A judge has sanctioned Southwest, writing that the airline twisted his words and disregarded his order in the case of a flight attendant who claimed that she was fired for expressing her opposition to abortion. US District Judge Brantley Starr found Southwest in contempt for the way it explained the case to flight attendants last year after losing a jury verdict. In a blistering 29-page order, the judge said the airline acted as if its own policy limiting what employees can say is more important than a federal law protecting religious speech. On Monday, the judge ordered Southwest to pay the flight attendant’s most recent legal costs, dictated a statement for Southwest to relay to employees, and ordered three Southwest lawyers to complete “religious-liberty training” from a conservative Christian legal-advocacy group. Southwest filed an appeal of last year’s judgement in May. A spokesman said Tuesday that the Dallas-based airline also plans to appeal the judge’s new sanctions. For Southwest, the sanctions add insult to injury. They stem from a roughly $800,000 judgment against the airline and the flight attendant’s union. Although that was less than the jury’s $5.1m award, Charlene Carter also got her job back. Carter, a longtime union critic, said she was fired after she called the union president “despicable” for attending the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, D.C. At the event, women protested the inauguration of President Donald Trump and called for protecting abortion rights among many issues.<br/>
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Amerijet has carried out its first flight to newly designated cargo hub Felipe Ángeles International Airport in Mexico from its Miami International Airport hub. The flight took place on August 6, said the US airline, which is providing a weekly freighter connection to and from Felipe Ángeles Airport. Amerijet announced its decision to permanently shift operations from Benito Juarez International Airport (Mexico City) to Felipe Ángeles Airport in July. Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed in February that the government had struck an agreement with some airlines to shift cargo operations from Mexico City to Felipe Angeles in a bid to ease congestion. Felipe Angeles is located approximately 45 km from Mexico City in Santa Lucia, Mexico. The airport has a dedicated cargo terminal, and the Mexican government anticipates that it will facilitate expansion opportunities.<br/>
The Dominican ultra-low-cost carrier Arajet has announced a new international route connecting Santo Domingo Las Américas International with Buenos Aires Ezeiza International Airport. This will be the first time the two cities will be directly connected. On November 14, 2023, Arajet will begin operating three weekly flights between both cities on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Arajet has announced five new routes in the last couple of weeks. This created great expectation after the company’s CEO hinted about it on X. Some thought the Dominican ultra-low-cost carrier might finally announce a flight to the United States. Instead, the airline received authorization from Argentina’s civil aviation authorities to begin servicing Buenos Aires. Upon launching services to Buenos Aires, Arajet will offer 20 destinations in 15 countries across the Americas. The airline will turn one year old in September. In a year, it has created a low-cost hub in Santo Domingo, replicating the success of other companies such as Copa Airlines (in Tocumen) and Icelandair (in Keflavík). Arajet employs Santo Domingo as a hub connecting destinations such as Montreal and Toronto in the north with cities such as São Paulo, Santiago, and now Buenos Aires in the South.<br/>
New regional carrier Bermudair on 7 August received tentative approval of its foreign air carrier permit from the US Department of Transportation (DOT), clearing it to fly to the USA. The DOT notes that “the applicant has demonstrated… that it is financially and operationally qualified to perform the services authorised”, and that Bermudair’s exemption authority for foreign air carrier operations has been granted for a two-year term, the DOT says. Set to operate its first revenue flights to Westchester, New York as soon as 25 August, Bermudair will initially fly two 30-seat Embraer 175s modified for all-premium seating. Lessor Azorra said on 21 June that it signed lease agreements for the two aircraft with Bermudair. Operating from its base at LF Wade International airport, the carrier plans to later add Boston and Ft Lauderdale, Florida to its nascent network. The carrier received an air operator certificate on 26 July from the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority, which notes on social media that the British overseas territory has not had a scheduled operator based on the island since 1968. The carrier plans to target business and high-end leisure travellers with 1-and-1 seating configurations and “elevated” customer service. <br/>
US-based low-cost airline JetBlue has revealed a new codeshare agreement with Serbian flag carrier Air Serbia. The agreement extends and formalises the airlines’ previous relationship. Under the partnership, both companies will distribute their marketing codes ensuring flights are available to passengers of both airlines and appear on respective websites. Air Serbia’s “JU” airline code is set to provide routes to more than 25 North American destinations through the JetBlue network. JetBlue placed its “B6” airline code on Air Serbia-operated non-stop flights from New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport (BEG). Air Serbia CEO Jiri Marek highlighted how this partnership will expand travel opportunities in the Balkan regions.<br/>
Most airline passengers are still not willing to pay to offset carbon emissions from their flights, two of Brazil's largest carriers said on Tuesday, as the sector searches for ways to fulfill its goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050. Initial experiments by Gol and Azul saw only a tiny proportion of their flyers engage in voluntary carbon reduction projects, the firms said, suggesting passengers do not wish to spend their own money to offset emissions. Gol partnered with Brazilian startup Moss in 2021 to offer flyers the option of buying carbon credits to offset emissions from their flights, while Azul earlier this year announced a similar partnership with climate tech CHOOOSE. Moss sells carbon credits - tradable permits that allow the owner to emit certain amounts of greenhouse gases - which it generates by preserving parts of the Amazon. According to the startup, the credits needed to offset emissions from a Gol flight between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro would cost the passenger less than 3.00 reais ($0.6128). The companies did not say how much the credits would cost the company in a quarter to offset all of their flights. The global aviation sector has committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050 through a combination of the use of sustainable fuel, new technology and carbon offsets but reducing emissions remains a challenge. "It does not bring me any pride, but I think it's important to share that when we started our program, there was a very low adherence of 0.01%," Gol's Operations Control Center Director Eduardo Calderon said at an event hosted by Boeing and Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials.<br/>
Flair Airlines says it will save Canadian travellers at least $300m in airfare in 2023, an outcome the low-cost carrier is calling the "Flair Effect.” In a press release Tuesday, Flair said it has saved travellers “millions” over the years with its competitively-priced fares. The airline said the "Flair Effect" measures the impact Flair has on air travel affordability for all Canadians. It measures the savings customers make on Flair's own flights as well as the impact Flair's presence has on the entire market as competitors attempt to match Flair. Flair says it saved Canadians more than $256m in airfares in 2022, and in 2023, Flair's forecast shows Canadians are expected to save more with an average saving of 34% per ticket. "From the start, Flair was designed to bring real change and true competition to the market by offering something unique, a purpose-built ULCC focused on making travel accessible to every Canadian," said Stephen Jones, Flair’s CEO. "Not only have we come in with game-changing fares, but we have also seen the positive impact that challenge created as other airlines attempt to make their tickets more competitive – all to the benefit of making life more affordable for the Canadian traveler." The airline says its fare data is based on a comparison of average Flair rates with average standard industry rates across overlapping Canadian markets while also factoring the "Flair effect" of lowered competitive rates where applicable. <br/>
PLAY is in talks to lease an additional aircraft in 2024 and a further four in 2025 as the demand for its flights is growing, the carrier said in its quarterly report. "Further fleet additions and various fleet development scenarios in the years following 2025 are also being explored," it added. The new aircraft will take the Icelandic low-cost carrier beyond its original plan of 15 aircraft beyond 2025. CEO Birgir Jónsson told Aviation Week that PLAY would stick with the A320neo Family, and the new batch was likely to include A321-200NX(LR)s. He added that the carrier was very interested in the A321-200NY(XLR) "when it comes to the market". PLAY carried 392,000 passengers in the second quarter of 2023, more than double its result from the same period last year, and posted an operating profit of US$0.4m, an improvement over a US$14.1m operating loss in the April-June 2022 period. It aims to record operating profit for the entire 2023 year.<br/>
Oman Air has indicated that closer ties with SalamAir are likely under a restructuring plan outlined by the flag-carrier’s chairman. The restructuring is intended to resolve continuing losses and mounting debts which have burdened the carrier since the Omani government withdrew from Bahrain-based Gulf Air in 2007 to concentrate on developing Oman Air as a long-haul operator. Oman Air, which has a fleet of Boeing 787s, Airbus A330s and Boeing 737s, has not publicly published its financial statements for several years. SalamAir emerged at the beginning of 2017 as a low-cost operator for the country, and uses Airbus A320-family jets. The transformation plan for Oman Air involves evaluating the carrier’s network and making decisions on maintaining specific routes. “Integration with SalamAir is also high on the programme’s agenda,” says the airline. Chairman Saeed Al Mawali has disclosed the plan, which is founded on recommendation of consultancy Oliver Wyman. “Oman Air will restructure with the aim of improving its basic operational performance and enabling it to better meet the needs of the market,” says the carrier. Restructuring of Oman Air is expected to take three or four years, it adds, and will focus on the key areas of financial sustainability, human capital, commercial matters and corporate governance. It is set to embark on a board and executive management shake-up, and recruit industry specialists.<br/>
A Boeing 747 has veered off the runway while landing in China.The jumbo jet was carrying cargo from Anchorage, Alaska, when it skidded onto the wet grass at the Ningbo Lishe International Airport. The Boeing 747-400 cargo plane operated by Kalitta Air ending up blocking part of the runway, causing significant disruption to flight schedules. There were no injuries to the three crew members on board. The airport was closed for several hours while the aircraft was removed from the runway. Flights were diverted to other airports in the region, and some were cancelled. The cause of the runway excursion is not yet known. However, weather conditions may have been a factor as the airport was reporting light rain and fog at the time of the incident. The incident is being investigated by the CAAC. <br/>
Mongolian flag-carrier MIAT is to deploy its first Boeing 787 initially on services to Asia and Europe, as it prepares to put the twinjet on US routes. The airline is expecting shortly to take delivery of a 787-9, one of a pair being leased from AerCap under an agreement reached in May. MIAT says the aircraft will be configured with 292 seats in a three-class cabin. This will include 30 business-class seats, 36 premium-economy seats, and 226 in the economy section. MIAT states that it will start flying the 787 to Frankfurt, Istanbul and Seoul before introducing it to US services. Mongolia’s government recently signed an ‘open skies’ air transport pact with the USA, during a state visit, after details were finalised at the beginning of the year. MIAT is to take a second 787-9 in Q1 2024.<br/>
Malaysian regulators have awarded air traffic rights for flights to Central Asia to Batik Air Malaysia and AirAsia X, as it records an uptick in applications against pre-pandemic 2019. The Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) awarded air traffic rights to Batik Air Malaysia for daily flights to Tashkent in Uzbekistan, and approved AirAsia X’s application for up to four weekly flights to Almaty in Kazakhstan. The two cities, which have not been served by any Malaysian operator, are among the 45 international and 12 domestic routes approved by the commission in the April-June quarter. Mavcom requires airlines to use their allocated rights within six months to avoid expiry. It notes that the number of air traffic right applications from Malaysian carriers during the quarter grew 88% year on year. More significantly, the number of applications was 5% higher than the same quarter in pre-pandemic 2019, “signalling an invigorated momentum within the aviation sector”, says the commission. However, the commission, which did not disclose how many applications it received, says the number of applications fell 12% against the first quarter of 2023. Among the other applications approved by Mavcom include applications by start-up MYAirline, which is looking to expand its international network to points in Indonesia (Jakarta and Bali), Vietnam (Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City), as well as Thailand (Krabi and Phuket). The low-cost operator marked its international foray in June with flights to Bangkok. The commission also awarded rights for Capital A logistics unit Teleport for cargo flights to and from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur and the east Malaysian cities of Tawau, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. <br/>
Nauru Airlines has unveiled a new Boeing 737-800F freighter aircraft that is the “first of its kind in Australia”. The aircraft, located in the Brisbane Airport hangar, can transport over 23.9 tonnes of cargo, said a Nauru Airlines press release. The president of the Republic of Nauru, Russ Kun said he was thrilled that Nauru Airlines can be a part of Australia’s aviation history, owning the first B737-800 freighter in Australia. Kieren Keke, chairman of the board of Nauru Airlines, said: “The 737-800F expands the operational capabilities of our service, adding to our two existing 737-300 freighter aircraft and our growing fleet of passenger aircraft, making sure we can service the needs of Nauru and the central Pacific, as well as our valued clients in Australia and across the broader region.” While headquartered in Nauru, Nauru Airline’s operations have been based in Brisbane for 20 years, registered under Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority.<br/>