American Airlines has launched a reciprocal codeshare agreement with Morocco’s largest airline, Royal Air Maroc, to add new options for travel to Morocco starting Dec. 26.
American’s customers will be able to purchase select Royal Air Maroc flights to Casablanca, Morocco (CMN), which will provide seamless connecting service to Marrakech, Morocco (RAK). These flights are available for sale now for travel beginning December 26. The codeshare will expand to additional cities across the African continent in early 2020.
“Royal Air Maroc is a premier African carrier and their hub in Casablanca is perfectly situated to offer our customers convenient connections between North America and over 40 destinations throughout Africa,” said Vasu Raja, American’s Senior Vice President of Network Strategy. “With Royal Air Maroc’s upcoming entry into the oneworld® alliance and our recently announced service between Philadelphia and Casablanca, we are committed to creating more opportunities for our customers to visit unique destinations in Africa.”
Beginning in early 2020, the codeshare agreement will provide American’s customers access to popular destinations in Africa, including:
Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire (ABJ)
Accra, Ghana (ACC)
Lagos, Nigeria (LOS)
Luanda, Angola (LAD)
Monrovia, Liberia (ROB)
The codeshare will also allow Royal Air Maroc customers to connect to new destinations throughout American’s domestic network beginning Dec. 26.
American will begin seasonal service to CMN June 4 as the only U.S. carrier with nonstop service to Morocco, which will be operated three times per week. Flights are available for purchase now.
An Allegiant Air MD-83 passenger jet takes off from the Monterey airport
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) needs to improve its oversight to address maintenance issues at Allegiant Air, the 11th largest U.S. carrier, according to a report seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
The U.S. Transportation Department’s Inspector General, in a 31-page report sent to Capitol Hill on Tuesday but not yet made public, said FAA inspectors since 2011 have not “consistently documented risks associated with 36 Allegiant Air in-flight engine shutdowns for its MD-80 fleet or correctly assessed the root cause of maintenance issues.”
Ultra-low cost Allegiant, a unit of Allegiant Travel Co, said it had not yet see the report and did not have an immediate comment.
The FAA said in a letter attached to the report that it agreed with eight of the nine recommendations made by the inspector general and partially agreed with the remaining one.
Allegiant carried about 14 million passengers last year, serving 122 U.S. cities and Puerto Rico on 450 flight routes.
The inspector general opened the probe in May 2018 after a “series of in-flight engine shutdowns, aborted takeoffs, and unscheduled landings” raised concerns about maintenance practices.
The report said in-flight shutdowns at Allegiant “continued until July 2018 and were only resolved four months later when Allegiant Air retired the last of its MD-80 fleet.” Allegiant now flies an all Airbus fleet.
The report found in-flight engine shutdowns forced 21 Allegiant aircraft to return or divert to other airports between 2014 and 2018, but that regulators did not properly track engine shutdown risks.
A 2015 maintenance provider failure at Allegiant Air demonstrated “severe violations that represent unacceptable safety risks or could result in catastrophic outcomes should also warrant a more stringent oversight approach,” the report said.
The inspector general said the airline’s maintenance provider failed to insert a cotter pin on a critical flight control component that put some 30,000 passengers at risk.
The report said in August 2015, a pilot “almost lost control of this aircraft during takeoff when it unexpectedly tried to lift off prematurely” but was able to abort takeoff and land safely.
After inspectors proposed a 30-day suspension for Allegiant Air’s maintenance provider, FAA regional officials reduced the suspension to a compliance action. FAA inspectors closed out six of eight compliance actions before ensuring Allegiant Air actually took any corrective actions, the report found.
It also found that FAA does not provide inspectors with guidance and comprehensive training to ensure Allegiant Air takes appropriate corrective actions.
The FAA said it had “initiated compliance actions at Allegiant Air that have improved safety for the flying public.”
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Richard Chang and Bill Berkrot)
Airline passengers walk next to an Allegiant Air commercial flight near an air traffic control tower operated by Serco nc. at the Ogden-Hinckley Airport in Ogden
(Reuters) – The Canadian Transportation Agency said on Tuesday Onex Corp will need to amend its by-laws to meet the country’s ownership rules related to its proposed C$3.5 billion buyout deal of Canada’s second-largest carrier WestJet Airlines.
The agency has sought the amendment to Onex’s by-laws to ensure that matters related to WestJet are voted where a majority of Canadian directors are present.
WestJet said it is in the process of reviewing the determination.
Air Canada had challenged Onex Corp’s proposed acquisition of WestJet Airlines, on grounds that the deal may not meet the country’s ownership rules. (https://reut.rs/2LHqQvk)
Air Canada had argued that the likely presence of Onex co-investors such as foreign wealth funds and carriers, and “the opaque nature” of the deal to buy WestJet through company subsidiary Kestrel Bidco, will make it harder to ensure compliance with ownership laws.
Under Canada’s Transportation Act, carriers must be Canadian and controlled by Canadians in order to hold a domestic licence.
Shareholders of WestJet Airlines in July voted in favor of the Onex deal.
Under Canadian rules, foreigners cannot own more than 49% equity in a Canadian airline. The rules further restrict a foreign airline and any single foreign owner from controlling more than a quarter of voting interests in a Canadian carrier.
Onex did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.
(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Uttaresh.V)
PRYCBK Delta airlines airplane preparing for landing in the blue sky at day time in international airport
Dec 11 (Reuters) – Brazil’s GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA said late Tuesday that Delta Air lines Inc has sold more than 32.9 million shares it held in the company, a few months after the Atlanta-based airline announced its decision to exit stake.
Delta’s decision to sell its stake was expected, following its acquisition of a 20% stake in GOL competitor LATAM Airlines Group SA for $1.9 billion in September.
Delta did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
The deal with LATAM Airlines was Delta’s largest since it merged with Northwest Airlines a decade ago, and ended the Chilean carrier’s ties with American Airlines Group.
Delta’s deal with Latin America’s largest carrier would give it a bigger footprint in the region, where American Airlines has been leading the charts.
American Airlines confirmed in October it was negotiating a possible partnership with GOL, after a newspaper reported that the two companies were in contact the same day that Delta bought its stake in LATAM.
The structure or content of any potential partnership was unclear, Brazil’s Valor Economico said at the time.
(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
Investments as airline expands global network from DFW, improves customer experience
FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines has announced plans to build a new, larger catering kitchen at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). The new facility is part of American’s long-term growth strategy at its largest hub, and will allow the airline to better serve customers as it grows.
The investment reaffirms American’s commitment to grow and improve customer experience at DFW. In addition to the new kitchen, construction is also slated to begin ona a state-of-the-art aircraft parts distribution facility, which will help reduce maintenance delays by providing parts from DFW to American’s global network.
This year alone, American has expanded at DFW by adding 15 more gates and increasing the amount of flying to 900 daily departures. Additionally, the airline introduced a Flagship Lounge to serve premium customers travelling to international destinations. The growth is part of a larger strategy that will continue as American continues to invest in the operational efficiency and customer experience initiatives at DFW.
“DFW remains a great source of opportunity and growth for American,” said Cedric Rockamore, American’s Vice President of DFW of Hub Operations. “These investments will ensure we can continue to welcome the world to and through DFW for a very long time.”
Catering kitchen
American will build a new catering kitchen to support DFW’s current and future catering demands. The new facility will replace the existing catering kitchen, which was built in 1982 and is too small to support the airport’s growing operation. Construction on the new kitchen will begin in January 2020.
“In addition to more space, the new kitchen will provide updated equipment and efficiencies to improve our catering operation, which improves our reliability and provides a better experience for our customers,” Rockamore said.
The $100 million construction project will take about 18 months to complete and supports the first phase of development for DFW’s new Terminal F. This phase includes four new gates and customer areas located on the southeast corner of Terminal D and is scheduled to open in 2022.
The kitchen will continue to be staffed and operated by LSG Sky Chefs, the airport’s largest catering vendor.
Central Fulfillment Center and cargo mail facility
American plans to break ground in January 2020 on a new Central Fulfillment Center that will house aircraft parts for line maintenance support across our network. The 390,000-square-foot facility will enable the airline to fulfill request for parts up to 75% faster, minimizing potential maintenance delays. Locating this facility at DFW enhances our ability to distribute parts for overnight maintenance throughout the network.
This project will also include a facility for cargo mail, a key revenue stream and narrowbody product for American Airlines Cargo. The expanded space will allow the Cargo team to optimize fleet, network and market demands for transporting mail.
Terminal expansion
To support the demand for additional growth, DFW continues to develop new and optimize existing terminal spaces. These efforts include two new gates and customer areas at Terminal E, which American will utilize to support summer 2020 flying, and the continued development of Terminal F.
With the first phase of development for Terminal F underway, details of the additional phases will be developed as American and DFW continue to study infrastructure demands and customer needs.
Emirates, the world’s largest international airline and Interjet Airlines, one of the fastest growing airlines in North America, have announced an enhanced interline agreement, which is set to open new routes and destinations for passengers travelling between Mexico, the Gulf and Middle East and beyond.
With a single ticket, Emirates’ passengers can now seamlessly connect via Mexico City onto Interjet flights to Leon/Guanajuato, Culiacan, Cancun, Chihuahua, Guadalajara, Merida, Monterrey, Puerto Vallarta, Tampico, Tuxtla Gutierrez, Tijuana and Villahermosa. Similarly, Interjet’s customers will be able to travel with great ease to Emirates’ destinations within the Middle East, Spain, South East Asia, the Far East and North Africa.
“We’re pleased to establish a partnership with Interjet Airlines, allowing Emirates passengers to benefit from increased choice, flexibility and ease of connection to different cities within Mexico and to regional international points beyond. This partnership further demonstrates our commitment to Mexico for the long run, as we continue to look at ways to build our operations in the market to best serve our customers,” said Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Chief Commercial Officer.
“While the interline agreement is only the start of our collaboration, we’re looking forward to explore more mutual opportunities and a wider scope of partnership in the near future,” he added.
Emirates’ partnership with Interjet started in April 2019 with a one-way Interline agreement, allowing passengers from Emirates’ 12 US gateways to travel to Mexico City on Interjet flights. With the expanded partnership agreement, Emirates’ passengers can now tap into Interjet’s strong domestic presence in Mexico and access 12 destinations beyond Mexico City. The enhanced agreement with Interjet Airlines also provides Emirates’ customers choice of over 15 regional international destinations beyond Mexico City.
“Since our initial interline agreement in April 2019, Interjet’s relationship with Emirates has truly been a success,” said Julio Gamero, Interjet’s Chief Commercial Officer. “This enhanced agreement, provides travelers from both airlines access to a broader network not only with more flight choices, but for Emirates customers, access to more of Mexico with our many domestic connections from Mexico City. When you combine this with seamless reservations, one-stop check-in with baggage checked to the final destination, more legroom between seats and Interjet’s outstanding on-board service, it’s easy to see why this agreement is a win-win for both airlines,” he added.
Starting 9 December 2019, Emirates will launch its new daily service from Dubai (DXB) to Mexico City International Airport (MEX), via the Spanish city of Barcelona (BCN). Effective XXX 2019, Interjet customers can start booking their trips through Emirates’ website, Online Travel Agencies (OTA’s) or travel agents, benefiting from the convenience of holding a single ticket with a single baggage policy.
PARIS, Dec 5 (Reuters) – Airbus must hand a record number of aircraft to customers in December to meet delivery goals, company data showed on Thursday, and is all but certain of winning an annual order race against Boeing.
The European planemaker has been facing production snags in its best-selling A321neo jet, due in part to the introduction of a complex new flexible cabin, but has said it is confident of meeting a goal of 860 jets in 2019, revised down from 880-890.
To reach that target it must deliver 135 jets in December, beating a previous record of 127 December deliveries by 6%.
Airbus delivered 77 aircraft in November to reach 725 for the year so far, according to Thursday’s progress report.
Airbus has a track record of achieving a late surge in deliveries, though it is also working to spread deliveries more evenly over the year in future to smooth earnings and avoid quality problems that can creep in when it is working flat out.
Whether or not it meets targets, Airbus is set to regain the crown as the world’s largest commercial plane producer this year as U.S. rival Boeing approaches nine months without deliveries of its 737 MAX, grounded after two crashes.
Boeing is expected to jump back into the lead next year as projected deliveries include 737 MAX jets parked during the grounding, while remaining ahead on larger jets, but the timing of the 737 MAX return to service depends on global regulators.
Airbus is also on course to win an annual order contest between the plane giants after booking orders for 222 aircraft in November, driven mainly by last month’s Dubai Airshow.
Emirates ordered 50 A350-900 jets at the show as part of a fleet shake-up that also saw the world’s largest wide-body operator cut a remaining order for A380s and reduce its requirement for Boeing 777X jets, while adding the Boeing 787.
Airbus sold a total of 940 jets in January-November, or 718 after cancellations, leaving it well ahead of Boeing, whose year has been derailed by the grounding of the 737 MAX. In the latest period for which data is available, Boeing sold 180 jets in the first nine months or 45 after cancellations.
The latest figures were released days after Airbus won a sale of 50 A321XLR jets to United Airlines, narrowing the potential market for a mid-market plane that Boeing has been studying, while slowing those discussions during the MAX crisis.
United also delayed delivery of 45 A350s by several years to 2027 and beyond. UK analysts Agency Partners said on Thursday that this could put pressure on A350 output in coming years.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Giles Elgood and Andrew Heavens)
DUBAI, Nov 22 (Reuters) – The board of Rolls-Royce must urgently address its engine performance problems, the head of Dubai’s Emirates said, as the world’s largest buyer of wide-body jets weighs up who will power its order of Boeing 787 jets.
Emirates agreed to buy its first 787 Dreamliners in a last-minute, $9 billion deal at the Dubai Airshow on Wednesday, without specifying what engine would power it, while reducing its order for the U.S. planemaker’s delayed 777X model.
The 787’s, which can take either Rolls or rival GE Aviation’s GEnx engines, will be delivered to Emirates in 2023, a year later than a tentative purchase plan outlined two years ago.
That gives Rolls-Royce more time to sort out the durability issues in its Trent 1000 engines before Emirates believes a realistic competition can be held.
“Rolls have had a number of wake up calls and they really need to sort themselves out. I think the alarm clock has gone off a number of times,” Emirates President Tim Clark said at the Dubai Airshow.
“If I were on the board, I would be looking to recognise the issues… and deal with them immediately, meaningfully, forcefully and drive change,” he told reporters.
A spokeswoman for Rolls-Royce said it was proud that Emirates had chosen to order 50 Airbus A350s, powered by Rolls’ Trent XWB, in a deal announced this week.
“We are confident in the reliability and performance of our engines, and in our commitment to meeting the high standards expected by our customers,” the spokeswoman said.
“(Emirates) is one of the largest operators of our Trent engines in the world, and we are committed to maintaining our strong relationship with them.”
The Rolls-powered version of the 787 has been hit by repeated technical problems, leading to share price pressure and drawing criticism from airlines.
The engine maker’s chief executive Warren East said on Nov. 7 that the company would spend more on parts and replacement engines to reduce the time aircraft are grounded while turbine blades are replaced.
Clark said that the situation at Rolls was “salvageable” if board acted quickly and accepted the issues they were having.
“With the reputation that (Rolls) has for quality engineering and its excellence in the past, they must restore that as the gold standard,” he said.
He said his comments should not be read as a criticism of any individuals including East.
Clark has been a vocal critic of engine makers, saying in September he wouldn’t take new planes unless their engines were ready and said he was “a little bit irritated” by delays at Rolls and GE.
GE powers the 777X, which Emirates cut its order of on Wednesday after Boeing pushed back its entry into service, partly due to issues with its engines.
Clark said engine makers should only offer technology that was mature enough to work reliably in the demanding conditions of the Gulf, adding: “Don’t use (airlines) as guinea pigs”.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher, writing by Alistair Smout, Editing by Louise Heavens)
MONTREAL/WINNIPEG, Nov 19 (Reuters) – Thousands of workers at Canada’s largest railway went on strike for the first time in a decade on Tuesday, disrupting the shipping of commodities and sparking calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government to intervene.
About 3,000 unionized workers of Canadian National Railway, including conductors and yardmen, hit picket lines after both sides failed to resolve contract issues at a time of softening demand for freight service. They continued talks on Tuesday in Montreal amid union concerns over fatigue, safety and ensuring that workers’ breaks are not reduced.
Canada, one of the world’s biggest exporters of farm products, relies on CN and Canadian Pacific Railway to move canola, wheat and other commodities over vast distances from western farms to ports. Crude oil shippers and the mining industry also depend on the railways.
The strike comes at an awkward time for Trudeau’s government, which relies on smaller parties to pass legislation and faces criticism from western provinces about its failures to get new oil pipelines built. Trudeau has said he is not reconvening Parliament until Dec. 5, and the government cannot start the process to force workers back on the job until then.
Andrew Scheer, leader of the Conservatives, the second-largest party in Parliament, and Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage each separately urged Trudeau on Twitter to recall Parliament immediately.
The Canadian mining industry, which accounts for more than half of annual rail freight revenues, depends on CN to transport supplies to company sites and products from their operations.
“This strike will result in a severe reduction or elimination of railway capacity and will trigger the closure of mines with concurrent layoffs of thousands of employees beginning in a matter of days,” said Pierre Gratton, president and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada.
“SCREECHING HALT”
Industry groups ranging from the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters to propane and fertilizer groups said Ottawa needed to step in to limit damage to the economy.
The BC Council of Forest Industries, which represents the sector in British Columbia, expressed concerns about the disruptions caused by the strike for rail transport.
“Ninety percent of the forest products we produce are sent to export markets in North America and around the world,” Susan Yurkovich, the body’s president, said.
“A disruption of this critical transportation network will adversely impact BC forest companies at a time when we are already facing significant challenges and increasing competition from around the globe”, Yurkovich added.
CN and CP also collectively handle nearly all grain movement in Western Canada, the country’s crop belt, split roughly evenly between the railways.
The stoppage “has an impact before it even begins because companies pull back sales in anticipation of a strike,” said Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association, whose members include Cargill Ltd, Richardson International and Viterra Inc.
CN’s shipments of hazardous goods such as crude are likely to come to a “screeching halt” even if the railroad’s management steps in to limit freight volumes, said Kent McDougall, chief commercial officer at Torq Energy, which loads crude oil in Western Canada onto trains operated by both CN and CP.
A strike may temporarily constrain CN’s volumes, but will not likely have a meaningful long-term impact on the company’s earnings, Credit Suisse analysts said in a research note on Monday, adding that Ottawa has historically been quick to intervene.
Shares of Montreal-based CN were down 1%, while the benchmark Canadian share index was up slightly.
Canadian Labour Minister Patty Hajdu and Transport Minister Marc Garneau said they are monitoring the CN strike situation closely after meeting with the two sides on Monday.
CN said in a statement that it was “disappointed” at the strike action. CN’s service in the United States will continue operating despite the strike.
The company said on Friday it would cut management and union jobs as it grapples with an economic slowdown.
Rail workers with the Teamsters held their last strike in 2009, when locomotive engineers walked off the job for five days, the union said.
(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg Additional reporting by Kelsey Johnson, David Ljunggren and Steve Scherer in Ottawa and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Sandra Maler and Leslie Adler)
FILE PHOTO: A number of grounded Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft are shown parked at Victorville Airport in Victorville, California
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Boeing Co <BA> this week will present to the board of its largest 737 MAX customer, Southwest Airlines Co <LUV>, an overview of its plans to return the grounded jet to service, a spokesman for the airline said on Monday.
The meeting on Wednesday and Thursday comes after Southwest Chief Executive Gary Kelly said last month that the airline could look next year at diversifying its fleet beyond Boeing 737 aircraft. Budget-friendly Southwest has structured its business model around flying only 737 aircraft for the past 50 years and bet its entire growth strategy on the 737 MAX, the latest iteration of Boeing’s narrowbody workhorse.
With the MAX parked since mid-March following crashes on Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines that together killed 346 people, Southwest has had to scale back its growth plans and cancel north of 100 daily flights, wiping $435 million from its earnings between January and September.
Kelly, who is also Southwest’s chairman of the board, invited Boeing to address the timing and logistics of dozens of 737 MAX deliveries that it was supposed to receive this year. The meeting will also give Boeing a chance to defend its product and the steps it is taking to restore public confidence after the two fatal crashes, sources said.
“It’s an overview of the Return to Service Plan, timing, and plans moving forward,” Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz said. “Just a good chance for our Board to hear directly from Boeing, but nothing more to it than that.”
It is not the first time that Boeing has presented to a regularly scheduled board meeting, he said.
Southwest had 34 MAX jets in its fleet when global regulators grounded the aircraft in March. The airline was supposed to receive 41 more 737 MAX planes before the end of the year, but most of those deliveries are now scheduled for 2020.
Hundreds of undelivered 737 MAX jets are parked at Boeing facilities in Washington state, where the planemaker is facing a delivery logjam once the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration gives approval for them to fly commercially.
While Boeing is targeting approval in December, the FAA has pushed back on any fixed timeline.
Southwest has removed the 737 MAX from its flying schedule until early March. The airline has said it will need one to two months to train its pilots and prepare the jets for flight once regulators approve new software and pilot training.
(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Chicago; Additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Dubai; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
