AVIATION NEWS BRIEFS

*CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES, China's 2nd largest carrier, has applied with the administrative body of the People's Republic of China for permission to operate direct flights between China and Hawaii. Last month, the carrier brought the 1st direct charter flights from China to Hawaii and now wants to begin scheduled service. The Shanghai-based carrier took the step after successfully partnering with China CYTS Tour Holding Co., one of China's leading tour operators, for the charter flights. Those charter flights sold otu within 14 days. China Eastern will also need to gain approval from the US DOT.

*Claiming they have been the victims of discrimination based solely on their status as former union members, several DELTA AIRLINES Flight Attendants, with the assistance of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Delta Airlines management. The lawsuit, filed in US District Court on behalf of pre-merger NORTHWEST AIRLINES F/A's, comes after Delta management withheld higher profit sharing checks from over 7500 pre-merger Northwest F/A's based solely upon their prior union membership.

*OLYMPIC AIR is cutting 4 international routes and bolster its domestic operations as it presses ahead with plans to appeal against the European Commission's decision to block its planned merger with AEGEAN AIRLINES. Olympic will drop Vienna, Brussels, London and Paris from its network. Olympic did say it plans to "maintain or expand" its international services to Amsterdam, Belgrade, Bucharest, Cairo, Istanbul, Larnaca, Sofia and Tirana. Meanwhile, it will add domestic flights from Athens to Corfu and Alexandroupolis, as well as from Thessaloniki to Heraklion, Chania, Mytilene and Rhodes. The carrier said its narrowbody fleet would be reduced to match the required capacity. The EC  blocked the proposed merger between Olympic and Aegean in January on the grounds that it would have created a "quasi-monopoly" in the Greek air transport market.

*Middle Eastern lessor Dubai Aerospace Enterprise has cancelled another 30 aircraft from its Airbus order book, including 12 A350s. The decision has wiped out Airbus' sales for the 1st 2 months of the year, leaving it with a negative net order count for the end of February 2011. DAE's backlog had originally featured 70 A320s and 30 A350s. Last year it slashed 7 A350s and 18 A320s from its books. After all of the cuts, DAE now has 34 aircraft on order from Airbus.

*SINGAPORE AIRLINES said today that it has discovered 5 cases of oil leaks on the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines on its Airbus A380 planes, but insists the planes are safe to fly. SIA said the leaks were minor and did not pose any safety issues on the flights. "It is correct that we have had 5 cases of oil leaks on Trent 900 engines but there was no safety of flight issue on any of those occasions," a spokesman with the Airline said in a statement. "The issue that caused the leaks was identified and corrected. They were minor and we never needed to reduce power during flight." He said some of the leaks were discovered after a QANTAS A380 plane made an emergency landing in Singapore in November last year due to a mid-air engine explosion, while the others were found before that incident.

*According to media reports from Australia, VIRGIN BLUE will be undergoing a brand name change, including an entirely new livery for its aircraft. It is widely believed that the carrier will be absorbed into V AUSTRALIA, a sister carrier. Other possible names being mentioned include VIRGIN PACIFIC, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA or VIRGIN OCEANIC. The reports say there is no firm date for an announcement from the carrier on the change.

*FLYBE Flight 703, a Dash 8-400, dropped the inboard wheel from the right hand main gear on takeoff from Exeter, England, yesterday, March 3. The Dash, pictured above inflight with missing wheel, landed safely back at Exeter about 90 minutes after its initial departure. The aircraft has been removed from service. According to media reports, the UK AAIB has opened an investigation.

*BRITISH AIRWAYS Flight 990, an A319, had to make an emergency return to London Heathrow, yesterday, March 3, due to a technical problem with the right hand engine. The A319 landed safely about 1 hour after their initial departure. According to media reports, a passenger said the Captain reported that an ACARS message had been received about an anomaly with the engine. The passenger went on to say that the Captain said the engine had accelerated slower on takeoff than the left hand engine. The aircraft was removed from service for repairs.

*AUSTRIAN AIRLINES Flight 114, a Fokker 70, dropped the outboard wheel from the right hand main gear during takeoff from Munich, Germany, yesterday, March 3. After performing a low fly over of the tower for a visual inspection of the gear, the crew brought the Fokker in for a safe landing, pictured above, about 30 minutes after their initial departure. The aircraft was removed from service for repairs.

*UNITED AIRLINES Flight 835, a Boeing 777, had to return to Chicago OHare, on Tuesday, March 1, due to a fuel imbalance. While inflight at 34000 feet, near Hudson Bay, Canada, the crew received a fuel imbalance EICAS message. Checklists confirmed there was no fuel leak, however the imbalance remained and the crew decided to return to OHare, where they landed about 4 hours after their initial departure. According to the Canadian TSB, maintenance determined the problem was caused in the fuel transfer between the right hand and center tanks. Repairs were made and the 777 has since returned to service.