The families of four passengers who died in the Air India flight 171 crash in Ahmedabad have filed a US lawsuit against Boeing and Honeywell, alleging that a faulty fuel cut-off switch led to the fatal accident on 12 June. The Lanier Law Firm, which acting for the plaintiffs, says it has filed a "product defect and negligence" lawsuit against the two companies in the Delaware Superior Court, alleging that they knew the locking mechanism on the cut-off switches "could easily be turned off inadvertently or could be missing altogether". Benjamin Major of Lanier states: "This defect is comparable to an auto manufacturer putting an unprotected emergency brake control next to a radio volume knob in your car. And unlike a car, restarting jet engines takes minutes of time, not seconds. Once these engines shut down, that plane basically became a 250,000-pound lawn dart." Details of the accident released by India's Air Accident Investigation Branch's preliminary report, based on flight and cockpit voice recorder data, indicate that the cut-off switches, which control the flow of fuel to the engines, "transitioned" from 'Run' to 'Cutoff' position" briefly after take-off, before being pushed back. The engines could not be restarted and the aircraft crashed just past the airport perimeter. Honeywell has been contacted for comment. Flight AI171 was operated with a Boeing 787-8, registered VT-ANB. Cirium fleets data shows that the aircraft was delivered new to Air India in 2014 and had amassed nearly 42,000 flight hours and 7,784 cycles prior to the accident.

Oneworld is exploring the possibility of adding an Indian carrier as a member, the airline alliance's chief executive Nat Pieper has indicated. Speaking on 18 September at a Wings Club event in New York, Pieper noted that Oneworld lacks a partner based in India, a country served by 10 of its 15 member airlines. Oneworld carriers American Airlines, Finnair, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian and SriLankan Airlines in the fourth quarter of this year are set to operate a total of 10,670 flights to and from India, Cirium schedules data shows. "[It is a] super-important market, growing like crazy," Pieper says. "We will be interested in continuing to canvas and see if anybody does make sense." In the fourth quarter, IndiGo is set to be the top India-based carrier by capacity, with 27.9 billion available seat-miles scheduled, followed by Air India (15.9 ASMs), Air India Express (7.3 billion ASMs) and Akasa Air (2.3 billion ASMs). Air India is a member of the Star Alliance, which includes United Airlines, Air Canada, Lufthansa and Avianca, among other carriers. IndiGo is not a member of any of the three major global airline alliances, the third being SkyTeam, which includes Delta Air Lines, Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Aeromexico and China Airlines, among other carriers. Delta, IndiGo and European operators Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic disclosed on 1 June at IATA's AGM event in Delhi that they had signed a memorandum of understanding that establishes a codeshare linking IndiGo's domestic network with Delta's international network. IndiGo had partnerships already in place with Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic. A week later, speaking at a Wings Club event in New York on 11 June, IndiGo chief executive Pieter Elbers noted that IndiGo works with "different types of alliances". "It used to be, actually, mostly Turkish [Airlines] and Qatar [Airways]," Elbers said on 11 June. "But more recently we've added, for example, Japan Airlines, [which] flies to India and connects on our domestic network. And now if a quality airline as Japan Airlines is putting their codes on our flights, I guess that's a confirmation of the quality of the product [we have]. "And last week, clearly, we have added an arrangement here with Delta, where we start to codeshare beyond Amsterdam and Manchester on Delta and Virgin, to make sure that our flows to the North Atlantic – which is one of the largest Indian flows, clearly – between India and the US, could also connect on those sides. " At the Wings Club event on 18 September, Oneworld CEO Pieper noted that adding a new alliance member "is always tricky". "You've got to make sure that it makes sense for not only the group as a whole, but then [for] each of the 15," Pieper says, adding that there is always the possibility that "one or two of the members are really going to take a financial hit" if the alliance adds a particular carrier. "We wouldn't do that" if that were the case, Pieper says. If Oneworld is unable to add an Indian carrier, member airlines can still expand their presence in the Indian market if those members "co-operate", Pieper says, listing joint aircraft operations, joint lounges and "creative marketing" among the potential benefits. "It's easiest if you've got a home carrier there," he admits.

Azul intends to raise up to $950 million through an equity rights offering under its reorganisation plan that would pave the way for it to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The carrier says in a disclosure statement filed with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York state that the plan is supported by several of its "key economic stakeholders", including lessor AerCap, bondholders and secured debtholders. Under the proposed equity raising, strategic investors United Airlines and American Airlines will subscribe for up to $300 million of the offering, while other parties have agreed to backstop the remaining $650 million. Azul will also enter an exit debt facility, either through the exchange of the $1.6 billion debtor-in-possession notes or through other loans or notes, and it " expect[s] to commence a robust marketing process in the near term to achieve better financing terms than those in the Exit Notes." "Azul has been able to leverage the chapter 11 process to effectively transform its businesses and simplify its balance sheet," it says, adding that it will eliminate over $2 billion in debt from its balance sheet, largely through restructuring aircraft leases with AerCap and other lessors. "At the same time, Azul expects to emerge from bankruptcy as a strong, competitive, and global airline that continues to make Brazil accessible." Azul calls the filing of the plan, along with a related disclosure statement, a "significant milestone toward the completion of Azul's financial and operational restructuring". Creditors are scheduled to vote on the plan on 14 October, and a confirmation hearing to approve it has been set for 11 December. Azul's 28 May Chapter 11 filing was precipitated by a combination of pandemic-driven losses, currency volatility, and Brazil's challenging macroeconomic environment. In August, Azul received court approval for its agreement with AerCap. Cirium fleets data shows that it manages 70 of the carrier's in-service and stored fleet of 225 aircraft. DAE Capital is its second largest lessor with 28 aircraft, while Falko has 20.