A "mechanical issue" on a United Airlines flight at O'Hare International Airport led to a ground stop at the airport Sunday afternoon. According to United, the flight experienced the issue shortly before takeoff. "United flight 3 experienced a mechanical issue shortly before takeoff. The aircraft was returned to the terminal where passengers safely deplaned. We are working to get our customers to their final destination as soon as possible," a representative of the airline told CBS 2. The FAA initially noted the stop was due to a disabled aircraft on the runway, and average delays were about 15 minutes. It is not clear how long the ground stop lasted. <br/>
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Major US airline United Airlines is set to donate $1.25m to DonorsChoose.org to support aviation and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (Stem) projects in classrooms across the airline’s seven hub markets across the US. The fund will support all aviation classroom projects currently listed by the education funding portal, and any remaining funds will be utilized to finance new aviation and STEM-focused projects. Donors Choose, founded in 2000, allows educators to set up project or class donation pages, not unlike modern charity collection sites, and advertise online to interested parties. The organisation said it aimed to maintain the integrity of donations by validating all requests, buying each item, and distributing resources directly to verified educators. Josh Earnest, United’s Senior VP, and Chief Communications Officer highlighted how this programme will inspire the next set of aviation trainees. Earnest said: “Whether it’s using model planes to teach middle schoolers the dynamics of flight or taking a field trip to see how a simulator works, we’re proud to help teachers get the resources to inspire the next generation of aviators. We’re proud to team up with DonorsChoose to support teachers who are doing incredible work and changing the lives of students around the country.”<br/>
Sabah plans to intensify its collaboration with Singapore Airlines to bring in more Australian tourists to the state, says Datuk Christina Liew. The state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister said that Singapore Airlines and Singapore's low budget airline Scoot had good connectivity within the Australian cities - Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin and Cains. As such, she said the airlines could help bring in Australian tourists to Sabah with the resumption of flight services from Singapore to Kota Kinabalu since April last year. Liew, who is currently leading the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) team to promote the state in Australia, said this after a meeting with Singapore Airlines Australia regional vice president (Southwest Pacific) Louis Leonard Arul in Sydney. She said that STB was looking at working with Singapore Airlines for a joint campaign to fully explore the Australian outbound traffic, especially for those looking for travel beyond cities and beach holidays. "There has to be consistency and frequency in our promotional efforts to get an impact in our results. Sabah's flagship attractions such as islands, holiday beach resorts, wildlife, local community and its unique culture fascinate the Australians," Liew said.<br/>
Thai Airways International is inviting qualified buyers to bid for one or more of its six A380-800s, issuing tender documentation on August 22, 2023. The airline seeks to dispose of its entire A380 fleet, which it retired from service in 2021. A proposal to bring some back into service late last year did not make it past the planning stage. Interested buyers must submit a proforma general information proposal, which includes a refundable USD50,000 per plane bidding deposit and price proposal no later than 2359L (1659Z) on September 12, 2023. The sale is conducted with the approval and supervision of the Bangkok Bankruptcy Court and is subject to final approval from Thai's plan administrator. The A380s are sold on an as-is, where-is basis, with HS-TUE and HS-TUF stored at Utapao and the remaining four kept at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport. Individuals or entities who have previously been or are currently blacklisted by Thai, or subject to sanctions administered, enacted or enforced by the United Nations or the US government are ineligible to bid. "The bidder must act as principal for its own account and not as an agent or broker," the documentation reads. "In the event that the proposal is accepted, Thai will enter into a sale and purchase agreement with the successful bidder only and not with an affiliate or any other entity, whether associated or not with the bidder."<br/>
Passengers on board a flight out of Dunedin were blissfully unaware a situation was unfolding. During that trip, a bird had been sucked into an engine, with an aviation source confirming that a recent bird strike prompted Air New Zealand to strip and rebuild the engine. The airline did not comment on the incident, but David Morgan, Air New Zealand’s chief operational integrity and safety officer, said in a statement that "bird strikes are not uncommon". "Aircraft are designed with this in mind and our pilots are trained for these scenarios. When a bird strike is suspected, our engineering team will complete a full aircraft inspection to ensure it is safe to continue service,’’ he said. It comes as the Civil Aviation Authority release to Stuff under the Official Information Act preliminary data showing bird strikes at the country’s aerodromes and airports over the past five years. While airlines had to deal with the potentially dangerous consequences, the management of wildlife – including birds – was the primary responsibility of airports. Last month there were 30 reported bird strikes across New Zealand, the lowest monthly total since October 2021 (27). That data shows reported strikes reducing over that period, with monthly averages going from 53 in 2018 to 44 in 2022. Unsurprisingly, international airports account for the largest number of reported bird strikes. So far this year there had been 26 bird strikes recorded at Auckland Airport, Christchurch International Airport (22), Wellington International Airport (18) and Queenstown (10).<br/>