JAL to operate 14 A350s by early 2Q21 for domestic ops

Japan, US ground PW-powered B777s after United incident

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will issue an emergency airworthiness directive grounding all B777 widebodies powered by certain Pratt & Whitney engines, following an uncontained engine failure on a United Airlines B777-200 on February 20, 2021.

"After consulting with my team of aviation safety experts about yesterday's engine failure aboard a Boeing 777 airplane in Denver Int'l, I have directed them to issue an Emergency Airworthiness Directive that would require immediate or stepped-up inspections of Boeing 777 airplanes equipped with certain Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines. This will likely mean that some airplanes will be removed from service," FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said.

The directive has yet to be published as the FAA is still working with operators and manufacturers to finalise the details. Dickson indicated that it would entail shorter inspection intervals "for the hollow fan blades that are unique to this model of engine, used solely on Boeing 777 airplanes".

In a separate statement, Boeing said it recommended grounding all PW4000-powered B777s pending a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)...

Editorial Comment: The article has been updated regarding operations in South Korea, Egypt, and the United Kingdom. - 22.02.2021 - 15:26 UTC

JAL to activate corporate reorganisation in early 2Q21

Qantas, JAL to form JBA to stimulate market recovery

Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) and JAL - Japan Airlines (JL, Tokyo Haneda) have sought Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for approval for a proposed three-year joint business agreement (JBA).

"The Applicants wish to commence coordination under the Joint Business Agreement (JBA) and associated commercial agreements under which they will coordinate to rebuild operations between and within Australia/New Zealand and Japan for three years," the airlines said in their application.

The two carriers argued that by forming the time-limited JBA, they would deliver incremental benefits to the market during the post-COVID recovery phase. In particular, they said cooperation would allow them to operate a broader range of routes instead of "crowding the Sydney-Tokyo route with overlapping flying". The JBA would enable Qantas to accelerate the restart of its services from Sydney Kingsford Smith to each of Osaka Kansai and Sapporo Chitose, and from both Melbourne Tullamarine and Brisbane Int'l to Tokyo Narita. The airline said that the JBA could also stimulate the cross-Tasman market to New...

BA, Air Canada settle cartel claim with Deutsche Bahn

British Airways, Air Canada, and Deutsche Bahn (DB), the German rail operator, have reached an out-of-court settlement in a longstanding air freight price-fixing cartel dispute before the Cologne Regional Court. The parties agreed to keep details of the settlement, including the amount, confidential, DB said in a statement.

The case relates to the decision by the European Commission in 2010 to impose fines of almost EUR800 million (USD970 million) on 11 air freight operators for illegal agreements on fuel and security surcharges. The carriers coordinated their actions on surcharges for fuel and security without discounts over a six-year period (from December 1999 to February 14, 2006). Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt Int'l) (and its subsidiary Swiss (LX, Zurich)) received full immunity from fines under the Commission's leniency programme, as it was the first to provide information about the cartel.

In 2013, DB subsidiary DB Barnsdale AG brought damages claims of EUR3 billion (USD3.6 billion) in the Cologne Regional Court against the companies involved, including Air Canada, Air France-KLM Royal Dutch Airlines...