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A worker at San Antonio’s international airport died after being sucked into a jet’s engine late on Friday, officials said. A source briefed directly on the case told the Guardian on Sunday that it appeared the worker had “intentionally stepped in front of the live engine” on the jet and that police were investigating that aspect. But the cause of the worker’s death hadn’t officially been determined on Sunday, and the source spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation into the case was still pending. The worker’s death occurred at about 10.25pm as a Delta Air Lines jet which had just arrived from Los Angeles was taxiing to an arrival gate, US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials said in a statement. Officials added that the worker – whose identity has not been publicly released – was ingested into the one engine which the plane in question had on at the time. “The NTSB has been in contact with Delta,” the federal agency’s statement added. “They are in the information gathering process at this point.” Unifi Aviation, whose workers provide ground handling operations for Delta and other airlines, employed the worker who was killed. In a statement provided to the local news outlet KENS, Unifi described itself as “deeply saddened by the loss of [the] employee … during a tragic incident”. The company also made it a point to say that its initial investigation had shown the worker’s death was “unrelated to Unifi’s operational processes, safety procedures and policies”. The statement did not elaborate on whether officials suspect anything other than an accident had happened. “Our hearts go out to the family of the deceased, and we remain focused on supporting our employees on the ground and ensuring they are being taken care of during this time,” Unifi’s statement added. “Out of respect for the deceased, we will not be sharing any additional information” at this time.<br/>

Air France KLM (AIRF.PA) sees potential for further expansion in its main Africa region thanks to growing demand, with the continent a strategic priority for the group, executives said on Friday. "We believe there is more potential to be grabbed especially here in Kenya," said Marius van der Ham, the regional manager for the East and Southern Africa, Ghana and Nigeria region at a ceremony to open a new regional office in the Kenyan capital. The region is the fifth biggest in the group's network of 12 regional operations, behind North America, Greater China, Korea and Japan, he said. Air France KLM has already increased capacity on its Nairobi-Europe flights by 14% this year, van der Ham said. It operates two daily flights from Nairobi to Amsterdam and Paris, up from a daily flight to Amsterdam and five weekly flights to Paris before the pandemic, he said. The carrier is adding three flights on its Paris-Johannesburg route to cater for higher demand during the peak summer travel season. The group has also introduced new flights between Paris and Dar es Salaam in neighbouring Tanzania, he said.<br/>

Garuda Indonesia and GE Aerospace have entered into a wide-ranging strategic cooperation covering the carrier’s fleet of CFM International and GE engines. The memorandum of understanding, signed during the Paris air show, covers lease engine support, as well as overhaul services for the CFM56-7B, which power the carrier’s Boeing 737-800 fleet, and GE90-115B engines on Garuda’s 777-300ER fleet. It will also cover training and skills development, which will see Garuda engineers – including those from MRO unit GMF AeroAsia – undergo GE Aerospace training “to deepen aircraft engine and maintenance knowledge, along with leadership skills”, states GE Aviation, calling the partnership a “strategic step”. Garuda chief Irfan Setiaputra says: “Garuda Indonesia mainly focuses on optimising production capacity through the enhancement of operations, which one of the plans would increase the total of serviceable aircraft to grab wider opportunities in domestic and international networks. Therefore, having continuous support from GE to support the aircraft readiness to be airworthy, is one of the primary fundamentals for us to prepare a seamless, safe, and comfortable flight experience for our customers.” According to Cirium fleets data, the airline has 34 in-service 737-800s, as well as eight 777-300ERs. <br/>