unaligned

Southwest has sent a team of mechanics to Victorville, California, to start the long process of bringing its 34 Boeing 737 MAX jets out of their desert hibernation, after the planes’ permission to fly was restored. How passengers will feel about flying in the aircraft is unclear, although Southwest customers’ response to the MAX in a recent survey was positive, executives said. About 25% have indicated that they are not comfortable flying on the jet but expect their comfort level to improve once it has been flying for a period of time, a spokesman told Reuters when asked for more details. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday lifted a 20-month grounding of the Boeing Co 737 MAX sparked by two crashes that together killed 346 people within five months and mandated a series of safety changes airlines must complete before the jets can fly with passengers again. Low-cost carrier Southwest is the largest 737 MAX operator in the world and was betting heavily on the aircraft to expand its business before the coronavirus pandemic sapped demand. It still wants the jets, with about 15% better fuel-efficiency than other 737 models, but will closely monitor customer response, executives said Thursday.<br/>

Ryanair is not looking to order additional 737 MAX jets from Boeing at the moment but does expect opportunities to acquire cheap aircraft to appear at some stage, a senior executive said on Thursday. “Over time one can see that there will be a way that aircraft are going to be cheaper ... and we will capitalise on that at some stage,” Eddie Wilson, CE of Ryanair, the largest of the Ryanair Group’s four airlines, said the Skift Aviation Forum when asked about possible additional MAX orders. “But at the moment it’s just the ... existing order that we have,” said Wilson, referring to 135 firm orders and 75 options for Boeing’s 737 MAX.<br/>

Hong Kong start-up Greater Bay Airlines has approached leasing companies to acquire its first aircraft with which it hopes to begin operations as early as next summer, Cirium has learned. The airline, which according to Cirium data is backed by Donghai Airlines owner Bill Wong Cho-bau (known as Huang Chubiao in mainland China), is in talks with ICBC Leasing to lease three Boeing 737-800s, according to multiple sources in Hong Kong. A source at a major non-Chinese lessor says it was approached by the airline, but did not have suitable aircraft. Sources say lessors have plenty of 737-800s available to lease in the current market. China’s Kunming Airlines is seeking proposals from lessors for the lease of three used 737-800s to compensate for 737 Max delivery delays. Two lessors with access to the RFP say there are around 20 bidders and that some 100 aircraft have been offered. Greater Bay Airlines’ interest lies only with the older generation -800, not with the newer 737 Max, grounding of which was lifted by the US FAA on Wednesday. That preference for the older model would be in line with Donghai Airlines, which launched services in 2006 and has a fleet of 23 Boeing 737-800s, according to Cirium data. The airline, a subsidiary of Shenzhen East Pacific Group, has its base in Shenzhen and hubs at Changchun and Zhengzhou.<br/>

Two pilots of the Pakistan International Airlines ATR 42-500 which crashed near Havelian four years ago were among cockpit crew initially suspected of holding dubious licences, but accident investigators have concluded their qualifications were valid. Pakistan’s civil aviation authority initiated an examination of pilot licensing records last year, finding evidence of irregularities in the conduct of ground examinations. “This rendered a suspicion about licenses of few of the pilots who appeared in the exams during a specified period of time,” says the Pakistani aircraft accident investigation board. “Their attendance [or] physical participation could not be verified from the records.” Three pilots – a captain and two first officers – were in the cockpit of the PIA ATR at the time of the fatal Havelian accident on 7 December 2016. One of the first officers, occupying the right-hand seat, was undergoing route training while the other, already qualified, was in the jump seat. The inquiry says the captain’s and the jump-seat first officer’s names appeared on the initial list of pilots whose licences were considered suspicious. As part of its licensing scrutiny the civil aviation authority has sought clarification from individuals, and reconciled a number of cases – and the inquiry states that the authority “removed” the names of the two pilots from the list, on the basis that standards were followed. “All three pilots held valid licences, and medical fitness,” the investigators add. “They fulfilled the desired qualification criteria, and met the related formal prerequisites…which were required for the event flight.”<br/>

AirAsia X widened its quarterly loss, as it remained grounded amid the coronavirus pandemic. For the quarter ended 30 September, the carrier, which recently unveiled a restructuring plan, reported an operating loss MYR498m ($122m), a staggering seven-fold increase year on year. It was also higher than the previous quarter’s MYR323m operating loss. Revenue for the period plunged 94% year on year to about MYR60m, as the carrier reported zero revenue from scheduled passenger operations. AirAsia X remains grounded amid international travel restrictions aimed at curbing the pandemic’s spread. Revenue from cargo operations and charter flights — amounting to some MYR8.5m — were not enough to stave off any further revenue loss. Meanwhile, expenses for the period fell 53% to MYR487 million, due mainly to its ongoing grounding, which has reduced flying activity. AirAsia X widened its net loss to MYR308m, compared to MYR230m the same period last year.<br/>

Rex has finally signed off on a A$150m investment that will allow it to launch flights between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane from March next year. The airline will draw down an initial $50m in January next year from PAG Asia Capital and the deal will see the APAC organisation nominate two directors to sit on the board. Rex’s executive chairman Lim Kim Hai said, “I look forward to tapping into the experience and expertise of PAG’s nominated directors whose professionalism I have grown to respect over the last few months of extensive discussions.” The pair first revealed they were in advanced negotiations in September but today’s news means the airline can confirm it will fly Sydney–Melbourne with three aircraft on 1 March 2021, before ramping up to five by Easter. “Once the initial services are well established, we aim to progressively grow our fleet to cover all the major cities in Australia,” said Lim.<br/>

Sir Richard Branson has finally confirmed he’s acquired a 5% stake in the new Virgin Australia, days after the airline exited administration. Speculation had suggested he was keen to maintain the 10 per cent holdings he held in the business prior to its administration but has settled for less while also agreeing on a new licensing deal for his corporate branding. On Tuesday, new owners Bain formally took over the company and on Wednesday, Jayne Hrdlicka started her first day as the new CE, promising to stop Virgin becoming a low-cost carrier. Virgin Group founder Sir Richard said in a short statement issued on Thursday evening, “I’m delighted that Virgin Australia is ready for take-off once more, soaring out of administration, with a clear future direction to fly towards.<br/>

Virgin Australia has been given interim regulatory approval to cooperate on Alliance Airlines on more than 40 regional and short-haul routes, in a move that has drawn the ire of at least one regional competitor. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says it took the view that the intended partnership would “likely result in a public benefit”, while Virgin Australia, which recently exited voluntary administration under new ownership, reestablishes a pared-back domestic network. In late October, Virgin Australia applied to the ACCC to cooperate with Alliance Airlines, arguing that it was difficult to serve a number of regional points with a reduced fleet post-administration. It added that ceding market share in the regional sector to rival Qantas will result in higher fares, a reduction in flight options, as well as less favourable terms for customers. Under the cooperation, Virgin Australia and Alliance will be allowed to share information, as well as agree on service capacity and schedules. In the longer term, both carriers could be allowed to share revenue on existing and new routes. A large number of the routes under the partnership originate from Brisbane, including two international cities — Hoinara in the Solomon Islands, as well as Papua New Guinea capital Port Moresby. <br/>