Aviation

A grainy sonar image recorded by a private pilot has reinvigorated interest in one of the past century’s most alluring mysteries: What happened to Amelia Earhart when her plane vanished during her flight around the world in 1937? Numerous expeditions have turned up nothing, only confirming that swaths of ocean floor held no trace of her twin-tailed monoplane. Tony Romeo now believes his new South Carolina-based sea exploration company captured an outline of the iconic American’s Lockheed 10-E Electra.

Each aircraft has a set maximum weight for safe takeoff. Almost everything that gets onto a commercial plane — fuel, checked-in baggage, cargo and meals — is weighed. For passengers and their cabin bags, most airlines use average data. But Finland’s national carrier Finnair said Friday that it started asking passengers this week voluntarily and anonymously hop onto a scale with their hand luggage at the country’s main airport in Helsinki.

The oneworld alliance is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2024. Launched on Feb. 1, 1999 by founding members American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas, the alliance has flown nearly nine billion customers on its member airlines and currently boasts a takeoff or landing somewhere in the world every six seconds, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

WestJet is set to introduce 10 new routes and return or extend 16 routes this summer, offering a significant increase in coast-to-coast travel options for travellers. Underpinning its growth strategy, the increases on domestic, leisure and international travel routes represent a 15 percent gain year-over-year.

A celebration has been launched to mark ‘85 Years of Flight’ at Toronto’s downtown island airport. Conceived in the 1930s as the main airport for Toronto, the construction of what is now Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ) was completed in 1939 at the same time that Malton Airport (now Toronto Pearson International Airport) was constructed as a secondary, alternate airport to be used in the event of bad weather.

Montreal Saint-Hubert Airport (YUH) has revealed a new brand identity, reflecting its transformation into commercial aviation as construction of its new terminal, in partnership with Porter Airlines, progresses. Located in Saint-Hubert since 1927, the airport will now be known as MET – Montreal Metropolitan Airport.

Canadian airlines are calling on the federal government to roll out measures that will spark production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Canada and catch up to programs south of the border, thus enabling them to cut down on pollution that accounts for about two percent of carbon dioxide emissions globally, according to the International Energy Agency.

A frantic air traffic controller shouting expletives at pilots to abort a takeoff helped narrowly avert a collision with another plane in an incident at JFK New York last year, according to documents from the investigation into the incident released Monday.

Canadians can add up to 10 days in Iceland at no extra cost when travelling to Europe with PLAY via the low-cost carrier’s hub at Keflavik Airport. PLAY operates daily flights and seasonal services to more than 30 European cities from Hamilton, Ont., including its latest destination, Split, Croatia.

Faced with plane delivery delays and hefty debts – including a hefty unpaid tax bill that has prompted the Canada Revenue Agency to obtain an order for the seizure and sale of the carrier’s property – Flair Airlines says it put expansion plans on hold, at least until next year.

Over half of residents surveyed in Ontario’s Hamilton-Niagara region (55%) say that Buffalo is on their radar as a travel gateway due to less time spent than at local airports as well as lower costs, according to a new study by the Upstate New York airport. And 35 percent of residents of the Greater Toronto Area agree.

Air Canada says it has become the first airline in North America to adopt the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program to better serve customers with non-visible disabilities. In announcing the measure, the carrier also confirmed the first appointments to its new Customer Accessibility Advisory Committee, which will guide the carrier as it accelerates its three-year accessibility plan.

Court documents show Flair Airlines owes the federal government $67.2 million in unpaid taxes, prompting the Canada Revenue Agency to obtain a Federal Court order for the seizure and sale of the carrier’s property. But CEO Stephen Jones says the order – obtained in November – has no impact on the carrier’s operations, which have expanded over the past year and ramped up competition with rival airlines.

At first it sounded like another case of a bad behaviour aboard an airplane when a man opened an emergency exit and walked out on a wing of a plane that was parked and waiting for takeoff at Mexico City International Airport. But despite taken into custody, the man was backed by fellow passengers on the AeroMexico aircraft for doing so.

Federal regulators in the US have approved an inspection process that will let airlines resume flying their Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners as soon as this weekend. The head of the Federal Aviation Administration said that his agency’s review of the scary incident on board an Alaska Airlines Boeing jet gave him confidence to clear a path for the planes to fly again.

When Cathy Olliffe-Webster’s 90-year-old mother-in-law died suddenly last year, her family had to make the trek from Cold Lake, Alta., to Ontario in a hurry. The jewellery business owner figures the flight would have set her and her husband back $2,000 because it was a last-minute booking, but they scored a hefty discount.

On Saturday a Boeing 757 jet operated by Delta Air Lines lost a nose wheel while preparing for takeoff from Atlanta, potentially creating more uncertainty around one of the nation’s top manufacturers after a troubling string of incidents involving its planes.

The European Commission on Tuesday announced an in-depth investigation of German airline Lufthansa’s planned takeover of Italian carrier ITA Airways, citing competitive concerns. Lufthansa signed a deal last year for a 41% minority share in the long-struggling ITA Airways, formerly Alitalia.

Spirit Airlines hasn’t made money since before the pandemic, ticket sales haven’t bounced back as quickly as the carrier expected, and dozens of its planes will be grounded at times this year because of a problem with the engines. But after a federal judge in Boston scuttled plans for JetBlue to buy the troubled carrier last week, some analysts who follow Spirit are tossing around the B word – bankruptcy.

Perimeter Aviation, the parent company of Bearskin Airlines says it plans to discontinue passenger service from Thunder Bay, Ont. to Dryden, Fort Frances, and Kenora effective May 11. Termination of the flights is being blamed on financial reasons.

Most airlines recommend arriving at least two hours before domestic flights and at least three hours before international flights. But do passengers need that much time for connections between international flights?

Citing a “near standstill” in negotiations, the union representing pilots with WestJet’s regional subsidiary says it has started the clock on potential job action – though any moves on that front are still at least three months off.