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US airline Southwest is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for two separate incidents, including an event that saw one of its aircraft 400ft above the ocean off the coast of a Hawaiian island. 

While the close-call incident took place in April, regulators have now confirmed they are investigating the event, which occurred when adverse weather forced a pilot to abandon a landing at Lihue Airport on the island of Kauai. 

Southwest recently distributed a memo to employees detailing its investigation which found the 737 MAX 8 jet dropped from an altitude of 1,000ft to 400ft in just a few seconds, before quickly climbing again at a rate of 8,500ft per minute, as first reported by Bloomberg.

Southwest reportedly concluded that better communication between crew and proper pilot monitoring could have avoided the event, with the airline ensuring that the pilots involved received additional training afterwards. 

Canadian aviation manufacturer Bombardier is considering a bid for the Spirit AeroSystems plant in Belfast, Northern Ireland after it was left out of the OEM’s acquisition by Boeing. 

The facility has only been a Spirit asset for four years after it was acquired from Bombardier in 2020. It maintained production of Bombardier fuselages along with its Airbus works. 

CEO Éric Martel said the overriding focus of the Canadian company was ensuring the long-term maintenance of the site and its high-quality work. But depending on other bidders, the former owner could consider financial involvement.

There is no current timeline for the potential bids for the Spirit site, although, with the Boeing deal (and Airbus agreement) expected to finalise in mid-2025, similar timing could be reasonably expected. 

The new international airport serving Halwara, Ludhiana in India could be given its ‘wings’ by next month after years of delays to the $5.6m project. 

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) announced this week that the new airport was nearing the end of construction and was now set to be completed by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in July after the federal government asked for the project to be sped up. 

According to Indian press, the latest deadline for the airport had been set for 15 May but, after work continued past that date, local Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora had raised the demand for work to be expedited. 

The opening of the airport, built on the site of an air force station, has been a years-long process with contractors reportedly missing 11 deadlines in the last two and a half years. 

India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has begun an investigation into a near-miss incident at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) in Mumbai, which saw an Indigo plane landing on a runway close behind an Air India plane. 

The regulator also revealed that it had taken the air traffic control (ATC) staff involved in the event off of their shifts at BOM. 

The footage of the two Airbus A320neo aircraft coming dangerously close to each other made the rounds online last week, sparking discussion about how both planes could have been on the runway at the same time. 

According to reports, the planes came about 2,130ft away from each other on the runway before the Air India plane began ascending, with the Indigo A320neo also only 600ft in the air when the other plane reached the lined-up position on the ground. 

Airbus is reportedly pushing a 10-seat abreast configuration for economy class cabins in its A350s, marking a change of attitude for the company which has previously touted its wider seats as a selling point. 

While the manufacturer has offered the design for its planes for years, reports from Aircraft Interiors Expo 2024 show that it has begun pushing it to all customers, instead of just low-cost airlines.

The push brings Airbus in line with Boeing, which has a 10-seat configuration as standard for its 777 aircraft, though the US manufacturer’s wide-body model has a slightly wider cabin than the A350, at 5.87m compared to 5.61m, allowing for slightly bigger seats. 

According to paxex.aero, aircraft interiors manufacturer Safran Seats said that Airbus had been “heavily pushing suppliers” to provide a 10-seat interior option.