French investigators maintain that the risk of an external attack on the cockpit outweighs the risk of pilot interference, and have steered away from recommending changes in secure cockpit doors. The armoured cockpit door was used as a barrier to lock a Germanwings Airbus A320 captain out of the flight deck while the first officer deliberately put the jet on a collision course with terrain. French investigation authority BEA, in its inquiry into the March 2015 crash in the Alps, has acknowledged that the secure door contributed to the situation. But it adds that the risk of illicit attacks during flight are considered a greater threat than the scenario played out in the Germanwings crash. BEA says that, as a result, it is not issuing any safety recommendation concerning modification of the cockpit door design. <br/>
unaligned
EasyJet is planning to dramatically increase the number of flights it directs through Scotland if the SNP govt pushes ahead with its plans to reduce tax at the country’s airports, the company has announced. On the day that the Scottish govt launched a consultation on the proposed reduction in air passenger duty, the airline said it expected to increase its services by about 30% in Scotland if the changes went ahead, increasing passenger numbers from 5.5m to 7m a year. The SNP has committed to halving the rate of APD from April 2018 with a view to abolishing it altogether, claiming that the cut will provide a major boost to the Scottish economy. But the party’s political opponents said the policy would result in much higher climate change emissions and would only benefit the “wealthiest few”. <br/>
Fastjet has said its CE is to step down this week, less than a month after its second-largest shareholder Stelios Haji-Ioannou called for his dismissal. The EasyJet founder, who owns a 12% stake in the company through a private investment vehicle, called in February for a general meeting to dismiss Ed Winter immediately. Winter is due to step down Friday March 18. Haji-Ioannou had also called for the removal of general counsel Krista Bates and the appointment of non-executive chairman Colin Child to an executive position. He said Winter had created significant overheads for the company, resulting in a high-cost base. Fastjet said Bates would step down immediately and that Child would be appointed executive chairman until a new CE is appointed. <br/>
Nok Air will cancel 60 flights a day until month-end as the carrier struggles to recruit enough pilots to fly its full schedule, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand chief said Monday. Chula Sukmanop said the airline had informed CAAT about the continued cancellations, saying it was expediting efforts to overcome the trained-pilot shortage. The carrier said travellers were not affected because some cancelled flights were already unavailable either because no one or too few people had booked them, while some flights were merged with those of partner airlines. Chula said Nok Air and all other airlines are required to submit their summer flight timetables by month-end. CAAT would strictly examine their service schedules to ensure the number of flights offered match up with the number of pilots available, he added. <br/>
Volotea has begun a complete rollover of its fleet with the arrival of its first Airbus A319. The LCC operates 19 Boeing 717s in a 125-seat single-class layout and as recently as fall 2015 acquired 2 from SAS subsidiary Blue 1, which was sold to CityJet shortly afterward. It is understood that the shortage of available Boeing 717s, together with the larger seating capacity of the A319, has persuaded Volotea to begin a wholesale shift to the European aircraft. The airline said that reliability, good operating economics and passenger experience were reasons for the switch. The first was handed over to Volotea last week and the carrier will take delivery of a further 3 this year. The first 4 A319s will be based at Nantes, in western France. <br/>