The Cabin Crew Life

New Boeing 737 overhead bins

The revolution is here! New Boeing 737 Max

Norwegian Air Says Network Planning Affected by Delayed U.S. Traffic Rights

"Carrier is proving to be a test case for U.S. openness to foreign airline competitors"

LONDON—Norwegian Air Shuttle AS NAS -2.58 % A, which is proving to be a test case for U.S. openness to foreign airline competitors, is growing anxious its growth plans are being crimped by persistent delays in its application for enhanced market access, according to the carrier’s chief executive.

Norwegian Air’s struggle to win U.S. Department of Transport approval for additional traffic rights it says should be automatic come as U.S. airlines and unions step up efforts to keep foreign rivals at bay. Delta Air Lines DAL -1.13 % and other carriers that oppose Norwegian Air’s application also are lobbying the U.S. government to slow the encroachment into their home market from Middle East growth carriers, such as Dubai-based Emirates Airline, the world’s largest by international traffic, neighboring Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways.

Efforts by budget airline Norwegian Air to gain preferred traffic rights in the U.S. have reached an ominous milestone this week: 500 days waiting.

“This is very frustrating because we can’t do any long-term planning,” airline Chief Executive Bjørn Kjos said in an interview. The airline is in the process of building its route plan for next year, which is complicated by the uncertainty over the situation in the U.S., he said.

Norwegian Air has put on hold talks with Boeing Co. BA -0.40 % to buy more 787-9 Dreamliner long-range jets because uncertainty about the airline’s development impacts its fleet requirements, he said.

Norwegian Air, through its Ireland-based Norwegian Air International unit, has sought enhanced traffic rights under a bilateral agreement between the European Union and the U.S. called the Open Skies treaty that was aimed at liberalizing aviation trade. U.S. airline unions have opposed the application, arguing the Norwegian carrier was using Ireland as a “flag of convenience” with less oversight. Ireland has defended its regulatory standards.

The European Union has backed Norwegian Air’s application and has repeatedly called on the U.S. to adhere to principles of the trade accord signed eight years ago.

The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, said it “considers that the U.S. authorities are in breach of the EU-U.S. Air transport agreement.” The U.S. should have “swiftly” granted traffic rights, the commission said.

Having raised concerns last year, the commission plans to bring the issue up again when both parties meet in June in Helsinki.

Mr. Kjos said opponents are simply trying to keep out a competitor offering lower fares to passengers.

Norwegian Air began trans-Atlantic services almost two years ago using a fleet of Boeing 787s. It now operates eight such planes. It is seeking to operate the fleet under a European Union license to more easily shuttle planes between Asia, where it has a base in Bangkok, and the U.S., where it serves five cities including New York and Los Angeles.
Mr. Kjos said the airline also is seeking a British air operator’s certificate to tap preferential traffic rights to markets such as India. The airline operates intra-European and trans-Atlantic flights from London Gatwick airport.

The application for the U.K. license has been filed with Britain’s aviation regulator and could be decided this summer, he said. Norwegian Air will also seek U.S. approval under the new license.
Norwegian Air may also seek a Spanish air operator’s certificate to tap special traffic agreements the country has with others, Mr. Kjos said.
—Doug Cameron contributed to this article.
Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com

Happy 10th Birthday A380

The 5 Best Places to See the Northern Lights

Norwegian Air launching new flights to US, Caribbean

Low fare carrier Norwegian Air will launch more transatlantic routes to the US and the Caribbean later this year.

The third largest low cost airline in Europe, after Ryanair and Easyjet, will start new long-haul flights to Las Vegas, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport will get its first direct link with Scandinavia with weekly flights from both Copenhagen and Stockholm beginning October 31.





Pic courtesy of destinationmarketing.org



"Increasing accessibility to Las Vegas will introduce the city to millions of potential new visitors," said Cathy Tull, senior vice president of marketing for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

"We are thrilled that this new partnership with Norwegian Airlines will connect Las Vegas directly to Sweden and Denmark for the first time."

Beginning November 1, Norwegian will also start flying to San Juan, Puerto Rico with weekly flights from Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo, and two departures a week from London Gatwick.

New direct weekly flights are also planned each Friday to St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands from Oslo starting November 9.

Norwegian said it will increase frequency to daily departures on the London Gatwick-New York JFK route in the fall.

Ryanair under investigation

Investigation launched after two passengers seen going in and out of cockpit 'laughing and giggling' during Ryanair flight

• Two women permitted into cockpit of Ryanair flight to Berlin, Germany
• Ryanair state the women were off-duty staff, and have investigated
• But in light of Germanwings disaster where 150 people were killed, actions brought concern to passengers on board 

   An investigation is underway after two passengers were allegedly seen making frequent visits to the cockpit during a Ryanair flight from Dublin to Berlin Schönefeld.

Two women, who were believed to be off-duty Ryanair members of staff wearing their staff lanyards, were passengers on the plane and were not wearing their uniform. 

The Irish Aviation Authority has decided to probe the incident, which took place on Good Friday, after fellow passengers on board expressed their concerns about the behaviour.

 

• SHARE PICTURE

Copy link to paste in your message

The Irish Aviation Authority are investigating after two female passengers were allowed in the cockpit of a Ryanair flight mid-flight

Speaking to Independent.ie a passenger named Bridget who was travelling on the flight spoke of how once the plane had taken off, two women were spotted coming out of the cockpit.

Ryanair has since confirmed there were a total of three off-duty workers on board the flight. 

 

The passenger also claimed she had seen the two women 'drinking in the airport' before the flight out.

She said: 'Later, when the captain said 'we're getting ready to descend', the two girls went back up. They were laughing and giggling and taking photos of each other.

 

   The actions of the two women in visiting the cockpit, who have since been revealed as off-duty Ryanair staff, left fellow passengers on board concerned (file photo, not actual cockpit)

'With things being so strict since the (Germanwings) Alps crash, I don't think this should be allowed.' 

A Ryanair spokesperson told MailOnline Travel: 'We have investigated this matter. These were three Ryanair employees travelling off duty. 

'All three were wearing their Ryanair ID and were known to the flight crew. 

 

A spokesperson for the Irish Aviation Authority told MailOnline Travel: 'The IAA is currently investigating the incident in question. 

'In general access to the cockpit is restricted to operational staff, including staff passengers, provided they are known to the Commander.'

Germanwings co-pilot may have spiked pilot's drink with diuretic, report says

  Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who crashed Flight 9525 into the Alps, may have spiked the pilot’s drink with a diuretic in order to get him out of the cockpit, a new report claimed Thursday.
The UK Daily Telegraph, citing German newspaper Express.de, reports that 27-year-old Lubitz may have mixed a drug into Captain Patrick Sondheimer’s drink, causing him to need to use the restroom and consequently leaving Lubitz alone in the cockpit.

 

   Other reports suggest that Lubitz searched online for information about diuretics in the days leading up to the crash. However, the Telegraph notes that the reports appear to be based on speculation, with no evidence that Lubitz bought the drugs in question or took them onboard the doomed flight.
Investigators believe that Sondheimer was locked out of the cockpit by Lubitz after the captain left to go to the bathroom. Sondheimer is heard on the cockpit voice recorder banging on the door and demanding to be let in moments before the plane crashed into a mountainside, killing all 150 on board the March 24 flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf.

Welcome to Norwegian Air

Ryanair cancels 250 flight due to the french ATC strike

Hundreds of flights to and from France have been cancelled as air traffic controllers begin industrial action.

The SNCTA union - France's largest - called the two-day strike in a dispute over working conditions.
The DGAC civil aviation authority has asked airlines to cut their scheduled flights by 40%.
Short-haul flights have been the worst affected but France's largest airline, Air France, said long-haul flights were still operating.
The airline added that 60% of medium-haul flights from and to Paris' main airport, Charles de Gaulle, would still operate, but that it would ground two out of three flights at Paris' second-largest airport, Orly.

"Disruption is expected over the whole country," the DGAC said in a statement.
Travellers have been advised to contact their airline.
France's civil aviation agency said part of the dispute involves plans to raise the retirement age for controllers from 67 to 69 years.
Further strikes are planned for 16-18 April and 29 April-2 May, coinciding with spring school holidays in France.
Low-cost airline Ryanair says it has had to cancel more than 250 flights, with further cancellations likely.

'Grossly unfair'

"We sincerely apologise to all customers affected by this unwarranted strike action and we call on the EU and French authorities to take measures to prevent any further disruption," said Ryanair in a statement.
"It's grossly unfair that thousands of European travellers will once again have their travel plans disrupted by the selfish actions of a tiny number of French ATC [air traffic control] workers."
Travellers booked on short and medium-haul Air France flights on Wednesday or Thursday can choose to travel between 10 and 15 April instead, it said.

Video of the final moments inside Germanwings 4U9525

Audio recorded by the Germanwings 4U9525 cockpit voice recorder

The 25 most dangerous airports

Delta Plane Makes Emergency Landing After Pilot Locked Out of Cockpit

A Delta Air Lines flight heading from Minneapolis to Las Vegas was forced to make an emergency landing today after the pilot was locked out of the cockpit, airport officials said.

The call about Flight 1651 came in around 12:10 p.m. and the plane landed safely at McCarran International Airport around 12:25 p.m., officials told ABC affiliate KTNV.

 

The cockpit door malfunctioned, locking the pilot out of the cockpit, airport officials told KTNV, noting that the first officer made the landing.

 

 

World News Videos | US News Videos World News Videos | US News Videos

"About half way through [the 2.5-hour flight] there seemed to be some talking at the front of the plane. You could see the captain out there," passenger Jesse Dougherty told ABC News. "There wasn't a huge panic but some confusion."

 

The captain explained to the passengers that the door was jammed and he couldn't get back in, Dougherty said, adding: "It was very, very bizarre."

 

When the first officer made the landing "perfectly," the passengers broke out into spontaneous applause, Dougherty said.

 

Because the first officer was accustomed to the controls on the right seat of the cockpit, he remained there, the crew explained to passengers. That meant the only issue was a lack of taxiing controls once on the ground, necessitating a tow from the runway to the gate, Dougherty said.

No one was injured and there were 168 people on board the plane, officials said.

 

The source of the jammed door was a piece of string that was found near the door by the maintenance crew, passenger Jonathan Thalacker told ABC News.

 

The aircraft was an MD-90, airport spokeswoman Christine Crews told ABC News.

"There was a door malfunctioned that locked the captain out so the first officer had to do an unassisted landing," Crews said. "We take everything very seriously. This was an unusual landing. He called the airport so that we would have ground response available."

Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz’s internet history included searches for 'suicide' and 'cockpit doors', prosecutors say

Andreas Lubitz had searched online for suicide methods and cockpit doors before he crashed a Germanwings flight into a mountain, prosecutors say.

Dusseldorf prosecutors said a tablet computer had been recovered from Lubitz's apartment and they were able to reconstruct searches from between 16 March and 23 March.

The prosecutors' spokesman Ralf Herrenbrueck said that search terms included medical treatment, suicide methods, and cockpit doors and their security, according to the Associated Press.

"(He) concerned himself on one hand with medical treatment methods, on the other hand with types and ways of going about a suicide," Mr Herrenbrueck said. "In addition, on at least one day (Lubitz) concerned himself with search terms about cockpit doors and their security precautions."

Lubitz also reportedly told doctors he was off sick from work when he was still flying commercial aircrafts and was taking medication so strong that patients are advised against driving cars.

Medical records quoted by Bild state that he was taking medication to treat depression and anxiety which allegedly included an antidepressant and the tranquilliser Lorazepam.
 

Bild also quoted documents it said were made available to investigators that revealed Lubitz said he was in a car crash at the end of 2014 and had complained of trauma and vision problems as a result.

"He stated during medical treatment that, among other things, it often appeared dark around him," according to a translation obtained by The Telegraph. An MRI scan reportedly did not discover any significant injuries.

Investigators retrieved the second black box, the flight data recorder, from the crash site today which may provide further clues as to exactly what happened before the plane began its descent.

 
Rescue workers and gendarmerie continue their search operation near the site of the Germanwings plane crash on 29 March 2015 in Seyne les Alpes, France Evidence from the cockpit voice recorder revealed that Lubitz was alone at the helm when the plane began its eight-minute descent. Prosecutors believe he intentionally locked the captain out of the flight deck.

The reports come as a journalist from Paris Match said he had seen a video purporting to show the aircraft's final moments "100 times" after prosecutors said no memory cards from mobile telephones found at the crash site had been analysed.

Frederic Helbert said publications chose not to release the video "because it had no value regarding the investigation but it could have been something terrible for families".

When asked by CNN what he could hear on the video, he replied: "The sounds, the noise, the deep impact, that noise of people screaming and screaming again."

Australian watchdog turns up heat on Thai Airways, after bans in other countries

Warnings ... an audit of Thair Airways has revealed safety concerns. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

THAI Airways is still flying direct in and out of Australia 45 times a week despite bans being imposed by three other countries, including China, Japan and South Korea.

The bans on charter flights and new routes operated by the airline followed safety concerns raised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) after an audit of Thai Airways.

A Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokesman said they were aware of the issues raised by ICAO in relation to Thailand, and had requested further detailed information.

“Thai Airways is the only airline from Thailand regularly operating into Australia,” said the spokesman.  

Safety issue ... a Thai Airways jet approaches Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne. Picture: News Corp Australia Source: News Corp Australia

“CASA is making contact with Thai Airways in relation to these issues.”
He said the safety body had increased the number of ramp inspections of Thai Airways’ flights operating into Australia.

“These inspections look at the condition of the aircraft as well as flight and aircraft documentation,” the spokesman said.

“At this stage, CASA has not placed any additional restrictions on Thai Airways’ flights to and from Australia.

“This is subject to the results of increased surveillance and any additional information that may be provided by Thai Airways and the Thai air safety regulator.”

Any request for additional flights by Thai Airways would be considered in light of the issues raised by ICAO and CASA’s surveillance and safety checks, said the spokesman.

Australian aviation safety expert Neil Hansford said ICAO had been issuing warnings to the Thai Government since 2009.  

    

“The Thai government has been incapable of providing (the airline) with the oversight needed to operate to international safety standards,” he said.

“It’s just another example of the aviation industry growing more quickly than regulators can handle in that part of the world.”

Mr Hansford said in the case of Indonesia, orders had been placed for 500 additional aircraft even though existing infrastructure was inappropriate for current numbers.

“The Indonesians have already been found to be lacking and incompetent in the area of aviation,” he said, referring to restrictions by European regulators. “The system is broken.”  

   

ICAO’s concerns with Thai Airways are believed to relate to air operator certification processes.
The bans imposed by China, Japan and South Korea are likely to impact 150,000 travellers in the next two months.

Thai Airways most recent major safety incident was in 2013, when an A330 arriving from Guangzhou had a runway excursion while landing at Bangkok, with extensive damage to the plane and tarmac.

All passengers and crew evacuated with no serious injuries.

Lufthansa Finds Germanwings Co-Pilot’s 2009 Email on Depression

Germanwings pilot Andreas Lubitz informed flight school in 2009 of a ‘severe episode of depression’

Deutsche Lufthansa AG turned over documents showing that Germanwings Flight 9525 co-pilot Andreas Lubitz informed the company’s own flight-training school that he had an “episode of severe depression,” the airline said Tuesday, raising questions about how effectively airlines vet the mental stability of their pilots.

Even before that disclosure, France’s air-accident investigator, the Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses, said it is expanding its probe of the flight and the potential industrywide ramifications.
French prosecutors have said Mr. Lubitz deliberately locked his captain out of the cockpit and flew the jet into a mountain at 400 miles an hour, killing himself and 149 others on board. The crash is leading to a re-examination of how privacy considerations about airline crews’ health are balanced against the possibility of an unstable pilot posing a danger.

According to a person familiar with the investigation, Mr. Lubitz’s personnel file at Lufthansa’s flight school included a 2009 email explaining that he was taking a break from its campus in Bremen because of depression. At that time, Mr. Lubitz was an apprentice; only after completing the 22-month program and getting their flying licenses do pilots go into a pool of potential Lufthansa hires.
When Mr. Lubitz sought to return to the flight school, the person said, he was sent for a medical test, which he passed.

“The flight school relied on doctors,” said the person. “The doctors cleared him.” Lufthansa later hired him, considering his prior problem resolved but in need of monitoring.

According to this person, Mr. Lubitz’s personnel file included a note that any examining physician should consult the physician holding his medical files for special information. That physician would have been obliged to tell the examining doctor that Mr. Lubitz had a history of depression or psychological issues. The examining doctor would then check to see if such problems persisted.

If the examining doctor found a problem, he or she would fail Mr. Lubitz in the annual examinations that German pilots have to undergo. But if the doctor saw no problem, Mr. Lubitz would pass the exam and Lufthansa would know nothing about the problem.

Mr. Lubitz’s examining doctors passed him in health exams, so Lufthansa wasn't informed of any ongoing medical concerns. The earlier email, from his time at flight school, wouldn’t have an impact on his staffing several years later given his more recent clean bills of health from doctors, this person said.

In the U.S., the psychological vetting of pilots depends on physicians, too. But American licensing procedures and medical exams are primarily designed to alert regulators—rather than airlines—about incipient or serious mental-health disorders.

The U.S. system relies largely on self-disclosure, but a pilot can face substantial fines of up to $250,000 for failing to truthfully fill out medical forms. And the Federal Aviation Administration asks detailed questions about what drugs or treatment has been received; the names of doctors and why they were visited; and “mental disorders of any sort” including depression, anxiety or suicide attempts.

Flight-training schools and aviation colleges and universities in the U.S. similarly depend on student pilots to inform them about psychological or other medical conditions, including their use of prescription drugs. Once mental health problems are identified, schools typically ask students to sign waivers to allow physicians to share medical records; without such a waiver, federal privacy laws preclude doctors from passing on those records.

Many student pilots, however, end up seeking Class 1 medical certificates, the same type airline pilots need, forcing them to answer the FAA’s catalog of questions and face fines for dissembling.
Once pilots are hired, medical examiners have a legal responsibility to warn the FAA—but typically not to alert airlines directly—about serious mental health problems or major medical concerns that could pose risks to passengers, according to Dr. Philip Scarpa, president of the Aerospace Medical Association, an international group that has developed tools to help physicians diagnose psychiatric disorders.

U.S. airlines have their own internal systems to counsel and track problematic pilots, including those previously identified as suffering from depression or personal problems such as divorce or financial pressures.

Bill Yantiss, former safety and security chief at United Airlines, said much of that effort was carried out by pilot union officials, usually with the acquiescence and support of airline management. He said that “95% of the efforts was focused on 5% of the pilots.”

In an interview earlier this week, Mr. Yantiss said aviators in that category “were watched very carefully, but there may or may not have been records” documenting the special screening.
In a statement, Lufthansa said it had given the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor, “training and medical documents” in which Mr. Lubitz spoke of his past depression.

Last week, Lufthansa Chief Executive Carsten Spohr said he was confident about the airline’s hiring practices. “Those who observe and know us in the branch know we choose our cockpit personnel very, very carefully,” he said at a news conference. “Especially in the selection process we leave a lot of room [to assess] the psychological suitability of the candidate.”

Mr. Spohr said Mr. Lubitz passed all medical and flight tests and checks. “He was 100% airworthy without any restrictions, without any conditions,” he said.

The BEA said its broadened probe into Flight 9525’s crash in the French Alps would examine “the cockpit door locking system logic and cockpit access and exit procedures, as well as the criteria and procedures applied to detect specific psychological profiles.”

Airliner accidents, particularly high-profile crashes that expose fundamental safety gaps, have often been a catalyst for regulators and airlines to take far reaching steps to reshape how the industry functions in the hopes of preventing a repeat. In the past, the type of public anger and demands for action sparked by the Germanwings tragedy have altered the way airlines operate, pilots are trained and planes are equipped.

Those efforts have driven airline accident rates to historic lows. The International Air Transport Association said the global jetliner crash rate last year was the lowest ever, with 0.23 aircraft planes destroyed per million flights. The five-year average was more than twice as high.

The BEA is one of the world’s most influential investigators of plane crashes, and its findings are likely to be closely watched by aviation regulators in Europe and the U.S. The investigation will examine “the systemic weaknesses [that] might possibly have led to this aviation disaster or other similar events,” the authority said.

“The current probe is likely to prompt changes world-wide” in pilot medical evaluations, according to Bill Waldock, a professor and director of the aviation crash lab at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. The most likely changes, he said, probably will mirror procedures under which U.S. military pilots undergo full-fledged psychiatric evaluations along with their regular physicals.