The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a June 6 hearing to determine the probable cause of a February 2023 near- miss incident involving a FedEx cargo plane and a Southwest Airlines jet in Austin, Texas. The two planes nearly collided when the FedEx Boeing 767 was forced to fly over the Southwest jet to avoid a crash in poor visibility conditions. It was one of at least half a dozen near-miss incidents last year that raised concerns about U.S. aviation safety and the strain on understaffed air traffic control. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said last year the planes came within about 115 feet (35 meters) of each other in what could have been a "terrible tragedy." The FedEx plane's first officer saw a single light in the fog from the Southwest Boeing 737-700 and then the plane's silhouette before the crew aborted their planned landing on the same runway, Homendy said. An air traffic controller had cleared both planes to use the same runway. He told the NTSB in an interview released last year he had assumed the Southwest plane would have already departed before the FedEx plane landed given his "expectation bias" that Southwest planes were quick to depart. Homendy said last year the FedEx plane flew over the Southwest aircraft during their takeoff roll momentarily and then the Southwest jet passed beneath the FedEx plane as its speed increased on takeoff. The Cancun, Mexico-bound Southwest flight, with 123 passengers and five crew aboard, safely departed. There were three crew members on the FedEx plane. The FAA has vowed to boost air traffic control staffing. The FAA said on Wednesday it agreed to delay implementation of new mandatory rest periods after discussions with the controllers' union.<br/>
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A total of 190 people were safely evacuated from a plane in Turkey on Thursday after one of its tires burst during landing at a southern airport, Turkey’s transportation ministry said. No one was hurt. The Boeing 737-800, belonging to Turkey-based Corendon Airlines, stopped safely on the runway after landing at Gazipasa airport near the Mediterranean coastal town of Alanya, the company said. The plane, which carried 184 passengers and six crew members, was on a flight from Cologne, Germany. Corendon Airlines denied Turkish media reports that the aircraft had landed on its nose. Turkey’s Transport and Infrastructure Ministry reported damage to the plane’s front gear but did not provide details. The runway was not damaged but flights were diverted to the nearby Antalya airport while the aircraft was being removed. It was the second incident at a Turkish airport in as many days. On Wednesday a Boeing 767 cargo aircraft belonging to FedEx Express made an emergency landing at Istanbul Airport after its front landing gear failed. No one was injured and the crew safely evacuated the aircraft.<br/>
A Boeing 737-300 plane carrying 85 people caught fire and skidded off a runway at Senegal’s main airport, near the capital of Dakar. Ten people were injured in the crash, including the pilot, the country’s transport minister said Thursday. Passengers were evacuated from the burning aircraft at Blaise Diagne International airport and some described “complete panic” as they scrambled for their lives. The Air Sénégal flight operated by TransAir was headed to Bamako, in neighboring Mali, late on Wednesday with 79 passengers, two pilots and four cabin crew, when the crash happened. The airport is located about 50 km from Dakar. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the plane to catch fire and skid off the runway. The injured were being treated at a hospital, while the others were taken to a hotel to rest, the minister added. Passengers jumped down the emergency slides at night while flames engulfed one side of the aircraft and screams were heard all around, recounted Malian musician Cheick Siriman Sissoko, who filmed the passengers’ ordeal on his phone camera. Boeing referred all request for comment to the airlines. “Carriers operate and maintain their airplanes for upwards of 30 to 40 years,” a statement said. “We refer you to each operator for questions related to their fleet operations. We will provide any requested support to our customer.”<br/>
Etihad Airways PJSC reported a “record” profit in the first quarter of 2024 amid surging demand for travel, as the United Arab Emirates’s national airline prepares for a possible initial public offering. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier posted a 526m dirham ($143m) profit after tax in the three months ended March, up from 59m dirhams a year earlier, it said in a statement Thursday. Passenger traffic grew 41% to 4.2m in the same period, the airline said. Bloomberg News reported this month that banks had been picked for a potential IPO that could raise as much as $1b, according to people familiar with the matter. Owned by sovereign fund ADQ, Etihad competes for transfer traffic with Dubai’s Emirates and Qatar Airways. An IPO of Etihad will create the first publicly-traded major Gulf hub carrier and come amid a rebound in international travel following the pandemic. The airline reported a five-fold increase in annual profit in March as it expanded its network to tap growing demand for travel. Etihad is focused on improving its efficiency and growing its margins, CEO Antonoaldo Neves said in the statement. The carrier is adding new routes and increasing frequencies, and will have 34% more flights this summer compared with 2023. <br/>
Air India’s low-cost airline has canceled more than two dozen additional flights, and expects disruptions to continue for days, after cabin crew called in sick en masse. More than 100 cabin crew reported sick prior to their rostered flight duty at the last-minute, throwing more than 90 flights into disarray, Air India Express CEO Aloke Singh wrote in an internal memo to employees that was seen by Bloomberg News. “The disruptions have cascaded across the network, forcing us to curtail the schedules over the next few days,” it said. The airline fired at least 25 cabin crew for taking sick leave between Tuesday and Wednesday, local media outlet ANI reported, citing people it didn’t identify. Air India Express canceled 85 flights Thursday, it said in a statement. Parent Air India will offer services on 20 of its budget unit’s routes to mitigate the travel disruptions, it added. The carrier is engaging with cabin crew to address their concerns and taking “appropriate steps against certain individuals as their actions have caused grave inconvenience to thousands of our guests,” according to the statement. The airline said Wednesday that it’s trying to find out the reasons for the absences, though Singh’s memo urged workers to embrace change and transformation. The carrier is currently integrating with AirAsia India as part of its aggressive expansion plans. Air India Express’ difficulties are just the latest in a series of disruptions centered on Tata Group’s aviation business, which is in the midst a revamp after the conglomerate bought Air India from the government in 2021. The widespread absenteeism echoes the experience at Vistara, the Singapore Airlines Ltd. local affiliate that’s expected to merge with Air India by the end of the year. Pilots there also called in sick en masse over fatigue concerns and pay cuts, forcing the airline to cancel more than 100 flights over the course of a week and eventually scale back its schedule to prevent further cancellations. <br/>
Scoot, the budget carrier arm of Singapore Airlines Ltd., cited a parts shortage for its recent cancellation of dozens of flights, according to the Straits Times. Scoot said several flights this month were cancelled “due to a variety of operational reasons, including aircraft unavailability because of a shortage of spare parts due to supply chain issues,” the Straits Times reported. Scoot didn’t elaborate on the affected spare parts and aircraft types, the newspaper said. Over May 2-6, 33 Scoot flights scheduled to leave or land at Changi Airport were canceled, the Straits Times reported on Wednesday.<br/>
Hong-Kong’s Greater Bay Airlines (GBA) announced that it will suspend flights from Hong Kong to Singapore from June 1. The low-cost carrier started offering this route just two weeks ago on April 26, with one-way fares starting at HK$480 (S$83). In response to The Straits Times’ query, GBA said the suspension will start on June 1 until further notice “due to commercial reasons after considering the latest market situations”. “We deeply apologise for the inconvenience caused to our passengers,” GBA said in a statement on May 10. “To minimise the possible impact to passengers, we will directly contact our passengers to make flight protection, rebooking or refund arrangements, and all the associated fees will be waived,” GBA added. Founded by Chinese property mogul Wong Cho Bau, who also owns the Shenzhen-headquartered Donghai Airlines, GBA joined Singapore Airlines, Scoot and Cathay Pacific in plying the Singapore-Hong Kong route. The airline began flying in 2022, with a fleet of seven single-aisle Boeing 737-800 aircraft.<br/>
Cebu Pacific saw its Q1 profit double as a jump in revenue – driven by strong passenger travel demand – outpaced an increase in costs. For the three months ended 31 March, the low-cost operator reported an operating profit of Ps2.6b ($45.3m), compared to the Ps1.2b profit in the year-ago period. Net profit for the quarter also doubled year on year, at Ps2.2b, compared to Ps1b last year. Quarterly revenue was up 25% year on year to Ps25.3b, led by growth in the passenger travel business. Cebu Pacific flew about 5.5m passengers during the three months, a 14% rise year on year, and about 3% higher than the preceding quarter. “Growth was supported by returning travellers over the Christmas holidays and Easter break, as well as other Philippine festivals and events. This was coupled by higher frequencies on popular destinations, and the expansion of international footprint,” the airline states. The airline operated about 14% more flights during the quarter, adding 17 more aircraft to it fleet to “improve operational resilience and reliability” amid ongoing supply chain and reliability challenges. <br/>
Air Vanuatu filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday a day after the South Pacific state-owned carrier cancelled all international flights. Ernst & Young Australia’s Morgan Kelly, Justin Walsh and Andrew Hanson were appointed liquidators in a local equivalent of a U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the firm said in a statement. Thousands of travelers have been left stranded by the cancellations. The airline cancelled more than 20 flights to and from the Australian cities of Sydney and Brisbane, and the New Zealand city of Auckland for the rest of the week on Wednesday. The airline said it was the result of “extended maintenance requirements” on their aircraft. EY said it would conduct safety and maintenance checks before the resumption of normal operations. Kelly said the airline’s existing management team would remain in place throughout the process.<br/>