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United receives FAA approval for first Starlink-equipped planes

United Airlines said Monday that the FAA has approved its first Starlink-equipped aircraft type and that the first commercial flight is planned for May. United said the FAA issued a Supplemental Type Certificate for the Embraer 175 and the airline expects the first commercial flight to be onboard a United Express Embraer 175. The Chicago-based airline plans to add the high-speed Wi-Fi technology to around 40 regional jets per month and expects all 300 planes of the type will be completed by the end of the year. United said it will work with Elon Musk's Starlink to secure FAA approval to install Starlink on more than 16 United aircraft models. The FAA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Starlink Wi-Fi service will eventually be available on all its flights, the airline said earlier this year, and will be free for MileagePlus members. Last year, United signed a deal with Starlink to provide in-flight internet services across its entire fleet of over 1,000 aircraft over the next several years. Starlink, a unit of SpaceX, has deals with multiple airlines to provide in-flight internet services as it seeks to expand its reach beyond consumers and households in rural areas around the world with little to no internet access.
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China Airlines firms A350-1000 order

Taiwanese carrier China Airlines has firmed its preliminary agreement for 10 Airbus A350-1000s, which it will use for long-haul services to Europe and North America. The airline unveiled the initial agreement in December last year, part of a split order with Boeing. It has not given many details about the A350 order – including the delivery dates – but chair Kao Shing-Hwang says the aircraft will complement its A350-900s and “play a key role in transforming our long-haul operations”. The carrier is updating the cabins of its -900s through a deal which involves interiors specialist Recaro. All A350-1000s are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines. China Airlines is taking a total of 24 widebodies for the modernisation effort. Alongside the A350-1000s it has opted for 10 Boeing 777-9s and four 777-8 freighters. It has valued the overall agreement at $11.8b.
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Virgin and Qatar back North Queensland SAF facility

Virgin and Qatar Airways will become “key partners” on a project to create a new SAF production facility in North Queensland. The factory, located in the Charters Towers Region, aims to convert bioethanol derived from sugarcane grown onsite into aviation fuel. Virgin said the facility is expected to produce 96m litres of SAF each year, which will be supplied to nearby airports, with deliveries expected from early 2029. The project is being overseen by industry collaboration Renewable Developments Australia. Its managing director, Tony D’Alessandro, said it would deliver real, long-term emission reductions while building a new industry in regional Queensland. “Our Ethanol to Jet SAF facility in the Charters Towers Region will be a fully integrated production site, generating sustainable fuel from bioethanol derived from locally grown sugarcane,” he added. “Additionally, by repurposing by-products of the SAF production process to generate renewable power onsite, we are setting a new benchmark for sustainability in aviation fuel manufacturing.”
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Ontario judge condemns WestJet's attempt to include gag order in settlement offer

Andrew Douglas says he was just fighting for compensation when he took WestJet to small claims court — instead, the dispute has resulted in what's believed to be a landmark decision that can now be pointed to by all air travel passengers battling it out with the airlines. "Beware of seniors, they have a lot of time on their hands," the 72-year-old Ottawa man told Go Public, referring to the fact that his dispute with WestJet began more than three years ago. In her decision on costs earlier this month, the judge condemned WestJet's insistence that Douglas sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in order to get compensation the airline owed him after he was incorrectly not allowed to board a flight to Cuba. Nobody in Canada tracks how often NDAs are used, but experts in the airline industry say imposing confidentiality clauses in settlement offers is an increasingly common tactic, which is why this recent decision is so important. An advocate for air passengers says the decision sends an important directive to the airline industry. "Finally, a judge calls out an airline for trying to gag passengers," said Gábor Lukács, founder and president of the Air Passenger Rights group. "That is a stern warning … they cannot get away with it."
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US Army withholds report on key helicopter safety system use, senators say

The U.S. Army has refused to turn over a 2024 report detailing why it has routinely failed to use a safety system known as ADS-B on helicopter flights around Reagan Washington National Airport, Republican and Democratic senators said on Monday. An Army Black Hawk helicopter did not have ADS-B operating during a routine training mission when it collided with an American Airlines regional jet on January 29, killing 67 people. ADS-B, or automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast, is an advanced surveillance technology that transmits an aircraft's location. Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz, a Republican, and Senator Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the panel, had demanded the Army turn over the report by Friday. "It is completely unacceptable that our request has been repeatedly ignored and that the Army continues to obstruct the committee’s investigation into this horrific accident," Cruz and Cantwell said in a joint statement. Cruz last week at a hearing pressed Army General Matt Braman, the director of Army aviation, on its failure to use ADS-B on most flights. "I want to encourage the Army right now to revisit that policy and to revisit that policy today," Cruz said. "If today another accident occurs over DCA (Reagan National) with another helicopter that had ADS-B out turned off, the Army will have very direct responsibility for that." Civilian airplanes must use ADS-B, but the Federal Aviation Administration in 2019 gave the military an exemption in rare circumstances. Senators say the military has rarely if ever used ADS-B in Washington training flights.
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Bookings on U.S.-bound routes down about 10% amid tariff backlash: Air Canada

Bookings on cross-border routes are down significantly across the industry amid Canadians' new-found aversion to U.S. destinations, Air Canada says. At its annual shareholder meeting Monday, the company said its decreased cross-border flight bookings for the next six months were "comparable" to an industry-wide drop of about 10%. Most Canadian carriers have reduced capacity to the United States while bolstering their domestic or transatlantic offerings, as customers turn their back on travel to a country whose president has set off a continental trade war and threatened annexation. A weak loonie has also discouraged stateside excursions because the conversion rate has been particularly unfavourable for Canadians over the past four months. Flair Airlines commercial vice-president Eric Tanner says cross-border trips will comprise just 12% of the budget carrier's network in winter 2025-26 versus 20% over the past few months. "Overall, we’ve seen more customer and consumer uncertainty. Obviously the U.S. tariff issue is getting a lot of attention, and we’ve certainly seen an impact from that and made network moves to adapt accordingly," Tanner said in a phone interview.
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oneworld welcomes Fiji Airways to global alliance

Today, oneworld Alliance welcomes Fiji Airways (FJ), the flag carrier of Fiji and the South Pacific, as its newest member airline. Beginning April 1, 2025, FJ customers will have access oneworld benefits, including around 700 airport lounges, priority checking, and the ability to earn Tier points and redeem miles. The airline has adopted the oneworld member American Airlines (AA) AAdvantage travel rewards program as its frequent flyer program. The Nadi International Airport (NAN)-based airline flies a fleet of 23 aircraft to 25 destinations in 14 countries, including Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney, and Dallas-Fort Worth hubs. Fiji Link (PI), the official domestic low-cost carrier of Fiji, also joins oneworld as an affiliate airline, adding regional connections to Tonga, Samoa, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. “The introduction of Fiji Airways marks an important strategic step for our alliance as we connect even more people, places and experiences than ever before,” said Nat Pieper, CEO of oneworld. “Fiji Airways customers will benefit from oneworld’s global reach of more than 900 destinations, priority services and premium lounge access, and we’re thrilled to welcome them to the oneworld family.”
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Virgin Atlantic warns on signs of slowdown in US demand for transatlantic flights

Virgin Atlantic has reported a profit for the first time since the pandemic, but warned of early signs of a slowdown in demand for transatlantic flying from US consumers. The airline, which is majority owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, on Monday reported an annual profit before tax and exceptional items of GBP20mn for 2024, up from a loss of £139mn a year earlier. The airline last reported a profit in 2016. It has been slower to recover from the pandemic than its biggest rivals such as British Airways owner International Airlines Group, which has had two years of record profits built on high demand for travel across the Atlantic, particularly the most expensive seats. “2024 was a turning point for Virgin Atlantic,” said CE Shai Weiss. Like BA, it is highly reliant on lucrative transatlantic routes between the US and Europe. Oli Byers, CFO, said Virgin Atlantic had “started to see some signals that US demand had been slowing” over the past few weeks. “We think that is quite a natural reaction to general consumer uncertainty,” he said. Byers added that the declines were from a high base, and the airline still hoped to increase its revenue from US bookings in 2025.  IAG shares closed down about 7% following the comments from Virgin Atlantic. Analysts have questioned whether the boom in transatlantic flying could be hit by the worsening economic picture in the US, as well as tensions between the US and Europe, including over tariffs. The biggest US airlines warned this month of a slowdown in domestic demand, but said it had not spread to international trips yet. Last week the CEs of Europe’s three biggest long-haul airline groups — IAG, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa — said they were monitoring booking patterns, but had not seen a decline in demand for transatlantic travel.
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Air traffic controller arrested after ‘incident’ at Washington DC area control tower

An air traffic controller was charged with assault and battery after an “incident” at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday night, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority told CNN in a statement. Damon Marsalis Gaines, 39, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was charged with assault and battery, according to the airport. “The employee is on administrative leave while we investigate the matter,” the FAA told CNN. The arrest comes at an airport under scrutiny since January’s mid-air collision between a military helicopter and a passenger plane. The day after the arrest, another close call happened when military jets flying to nearby Arlington National Cemetery set off a collision alarm in a Delta Air Lines plane that was taking off.
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ITA Airways co-locates with Lufthansa Group carriers at Frankfurt and Munich

ITA Airways is continuing its integration into the Lufthansa Group, with the Italian flag carrier switching terminals at Frankfurt and Munich airports. ITA has moved from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1 at Frankfurt, with departures now operating from gate areas A and B within the terminal. And at Munich the airline has moved from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2. It means that all of ITA Airways and other Lufthansa Group airlines are now operating from the same terminals at all of the group’s hubs, with this already having been the case at Brussels, Rome, Vienna and Zurich. Lufthansa Group officially acquired a 41% stake in ITA Airways earlier this year, and reciprocal earn and burn opportunities are already in place for Volare and Miles & More FFP members. ITA has initiated its withdrawal from SkyTeam, and plans to join Star Alliance in the first half of 2026.
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Qantas launches Darwin–Singapore flights

Qantas on Sunday launched its new service from Darwin to Singapore, marking the carrier’s first direct flights between the two destinations in 19 years. The 737, VH-VZY, departed Darwin at 3:06pm on Sunday, 30 March, as flight QF113 and landed in Singapore at 6:03pm local time. The service will operate four times per week using 737s before switching to five times per week in October using newer A220s. “By adding over 70,000 new seats to the Singapore mega hub, this new route will open up more options for international visitors to make Darwin the first stop on their Australian itinerary,” Cam Wallace, the airline’s international CE, said. “2025 is a year of growth for Qantas and Jetstar in the NT, with over 180,000 extra seats and two new routes including Singapore with Qantas and the Gold Coast with Jetstar later this year.”
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EasyJet opens base at Southend airport

EasyJet has opened its 10th UK base at Southend airport, creating 140 jobs for pilots and cabin crew. The airline said basing three A320neo aircraft at the Essex airport will support a total of around 1,200 jobs. Some 122 flights per week will be operated by the carrier from the airport this summer, more than twice as many as last year, to leisure destinations across Europe and north Africa. The number of routes will double from 10 to 20. It will serve Barcelona, Lanzarote and Salzburg from October. EasyJet stopped operating flights at Southend airport in September 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. It resumed operations in May 2022 without basing planes there until Monday.
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Boeing’s 737 Max legal battles continue as CEO prepares to testify this week in Washington

Boeing will be busy this week, as the company’s CE gears up to testify before a Senate committee and as Boeing attorneys work through civil and criminal cases related to the 737 Max. CEO Kelly Ortberg is scheduled to be the lone witness testifying on 2 April during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transformation. Titled “Safety First: Restoring Boeing’s Status as a Great American Manufacturer”, Ortberg is to discuss and answer questions about actions Boeing has taken to “address production deficiencies and safety issues identified after the Alaska Airlines flight 1282 incident last year”, the committee says. Boeing has been under intense regulatory scrutiny following that incident, which involved the in-flight failure of an Alaska Airlines’ 737 Max 9’s mid-cabin door plug. Investigators traced the incident to failure by Boeing staff to install four bolts intended to secure the plug. The pilots landed the jet safely and without serious injuries to passengers or crew, but the event made clear Boeing had not adequately addressed quality and safety problems at its Renton manufacturing site. The hearing comes as Boeing’s legal struggles continue. Last week, judge Reed O’Connor with US District Court for the Northern District of Texas set a 23 June start date for Boeing’s criminal trial on charges that it defrauded the Federal Aviation Administration during the 737 Max’s certification.
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Asiana expands China flights by 20% amid visa exemption boom

Asiana Airlines is expanding its China routes to accommodate the surge in travelers following recent visa exemption policies between China and South Korea. The airline announced Monday that it will add 26 weekly flights to its China routes during the summer flight schedule, which runs until October 2025. This expansion brings the total to 164 weekly flights across 18 routes, or a 20% increase. Asiana also resumed daily operations on its Incheon-Chengdu and Incheon-Chongqing routes on Sunday, both of which had been suspended. Chengdu, home to the Giant Panda Base where visitors can see Fubao, the giant panda born in Korea, is also renowned for its cuisine. Chongqing, one of China’s four direct-administered municipalities, is the birthplace of hotpot and features key tourist attractions such as Hongya Cave and the Three Gorges. The airline is additionally increasing frequencies on other China routes. The Incheon-Dalian route will now operate daily morning flights, with three additional afternoon flights to a total of 10 per week. The Incheon-Yanji route will increase from five to seven weekly flights, with another flight to be added on April 28th, 2025, bringing the total to eight.
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Play starts transferring Airbus fleet after securing Maltese AOC

Icelandic budget carrier Play has secured a Maltese air operator’s certificate from the country’s civil aviation regulator. Play has been seeking the authorisation as part of a strategy to diversify its operations, and capitalise on fleet-leasing opportunities. The carrier is setting up a subsidiary – Play Europe – to which it will hive off part of its fleet of 10 Airbus A320neo-family jets. These will be used to operate services between European mainland cities, on behalf of other airlines. It has already transferred an initial A321neo (TF-AEW) which has been placed on the Maltese register as 9H-PEA. Play says it has reached an agreement under which it will lease three Maltese-registered aircraft to an Eastern European airline.
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Airbus getting better at managing supply chain disruptions, senior executive says

Disruptions to the supply chain that are delaying aircraft deliveries are lessening and Airbus is getting much better at managing it, a senior company executive said on Monday. The European planemaker, which delivered 766 jets last year, roughly in line with its target, has been facing industrial delays due partly to problems in the aerospace supply chain, which have also hampered the recovery of embattled U.S. rival Boeing. "I view it as getting better but it will take a bit longer before it comes back to where it was before the pandemic." Right now the main bottlenecks are engines, he said, speaking at a hotel at Taiwan's main international airport in Taoyuan. "We're not getting the engines that we need to deliver the aircraft." De Saint-Exupery was in Taiwan to sign an order with the island's larger carrier China Airlines for 10 Airbus A350-1000s. In December, China Airlines said it would split an order for its long-haul fleet renewal between Boeing and Airbus and buy freighters from the U.S. planemaker in a closely watched deal worth almost $12b. China Airlines said it would buy 10 Boeing 777-9 aircraft and 10 Airbus A350-1000s as well as four 777-8 freighter aircraft for $11.9b at list prices, with deliveries for the new aircraft starting from 2029. "We were competing for the entire order but we knew it was going to be difficult," de Saint-Exupery told Reuters. "The airline is a (Boeing) 777-300 operator so their decision has some sense."
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Aeroflot and regulator dispute inquiry findings over Superjet's fatal bounced landing

Both Aeroflot and Russian civil air transport regulator Rosaviatsia have dissented over investigators’ conclusions regarding the fatal hard landing and fire which destroyed a Superjet 100 nearly six years ago. Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee says the Aeroflot crew had “insufficient knowledge and skills” to control the jet in direct law, to which it had reverted after being affected by “atmospheric electricity” about 5min after take-off from Moscow Sheremetyevo on 5 May 2019. The crew returned to Sheremetyevo, conducting an approach to runway 24L, but the captain’s poor pitch control – including “repeated disproportionate alternating movements” of the side-stick – resulted in the aircraft’s bouncing and touching down hard three times. The second and third impacts caused structural failure, tank rupture and the ignition of spilled fuel as the aircraft slowed. Forty-one of the 78 occupants, including one of the five crew members, did not survive. Investigators attribute the crew’s lack of skill to the “ineffectiveness” of approved pilot-training schemes for handling emergencies, including the reversion to direct law – even though the training programmes met minimum federal regulations.
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Flight turns around after passenger tries to force plane door open over Indian Ocean

A flight carrying more than 200 people from Bali, Indonesia to Melbourne, Australia was forced to turn around after a passenger tried to force open a plane door as the aircraft flew over the Indian Ocean, low-cost carrier Jetstar said in a statement Tuesday. “We had an aircraft return to Denpasar (Bali’s airport) last night after a disruptive passenger attempted to open one of the aircraft doors and was abusive to our crew,” the airline said of the incident on Monday night, March 31. The passenger was removed from the aircraft by local authorities in Bali, it added. According to a video circulating on social media, a woman in the back of the aircraft managed to lift the door’s handle before a warning signal alerted the crew, the captain said over the plane speakers. Data from flight tracking site FlightRadar24 showed that the plane turned around over the Indian Ocean about an hour into the flight. Jetstar did not say exactly how many passengers and crew were on the plane traveling from Bali to Melbourne
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