LATAM Airlines will terminate its membership in the Oneworld alliance 1 May, the airline disclosed in a 31 January filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. LATAM had disclosed it would leave the Oneworld alliance sometime in 2020 shortly after Delta Air Lines’s 26 September 2019 announcement that it had invested $1.9 billion in the Chile-based airline, representing a 20% stake. Delta, a member of SkyTeam, pursued the deal after a Chilean court in May 2019 blocked a proposed joint venture between LATAM and fellow Oneworld alliance member American Airlines. Delta executives said in the Atlanta-based airline's 14 January fourth-quarter earnings call that planned codeshares with LATAM and its affiliates in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador are likely to receive regulatory approval in those countries in the first quarter of 2020, and that regulatory approval of codeshares in Brazil and Chile are expected later in 2020. Also in January, Delta added 13 daily domestic nonstop flights to Miami that the airline said will be timed to maximise connectivity with LATAM, which is co-located with Delta at Miami International airport. Oneworld benefits for LATAM customers will be offered on alliance member flights up to and including 30 April, Oneworld states. LATAM became a Oneworld alliance member in 1999, through Chilean component carrier LAN Airlines at that time. Over the 20-year membership, other component carriers based in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru joined Oneworld. The LAN carriers eventually rebranded themselves into LATAM Airlines Group in 2012.

Source: Cirium

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has authorised investigators to probe allegations of maladministration, corruption or unlawful conduct at South African Airways dating back to at least 2002. Ramaphosa’s order to refer the allegations to a special investigation unit has been disclosed in a declaration in the official government gazette. The declaration states that the airline or the South African state may have suffered losses, as a result of alleged practices, which could be recovered. No specific allegations are detailed in the document. Procurement and contracting of Airbus aircraft, as well as maintenance, are among the matters being referred to the investigation unit, the presidential declaration states. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Airbus. The in-depth authorisation covers the sourcing of services to support the implementation of the loss-making airline’s turnaround plan, and the scrutiny of any payments which were “not fair, competitive, transparent, equitable or cost-effective”.
Ramaphosa’s declaration – dated 20 December 2019, but published in the gazette on 31 January 2020 – also points to potential concerns of maladministration relating to travel rebate benefits, payments by the carrier to vendors, and other areas. South African Airways has been operating under business rescue while practitioners develop a business plan intended to assist the crippled airline’s recovery.

Source: Cirium

Iran Air is playing down an incident involving one of its Airbus A319s which ran into rough ground after landing at Kermanshah early on 1 February. The airline states that the aircraft – arriving as flight IR283 from Tehran Mehrabad at about 06:00 – did not veer off the runway, but says its nose-wheel travelled onto grass as the aircraft vacated. Iran Air attributes the incident to visibility being “reduced to a minimum” from a blizzard. Meteorological data from Kermanshah shows the visual range for runway 29 at 06:00 was down to 300m, with fog and snow showers. Video images circulating on social media, purporting to show the immediate aftermath, indicate passengers disembarked the A319 via airstairs. While there is no indication of serious damage, Iran Air says the twinjet will be inspected by engineers and undergo any necessary repairs. Cirium fleets data lists the aircraft involved (EP-IEQ) as a 2002 airframe powered by CFM International CFM56 engines, originally delivered to Air China and subsequently operated by carriers including Rossiya. It was one of three A319s of similar origin which were acquired as a batch by Iran Air last year.


Source: Cirium