Aviation Daily, April 24, 2018

Alaska Air Group is preparing to switch over to a single passenger service system (PSS) for Alaska Airlines and Virgin America overnight from April 24 to April 25, marking one of the most significant merger integration milestones in the 16 months since Seattle-based Alaska acquired San Francisco-based Virgin America....More

Thai long-haul LCC NokScoot is preparing to launch its first route to Japan, part of the carrier’s plans to expand its fleet and international network this year....More

The scale of the challenge facing new South African Airways (SAA) CEO Vuyani Jarana has been brought into sharp focus with the announcement of vastly-worsened financial figures for the 2016-17 financial year....More

The Airbus A350-900ULR (ultra-long range) made its first flight on April 23, starting a short flight test program ahead of a planned first delivery in the second half of 2018....More

General Electric (GE) leaders on April 20 acknowledged CFM International, the GE Aviation/Safran Aircraft Engines joint venture (JV), is behind on expected 2018 Leap engine deliveries, but still expects to reach the planned target of 1,100-1,200 deliveries by the end of the year....More

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the FAA late April 20 issued emergency airworthiness directives (AD) calling for inspections of fan blades on CFM56-7B engines that power Boeing 737NGs....More

Air New Zealand has been forced to ground two of its Boeing 787-9s for what could be an extended period after some of the 787 fleet’s engines failed inspections directed by safety regulators. Four of the carrier’s Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines have had to be sent to a Rolls facility in Singapore for repairs, an airline spokesperson told Aviation Daily....More

The European Commission (EC) said it had opened an indepth investigation to assess whether Italy’s €900 million ($1.1 billion) bridge loan to Alitalia constituted state aid and whether it complied with EU rules for aid to companies experiencing difficulty....More

View the Airport Profile — Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (BWI) chart in PDF format....More