AVIATION NEWS BRIEFS

*DELTA AIRLINES has come under fire on aviation forums around the world for bumping a disabled traveler off a plane. The woman who has muscular dystrophy, uses a wheelchair and a ventilator to breathe and travels with private duty nurses. She had traveled on Delta from Minneapolis/St Paul, Minnesota, to New Orleans, Louisiana, without problem. However, on January 13, she was told she had to get off the plane, even though she had already traveled on Delta and she had a compliance letter that allowed her to fly with the equipment. The Air Carrier Access Act of 1986, prohibits discrimination against someone with disabilities during air travel, provided any necessary medical equipment is approved according to inflight rules. Delta apologized and offer to refund the price of all the tickets, plus $900 in vouchers. The apology and full refund only came after media reported the story. A Delta spokesman said the carrier will increase training and make sure all manuals are updated. Delta said it expects similar action by its regional partners, including COMPASS AIRLINES, which operated the woman's flight.

*Just over 1 month into 2011, Boeing's 737 net order total was wiped out with the cancellation of 32 737 aircraft from an unidentified customer. As a result, Boeing's net order total for 2011 has dropped to 2 777-300ER aircraft, which were ordered by AMERICAN AIRLINES in January.

*According to media reports, Boeing intends to begin design work on further incremental upgrades to its Next Generation 737 in 2012. Among the new features currently under consideration are significant updates to the 737's flight deck, drawing on technology designed for the 787.

*Canada's government announced yesterday it would allow small scissors and tools onboard aircraft, while ordering security screeners to watch out for "higher threat items" such as explosives. In doing so, Canada harmonizes its list of items prohibited onboard aircraft with the United States and the European Union. Air travellers can now bring in their carry-on baggage small scissors and tools that are no longer than 6cam, exluding the handle. Knives of any size or length, however, remain prohibited.

*Mexico's VOLARIS has requested US approval to add 23 transborder routes as the low-cost carrier kicks its US expansion plan into high gear. Volaris said in the filing that 1 of the planned routes, Guadalajara-Fresno, "will begin immediately after receipt of the department's approval". Volaris also highlights 5 other routes, Aguascalientes-Los Angeles, Guadalajara-San Francisco, Guadalajara-Sacramento, Mexico City-Oakland and Zacatecas-Chicago, as next on its list for US expansion. Volaris now serves 4 US gateways, Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland and San Jose, and last month unveiled plans to launch service to a 5th gateway, Las Vegas, from the end of March. Volaris was planning to add at least 5 US gateways in 2011, including Las Vegas and Fort Lauderdale. Volaris already has authority to serve Fort Lauderdale, from a request originally filed with the DOT in 2009. Given the new filing, it appears Fresno and Fort Lauderdale will be Volaris' next gateways, followed by San Francisco and Sacramento.

*BMI's decision to scrap its Glasgow to Heathrow route has come under fire by Scottish officials who say the move could damage city tourism. The German-owned Airline blamed an increase in charges at the London Airport for the move to withdraw its 7 daily flights starting March 27. BMI will still fly from Glasgow Airport to East Midlands, Leeds, Bradford and Copenhagen,while routes from Heathrow to Edinburgh and Aberdeen will remain. BMI blamed BAA, who manages both Airports. "From April 1, the domestic passenger charge will increase from £13 to £20 per passenger as part of a changed charging structure at London Heathrow .An annual, regulator-approved increase will also be implemented, bringing the total charge to £22 per departing domestic passenger .The increase in charges will make the already loss-making route from London Heathrow to Glasgow unsustainable".

*RYANAIR announced that starting in April, it will launch 17 new routes to Kos, Rhodes and Thessaloniki in Greece. The new services increase the carriers Greek network to 30 routes. The Irish budget carrier will serve Kos from Bari, Bologna, Brussels Charleroi, Kaunas, Liverpool and Oslo Rygge. It will also link Frankfurt Hahn with Thessaloniki. In addition, Ryanair will offer flights from Rhodes to Bremen, Bologna, Cagliari, Dusseldorf Weeze, Frankfurt Hahn, Kaunas, Liverpool, Stockholm Skavsta, Trapani and London Stansted.

*Airbus said yesterday that they themselves, not the Airline, cancelled FLYINGTON FREIGHTERS order for 12 A330-200Fs following "non-payment of pre-delivery payments". The Indian start-up carrier had been the 1st cargo operator to sign up to the new type when it ordered 6 in 2007, before doubling its commitment later the same year. The cancellation leaves Airbus with orders for 54 of the type on its books, of which 5 have been delivered to ETIHAD AIRWAYS, HONG KONG AIRLINES and TURKISH AIRLINES.

*An audit of Moscow government spending from 2008-2010 has found that officials "misspent" up to 215 billion rubles ($7.3 billion) in the transportation sector. At least 10.8 billion rubles were diverted over the 3 years to subsidize the operations of the Moscow city government Airline ATLANT-SOYUZ, pictured above. The money was also spent to make fictitious purchases of aircraft for the carrier, which is now named MOSKVA.

*A FSB OF RUSSIA Antonov AN72 crash landed at Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia, yesterday, after an engine failed. The Antonov was on a Training Flight with 4 crew members onboard, however none of those onboard were injured. The extent of the damage and other details of the incident, have not been released.

*ALASKA AIRLINES Flight 742, a Boeing 737, had to make an emergency diversion to Omaha, Nebraska, yesterday, February 3, after a male passenger became seriously ill. After 1 hour on the ground, the aircraft continued on its flight to Atlanta, Georgia.

*SOUTHWEST AIRLINES Flight 154, a Boeing 737, had to divert to Omaha, Nebraska, yesterday, February 3, due to an unusual odor onboard. After 5 hours on the ground, the aircraft was able to resume its flight to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There was no word on what the odor was or what was done while the aircraft was on the ground in Omaha.

*KLM Flight 622, a Boeing 777, had to make an emergency landing in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, yesterday, February 3, due to a burst tire indication.

*ALITALIA Flight 1385, an A320, had to return to Rome, Italy, on Wednesday, February 2, due to a luggage issue. While climbing thru 18000 feet, the crew was notified that there was luggage onboard from a ticketed passenger who had failed to board. The aircraft returned to Rome and after the luggage was unloaded, was able to depart again 2 hours later for Genoa, Italy.

*GEORGIAN AIRWAYS Flight 669, a CRJ100, had to reject takeoff from Kiev, Ukriane, on Wednesday, February 2, after a loud bang was heard from the right hand side of the airliner. Post flight inspection revealed that both tires on the right hand main gear had burst, with at least 1 of the wheels separating from the airframe.

*AIR CANADA JAZZ Flight 8366, a Dash 8-300, had to make an emergency return to Grand Prairie, AB, Canada, on Tuesday, February 1. While on their initial climb, the crew selected gear up. The gear did stay up, but the gear doors would not stay closed. They continued to cycle open and closed. The crew leveled off at 13000 feet, declared an emergency and requested that Emergency Services be on standby for the landing. The Dash landed safely about 1 hour after their initial departure. The aircraft was repaired and returned to service later the same day.

*SUNWING AIRLINES Flight 600, a Boeing 737, had to return to Toronto, ON, Canada, on Tuesday, February 1, due to pressurization problems. While climbing thru 32000 feet, the crew reported the problems and performed a rapid descent to 16000 feet within 5 minutes and then shortly thereafter reached 10000 feet before landing safely back at Toronto. According to NAV Canada, the crew did not declare an emergency.