Southwest Airlines suddenly grounds 34 planes in its fleet

Southwest Airlines had to abruptly ground 34 Boeing 737-700 aircraft on Thanksgiving Eve when the low-fare behemoth discovered that the maintenance paperwork related to the grounded planes was not in compliance with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety directives. Per an FAA mandate, Southwest was required to do immediate detailed visual inspections of the 34 grounded aircraft. A Southwest spokesperson said the carrier voluntarily followed the FAA mandate. (www.bizjournals.com) さらに...

Plane in holding pattern takes side trip around Mt. Rainier

An Alaska Airlines pilot stuck in a holding pattern due to fog at Sea-Tac Airport near Seattle on Tuesday decided to take the monotony out of the delay by getting clearance to circle Mount Rainier as a treat for his passengers. Flight 401 from Las Vegas was forced to travel in a circle over Lewis County south of the airport before its pilot took the side trip around the highest mountain in the Cascade Range, as reported by KOMO and the Seattle PI. (www.msn.com) さらに...

Oman Air plans to order Airbus A350XWB instead of Boeing 787-10, sources

Last June, chief executive officer Abdulaziz Al Raisi has revealed plans of the Gulf carrier about renewing its widebody fleet. The national carrier of Oman wants to replace some of its aging A330s with new devices. The state-owned company thinks that the next-generation widebody aircraft with higher capacity are best-suited to the airline's expanding network. Oman Air management is currently working on a dozen possible new route launches next year. After nearly two years of evaluation, the… (airlinerwatch.com) さらに...

Southwest Airlines suddenly grounds scores of planes due to aircraft weight issues

Southwest Airlines abruptly grounded 66 Boeing 737 aircraft in its fleet last Wednesday after issues with the carrier’s aircraft weight records were discovered. In an internal memo to employees on the matter that was obtained by the Chicago Business Journal, Southwest said: “Today (Wednesday) we discovered the weights being sent to our Dispatch Operation did not match our other weight records for a number of aircraft in the fleet. As a result, and out of an abundance of caution, we have stopped… (www.bizjournals.com) さらに...

Delta has apologised after handing out 'creepy' Diet Coke napkins to passengers encouraging them to give their number to their 'plane crush'

Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola have apologised for handing out "creepy" Diet Coke napkins to passengers on board flights. Travellers have been sharing images of the napkins, which feature an array of messages encouraging fliers to flirt with fellow passengers, on Twitter. "Be a little old school. Write down your number and give it to your plane crush. You never know..." reads one napkin. Another says: "Because you're on a plane full of interesting people and hey...… (www.msn.com) さらに...

Unruly passenger must pay WestJet for fuel costs

A United Kingdom man who was removed from a WestJet flight after becoming disruptive has been ordered to reimburse the airline for the fuel used to bring him back to Calgary. On Jan. 4, David Stephen Young was on a flight from Calgary to London when he was refused access to the aircraft washroom while the seatbelt light was activated. He forced his way into the washroom and after returning to his seat became aggressive towards other passengers and the flight attendants. The aircraft then… (www.msn.com) さらに...

United pilot to passengers: We're turning around because our plane's too big

The text alert from United Airlines sounded ominous. "Your 2:13 p.m. United flight to Chattanooga is delayed because of unforeseen circumstances,'' it said. "This is an unusual situation and we're working hard to solve it. We value your time and we're sorry for the inconvenience.'' Unusual was putting it mildly. And the "situation" wasn't news to the 50 passengers on Flight 5277 on Oct. 16. They received the alert after the problem arose,… (www.usatoday.com) さらに...

A Boeing 777 intended for Zimbabwe Airways has now a new owner due to delayed payment

The wide-body registered 9M-MRL, had already been painted with the livery of Zimbabwe Airways. But it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Kansas City instead of Harare on November 16 for a new customer. The “Z” and “W” letters on the livery were removed to hide the name of the company. The new owner of the device is the U.S carrier Jet Midwest, according to rumors. The initial plan was to acquire four Boeing 777-200ER that were removed from the fleet of Malaysia Airlines. But the airline has managed so… (airlinerwatch.com) さらに...

Southwest Air Ends an Era With Delivery of Last 737 Next Gen

Southwest Airlines Co.’s dedication to an all-737 fleet entered a new phase Sunday as the carrier closed out deliveries of one generation of the jet and turned attention to the next. From now on, the airline will receive only 737 Max planes, the latest iteration of the narrow-body aircraft that is Boeing Co.’s largest source of profit. Southwest operates the biggest 737 fleet. Southwest first ordered 63 of Boeing’s 737-700s in 1993, serving as the launch customer for the so-called Next… (www.yahoo.com) さらに...

United Joins JetBlue With $30 Bag Fee

The $30 bag fee is gaining traction across U.S. airlines as summer travel winds down and carriers look to boost revenue to offset higher fuel prices. United Continental Holdings Inc. increased the charge for passengers’ first checked bag by $5 on Friday, matching a move by JetBlue Airways Corp. earlier in the week. The fee changes apply to United tickets purchased Aug. 31 and later. The move by United, the No. 3 U.S. airline, bolsters an industry push for more revenue from items other than… (www.bloomberg.com) さらに...