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One passenger and five flight attendants were injured when an American Airlines flight made a hard landing at Kahului Airport in Hawaii on Saturday. “American Airlines flight 271 with service from Los Angeles (LAX) to Maui (OGG) experienced an issue upon landing in OGG,” American Airlines said. “The aircraft taxied to the gate under its own power and customers deplaned normally.” The six people injured were transported to a hospital and later released. There were 167 customers and seven crew members on board the aircraft. The plane was “taken out of service for inspection by our maintenance team,” according to American Airlines. “The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority,” the company added. Hawaii’s transportation department also confirmed to CNN the airline “made a hard landing” at the airport Saturday afternoon. The FAA announced it will investigate the hard landing, according to a statement on their website.<br/>

Boeing’s 737 Max 9 model returned to service Friday afternoon when Alaska Airlines flight 1146 departed Seattle at approximately 3:51pm local time bound for San Diego. It is the first revenue flight for this model since the FAA grounded the Boeing jets three weeks ago following a door plug blowout on Alaska Airlines flight 1282. Alaska Airlines COO Constance von Muehlen took the flight and sat in the seat next to the door plug, telling CNN she has full confidence in the aircraft. Sarah Edgbert was not aware that the flight she was taking was on a 737 Max 9 plane until she got to her gate and saw news crews. She said she felt anxious at first. “But then realizing it’s probably the safest plane out there right now, it’s been through lots of tests since then,” Edgbert said. “I am not going to stop doing what I do,” Kent, who did not want to give his last name, said. “I am not going to change my habits for it, and I am going to be hoping that something bad doesn’t happen.” The flight left with a delay because the plane itself — tail number N929AK — was late arriving in Seattle. It is expected to land in San Diego around 9pm ET.<br/>

Malaysia Airlines is set to take delivery of its first Airbus A330neo this year, as it reveals new cabin products for the type, and confirms a widebody cabin refurbishment programme. The airline says the first A330neo will arrive in Q3, with another three more to be delivered by the end of this year. Revealing its fleet plans for 2024, airline parent Malaysia Aviation Group says eight Boeing 737 Max 8s will be delivered through the year “to support its network growth requirements”. Malaysia Airlines has 20 A330neos on order, all of which will replace its existing fleet of A330ceos. The airline in 2022 confirmed the acquisition of the new widebodies through a mix of direct leases and sale-and-leaseback transactions with lessor Avolon. The A330neos will be configured with 297 seats in two classes. Malaysia Airlines has selected Collins Aerospace’s newly-designed Elevation suite for its business class cabin product. “With a 1-2-1 configuration, the…seats will be a first for the group, featuring an all-suite cabin with individual privacy doors which prioritises cabin comfort and practicality,” the group adds. Malaysia Airlines will also roll out a cabin retrofit for its fleet of sixA350s from 2026 “to ensure consistent cabin standardisation and premium experiences” across its widebody fleet. <br/>

Qantas Airways called in consulting firm McKinsey & Co. to help get more flights leaving and arriving on time as new CEO Vanessa Hudson addresses the airline’s reliability issues. McKinsey is working on a 12-week project focused on punctuality and operational efficiency, according to Qantas. The airline has struggled to keep to its schedules since the skies reopened after the pandemic. Hudson replaced longtime CEO Alan Joyce in September after a string of crises at the Australian airline, including allegations by the antitrust watchdog that Qantas sold tickets on thousands of flights it had already decided to cancel. She has since increased spending on major customer bugbears such as on-board catering, call-center staffing and loyalty-point flight redemptions. Only 70% of Qantas flights departed on schedule in December, with even fewer — 68% — arriving on time, according to the latest government data. The figures at Jetstar, Qantas’ low-cost airline, were even worse. Cancellations were also higher than average. McKinsey is at least the second major consulting firm hired by Qantas in recent months. Boston Consulting Group late last year started mapping out areas of focus, such as removing customer pain points and making the airline easier to deal with.<br/>

Emirates has faith in Qantas Airways Ltd.’s brand and didn’t consider walking away from their alliance when scandals hit the Australian carrier in recent years, the Dubai-based airline’s President Tim Clark said. “We’re a firm believer it was the right move that we took all those years ago,” Clark said in a Sky News Australia interview broadcast Sunday. “It never occurred to us at all that there would be any movement away from that.” The two airlines entered a partnership in 2013 and have agreements in place to maintain the alliance to at least 2028. As the aviation industry emerged from the global disruptions of Covid, Qantas faced a series of problems that resulted in Alan Joyce quitting as CEO and being replaced by Vanessa Hudson. The new management team is “laser-focused on placating the concerns of the traveling public in Australia, and restoring the brand to its former glory by doing the basics that people want,” Clark said. “Talking to Vanessa and the team over the last few days, it is clear to me that they are not going to compromise on that,” he said. “Qantas used to be up there as one of the top brands. It’ll get back there, and sooner rather than later, and the rest will be history.”<br/>