Talking Points

Malaysia Airlines signed an MOU to order eight 787-9s

Air Berlin reported to be under pressure to return A330-200s off lease to AerCap, ahead of scheduled lease return. This appears to have credence, as msn 822 was ferried Dusseldorf to Zurich for lease return 9/11. Air Berlin now has 16 A330-200s in service. With mounting cancellations of long haul routes, it is inevitable and imminent that this fleet will be substantially reduced.

Air Berlin pilots staged a "collective sick leave event" 9/12 causing 70 flight cancellations, and general disruption.

Air Berlin received a $600M bid from INTRO Aviation for the entire company. All bids are due by 9/15.

Conviasa (Venezuela) plans a reorganization of domestic services around it's Cessna 208s and Embraer E-190s

Delta and JetBlue cancelled some 900 flights each in the wake of hurricane Irma. Operations throughout the US Southeast are gradually returning to normal operational status.

Thailand suspended international services of 12 airlines, pending Recertification of Air Operator Certificates (Re-AOC) required by ICAO by January 31st. Notably, this includes Orient Thai and VietJetAir Thailand.

United will launch four new seasonal transatlantic routes for summer 2018 including Newark -> Porto (757-200), Newark -> Keflavik (757-200), San Francisco -> Zurich (787-8) and Washington Dulles -> Edinburgh (757-200). Flights will be daily.