Airline News

**harrybarracuda** · 03-03-2020, 01:24 PM

British Airways will cancel more than 400 flights, while budget carrier Ryanair is cutting capacity to and from Italy.

BA’s affected flights are between 16 and 28 March from Heathrow airport to cities in Europe, although one daily British Airways flight to New York’s JFK airport will be cut.

Around 26 British Airways Cityflyer flights between London City Airport and airports in Germany and Italy across the same time period are also cancelled due to coronavirus fears.

BA said today: “We will be contacting customers on cancelled flights so we can discuss their travel options, including rebooking onto other carriers where possible, full refunds or booking with BA for a later date of travel”.

The UK’s flag carrier airline is trying to shore up demand by scrapping all change fees on flights booked in the next two weeks, so “customer can book with confidence”.

Rival carrier Ryanair will cut around 25 per cent of flights between UK and Italy – the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in Europe.

Flights booked for travel between 17 March and 8 April may be affected.

Coronavirus: British Airways and Ryanair cancel hundreds of flights as demand sinks - CityAM : CityAM

**harrybarracuda** · 10-03-2020, 06:44 PM

A Thai Airways A330-300 has nearly ripped the tail off a Gulfstream IV private jet during a taxiing accident in Vientiane, Laos.

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The accident occurred in darkness on 9 March as the A330 (HS-TEU) prepared to operate flight TG575 on the Vientiane-Bangkok Suvarnabhumi route, according to Thai Airways.

“When the pilot took the plane out to the taxiway, its wing collided with the tail of a small personal plane.”

Images on social media show that the outboard leading edge of the A330’s left wing suffered damage.

As for the private jet, M-YWAY, the entire tail plane was nearly torn off, coming to rest on the right-side horizontal stabilizer. The front landing gear also appears to have been severely twisted in its mounting.

The Thai aircraft was carrying 79 passengers and 13 crew, all of whom are safe, says the airline.

Cirium fleets data indicates that HS-TEU is managed by Thai and was delivered in March 2010, though it only entered service in June 2011.

The private jet, M-YWAY, is managed and operated by Blue Sky Leasing of the Cayman Islands. It entered service in 2002 for Philip Morris, and was obtained by Blue Sky in 2010.

https://www.flightglobal.com/thai-a330-shears-tail-off-gulfstream-iv-in-vientiane/137157.article

**Lostandfound** · 11-03-2020, 12:49 AM

79 passengers on an A330. Times really are tough in the airline business

**Troy** · 11-03-2020, 02:26 AM

^ Times are going to get a whole lot tougher if this coronavirus continues unabated for a few more months.

Plenty of airlines running on the verge of collapse at the moment. This is going to hit Thai Airlines big time...

**Takeovers** · 11-03-2020, 04:57 AM

Originally Posted by Troy

Times are going to get a whole lot tougher if this coronavirus continues unabated for a few more months.

Continue? Except possibly in China it has not even started yet.

I heard a german top expert not quite but almost suggest yesterday. Let the disease spread among the children and healthy adults, they will survive. Quarantine at home people over 60/65 and groups at risk, people with heart disease, lung disease and diabetes. Once the wave of infections has gone through the general population those risk groups are at a lower risk of catching the infection. The health service can then cope with the severe cases.

I am almost 70 and only hope I can do my planned visit of Brownsville Texas end of April, before the big camp down happens.

**OhOh** · 11-03-2020, 11:44 AM

Is Germany virus clear, are citizens arriving in the US/returning from infected US allowed entry?

Does your health insurance cover you for the virus?

**lom** · 11-03-2020, 12:28 PM

Originally Posted by Troy

Plenty of airlines running on the verge of collapse at the moment.

Well, they won't be in a hurry to get their 737MAX..

**Takeovers** · 11-03-2020, 01:23 PM

Originally Posted by OhOh

Is Germany virus clear, are citizens arriving in the US/returning from infected US allowed entry?

Does your health insurance cover you for the virus?

Health insurance covers it.

Our infection rate is still low but there are cases all over the country. Sports frequently without spectators.

Flights to the US are still going. I just hope they still go end of next month. This was going to be the trip of my life. Watching rockets being built, the type that will get people to Mars. I just don't want this to be the last flight of my life.

**OhOh** · 11-03-2020, 07:16 PM

Originally Posted by Takeovers

the last flight of my life

Sneak onto a practise run. Sitting on top of an engine testlng rocket would be some experience.

Originally Posted by lom

they won't be in a hurry to get their 737MAX..

Or any Airbus's either.

**harrybarracuda** · 11-03-2020, 10:23 PM

Originally Posted by OhOh

Is Germany virus clear

HoHo: Spends days trawling the interwebs for the most obscure and outlandish pro-chinky or pro-Vlad bullshit you could ever find, but ask him how many Germans have coronavirus and his Bing hand seizes up.....

**harrybarracuda** · 11-03-2020, 10:29 PM

The Eurocrats have finally realised that airlines are flying empty flights because they are scared to lose their slots.

Very fucking ecofriendly.

The European Union will suspend a rule requiring airlines to run most of their scheduled services or else forfeit landing slots, to give carriers some breathing space as the coronavirus crisis deepens, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has said.

The decision came as the world's airlines scrambled to deal with the worsening virus epidemic and Italy's lockdown, which have hammered passenger numbers and forced the cancellation of thousands of flights.

Ms Von der Leyen, European Commission president, said the suspension of the rule would do away with "ghost flights" where airlines fly almost empty planes simply to keep their slots.

"The Commission will put forward, very rapidly, legislation," she said. "We want to make it easier for airlines to keep their airport slot even if they do not operate flights in those slots because of the declining traffic.

"This temporary measure helps our industry but it also helps our environment. It will relieve the pressure on aviation industry and in particular on smaller airline companies."

The EU chief did not say how long the suspension of the rule would last.

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2020/0310/1121312-virgin-atlantic-virus/

**OhOh** · 12-03-2020, 02:26 AM

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

ask him how many Germans have coronavirus

It's not a problem where I live. No reported local cases and Makro offer free testing and hand gel every time you enter the store.

No requirement for toilet tissue either. Females use wild plant leaves for their more robust cleansing requirements.

Rural Asia, where wild animals are considered a welcome culinary addition and the local Hong Thong a cure all/disinfectant.

A couple of deaths recently, both elderly males, stamped to death by wild Elephants.

**Takeovers** · 12-03-2020, 02:47 AM

Latest number ~1000 infected right now in Germany. But they do expect that 60-70% of the population will be infected eventually.

**harrybarracuda** · 12-03-2020, 11:45 AM

So not only are they "committed" to the flying coffin that is the 737MAX, RyanAir are doubling down by "committing" to the cheap chinky shit as well.

Not that I was ever going to fly that airline anyway.

In 2011, Ryanair placed a memorandum of understanding for a 200 seat COMAC C919 variant. In an interview with Simple Flying on Tuesday, the airline’s CEO Michael O’Leary said that the low-cost carrier is still committed to the COMAC program.

<snip>

While aircraft have set list prices, airlines often get a healthy amount sliced off of the final cost. This is true for Ryanair with the Boeing 737 family. However, a challenge arises with the COMAC C919, with O’Leary commenting:

“There’s not that much opportunity to lower the cost of aircraft there. There’s no particular new technology, it’s a glorified A320, where 85% of the costs are made up of components, the avionics and all the rest of it.” Adding that “the labor doesn’t form a huge proportion of the cost of an aircraft”.

Ryanair Still Committed To Chinese Built Aircraft Amid Airbus Boeing Duopoly - Simple Flying

At least he's honest enough to admit it's an A320 knock off.

**OhOh** · 12-03-2020, 12:20 PM

It will good to see how they survive his company's business model.

**Bettyboo** · 12-03-2020, 01:31 PM

Well, with the Chinese copy saving on "component, the avionics and all the rest of it" - what could possibly go wrong???

I f'kin hate the Ryan Air owner - I flew the airline once, never again - absolute cattlefest.

**harrybarracuda** · 12-03-2020, 07:59 PM

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

Well, with the Chinese copy saving on "component, the avionics and all the rest of it" - what could possibly go wrong???

I f'kin hate the Ryan Air owner - I flew the airline once, never again - absolute cattlefest.

I never had you down as a low rent chav Boo.

Oh, hang on....

**Troy** · 13-03-2020, 02:22 AM

If the coronavirus is gonna kill then let's pray it includes Ryanair...

I have never even thought of flying with them....but their marketing strategy and business model needs to die, die die

...Newquay West London....

WTF

**NamPikToot** · 13-03-2020, 02:53 AM

Originally Posted by Troy

If the coronavirus is gonna kill then let's pray it includes Ryanair...

Seconded but sadly the fuker that runs it will have squirreled enough away to be OK, i fooking hate the "bringing air misery to the masses" wanker.

**OhOh** · 13-03-2020, 01:32 PM

Originally Posted by Troy

Plenty of airlines running on the verge of collapse at the moment.

Apparenty not Ryan Air. #1 or 2 for profit margin (High number good) and debt/equity (low number good).

An upcoming shakeup in European skies - Leeham News and Analysis

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

RyanAir are doubling down by "committing" to the cheap chinky shit as well.

As opposed to getting great discounts on "promised" Airbus and "unflyable/uncertified" Boing Boing ....

Originally Posted by Troy

their marketing strategy and business model needs to die, die die

Highest profit and lowest debt is what all MD'S are paid to deliver.

Originally Posted by NamPikToot

"bringing air misery to the masses" wanker.

A precise clear offer is extended, some believe the pain is acceptable. Who are we to judge free decisions of the highly educated, financially aware and APP savvy, wester consumers? First time brown/yellow Asian hut dwellers is understandable, but the sophisticated, white masters, should know better.

**OhOh** · 13-03-2020, 01:43 PM

A Year After The Second MAX Crashed Boeing Is Faced With Ruin

A Year After The Second MAX Crashed Boeing Is Faced With Ruin

"On top of the damage that misguided shareholder value policy caused to Boeing's will now come the effects of an unprecedented pandemic. Together they may well signal the end of a once great company.

On March 10 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed shortly after taking off in Addis Adaba. All 157 people on board died. It was the second crash of a Boeing 737 MAX airplane six month after Lion Air Flight 610 had crashed and killed all 189 people on board.

Exactly a year ago Moon of Alabama published its first piece about the MAX. At that time all MAX planes were grounded except in the United States. We described Boeing's shoddy implementation of the plane's maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) and concluded:

Today Boeing's share price dropped some 7.5%. I doubt that it is enough to reflect the liability issues at hand. Every airline that now had to ground its planes will ask for compensation. More than 330 people died and their families deserve redress. Orders for 737 MAX will be canceled as passengers will avoid that type. Boeing will fix the MCAS problem by using more sensors or by otherwise changing the procedures. But the bigger issue for the U.S. aircraft industry might be the damage done to the FAA's reputation. If the FAA is internationally seen as a lobbying agency for the U.S. airline industry it will no longer be trusted and the industry will suffer from it. It will have to run future certification processes through a jungle of foreign agencies.

Congress should take up the FAA issue and ask why it failed.

The MAX was developed and built as cheap as possible and not as safe as possible. Boeing cut corners and deceived its customers and regulators. Its management had only one thing in mind - the stock price of Boeing and its so called shareholder value.

All MAX planes, the 400 that existed at that time plus the 400 Boeing has since built are still grounded. The accident investigation reports for the Lion Air flight and the Ethiopian jet (pdf) make it clear that Boeing's penny wise but pound foolish MCAS implementation was the root cause of both accidents.

A reasonable fix for MCAS, which was first promise for April 2019, is still not working. A re-certification of the type is still months away. After pressure from the European regulator EASA additional fixes will have to be applied to wire bundles under the cockpit which in case of a short circuit could cause another crash of a plane.

There are still dozens of open court cases and criminal investigations against Boeing. It will have to pay more billions of dollars for compensations.

During the first two months of this year total orders for Boeing commercial planes were negative. There were 25 more cancellation, or conversions of multiple MAX orders to fewer 787 order, than total new orders. During the same time its competitor Airbus won net orders for 274 commercial jets.

Since a year ago Boeing's share price has dropped from $440 in February 2019 to today's opening price of $160 per share. The company has developed a serious cash flow problem. It is now drawing down all credit lines it has with its banks. It is cutting all noncritical spending, instituted a hiring freeze and limits overtime.
The commercial airline business is not the only part of Boeing which is in deep trouble. Its military and space programs have similar problems.

The root cause for all this is Boeing's shareholder value mentality:

This mad scramble for cash and the existential urge to “preserve cash in challenging periods” comes after this master of financial engineering – instead of aircraft engineering – blew, wasted, and incinerated $43.4 billion on buying back its own shares, from June 2013 until the financial consequences of the two 737 MAX crashes finally forced the company to end the practice. That $43.3 billion would come in really handy right now. The sole purpose of share buybacks is to inflate the stock price because they make the company itself the biggest buyer of its own shares. But those $43 billion of share buybacks cost the company $43 billion in cash. Now those buybacks have stopped because Boeing needs every dime of cash to stay liquid and alive, and shareholders, who’d been so fond of those share buybacks, are now getting crushed by the damage those share buybacks have done to Boeing’s financial position.

Boeing's new CEO David Calhoun, who had been on Boeing's board for ten years before taking up his new position, still does not get it. In a January media call he demonstrated no change of mind:

Calhoun said that nothing was wrong at Boeing. It is just that foreign pilots are incompetent, that Boeing workers lack practice and that its customers have no idea what they are talking about. Safety, he says, is just a prerequisite for shareholder value, not an inherent value in itself. Dividends must continue to flow, even when that requires the company to take on more debt. Boeing should not develop new airplanes as its derivatives of old ones can beat the competition. Calhoun also wants to stay in his new positions as long as possible even though he lacks the competence to fill it. In short - Calhoun said all the wrong things he possibly could have said.

In a recent interview with the New York Times Calhoun blamed his predecessor for Boeing's trouble:

In a wide-ranging interview this week, Mr. Calhoun criticized his predecessor in blunt terms and said he was focused on transforming the internal culture of a company mired in crisis after two crashes killed 346 people.
...
Before becoming the chief executive, he vigorously defended Mr. Muilenburg, saying in a CNBC appearance in November that Mr. Muilenburg “has done everything right” and should not resign. One month later, the board ousted Mr. Muilenburg [who walked away wih a USD 82,000,000] and announced Mr. Calhoun as his replacement.

Calhoun was forced to apologize after his attack on his predecessor. He has still to apologize for again blaming foreign pilots for crashing Boeing's badly engineered planes:

When designing the Max, the company made a “fatal mistake” by assuming pilots would immediately counteract a failure of new software on the plane that played a role in the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines accidents. But he implied that the pilots from Indonesia and Ethiopia, “where pilots don’t have anywhere near the experience that they have here in the U.S.,” were part of the problem, too. Asked whether he believed American pilots would have been able to handle a malfunction of the software, Mr. Calhoun asked to speak off the record. The New York Times declined to do so.

“Forget it,” Mr. Calhoun then said. “You can guess the answer.”

The stop of air travel due to the Coronavirus pandemic will cause many airlines to go bankrupt. Many more Boeing and Airbus orders will get canceled. Global air travel and orders for new airplanes will take several years to crawl back to the pre-pandemic level. Five workers at Boeing's widebody production line in Everett have come down with the Coronavirus disease and the production may have to be stopped.

The greedy mismanagement of previous years at Boeing brought the once leading company to the border of ruin. The pandemic, and the global depression it will cause, now make it certain that Boeing will have to ask for a gigantic government bailout or go into bankruptcy."

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2020/0...ruin.html#more

**harrybarracuda** · 13-03-2020, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by OhOh

Apparenty not Ryan Air. #1 or 2 for profit margin (High number good) and debt/equity (low number good).

They prove that "Where there's muck there's brass".

**Bettyboo** · 13-03-2020, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

I never had you down as a low rent chav Boo.

Once, 'Arry - once! I think it was something like Stanstead to Nice, a very convenient flight for a long weekend wining and dining with a sexy friend of mine who drove her way up from Spain and met me at the airport; much wine, much fine food, much sex, good times...

**OhOh** · 13-03-2020, 05:56 PM

Canada revising deal aimed at validating U.S.-certified planes

Transport Canada said on Thursday it is revising a deal that would have reduced technical work done by the Canadian regulator when validating Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified aircraft like the Boeing 737 MAX.

Canada validated the FAA’s March 2017 certification of the 737 MAX under a deal where such approvals by the United States are accepted by Canada and vice versa with some additional oversight.

The aircraft was grounded a year ago following two crashes involving the model, one in Indonesia in October 2018 and a second in Ethiopia in March 2019.

David Turnbull, director, national aircraft certification for Transport Canada, told an Ottawa hearing that he did not agree with the deal signed in November 2018 that would have gradually reduced the Canadian regulator’s technical workload when validating FAA-certified aircraft.

“The mandate of that activity is in the process of being rewritten,” he told the hearing on aircraft certification and the 737 MAX.

Turnbull did not specify why the deal would be changed.

The FAA has faced criticism for its practice of delegating a high level of certification tasks to manufacturers such as Boeing, and for its review of a safety system on the 737 MAX later tied to the crashes.

Turnbull said Transport Canada had planned to change the agreement, called the validation improvement roadmap, before the two 737 MAX crashes, although it was signed after the Lion Air crash on Oct. 29, 2018.

“It was signed, but I’m telling you here and now that the wording of that was planned to be altered prior to these accidents I might add,” he said.

The agreement would be discussed by the two regulators at a subsequent meeting, he said.

Canada revising deal aimed at validating U.S.-certified planes - Reuters

**crackerjack101** · 13-03-2020, 06:04 PM

Jetstar cancelling SIN - BKK flights offering partial or full refunds.

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