unaligned

A Southwest Airlines pilot wound up crawling through a cockpit window on Wednesday after a customer inadvertently locked the flight deck door, the airline says. Passenger Matt Rexroad told CNN he was getting ready to board a flight from San Diego to Sacramento when he saw the plane’s pilot crawling through a window. “During the boarding process, while other Customers and Flight Attendants were onboard, a Customer opened the forward lavatory door and inadvertently pushed the Flight Deck door closed (which locked) while the Pilots scheduled to operate the flight were preparing to board the aircraft,” the airline said in a statement to CNN. “One of our Pilots unlocked the door from a Flight Deck window, and the flight departed as scheduled.” Rexroad took photos of the incident and posted them to Twitter. “It is amazing that this pilot went above and beyond to get this flight out. We only left 8 minutes late. Impressive effort by Southwest Airlines,” Rexroad said. In response, Southwest Airlines wrote on Twitter, “Well that is definitely something you don’t see every day.”<br/>

WestJet Airlines pilots will get a 24% hourly raise over four years, plus other pay and benefits as part of a tentative agreement reached in May, according to a copy seen by Reuters on Friday. The tentative agreement was reached by Onex Corp's WestJet and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) less than 24 hours before the start of an expected strike at Canada's second-largest carrier. The deal, pending approval by WestJet pilots, is expected to put pressure on Air Canada as the larger rival faces a call from its pilots to narrow the earnings gap with higher-paid aviators in the United States. North American pilots are pressing for higher salaries and better scheduling after U.S. aviators made big gains in a recent deal with Delta that delivers a 34% pay increase over four years. Besides the 24% raise, the WestJet deal also provides back pay to Jan. 1, along with additional benefits and restructuring of retirement funds, according to an executive summary, which was reported earlier by the Canadian Press. Air Canada's estimated 4,500 pilots who joined ALPA this month, must decide by Monday whether to stay within the framework of a 10-year agreement reached in 2014, or use a type of escape clause to enter into full negotiations this year.<br/>

Boeing is working to land its second major deal in Saudi Arabia this year, with the US planemaker in talks to sell at least 150 of its 737 Max jetliners to startup Riyadh Air, according to people familiar with the matter. The new carrier, owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, is shopping for about 300 to 400 single-aisle jets in total, including options, said the people, who asked not to be identified since the discussions are private. Talks are complicated, with timing and structure still in flux, and Airbus could also claim a portion of the order, some of the people cautioned. Boeing is pressing its advantage since Airbus has few available delivery slots for its A321neo jets before 2029, said the people. Negotiations continue, with a possible announcement at the Paris Air Show in mid June, though no decision has been made, they said. A Boeing spokesman declined to comment, as did representatives at Riyadh Air and the Saudi Public Investment Fund. A second major win would give Boeing an edge in a Gulf market primed for growth. Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, focused on expanding tourism in the kingdom, is building a competitor to regional powerhouses Emirates and Qatar Airways. US and Saudi officials have worked to repair ties between the two nations, which became strained over issues including oil policy. The earlier deal covered Boeing’s larger 787 Dreamliners to handle long-range flying for Riyadh Air and the existing flag-carrier, Saudia. At the current $53m going rate for a Max 8, a 150-jet order would be valued at about $8b, based on market-value estimates compiled by consultant Ascend by Cirium. Customers typically get steep discounts for large deals. Riyadh Air was formally unveiled in March as part of Bin Salman’s initiative to make Saudi Arabia’s economy less dependent on oil.<br/>

Grounded Indian carrier Go First has once again extended its suspension of flights, cancelling all operations until 28 May. Go First initially suspended flights on 2 May amid financial challenges and the unavailability of around half of its Airbus A320neo fleet – an issue on which it is at loggerheads with engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney over the support of its PW1100Gs. The Indian carrier, which has since entered a restructuring process under India’s insolvency code, first suspected flight until 6 May. It has since repeatedly extended the cancellation for a further period of days. Most recently Go First had cancelled flights until 25 May. This though has been extended again until 28 May. In updating passengers of the cancellation, Go First has again reiterated its hope to resume services. “The company has filed an application for immediate resolution and revival of operations. We will be able to resume bookings shortly,” it says.<br/>

An airline cited safety regulations for almost forcing a family to disembark from a Langkawi to Kuala Lumpur flight recently. The incident on Wednesday went viral after a man claimed on Facebook that his family was almost removed from the MYAirline flight because his two-year-old child was not properly seated and buckled up as the plane was getting ready for take off. He claimed the cabin crew refused to provide an infant belt or seat belt extender to allow the child – who had just turned two years old – to sit with the mother, as it was “against policy”. The man said his child was distraught and would not remain seated with the seat belt buckled, which prompted the cabin crew to repeatedly remind him to keep the child seated. After a brief argument, the cabin crew consulted the pilot who announced over the plane that the family would have to be removed if they did not follow the instructions. The man said they managed to comply in the end despite protests and crying from his child, and the take-off was successful. He added that the whole incident was embarrassing and that a group of ground staff also tried to convince them to delete video clips of the incident after they landed.<br/>