American Airlines' pilot union has indefinitely postponed the ratification vote for a tentative contract agreement, it said in a memo on Sunday. The voting will now take place "at a date and time to be determined", the union said. American Airlines pilots were due to vote on Monday after the company on Friday raised the value of its contract offer to pilots by more than $1b. The union had earlier warned that ratification was in jeopardy. The Texas-based carrier said on Friday's changes brought the total value of the four-year proposed contract to $9b and would match the pay rates and retroactive pay in United Airlines' tentative agreement.<br/>
oneworld
IAG, the parent company of British Airways, is buying a stake in a UK firm that’s planning to start production of sustainable aviation fuel by 2025. The carrier needs to secure SAF to meet its decarbonization goals, with as much as 10% of its fuel consumption to be derived from sustainable sources by 2030. The investment is in Nova Pangaea Technologies Ltd., based in northeast England, which is seeking to make the cleaner aviation fuel from ethanol. Agricultural waste and wood residue will be used as feedstock. The company plans to produce the bioethanol, which will then be used by partner LanzaJet Inc. to create the sustainable fuel. The deal will make IAG a minority shareholder in Nova Pangaea, the companies said, without disclosing financial terms. <br/>
Hong Kong authorities have opened an investigation into an aborted take-off involving a Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER, which subsequently led to a fire in the aircraft’s main landing gear. In its preliminary investigation report into the 24 June incident, Hong Kong’s Air Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) says the rejected take-off, which occured at Hong Kong international airport, was likely caused by an airspeed indication discrepancy. The aircraft rejected the take-off at 145kts, notes the AAIA. The 777 was operating flight CX880 from Hong Kong to Los Angeles and was carrying 293 passengers and 17 crew members. Following the aborted take-off, the flight crew noticed that the temperature of the left and right main landing gear brakes were increasing as the aircraft taxied back to the terminal. They also noticed “progressive deflation” of the main landing gear tires. “While waiting for the airbridge to connect to the aircraft, an explosive sound was heard and severe vibration were felt,” the AAIA report states. The left main landing gear had caught fire and passengers were evacuated from the aircraft. The AAIA notes that 11 passengers were injured while evacuating the aircraft, including two who had to be hospitalised. The authority says its investigations will focus on “all relevant operational safety risks subsequent to the high speed [rejected take-off] of CX880, including the assessment of the escalating fire risk associated with the aircraft’s main landing gear section, as well as other safety hazards that could pose risks to the ground support / maintenance personnel due to overheating brakes”. It also will review Cathay’s emergency procedures, including that of the crew members. According to Cirium fleets data, the aircraft – powered by two GE90-115BL turbofans – was delivered to Cathay in 2010. It was stored in Alice Springs in Australia in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and was returned to service in July 2022.<br/>
Qantas has launched an ad campaign to remind customers to take advantage of their unused travel credits before they expire at the end of the year. The Flying Kangaroo has taken out a combination of radio and full-page newspaper ads as it pushes customers to use around $400m in unclaimed credits accrued during the COVID-19 shutdowns, and says more than $1b in credits has already been claimed across Qantas and Jetstar. “Many of these credits are years old and many range between $100 and $500, so may not be on the top of people’s mind. That’s why we’re working hard to remind them,” said Qantas Group Chief Customer Officer Markus Svensson. “It’s been great to see the response to our last reminder campaign, which resulted in millions of dollars in credits being redeemed, but there’s still a lot yet to be claimed. We’ve built a new online tool to make it easier to find COVID-era credits, set up a dedicated hotline and streamlined the refunds process. We’ll keep reaching out directly to customers, particularly ahead of these credits expiring at the end of this year.” Qantas’ “Find My Credit” tool, launched in June, can track bookings up to three years old that may have changed several times due to the pandemic. The national carrier has faced huge criticism over the last few years for its handling of COVID-19 credits during and after the pandemic. Last year, for example, consumer advocacy organisation Choice even filed a formal complaint with the ACCC after consumer surveys highlighted the “many obstacles” faced by customers seeking to cash in their credits. Choice said one survey showed nearly a third of people trying to use flight credits to purchase new flights were forced to pay more than the cost of the original flight.<br/>