American Airlines has appointed Oneworld alliance chief executive Nat Pieper to be its new chief commercial officer, reporting to the US major's chief executive Robert Isom. Pieper in February 2024 had been named chief executive of Oneworld. Prior to taking the role with the alliance, Pieper was senior vice-president of fleet, finance and alliances at Alaska Airlines which, like American, is a Oneworld member. He has previously held executive positions at Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines. American vice-chair and chief strategy officer Steve Johnson has run the US major's commercial operation since the June 2024 departure of Vasu Raja, who had until that month been the carrier's chief commercial officer. Johnson will focus solely on his role as vice-chair and strategy chief when Pieper assumes the chief commercial officer role on 3 November. "Nat is a world-class, results-oriented leader who has achieved tremendous success throughout his entire career," Isom states. "He is well-versed in the airline business, having led teams across multiple disciplines at Northwest, Delta and Alaska. Nat's experience and expertise, coupled with his recent work with us leading Oneworld, make him incredibly well-suited to lead our commercial team." Oneworld tells Cirium that a search for a new CEO "will begin immediately".

Brunei's Department of Civil Aviation has revised its aviation requirements to adopt the Civil Aviation Administration of China's (CAAC) airworthiness standards for aircraft design, paving the way for the type certification of Chinese-manufactured Comac aircraft. Under the country's type acceptance regulations, the aircraft type to be certified is required to have prior approval from regulatory authorities, namely the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, the United States Federal Aviation Administration or Transport Canada. The latest amendment now puts CAAC on par with the respective regulators, recognising it as "acceptable State of Design’s NAA [National Aviation Authority]", according to a revision dated 18 October. "Requirements [have been] revised to reflect the adoption of CAAC and the recognition of the associated Export Certificate of Airworthiness or equivalent document issued by CAAC," details Brunei's aviation authority. The type certification of Comac C909 is expected to follow Brunei's adoption of CAAC's design standards, clearing a key regulatory hurdle for startup carrier GallopAir. "This is not only a major milestone for GallopAir but also a historic breakthrough in aligning Brunei's aviation sector with China's civil aviation frameworks," states its chief executive Cham Chi. GallopAir signed in September 2023 a letter of intent with Comac to purchase 30 aircraft, with confirmed orders for 15 C909s and 15 convertible orders for the regional jets and C919s. Chi tells Cirium that following this, it expects to launch commercial operations in the first quarter of 2026, with plans to launch flights from Brunei to Dili in Timor Leste. There are currently no direct flights between the two countries, while Qantas and Citilink operate daily flights from Darwin and Bali, respectively. Batik Air Malaysia and Airnorth operating twice-weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur and Darwin, respectively, Cirium schedules data shows.

Finnair intends to restore eight grounded Airbus A321s to service by the end of October, following a suspension triggered by a seat-cover fire-safety issue. The airline halted operations of the jets on 13 October after learning that "impact of washing on the fire protection of the seat covers had not been verified in the required manner". That resulted in around 70 cancellations affecting 11,000 passengers. The airline brought in two leased aircraft to reduce disruption. Around 1,700 seat covers are now being replaced across the fleet. One of the aircraft has already resumed flying and six more scheduled to do so within a week. "We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience and disruption this has caused," states Pekka Korhonen, head of technical operations at Finnair. "Safety is the foundation of everything we do." The affected seat covers were manufactured by a long-standing Finnair partner and based on specifications provided by the original manufacturer, neither of which the carrier names. "The covers have been washed in accordance with the information received from the original seat manufacturer," it states. "Seats are typically washed every two years." The new covers are being sourced from multiple suppliers, it adds.