Flight Safety Information - May 16, 2025 No. 098 In This Issue : de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 - Hail Damage during Flight (Nevada) : Canadair CL-415 - hit a shoal while scooping water (France) : A flight spent 10 minutes with no pilot when the first officer collapsed while the captain was in the bathroom : Veteran Air Traffic Controller Spills All on Trump-Era Safety Crisis : 6-minute outage at Denver airport leaves 20 pilots in the lurch in latest terrifying flight snafu : Delta Air Lines Reinforces Commitment to Aviation Safety with Appointment of Senior Vice President of Corporate Safety Security and Compliance : South Korea Jeju Air crash families file criminal complaint against minister, 14 others : Air New Zealand New York Flight with 787 Makes Emergency Landing in Hawaii : Singapore Airlines Employees Gets Over 7 Months Bonus After $2.78Bn Profit : Why Qatar Is So Excited to Dump That Private Jet on Trump : Global Airlines is making its first official flight across the Atlantic with an Airbus A380 : Nominations for ISASI - Jerry Lederer Award - Please submit before May 30 : Calendar of Events de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 - Hail Damage during Flight (Nevada) Date: Tuesday 6 May 2025 Time: 21:40 UTC Type: de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 Owner/operator: Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines Registration: N142SA MSN: 241 Year of manufacture: 1969 Engine model: P&W Canada PT6A-27 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 13 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Substantial Category: Accident Location: near Boulder City, NV - United States of America Phase: En route Nature: Passenger Departure airport: Whitmore-Grand Canyon Bar Ten Airstrip, AZ (GCT) Destination airport: Boulder City Municipal Airport, NV (BLD/KBVU) Investigating agency: NTSB Confidence Rating: Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities Narrative: Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines flight YR42, a DHC-6-300 Twin Otter, sustained hail damage during the flight. https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/509427 Canadair CL-415 - hit a shoal while scooping water (France) Date: Thursday 15 May 2025 Time: 10:00 Type: Canadair CL-415 Owner/operator: Securité Civile Registration: F-ZBFY MSN: 2010 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Substantial Location: Porto Vecchio, Corse du sud - France Phase: Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) Nature: Fire fighting Departure airport: Ajaccio Destination airport: Ajaccio Confidence Rating: Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources Narrative: A Canadair CL-415 (#35) hit a shoal while scooping water during a training exercise off Porto-Vecchio, Corsica. The aircraft had to ditch because it was too badly damaged. The three occupants were uninjured. A second CL-415 was damaged to a lesser extent. Investigators from the Gendarmerie des transports aériens in Ajaccio and the Bureau d'enquête accidents pour la sécurité de l'aéronautique d'État (BEAé) were dispatched to the scene. https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/511642 A flight spent 10 minutes with no pilot when the first officer collapsed while the captain was in the bathroom A 38-year-old first officer lost consciousness while alone on the flight deck. The incident occurred on a Lufthansa flight in early 2024 while the captain was in the bathroom. All in all, the flight was left without a pilot operating it for roughly 10 minutes, a report found. A Lufthansa flight went 10 minutes without a pilot after the first officer fell ill while alone in the cockpit, according to investigators. The Airbus A321 was flying from Frankfurt, Germany, to Seville, Spain, last February. Full details of the incident came to light on Thursday, when Spanish investigators published their final report. More than 200 people were on board the flight, which appeared to be running smoothly before it crossed the Spanish border. With around half an hour remaining of the journey, the captain left the flight deck to visit the bathroom. He told investigators the first officer appeared to be in good condition at this time. However, when the captain returned eight minutes later, he was unable to get back into the cockpit. In an interview with investigators, the first officer said he had suddenly lost consciousness. Advertisement The captain tried to enter the security door's access code five times. Meanwhile, a flight attendant tried to contact the first officer on the intercom. After receiving no response, the captain used the emergency access code. Before the timer for this expired, the first officer was able to recover enough to open the door. The 38-year-old was described as "pale, sweating, and moving strangely," so the captain called for help. Cabin crew and a doctor, who was travelling as a passenger, administered first aid, while the captain diverted to Madrid — the nearest airport. Upon landing, the first officer was taken to the hospital. His "sudden and severe incapacitation" was the result of a seizure disorder caused by a neurological condition, investigators wrote in Thursday's report. The Spanish aviation regulator said his condition was difficult to detect — and would only appear in a medical exam if his symptoms had been present at the time or had occurred before. Investigators recommended that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency tell all airlines about this incident, so they can reassess the risks of one pilot being left alone on the flight deck. Lufthansa declined to comment when contacted by Business Insider. https://www.yahoo.com/news/flight-spent-10-minutes-no-094945251.html Veteran Air Traffic Controller Spills All on Trump-Era Safety Crisis A veteran air traffic controller has opened up in stunning detail about the Trump-era safety crisis currently roiling the U.S. travel industry. Jonathan Stewart outlined in an on-the-record interview a recent close call at Newark-Liberty International Airport, and outlined the dangers of staffing shortages bedeviling the FAA. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Stewart described the stress that comes with his job as supervisor at the Philadelphia site that oversees planes arriving at the New Jersey airport. “It’s like a videogame, but it’s like playing 3-D chess at 250 miles an hour,” he told the outlet. “We are the guys that are guiding your pilots home.” “I don’t want to be responsible for killing 400 people,” he added, noting that staffing shortfalls hamper the number of planes that can be effectively guided in for landing. Stewart, who is among those on trauma leave, filed an internal safety report after a close call on May 4, in which two planes were heading towards each other at the same altitude. Stewart was able to help pilots change course, but he was concerned about another equipment failure. “The situation is, has been and continues to be unsafe,” Stewart wrote. “The amount of stress we are under is insurmountable.” Stewart told the Journal that controllers should ideally spend two hours maximum working traffic. Before the May 4 near miss, he had worked three, according to the report. While Stewart is expected to make more than $450,000 this year—overtime included—he is “sacrificing a lot for that,” Stewart said. “You give up nights, weekends, holidays, birthdays, everything else. Your mental health and your physical health take a toll,” he added. “Like anything else, you’re going to have a breaking point,” he said. Near-misses like the one on May 4 may not be stressful at the time, he explained. “But the thing about PTSD is this: For every time you have an incident—say a close call, a near-midair, God forbid—all of these things are cumulative." As for the FAA and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pledging immediate action to address tech issues and low staffing at the nation’s 12th-busiest airport, Stewart reacted positively: “For the first time that I’m aware of, they are throwing money at the problem.” Another air traffic controller warned earlier this month that, in the meantime, travelers should “avoid Newark at all costs.” And Newark isn’t the only airport where air traffic controllers have experienced a momentary loss of contact with planes recently. In Denver on Monday, transmitters stopped functioning for up to six minutes, prompting an FAA investigation. Just the day before, Duffy had seemingly predicted the incident. “What you see in Newark is going to happen in other places across the country,” he said on NBC’s Meet the Press, pinning the blame on outdated technology and subpar oversight by Congress. “It has to be fixed, and so what we’re having is some telecom issues, but we’re also having some glitches in our software,” he said. “As the information comes in, it’s overloading some of our lines, and the system goes down.” https://www.yahoo.com/news/veteran-air-traffic-controller-spills-231532536.html 6-minute outage at Denver airport leaves 20 pilots in the lurch in latest terrifying flight snafu Denver airport’s air traffic control was reportedly struck by a staggering six-minute outage earlier this week after several radio transmitters suddenly went dark. The frequency outage meant that as many as 20 pilots were unable to reach air traffic controllers as they descended into Denver International Airport on Monday afternoon, ABC7 reported, citing sources. A controller eventually made contact with one aircraft on a “guard line,” which is typically only used when a pilot is in distress. That pilot was then able to contact other nearby planes and tell them to switch radio frequencies, the sources said. As many as 20 pilots were unable to reach air traffic controllers as they descended into Denver International Airport. At the time of the ordeal, controllers at the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center were already communicating on a backup frequency after four other frequencies went out of service, according to the one source. “It’s one thing to lose track of one airplane because you can’t communicate with them, but to lose track of all of the airplanes that you had communication with,” David Riley, a retired air traffic controller, said. “And from my understanding, in this situation, they still had radar coverage, but that’s like watching a car crash happen and not be able to do anything about it.” The air traffic control tower is seen from the gate as a woman and a child look out at the Denver International Airport terminal, in Denver, Colorado, U.S., May 15, 2025. The Denver mishap is just the latest in a spate of air traffic control issues — including repeated outages at the troubled Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey that have sparked mass cancellations. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy last week unveiled plans to revamp the nation’s plagued air travel system, detailing a multi-billion-dollar overhaul to replace the nation’s aging air traffic control system. The Transportation Department plans to ask Congress for billions and billions of dollars to replace 618 radars, install 4,600 new high-speed connections and upgrade all the computers controllers use. Still, Federal Aviation Administration officials told a congressional hearing Wednesday that it would take another year or more to update aging infrastructure and complete recruitment for controllers. The FAA is still short roughly 3,000 air traffic controllers and in the process of updating copper telecommunications wires for a brand-new fiber-optic network. Air Traffic Organization deputy COO Franklin McIntosh revealed the agency is only on track to hire 2,000 air traffic controllers by the end of this year. “We have to account for attrition,” McIntosh said. “I think we’ll finally start gaining traction this year, where we outpace attrition. And then we’ll start seeing over the next 18 to 24 months where we actually see a positive gain in the controllers.” https://nypost.com/2025/05/15/us-news/denver-air-traffic-control-lost-contact-with-up-to-20-pilots-for-6-minutes-in-latest-terrifying-mishap/ Delta Air Lines Reinforces Commitment to Aviation Safety with Appointment of Senior Vice President of Corporate Safety Security and Compliance Delta Air Lines has named Brad Sheehan as its new Senior Vice President of Corporate Safety, Security and Compliance, marking a pivotal leadership change within the airline’s safety operations. Sheehan steps into the role following the retirement of a veteran executive who dedicated over three decades to the company. Bringing more than twenty-five years of experience in aviation and nearly eight years with Delta, Sheehan is well-equipped to lead one of the most essential functions in the airline’s commitment to safety. This appointment comes as Delta strengthens its focus on maintaining and enhancing its robust safety culture amid a rapidly changing aviation environment. Currently serving as Vice President of Flight Operations and an Airbus A320 captain, Sheehan has played a vital role in promoting safety excellence across Delta’s extensive pilot community. In his expanded role, he will engage with industry stakeholders, regulatory bodies, and government agencies to ensure Delta remains a front-runner in safety innovation and compliance. Sheehan’s transition into this position is scheduled for early June, while the outgoing leader will officially retire by the end of the month after nearly thirty-five years of service. The retiring executive’s tenure was marked by substantial achievements, including significant reductions in injury rates, major investments in operational safety infrastructure, and cultivating a pervasive safety-first mindset across the airline. Sheehan is expected to carry forward and expand on these accomplishments. With a strong background in aviation safety and operational oversight, Sheehan has managed key aspects of flight standards, pilot training, and safety management systems throughout his career. At Delta, he headed the Flight Safety team and fostered vital partnerships with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other regulatory authorities, which have been crucial in promoting safe, efficient national airspace operations. Over his career, Sheehan has held several FAA-designated roles such as Director of Operations and Director of Safety. He currently serves as Delta’s System Chief Pilot and will continue as the FAA-appointed Director of Safety in his new capacity. These roles underscore his expertise in navigating complex regulatory landscapes while providing strategic safety counsel to senior leadership. Since joining Delta in 2017 as Managing Director of Flight Safety, Sheehan has led initiatives involving flight data analysis, operational safety reporting, and accident investigations that have strengthened the airline’s proactive risk management. He advanced to Vice President of Flight Training and Standards in 2021, overseeing pilot education and regulatory compliance, before being promoted to Vice President of Flight Operations in early 2024, managing the activities of over seventeen thousand pilots. Prior to his tenure at Delta, Sheehan gained extensive leadership experience at other airlines. He was Vice President at JetBlue University, where he directed company-wide learning and cultural development programs supporting operational excellence. Additionally, he held senior leadership roles at ExpressJet Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines, managing large fleets and complex operations with a focus on safety, quality assurance, and operational efficiency. Sheehan holds a Bachelor’s degree from Auburn University and has earned business management certifications from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. He is recognized globally for his expertise in quality management, system thinking, just culture principles, and human performance. His insights on aviation safety, training, and organizational culture have made him a respected voice at industry forums worldwide. Delta Air Lines President and CEO Ed Bastian applauded Sheehan’s appointment, emphasizing the airline’s steadfast dedication to safety and operational excellence. Bastian expressed confidence that Sheehan’s leadership will be instrumental in further advancing Delta’s safety culture and positioning the airline to meet future challenges while maintaining the highest safety standards. This leadership change highlights Delta’s ongoing commitment to prioritizing safety and compliance at the executive level. As the aviation sector evolves with new technologies, regulations, and operational complexities, the role of Senior Vice President of Corporate Safety, Security and Compliance remains critical. With Sheehan’s extensive expertise and proven leadership, Delta is well-prepared to continue its legacy as an industry leader in aviation safety. https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/delta-air-lines-reinforces-commitment-to-aviation-safety-with-appointment-of-senior-vice-president-of-corporate-safety-security-and-compliance/ South Korea Jeju Air crash families file criminal complaint against minister, 14 others SEOUL, May 13 (Reuters) - Families of victims from the Jeju Air (089590.KS), opens new tab plane that crashed in December have filed a criminal complaint against 15 people including South Korean government officials and airline safety representatives, their lawyers said on Tuesday. Families of 72 of the victims from the Jeju Air crash on December 29 said they were initiating the legal action against officials including transport minister Park Sang-woo alleging negligence in managing safety risks as well as violations of the Aviation Safety Act. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-korea-jeju-air-crash-families-file-criminal-complaint-against-minister-14-2025-05-13/ Air New Zealand New York Flight with 787 Makes Emergency Landing in Hawaii The diversion in Honolulu (HNL) disrupted the planned schedule of the flight, stopping it from continuing to New York (JFK). HONOLULU- An Air New Zealand (NZ) flight NZ2, traveling to New York (JFK), was redirected to Honolulu (HNL) due to a medical emergency on the flight. The incident caused the cancellation of the return flight NZ1 from New York (JFK) to Auckland (AKL). The Air New Zealand (NZ) flight NZ2, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, performed an unscheduled landing in Honolulu (HNL). Affected passengers were accommodated and rebooked by Air New Zealand in response. An Air New Zealand (NZ) flight NZ2, traveling to New York (JFK), was redirected to Honolulu (HNL) due to a medical emergency on the flight. Air New Zealand Medical Emergency On Friday, May 16, 2025, Air New Zealand flight NZ2, operated by Boeing 787 from Auckland (AKL) to New York (JFK), had to divert due to a medical emergency on the flight. The diversion was necessary to get the passenger immediate medical attention, ensuring priorities were taken following routine aviation protocols. The flight was operated by a 5.6-year-old Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, registered as ZK-NZR. Air New Zealand chief safety and risk officer Nathan McGraw, confirmed that the diversion was in the morning, but details of the medical situation, including the condition of the passenger, were not released to respect privacy. The diversion in Honolulu (HNL) disrupted the planned schedule of the flight, stopping it from continuing to New York (JFK). This meant that the plane was out of position for its planned return flight, NZ1, from New York (JFK) to Auckland (AKL), and was therefore canceled. Passengers were informed by Air New Zealand (NZ) by email, with an apology for the inconvenience and the reason that the crew were unable to complete the flight due to exceeding maximum duty hours, a rule intended for the crew’s rest and safety. Passenger Assistance Immediate action was taken by Air New Zealand (NZ) to minimize the inconvenience for passengers on both affected flights. Passengers on flight NZ2, stuck in Honolulu (HNL), were offered accommodations as necessary, ensuring comfort on the unplanned layover. Passengers on the cancelled flight NZ1 from New York (JFK) to Auckland (AKL) were also helped with rebooking on the next scheduled flights. The airline was clear in its commitment to customer service, wishing passengers understanding for the inconvenience. The airline’s reaction is by its policy of dealing with interruptions due to uncontrollable occurrences, like medical emergencies. Passengers were informed that they could get real-time updates through the Air NZ website or app and alter their bookings themselves. Air New Zealand (NZ) also offered contact details, with a U.S. customer number (1-800-262-1234), for passengers requiring further advice, although it hinted at delays during significant interruptions. Air New Zealand (NZ), the 2025 World’s Safest Airline according to Airlineratings.com, follows strict safety measures, evident in the timely management of this medical emergency. https://aviationa2z.com/index.php/2025/05/16/air-new-zealand-new-york-flight-with-787-makes-emergency-landing-in-hawaii/#google_vignette Singapore Airlines Employees Gets Over 7 Months Bonus After $2.78Bn Profit The resulting 7.45-month bonus is slightly below last year's 7.9-month payout but above the 6.65 months’ worth awarded in 2023. SINGAPORE- World’s largest carrier, Singapore Airlines (SQ), is awarding employees an extraordinary profit-sharing bonus equal to 7.45 months of base pay after posting a record FY2024 net profit of $2.78 billion. The airline operates primarily from Singapore Changi Airport (SIN). This bonus, which benefits tens of thousands of employees, follows the carrier’s strong annual results, largely boosted by a $1.1 billion one-time accounting gain from the Air India (AI)-Vistara (UK) merger. Singapore Airlines Profit and Employees Bonus Singapore Airlines (SQ) has once again led the aviation industry in employee rewards, thanks to its robust performance in FY2024-25. Despite facing competitive pressures and falling yields, the airline reported a record net profit of $2.78 billion. Notably, $1.1 billion of this came from a noncash accounting gain due to the merger between Vistara (UK) and Air India (AI), both carriers in which Singapore Airlines holds equity. Without this one-off, the operating profit stood at $1.7 billion, marking a decline of $1.02 billion compared to the previous year. The resulting 7.45-month bonus is slightly below last year’s 7.9-month payout but above the 6.65 months’ worth awarded in 2023. This payout is calculated using a formula pre-agreed with staff unions, a rare and transparent approach in global aviation. While other airlines also reward staff when profits rise, Singapore Airlines remains one of the most structured and generous. Emirates (EK), based in Dubai (DXB), recently announced bonuses equivalent to 22 weeks of basic salary, around six months, but without a defined calculation method. By comparison, carriers like British Airways (BA) and American Airlines (AA) offer profit sharing that typically caps at 4% of annual wages. SIA Group Financial Metrics FY2024-25 Metric FY2024/25 Value Change from FY2023-24 Total Revenue $19,540 million +2.8% Total Expenditure $17,831 million +9.5% Net Fuel Cost $5,386 million +6.1% Non-Fuel Expenditure $12,445 million +11.0% Operating Profit $1,709 million -37.3% Net Profit $2,778 million +3.9% Passenger Numbers 39.4 million +8.1% Passenger Load Factor 86.6% -1.4 points Cargo Load Factor 56.1% +1.6 points Second Half FY2024-25 Metric Value Change from 2nd Half FY2023-24 Revenue $10,042 million +1.9% Operating Profit $914 million -22.1% Net Profit $2,036 million +65.0% Passenger Yield – -4.5% Cargo Yield – -2.1% Lower Yields and Strong Competition Despite posting a record net profit, the airline’s core operating environment showed signs of strain. Operating profit fell 37.3% YoY due to reduced passenger yields and increased competition across major Asian markets. The passenger yield dropped 5.5%, and cargo yield fell 7.8%, as the global industry saw a surge in capacity. Passenger traffic rose 6.4%, but was outpaced by an 8.2% increase in capacity, reducing the passenger load factor (PLF) to 86.6%. Still, the airline group, including Scoot, carried a record 39.4 million passengers in FY2024-25, an 8.1% increase from the previous year. Group revenue climbed 2.8% year over year to $19.54 billion. Cargo revenues, aided by rising e-commerce and sea freight disruptions, rose 4.4%, although competition limited gains. Strategic Partnerships and Network Expansion Singapore Airlines (SQ) continues to strengthen its global presence through strategic alliances. A deepened partnership with All Nippon Airways (NH) will introduce revenue sharing flights between Singapore and Japan from September 2025, with joint fare products available from May 2025. This collaboration enhances connectivity, offering more fare options, coordinated schedules, and reciprocal benefits for KrisFlyer and ANA Mileage Club members. The partnership may expand to markets like Australia, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia, pending regulatory approval, boosting Changi Airport’s (SIN) role as a transit hub. The SIA Group’s passenger network spans 128 destinations across 36 countries, with SIA serving 79 and Scoot operating to 71. For the Northern Summer 2025 season, SIA will increase services to Brisbane, Colombo, Jakarta, Johannesburg, London (Gatwick), Manila, and Seattle, while Scoot adds Iloilo City and Vienna. The cargo network covers 132 destinations, benefiting from strong e-commerce demand despite a 2.1% yield drop in the second half of FY2024-25. Strategic Investments in Fleet and Innovation Singapore Airlines continues to invest in future growth and premium positioning. As of March 2025, the SIA Group operated 205 aircraft with an average age of under 8 years and had 78 more on order. To elevate its premium travel experience, the airline announced a $1.1 billion investment in new long-haul cabin products for its Airbus A350 fleet, including a redesigned First Class for ultra-long-range routes. Additionally, $45 million is being invested in revamping the lounges at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2, set to expand capacity and enhance comfort. On the digital front, SIA is adopting generative AI to improve service and efficiency. Collaborations with Salesforce and OpenAI are underway to develop AI-powered customer solutions, reinforcing the airline’s focus on innovation. Future Outlook Despite the headline making bonuses and record profits, Singapore Airlines has cautioned about future challenges. The airline expects a “challenging operating environment” driven by geopolitical tensions, global trade disruptions, and economic uncertainty. Cost escalation and fierce market competition will likely continue to pressure margins. However, the airline’s long-term investments, strong balance sheet, and disciplined cost management are expected to help it weather these headwinds. https://aviationa2z.com/index.php/2025/05/16/singapore-airlines-employees-gets-over-7-months-bonus/#google_vignette Why Qatar Is So Excited to Dump That Private Jet on Trump That Boeing 747 isn’t nearly as great as Trump is making it out to be. The Qatari government used Trump to pawn off a hunking chunk of metal that it had been trying to get rid of for five years, according to reporting from Forbes. The president—easily swayed by gifts—likely just saved this foreign government thousands if not millions of dollars in storage fees and maintenance by accepting the “palace in the sky,” a super-luxury Boeing 747 that the Qatari government has been trying to sell since 2020. Trump intends to use it as a “temporary Air Force One.” “Qatar, like many modern states, is shifting toward leaner, more versatile aircraft, which offer better economics and more discreet presence for official travel,” said Linus Bauer, a managing director of aviation consulting firm BAA & Partners. Qatar’s decision to give the plane to Trump is “a creative disposal strategy” and “a farewell to a bygone model of geopolitical theater in the skies.” This plane, of which the Qatari government owns three, has been phased out of air fleets across the world for the last decade due to its unreasonable gas guzzling and the security risk that its ginormous size presents. “These things are big targets,” said aerospace consultant Richard Aboulafia. “There are a lot more airports you can get into if you have a narrow body, and many more still if you have a traditional business jet.” The temporary jet will need to be disassembled and searched for bugs before it is reinforced to the level Air Force One is required to be. Former Air Force acquisitions chief Andrew Hunter estimated it could cost tens of millions to do a full security sweep of the plane. “I can’t imagine any well-trained senior Air Force officer saying this is a good idea,” Aboulafia said. https://newrepublic.com/post/195311/qatar-private-jet-trump-disaster Global Airlines is making its first official flight across the Atlantic with an Airbus A380 The first official flight for Global Airlines' Airbus A380 took off on Thursday. James Asquith's startup has attracted many critics who doubted whether it would ever take to the skies. Global has to contend with a competitive market and develop a more refined offering. It's taken several years, but Global Airlines finally took to the skies on Thursday for its official launch flight. The Airbus A380 departed Glasgow at 11:34 a.m. local time and is scheduled to land at New York's JFK Airport around 1 p.m. ET. Travel journalists, influencers, and aviation enthusiasts descended on the Scottish city for the long-awaited event. Economy tickets were initially selling for as much as £780 (about $1,000), but it looks like slow sales prompted discounting. With the promotion, return fares were listed at £380. A business-class return ticket was on sale at £1,999 ($2,660), and for first class was £2,999 ($3,990). The Independent's Simon Calder reported that 170 passengers were believed to be on the flight — just a third of the plane's capacity. Thursday's flight is a huge step for Global, but it still has plenty of work ahead to convince its critics. A drama-free maiden flight will be one achievement. The flight is operated by 9H-GLOBL, a 12-year-old A380 previously owned by China Southern Airlines before being mothballed in California's Mojave boneyard. Global spent millions getting the plane ready for service before it made its first transatlantic flight last May, being ferried to Glasgow. It was the most-tracked flight on Flightradar24, with more than 40,000 people following its journey at its peak. The airline was founded by James Asquith, a 36-year-old who gained fame in 2013 when he became the youngest person to visit every country in the world. He then founded Holiday Swap, a platform for travelers to book accommodation. Critics have questioned Global's business plan, which wants a slice of the highly competitive transatlantic travel. The A380 is a particularly expensive plane to operate because its four engines use a lot of fuel, and there are hundreds of seats to fill. Global is paying Hi Fly Malta, a charter airline, to operate the first flights, with tickets sold through the travel agent Travelopedia. Asquith is hoping that his grand ambitions will help the airline break through. He wants to offer an "elevated service" that will take passengers "back to the golden age of travel." Business-class passengers can be transferred by a Blacklane chauffeur and dine on caviar in the air. However, Global cut more ambitious ideas like a "gamer class" with PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Its "sky pub," a social space aiming to take advantage of the A380's size, is little more than a few bottles on a shelf. "You're looking at many years to certify bigger social spaces and bars, so we will develop our social spaces even more when we have more aircraft in the sky," Asquith said in an Instagram post last month. Global Airlines may not yet be as refined as it would like, but it has already proved many doubters wrong by making its first flight. 9H-GLOBL is scheduled to return from New York on Monday. It's due to fly from Manchester, England to JFK on May 21 and return on May 25. https://www.yahoo.com/news/startup-airline-airbus-a380-making-113045538.html Nominations for ISASI - Jerry Lederer Award - Please submit before May 30 Please consider nominating someone who you know is deserving of the Jerry Lederer Award: any member of ISASI may submit a nomination. The nominee is not required to be an ISASI member and may be an individual, a group of individuals, or an organization. The nomination can be for a single event, a series of events, or a lifetime of achievement. Nomination statements should emphasize an original and remarkable contribution and personal effort beyond normal duty requirements. To nominate, a letter no more than a single page, is written outlining the individual’s achievements; such traits as persistence, standing among peers, manner and techniques of operating, and achievements are considered. The nomination letter is to be e-mailed to both the ISASI office (ann.schull@isasi.org ) and to the Awards Committee Chair (Dave King - kingdfk@aol.com). Nominations must be received by May 30th. www.isasi.org CALENDAR OF EVENTS · Sixth Edition of International Accident Investigation Forum, 21 to 23 May 2025, Singapore · Flight Safety Foundation - Aviation Safety Forum June 5-6, 2025 - Brussels . 2025 EASA-FAA International Aviation Safety Conference, 10 Jun 2025 to 12 Jun 2025, Cologne, Germany · The 9th Shanghai International Aerospace Technology and Equipment Exposition 2025; June 11 to 13, 2025 . South Texas Business Aviation Association June 20th at the Galaxy FBO at Conroe Airport, Texas. . Airborne Public Safety Association -APSCON / APSCON Unmanned 2025 in Phoenix, AZ | July 14-18, 2025 . 3rd annual Asia Pacific Summit for Aviation Safety (AP-SAS), July 15-17, 2025, Singapore, organized by Flight Safety Foundation and CAAS. . Asia Pacific Aviation Safety Seminar 2025; 10-11 September 2025; Manila, Philippines · ISASI ANNUAL SEMINAR 2025'September 29, 2025 – October 3, 2025, DENVER, COLORADO . Air Medical Transport Conference (AMTC™) - 2025 – October 27-29th (Omaha, Nebraska) . 29th annual Bombardier Safety Standdown, November 11-13, 2025; Wichita, Kansas · CHC Safety & Quality Summit, 11th – 13th November 2025, Vancouver, BC Canada Curt Lewis