The planned relaunch of Icelandic low-cost carrier Wow Air has been delayed until December, according to a statement provided by the owner of the shuttered airlines' assets, though many questions about the effort's feasibility remain unanswered. The 8 October statement from Michele Ballarin, chair of Virginia-based USAerospace Associates, does not disclose any information about pending schedules, routes or destinations. USAerospace, which acquired Wow's assets after the carrier failed in March, did not answer additional emailed questions. When it announced its plans in September, USAerospace said it would relaunch the airline in October. Lack of transparency around those plans cast doubt on the project. “Wow Air intends to be fully operational in December with ticket sales hitting the market in November,” says the statement to FlightGlobal. “Significant market adjustments have taken place since the announcement of the re-launch of Wow Air. This contraction of air carriers has provided an increase in aircraft inventory previously not available in the late summer. Wow Air will take this opportunity to acquire and reconfigure our launch aircraft in the best interests of our customers and shareholders.” In the past few weeks, several low-cost carriers including Thomas Cook, France’s XL Airways and Adria Airways, ceased operations, leading to a stark reshuffling of the vacation-flight market. USAerospace's statement on 8 October adds that it “intends to place new aircraft orders with our OEM in Q2-2020.” In early September, USAerospace had reached an agreement to purchase the Wow Air brand, and said it plans to restart operations between Washington Dulles International airport and Keflavik International airport outside of Reykjavik. At the time, the organisation said it plans to operate hubs in both cities and seeks to focus on air cargo in addition to passenger operations. USAerospace chair Ballarin, who also goes by the name “Michele Roosevelt Edwards”, detailed the return plans during a press conference on 6 September in Reykjavik. The price of the agreement has not been disclosed, but she said her company had committed $85 million to get the airline back up and running. She also said Wow will begin operations with two aircraft, eventually expanding the fleet to 10 or 12 aircraft. A spokesperson at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), which operates Dulles airport, told FlightGlobal on 8 October that MWAA had an initial meeting with the new investors in August. She adds that the Authority has heard nothing from the airline since that time and is unable to give further information about potential operations from Washington DC area airports. Wow had operated 20 aircraft at the end of 2018, but cut its fleet almost in half to improve its financial position before ceasing operations and cancelling all flights on 28 March. The carrier launched in 2012 by operating single-aisle Airbus aircraft and later expanded its fleet with larger A330s.

Source: FlightGlobal

Concerns over the competition impact on the single-aisle aircraft market have spurred the European Commission to open an in-depth investigation into the planned tie-up between Boeing and Embraer. The regulator says it will particularly examine the situation in the 100- to 150-seat sector – in which the two airframers have "to a certain extent" aircraft types which address the same market. Boeing offers the 737 family in the single-aisle category while Embraer has the E-Jets, with both airframers having re-engined versions. The Commission says that while the US and Brazilian manufacturers both compete with Airbus – which has the A320 family and A220 in this sector – they "also seem to engage in head-to-head competitions". It also suggests Embraer has an influence over the broader single-aisle market, above 150 seats.
"Despite Embraer's comparatively small market share it…seems to exert some price constraint on the market leaders," says the Commission. "The transaction may therefore eliminate a small but important competitive force in the concentrated overall single-aisle market," it adds. Single-aisle types from Russia, China and Japan – including the Irkut MC-21, Comac C919 and Mitsubishi MRJ – face high entry barriers and these airframers are unlikely to replicate the "competitive constraint" which Embraer can flex, the Commission states. "With our in-depth investigation, we want to make sure that mergers in commercial aircraft do not significantly reduce effective competition on prices and product development," says European competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager. Boeing and Embraer have decided not to submit commitments during the initial investigation to address the preliminary concerns, says the Commission. It says it has 90 working days – until 20 February 2020 – to reach a decision.

Source: FlightGlobal

The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) on 7 October announced it filed a lawsuit against Boeing seeking damages for the 10,000 pilots represented by the association who have lost compensation since the grounding of Boeing 737 Max in March 2019. The lawsuit filed in the District Court of Dallas County, Texas, where Southwest Airlines is based, alleges that Boeing deliberately misled the airline and its pilots that 737 Max aircraft were airworthy and not significantly different from the previous generation 737NG aircraft. The full complaint is available online. "Our pilots should not be expected to take a significant and ever-expanding financial loss as a result of Boeing's negligence," SWAPA says. "We look forward to a solution that helps Boeing restore the confidence of both the flying public and the pilots who operate its aircraft." Boeing is negotiating with airlines about how to compensate them for the aircraft grounding. "Boeing has the greatest respect for the men and women who fly for Southwest Airlines," the airframer says in a statement. "We are aware that their pilot union, SWAPA, has filed a lawsuit against Boeing related to the 737 MAX suspension of operations. We believe this lawsuit is meritless and will vigorously defend against it." Southwest Airlines had the largest 737 Max fleet in service out of any airline when regulators worldwide grounded the aircraft in March, with a total of 34 aircraft from that type, Cirium's Fleets Analyzer shows. It also has 234 Max 8 series aircraft on order from Boeing, along with 28 Max 7 aircraft. The Dallas-based airline has removed Max aircraft from its flight schedules through 6 January, Investigations have suggested a central factor in the fatal crashes was the manoeuvring characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) flight control software created for Max aircraft by Boeing to make the aircraft fly and respond similarly to 737NG aircraft despite different engines added to Max series aircraft. Boeing is coordinating with the US Federal Aviation Administration on flight tests of modified Max aircraft. The airframer expects Max aircraft will be deemed safe to return to service during the fourth quarter of 2019. The lawsuit alleges that Boeing rushed certification under the same aircraft type certificate as NG aircraft. Boeing’s false representations about safety made directly to SWAPA, the lawsuit adds, caused the association to agree to include the 737 Max as a term in its collective bargaining agreement with Southwest "despite its initial reluctance". "Boeing made a calculated decision to rush a re-engined aircraft to market to secure its single-aisle market share and prioritize its bottom line," according to the lawsuit. "In doing so, Boeing abandoned sound design and engineering practices, withheld safety critical information from regulators and deliberately mislead its customers, pilots and the public about the true scope of design changes to the 737 Max." Russian aircraft lessor Avia Capital Services made similar allegations in its lawsuit against Boeing, which it filed in August in Cook County, Illinois, which is the jurisdiction of Boeing's Chicago headquarters. The lessor is seeking at least $115 million, alleging that the airframer deceptively sold 737 Max aircraft on the premise that the aircraft were properly certificated, and that pilots would not need months of additional training. Boeing and the FAA are facing scrutiny about not informing pilots about the risks of the automated flight control software on Max aircraft or requiring additional training before clearing them to operate the Max. The US National Transportation Safety Board published a report in September urging the FAA to develop broad standards to make cockpit alerts clearer and to help pilots better prioritise cockpit warnings. NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt in the report stated pilots of the two doomed Max aircraft flights "did not react in the ways Boeing and the FAA assumed they would" to the automated MCAS software.

Source: FlightGlobal