Australia's Alliance Aviation Services reported a 25% lift in underlying profit before tax to A$56.9 million ($37.2 million) for the year ended 30 June as it boosted the wet-lease operations of its Embraer 190-E1 fleet. Revenue for the year increased 40% compared to the 2022 fiscal year to A$517 million, mostly driven by a near-tripling of wet-lease revenue. Contract charter revenue was also higher, while ad hoc charter and scheduled services registered declines. Net profit after tax came in at A$36.5 million, reversing a A$5.2 million loss from the prior period. Alliance ended the year with cash and cash equivalents of A$22.3 million, up from A$20.9 million at the start of the year. “During the second half of the 2023 financial year we started to realise substantial financial return from the multi-year investment in the E190 fleet and related additional resources," says managing director Scott McMillan. Fleets data shows that Alliance operates 28 E190s, 23 Fokker 100s and 11 F70s, while it has two more E190s and three F70s in storage. The other E190s have been leased to Air North. In February the carrier announced it was purchasing 30 more E190s from AerCap that will be delivered between September 2023 and March 2026, up to 11 of which will be disassembled for parts. It also subsequently announced a deal to buy four more E190s from Azorra Aviation that will enter service between November 2023 and March 2024. McMillan says that the company is placing a greater focus on wet-leases, with a move away from ad hoc charters to a "contracted revenue model" of wet-leasing. Most of the airline's wet-lease work is conducted for Qantas, for which it has deployed 22 of its E190s. The Oneworld carrier has options to increase this to up to 30 aircraft. Alliance is also eyeing further organic growth from its contract charter work in the resources industry, with the addition of two new clients during the second half and "margin increases on contracts renewed during the year".

The US Federal Aviation Administration has warned that counterfeit traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) parts sold by a Russian company are circulating among US distributors that have been fraudulently labeled as Rockwell Collins parts, increasing the risk of near-misses in the skies. Every commercial, business or general aviation aircraft uses some TCAS hardware to both signal its presence and to help flight crews navigate air space. Commercial flights on aircraft with functional TCAS parts can still be at risk of collision with smaller aircraft equipped with inoperable or defective TCAS units. An unapproved parts notification published on 2 August by the FAA states that Russia-based Aviation Parts LLC since at least 2021 has been selling used units of TCAS transmitter/receiver parts labeled number 822-1293-XXX (TTR-921) with counterfeit identification plates that were "subsequently distributed by various brokers". European regulator EASA on 3 August also published an alert about the FAA unapproved parts notice. An FAA investigation begun in December 2021 found counterfeit units of these TCAS parts to be inoperable. "The FAA encourages aircraft owners, operators, manufacturers, maintenance organisations, parts suppliers, and distributors to inspect their aircraft and/or aircraft parts inventory" sold by Moscow-based Aviation Parts LLC, the regulator states. "If these articles are found within the existing inventory, the FAA recommends that they be quarantined to prevent installation until a determination can be made regarding their eligibility for installation, or replaced with FAA approved articles." The company now called Collins Aerospace in 2015 discontinued deliveries of that series of TTR-921 TCAS computers "due to obsolescence of key components". Collisions between aircraft are a risk even if all aircraft involved have functional TCAS computers. The FAA in March published safety guidelines for carriers to help flight crews minimise the risks of runway collisions. The agency is also investigating an in-flight near collision event between an Airbus A320 aircraft operated by Allegiant Air and a Gulfstream business jet that occurred on 23 July. Allegiant says that the airline "does not use Rockwell Collins TCAS parts in our fleet".

This article has been updated to include a comment from Allegiant Air

Members of German pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit have approved a collective bargaining agreement with Lufthansa Group, covering pay and working conditions into the second half of the decade. Under the agreement, basic pay will rise 18% over the next three and a half years for pilots at Lufthansa's mainline operation and Lufthansa Cargo, says the airline group. The deal on remuneration will run until the end of 2026, while the working conditions specified in the bargaining agreement expire a year later. Members of Vereinigung Cockpit approved the outcome of the negotiations in votes between 3 and 10 August, with 94.7% of those eligible taking part and 65.5% voting in favour, says the union. "I am pleased that our members have agreed to the negotiated collective bargaining agreement," states union president Stefan Herth. "After a year and a half of negotiations, we have reached a compromise. Today's acceptance of the collective agreement creates reliability for the pilots, Lufthansa and, last but not least, our passengers. "Building on this, we can now focus on challenges for Lufthansa Group and continue to work on the urgent improvement of the social partnership." Lufthansa Group's labour director Michael Niggemann says the deal will create additional operational stability and improve reliability for customers. "From an economic perspective, it is not easy for us to conclude a deal," he adds. "However, the long term creates planning security for Lufthansa Airline in the coming years, especially for the intended growth on long-haul routes. In addition, the collective agreement peacefully reached at the negotiating table strengthens the social partnership." As well as pay rises in stages through the lifetime of the agreement, pilots have secured improvements in variable remuneration based on the success of the company; more predictable free time and roster stability, including the fixing of 10 days off per month; and further growth through the absorption of former Germanwings pilots into Lufthansa. Both agreements remain subject to "editorial implementation and the approval of the responsible committees", Lufthansa notes.