Quetta, in southwestern Pakistan, travels frequently to Karachi, the country's largest city and commercial hub, for business. "I had stopped traveling by air from Quetta to Karachi because return airfares were very expensive," Baloch told Nikkei. He started driving instead, but the arrival of a budget carrier in Pakistan's airline market is poised to get travelers like him back in the air. Baloch, for his part, said Fly Jinnah's lower fares have already convinced him to resume flying to Karachi. Fly Jinnah started operations on Oct. 31 with a fleet of three Airbus A320 aircraft. The airline, a joint venture between Lakson Group of Pakistan and Air Arabia Group of the United Arab Emirates, entered the market with significantly lower airfares than those of four other airlines operating domestic flights in Pakistan. The domestic air market in Pakistan is not very large. A little over 6m people -- less than 3% of the population -- took a domestic flight in fiscal 2018-19, according to the latest data available from the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan. Experts say high airfares have prevented demand for air travel from taking off. Afsar Malik, an airline economics expert, believes domestic fares in Pakistan are overpriced by about 50%. "Airlines in Pakistan make money by reducing competition and capacity. Fly Jinnah has intensified competition and increased capacity. Fares have, therefore, dropped by about 30%, and may drop further, by another 20%, within a couple of months," he added.<br/>

AirAsia X recorded a net profit of RM25.09m and revenue of RM100.10m for the fifth quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (Q5 2022) on the back of post-pandemic economic recovery. Due to a change in its financial reporting period, there were no comparable figures for the preceding year's corresponding period. AirAsia X Malaysia CEO Benyamin Ismail said "AAX is now well on track in its recovery path even as the airline is compelled to operate in a challenging operational environment dictated by high fuel prices and a weakened Malaysian ringgit against the US dollar.” "While we are cautious of the strenuous operating conditions, we remain confident that the recovery of the company is on the horizon, if not already within our reach. "Despite a higher fare environment, we are confident of still providing the best-valued fares in our category in the market. "We look forward to resuming services to more of our mid-range destinations in the coming months," he said.<br/>