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Southwest passengers may notice a change on their flights starting next week. The airline confirmed to Scripps News that it will implement new cabin service procedures starting Dec. 4 to enhance safety for flight attendants and passengers. Under the updated guidelines, flight attendants will begin preparing the cabin for landing at an altitude of 18,000 feet. It previously started this procedure at 10,000 feet. The change aims to reduce the risk of injuries caused by in-flight turbulence. Southwest said the adjustment is the "result of the airline’s close collaboration with its Labor partners and a robust approach to Safety Management." The airliner is not the first company to make this change. In July, Korean Air said it would be wrapping up cabin service 40 minutes before landing to avoid the risk of injury during turbulence.<br/>

EasyJet reported a rise in annual profits following a second record-breaking summer, as the low-cost airline reassured investors that the outlook for travel next year was “positive”. The carrier on Wednesday reported pre-tax profits of GBP610mn for the 12 months to the end of September, up from GBP455mn a year earlier. Profits for the peak summer months rose 11% to a record GBP960m, as easyJet carried more passengers and airfares held steady. Its package holiday business also reported a strong year, as pre-tax profits rose 56% to GBP190m. The airline forecast a “positive” outlook for its current financial year, when it plans to increase its flying schedules by 3%. The company also said it would more than double its dividend to 12.1 pence per share, up from 4.5 pence in 2023. Revenues rose 14% over the year to £9.3bn, helped by an 8% increase in capacity to 100.4mn seats. “The outlook for easyJet is positive and travel remains a firm priority with consumers,” said Kenton Jarvis, easyJet’s CFO, who will take over as CE early next year. EasyJet’s results contrast with Europe’s two other major low-cost airlines, Ryanair and Wizz Air, which both saw profits fall over the summer. Ryanair has flagged pressures on airfares thanks to “consumer spending pressure”, while Wizz Air has faced major disruption problems because of issues with the engines on its planes. EasyJet typically targets a higher end of the market, and competes with national carriers such as British Airways from more expensive airports. BA owner International Airlines Group reported record summer profits this year.<br/>

EasyJet will not rush to resume flights to Tel Aviv after a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed group Hezbollah came into effect on Wednesday, the airline's incoming CEO told reporters. Airlines around the world suspended flights to Israel and some other locations in the Middle East in the wake of the war in Gaza and the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah spilling into Lebanon. "I think obviously we would love to fly again to Israel, but we will continue to have a look at the situation," Kenton Jarvis said. "It's great that ceasefire has been announced, but we'd need to see kind of more stability sustained in the Middle East, before we thought about flying." Earlier, Emirates Airline President Tim Clark said he was pleased about the ceasefire, adding the airline could go back to flying to Beirut "sooner rather than later". A Ryanair spokesperson said the airline did not plan on resuming operations to Israel until March 31 at the earliest, and a decision to resume operations to and from Jordan from December was still under discussion. Air France also said it has now extended its suspension of flights to Tel Aviv to Dec. 31 and has suspended flying to Beirut until Jan. 5. "The operations will resume on the basis of an assessment of the situation on the ground," a spokesperson for the company said.<br/>

Emirates Airline is a "frustrated entity" because of a lack of planes, the carrier's president said on Wednesday, adding that it would now have an 85-strong fleet of Boeing 777-9X jets if the planemaker had been able to deliver them on time. "We are expansionists, as you know. And we've had our wings clipped," Tim Clark told reporters at an event to mark delivery of Emirates' first Airbus A350 aircraft. Emirates, the Middle East's biggest airline, has increasingly voiced its displeasure over delays and uncertainty plaguing delivery of the 777-9X jets, which were exacerbated by a weeks-long strike by Boeing factory workers. Asked if there were any plans to review the orders in light of the delays, Clark said the company would just wait and see. "I'm hoping that with the $21b they've just had injected into the company and the end of the strike, they're now working over the next few months to sort out what they're going to do. We watch that very closely," he said. Boeing's new CEO said in October that the planemaker had told customers it expects first delivery of its 777X in 2026, owing to challenges in development, a flight-test pause and the work stoppage.<br/>

Gulf airlines are delaying the resumption of flights to Beirut as they wait to learn if a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah holds. Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, flydubai, Saudia and Oman Air are among the companies whose flights remain suspended. Emirates airline and Etihad Airways recently said flights would be off until January. Tens of thousands of expatriate Lebanese in the Gulf are expected to try to visit family in the coming weeks, amid hopes that a 60-day ceasefire is not breached. Flydubai told The National it was closely monitoring the situation. Emirates also said flights were suspended, while Etihad's website showed that flights to Beirut are on hold until January 13. The websites of Qatar Airways, Saudia and Oman Air show that their services remain cancelled. Jordan’s flag-carrier Royal Jordanian, which suspended flights in August, has not updated any information on flights to Lebanon. Lebanon's national airline Middle East Airlines (MEA) is the only carrier that has kept flights operating from Beirut, even as the area around Rafic Hariri International Airport was bombed by Israeli jets. MEA operates flights to and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi but services are full in the coming days. Before they were fully booked for December 1, a ticket for the flight is just under Dh2,500 ($680), far more than usual. The Skyscanner website shows an option to fly to Cairo, Kuwait and Amman from Dubai and onwards to Beirut through MEA with prices for a single seat from Dh4,000.<br/>

Russian carrier Azimuth Airlines has disclosed that the fire involving one of its Yakovlev Superjet 100s at Antalya resulted from fuel on the apron spilled from a damaged tank, but insists the aircraft itself did not burn. The twinjet, operating flight A45051 from Sochi on 24 November, had been stable on its approach, the carrier indicates, but was subjected to “unpredictable windshear” as it landed, causing a hard touchdown. Azimuth says the captain – the flying pilot, with over 12,500h – kept the aircraft on the runway and brought it to a halt. “After the aircraft stopped on the runway, flight attendants saw smoke outside on the left side and reported it to the captain,” it states, and the captain decided to order evacuation. “Aviation fuel ignited on the runway after spilling from a [damaged] fuel tank. The aircraft did not burn.” Passengers evacuated from the forward right-hand door, away from the hazard. The captain and crew were last to leave, says the carrier. Firefighters attended the scene and extinguished the blaze.<br/>