Authorities investigating the Brazilian plane crash that killed all 62 on board last week now have the full transcript of the "black box" but its content did not immediately explain the cause of the accident, local TV station Globo said on Wednesday. The transcript from the cockpit voice recorder shows the pilot and copilot noticed a steep loss of altitude about one minute before the crash, TV Globo reported in its main newscast Jornal Nacional on Wednesday evening, citing unnamed people working on the investigation. TV Globo did not release the audio nor the transcript. According to TV Globo, the transcript covers about two hours of audio recording, including a question from the copilot to the pilot about what was going on, and saying the plane needed "more power" to be stabilized. The plane, an ATR-72 turboprop from local airline Voepass, was bound for Sao Paulo from Cascavel, in the southern state of Parana, and crashed at around 1:30 p.m. (1630 GMT) in the town of Vinhedo, some 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Sao Paulo. The crash killed all aboard but no one on the ground was hurt. Video shared on social media right after the accident showed the ATR-72 aircraft spinning out of control as it plunged down behind a cluster of trees near houses, followed by a large plume of black smoke. The pilots did not report an emergency or adverse weather conditions, the Brazilian air force said on Friday in a statement. TV Globo said that, according to people investigating the crash, analysis of the audio alone will not make it possible for now to determine the cause of the crash.<br/>
unaligned
Southwest Airlines said it remained confident in its current leadership team after Elliott Investment Management proposed replacing a majority of directors on the struggling airline’s board in a looming proxy battle. Elliott “unilaterally” pushed ahead with its proposed overhaul even after agreeing to meet with the carrier next month to discuss a resolution to the activist’s push for major reforms, including board changes, Southwest said in a statement Wednesday. The airline said it remains open to talks with Elliott and will evaluate the activist’s nominees. The back and forth escalates a months-long push by the activist investor for major changes at the US airline that has recently seen its stock price and profits languish. Elliott has criticized Southwest for refusing to adopt changes embraced by rivals in the past 15 years, such as offering a bare-bones economy fare, charging customers for checked luggage and assigned seats. It has also called for ousting Southwest Chief Executive Officer Bob Jordan and Chairman Gary Kelly. In its latest move, Elliott late Tuesday nominated 10 candidates for Southwest’s 15-member board. The nominees include former Virgin America CEO David Cush; Gregg Saretsky, the former head of WestJet; and Robert Milton, the former CEO of Air Canada. The proposal came on the same day that Starbucks Corp., another iconic US brand under pressure from the activist, ousted its CEO. Although Elliott hasn’t specified changes it wants at Starbucks, many of its corporate targets have changed management after its involvement.<br/>
SkyWest Airlines, the largest regional airline in North America, is facing legal action over an alleged “fake” company union that the airline operates and the allegedly retaliatory firings of flight attendants who were engaged in union organizing efforts. A lawsuit was filed by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) in October 2023. The US Department of Labor also filed a lawsuit last month against the company’s inflight association over the “company union”, alleging SkyWest Inflight Association (SIA) did not perform its legal duties as a representative agency and barred two employees from running in an election for leadership positions due to their support for an independent union at the airline. The legal battles come as the conservative presidential plan for Trump’s second term, Project 2025, has called for enacting labor law reforms to permit employers to create non-union employee involvement organizations that are run jointly by management. The National Labor Relations Act currently makes it an unfair labor practice for employers “to dominate or interfere with the formation or administration of any labor organization or contribute financial or other support to it”.The Railway Labor Act, which governs airline employees, has similar language.<br/>
WestJet says it will be issuing flight cancellations "for the foreseeable future" after planes were damaged by a Calgary hailstorm last week, upending travel plans for thousands of passengers. The country's second-biggest carrier says 16 aircraft, or 10% of its fleet, remain out of commission nine days after the tempest rained down golf ball-sized ice pellets onto parts of southern Alberta, including the province's largest airport. After assessing the damage, the airline says sourcing specialized equipment and materials to complete repairs and inspections will take several weeks. WestJet says it has cancelled more than 600 flights since Aug. 5, with 50 trips per day on average now being called off and more than 20,000 customers affected. The Calgary-based company says fewer flights will be scrapped as planes return to service later this month, but that it shares passengers' frustration over the impact of the storm. The airline says it is facing "very high volumes" of calls and emails as it works to help passengers rebook or opt for refunds.<br/>
Two specialised unions at Deutsche Lufthansa's leisure airline Discover on Wednesday said they were preparing strikes after talks over working conditions at the unit have not yielded results, challenging an accord struck by another union. Strike ballots will start on Thursday and last until Wednesday next week, pilots' union VC and cabin crew union UFO said in a statement. VC President Andreas Pinheiro said the aim was to achieve collective agreements with better conditions for workers. He added the airline could avoid strikes by resuming and concluding negotiations with VC and UFO. VC and UFO are rivals of the much bigger services union Verdi. Last week, Verdi struck a collective bargaining agreement with Discover for the first time since the Lufthansa brand began operating in 2021, following several strikes. The agreement at the time covered 500 cockpit workers and 1,400 members of the cabin crew. A Discover spokesperson on Wednesday pointed to the deal struck with Verdi. "Our focus is now on ensuring that the collective agreement is implemented and can take effect", she said. Discover hailed the deal last week, arguing it would give passengers confidence in their travel plans after strikes at various airlines have hit the industry in recent years.<br/>
EasyJet has cancelled 232 of the 1,138 flights to and from Portugal it had been scheduled to operate during a three-day strike by its cabin crew in the country starting Thursday, the company said. The budget airline's cabin staff in the Western European country, a popular summer holiday destination, announced late last month a strike from Aug. 15 to Aug. 17. Reasons for the action include a lack of roster stability, insufficient staffing and pressure to work overtime for commercial purposes, according to the civil aviation flight personnel union SNPVAC. EasyJet Portugal told Reuters on Wednesday it had scheduled 1,138 flights for those dates, but had to cancel about a fifth of them due to the strike. "We regret that, due to the unnecessary strike action planned by the SNPVAC union and in order to minimise the impact of the disruption on the day of travel for our customers, we have had to cancel some of the flights planned to operate during the period of the collective action," the company said.<br/>
Travelers in Europe can now take unlimited flights for 499 euros ($550) a year under a new travel subscription service from budget carrier Wizz Air. The annual “all you can fly” pass, which allows passengers to book one-way and roundtrip flights throughout the year, will be available for the introductory fee until Friday before the price rises to 599 euros. Details on the airline’s website show passengers can book flights with “no limits” to any of its international destinations — including Athens, Greece, Madrid, Paris and Reykjavik, Iceland — up to three days before departure, with the booking window opening in September. Each booking is subject to an additional flat fee of 9.99 euros and luggage beyond one personal item will be charged as extra. The airline said it initially plans to release 10,000 “all you can fly” memberships, while FAQs on its website note that seats will be subject to availability, depending on “several external and internal factors.”<br/>
airBaltic has no plans to seek membership of an airline alliance. During the recent Farnborough Airshow, the airline’s CEO, Martin Gauss, explained why to Simple Flying during a sideline interview. Most of the world’s major airlines are a member of one of the big three airline alliances. These are oneworld , SkyTeam , and Star Alliance . Membership of these “clubs” can be seen as a status symbol and can unlock additional partnerships for an airline. However, some airlines aren’t so interested in joining an alliance, as Gauss explained. Explaining his reasons for not wanting to join an alliance, Gauss clarified that such a decision could kill off many of the airBaltic's current partnerships, “As the Baltics are not served by the other [carriers] to the extent we do we believe its better to stay our of an alliance. We have 24 codeshare partners today. They deliver around 12% of our total revenues which is a significant number. If we go into an alliance that would change as we are working with [airlines from] all alliances, and all of them benefit from airBaltic being the one which serves the Baltics.” Gauss expanded, commenting, “Today we offer a connectivity for the Baltics with more than 300 megacities around the world with one stop. If I now go into one alliance we would change that connectivity to the Baltics by focusing on the connectivity that alliance has.”<br/>
Indian budget carrier SpiceJet reported a drop in Q1 profit on Wednesday, as it flew fewer passengers amid legal and financial troubles. The company reported a standalone profit of 1.50b rupees ($17.9m) for the quarter ended June 30, down 26.7% from last year. This excludes the business of its subsidiaries, including SpiceXpress and Logistics. SpiceJet has been struggling to scale up operations as some lessors took it to court to settle unpaid dues, and also requested that the country's aviation regulator de-register their planes. This also cost the company market share, which fell to 4.2% in April-June from 5.2% last year. The company is making attempts to restore full operations and boost capacity, including reaching settlements with some lessors and raising funds. It most recently announced a fundraise of $360m. As of March, the airline had an operational fleet of 39 aircraft, mostly Boeing 737s and a few Bombardier Q400 jets. The number of passengers flown by SpiceJet in the reporting quarter fell 17% from last year to about 1.7m people, according to data from India's aviation regulator - a smaller drop than that seen throughout the previous fiscal year. Its total revenue from operations fell 15.3% to 16.96b rupees, its smallest drop since the quarter ended March 31, 2023. SpiceJet reported its third- and fourth-quarter results together in July after delaying them for unspecified reasons. It reported a third-quarter loss, although its fourth-quarter profit was boosted by a settlement with a financing agency.<br/>