South African Airways is poised to cut close to 20% of its workforce as part of an effort to restructure the heavily loss-making carrier. The airline employs nearly 5,150 personnel but says it has started a consultation process after embarking on an overhaul which "may lead to job losses". SAA puts the number of positions potentially affected at 944. "We urgently need to address the ongoing loss-making position that has subsisted over the past years," says acting chief Zuks Ramasia. She says the restructuring is intended to smooth the implementation of an accelerated turnaround strategy. SAA has been long mired in financial difficulties, with debt and liquidity problems, and insufficient revenue generation. "[Our] balance sheet has historically been weak and remains so despite recent substantial capital injections from the government," says Ramasia. "Our continued losses and reliance on government guarantees to borrow money from lenders, have increased the interest costs which impacts the operating cost of the business." The restructuring will cover all internal SAA divisions but will not include the Mango Airlines subsidiary or the maintenance arm SAA Technical. SAA says the consultation process could last until 11 January. It says it will aim to "minimise" the number of retrenchments and mitigate their effects. "These hard decisions were necessary to put SAA on a more sustainable footing while ensuring we continue to offer customers the best service," says Ramasia.

Source: FlightGlobal

Captured air-ground radio transmissions reveal that an American Eagle Embraer 175 crew encountered serious pitch-control problems shortly after departing Atlanta on 6 November. The aircraft – operated by Republic Airways, bound for New York LaGuardia as flight AA4439 – took off from runway 09L but entered a right-hand orbit and climbed to about 14,000ft. Its crew declared an emergency, seeking to return to the airport. "We're in a stalling situation," one of its pilots told an Atlanta tower controller. While the aircraft had been given clearance to stop its climb and descend at the crew's discretion, the pilot stated: "We can't pitch down. We're trying to descend here." The crew said the aircraft was transporting six occupants and was carrying 12,000lb (5,440kg) of fuel. Air traffic control offered runway 10 to the crew, and the tower controller told the pilots that they could have 08L or 09R if they preferred, advising that other traffic would be cleared "out of your way". About 8min after departure the aircraft began to descend, apparently under greater control, and the aircraft was vectored for runway 10. Tower controllers contacted the airport's emergency services, informing the fire chief that the crew was experiencing "severe flight-control issues" including pitch control, according to communications archived by LiveATC. The crew subsequently informed the tower that two systems had cut out and the aircraft was "in direct mode" but that it appeared to be under control. It was vectored to the runway 10 localiser, with an option to join the 09R approach. The aircraft landed on runway 10 about 20min after take-off.

Source: FlightGlobal

American Airlines has taken the grounded Boeing 737 Max out of its schedule until 5 March 2020. The announcement comes following Southwest Airlines' statement earlier in the day that it too would delay scheduling the aircraft until early March. The Dallas-based carrier had previously said that it expected the aircraft to return to service in January. It now anticipates cancelling "approximately 140 flights" per day through 4 March. The new March date is also just days short of the anniversary of the second of two 737 Max crashes which left the aircraft type grounded worldwide. The plane's Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) automated flight controls were linked to the fatal crashes of Indonesia's Lion Air 610 on 29 October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines 302 on 10 March 2019. 08 NOVEMBER, 2019 SOURCE: FLIGHTGLOBAL.COM BY: PILAR WOLFSTELLER SAN FRANCISCO
American Airlines has taken the grounded Boeing 737 Max out of its schedule until 5 March 2020. The announcement comes following Southwest Airlines' statement earlier in the day that it too would delay scheduling the aircraft until early March.

The Dallas-based carrier had previously said that it expected the aircraft to return to service in January. It now anticipates cancelling "approximately 140 flights" per day through 4 March.

The new March date is also just days short of the anniversary of the second of two 737 Max crashes which left the aircraft type grounded worldwide. The plane's Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) automated flight controls were linked to the fatal crashes of Indonesia's Lion Air 610 on 29 October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines 302 on 10 March 2019.

“American Airlines remains in continuous contact with the Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation and Boeing,” the airline says in a statement published on its website on 8 November. “Based on the latest guidance, American anticipates that the resumption of scheduled commercial service on American's fleet of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft will occur March 5, 2020. Once the aircraft is certified, American expects to run exhibition flights, or flights for American team members and invited guests only, prior to March 5.”

Source: FlightGlobal