Aviation

After watching videos of a Delta Air Lines jet catch fire upon landing and flip over on a Toronto runway, it’s fair to wonder how anyone could have survived. But aviation experts said it was not surprising that all 76 passengers and four crew walked away from Monday’s disaster, with 21 people suffering minor injuries and only one still hospitalized on Wednesday. It’s a credit, they said, to advances in plane design as well as a crew that flawlessly executed an evacuation plan.

WestJet is launching new service between Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ) and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS). The new first-time service will operate through the airline’s 2025 summer schedule, with up to six-times weekly departures starting May 29. The flight will be the first between the two cities in 30 years.

As the investigation into the cause of the crash of the Delta Air Lines flight that flipped and caught fire upon landing at Toronto Pearson continues, the airline said Tuesday that 19 out of 21 passengers initially taken to Toronto-area hospitals had been released.

Starting May 29, all Sunwing Vacations package customers will travel on board WestJet Airlines as the airline fully transitions its aircraft to its parent company’s fleet. The latest step in the integration of the companies coincides with the launch of Sunwing’s initial 2025 summer schedule. Here’s what travel advisors, and their clients, can expect.

A Delta Airlines plane flying from Minneapolis-St. Paul flipped upon arrival at Toronto’s Pearson Airport and ended up on its roof Monday, injuring 17 passengers including three who are in critical condition. The accident happened at about 2:15 p.m. and flights at the airport were grounded for around two and half hours.

Virgin Atlantic, which will launch service from Toronto Pearson (Terminal 3) on March 30, and WestJet have announced an expanded codeshare agreement that will facilitate connections on Virgin between London Heathrow and 13 Canadian gateways via YYZ. The two airlines will co-locate at Toronto Pearson International Airport’s Terminal 3.

Donald Trump ‘toured’ a Boeing airplane to check out new hardware and technology features and to highlight the aircraft maker’s delay in delivering updated versions of the Air Force One presidential aircraft, the White House said Saturday.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has begun lobbying the current US administration. This has included pleas to reverse the regulatory decisions the Department of Transportation (DOT) implemented during the Barack Obama and Joe Biden administrations.

Airlines expect a strong tailwind from travel demand in 2025. United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and several other US-based carriers have all given investors strong forecasts for the year and Wall Street expects major airlines to increase revenue and profit in 2025. (Air Canada will present its present its fourth quarter and full year 2024 results on Feb. 14).

BermudAir will launch new nonstop service between Montréal–Trudeau International Airport (YUL) and Bermuda (BDA), beginning June 12. The two-hour flight will provide the only direct service between Montréal and Bermuda.

The spate of recent aviation disasters and close calls have people worried about the safety of flying. The midair collision that killed 67 near Washington, the fiery plane crash in Philadelphia and a commuter plane crash on Friday in Alaska are only the most high-profile disasters.

A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has barred WestJet from telling travellers their reimbursement for meals and accommodations is capped. The ruling states that “passengers would suffer harm” if WestJet continued to communicate the policy to customers or post it on its website, which laid out fixed dollar limits on repayment amounts.

Sunwing Airlines, embarked on its second annual celebratory flight in honour of Black History Month on Tuesday. Departing from Toronto to Montego Bay, the flight was led by a Black flight deck and cabin crew. 

Porter Airlines is bringing new air service to Hamilton, Ont., with four routes launching in June. John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport (YHM) will be connected coast to coast through daily flights to Calgary (YYC), Edmonton (YEG), Halifax (YHZ) and Vancouver (YVR), starting this June.

WestJet has begun to gear up for a major growth spurt this year, with a focus on in-country travel brought on by a low loonie and pinched pocketbooks. Flight volumes from the country’s second-largest airline will increase by 10 percent this summer compared to last, WestJet says.

The airspace around Washington, D.C., is congested and complex – a combination aviation experts have long worried could lead to catastrophe. Those fears materialized last Wednesday night when an American Airlines plane collided with a military helicopter in a crash that has been called “stunningly preventable.”

An aircraft developed by Boom Supersonic has become the first independently funded jet to break the sound barrier. The XB-1 aircraft accelerated to Mach 1.05 at about 35,000 feet during a test flight on Jan. 29 in the same Mojave Desert airspace in California where Charles “Chuck” Yeager was the first person to break the sound barrier in 1947.

The deadly mid-air crash in Washington, DC, Wednesday night is likely the result of unique air traffic patterns in the area and shouldn’t cause wider fears over air safety, says a Canadian aviation expert.

After half a century in limbo, the federal government says it will scrap plans to build an airport on thousands of acres in Pickering, Ont., and instead look to transfer the land to Parks Canada.

No-frills, budget airlines often lead the industry in customer complaints, according to government data, so if one were to disappear would it be missed by travellers? That is a question US regulators will be asking after Frontier Airlines said Wednesday that it wanted to buy Spirit Airlines, which sought bankruptcy protection late last year.

Expedia’s new 2025 Air Hacks Report is debunking myths.  For example, ‘Summer is an expensive time to travel’.  Nah … turns out July, a peak summer travel time, is the cheapest month to travel. Average air ticket prices are up to 11 percent cheaper in July than March when booking a trip from a Canadian origin airport.

Porter Airlines is expanding its footprint in New York with the launch of new year-round service, which starting May 01, will see up to three daily roundtrip flights operating between Toronto Pearson International Airport and LaGuardia.

Through a first-of-its-kind partnership for the intercity rail system facilitated by VISIT FLORIDA, guests booking on Porter Airlines can now receive 50 percent off adult SMART fares on select Brightline trains between South Florida and Orlando – an arrangement that notably connects the former’s cruise gateways (Miami, Fort Lauderdale) with the theme parks of Central Florida (Disney, Universal Orlando, SeaWorld).

As CEO of Joby Aviation, JoeBen Bevirt is getting closer to turning his boyhood flights of fancy into a dream come true as he and latter-day versions of the Wright Brothers launch a new class of electric-powered aircraft vying to become taxis in the sky – vehicles that whisk passengers to a destination in a matter of minutes, and create a new class of airport transfers upon arrival.

Boeing’s aircraft deliveries and orders in 2024 reflect the company’s rough year. Boeing delivered less than half the number of commercial aircraft to customers than its European rival in 2024 as the American aerospace giant’s output suffered under intensified government scrutiny and a factory workers’ strike, according to data released last week.

Germany’s Lufthansa Group finalized its acquisition of Italian airline ITA Airways on Friday, closing a long period of uncertainty for Italy’s former flagship carrier. Under the 325-million-euro ($483 million) deal, Lufthansa takes an initial 41% stake in ITA, formerly Alitalia, from the Italian government, gaining full control by 2033.

Pakistan’s national airline said Thursday that an advertisement showing a plane heading toward the Eiffel Tower was never intended to evoke the memories of the Sept. 11 attacks. The illustration, not in video format, shows a plane superimposed over the French flag and tilted toward the Paris landmark, with the words “Paris, we’re coming today.”

After only two years serving Canada from its base in Hamilton, Ont., PLAY Airlines is pulling out of the market. The Icelandic low-cost carrier’s schedule shows that starting in late April it will stop its four flights per week from YHM to its home base in Reykjavik, Iceland, which it uses as a hub for trips to Europe.

Ryanair is calling on European authorities to limit the sale of alcoholic beverages at airports across the continent, as the Irish airline continues legal action against a passenger who it says caused a costly flight diversion last year.