United Brings Back Tel Aviv Service

The Chicago-based airline is slated to join Delta and resume service to Tel Aviv starting next month with up to two daily flights.

Ryan Ewing

Tuesday, February 04, 2025 at 09:18 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

A United 787 Dreamliner descends into Amsterdam. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Fabian Behr)

United is the latest U.S. airline to announce plans to return to Israel. The Chicago-based airline is slated to join Delta and resume service to Tel Aviv starting next month.

Daily flights from the carrier’s Newark, New Jersey, hub will restart on March 15. A second daily service will begin on March 29.

“This resumption follows a detailed assessment of operational considerations for the region and close work with the unions who represent our flight attendants and pilots,” the carrier stated in a news release.

The airline will operate Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners on the route.

United briefly resumed service to Tel Aviv in early 2024 but halted flights again. The carrier initially suspended service in 2023 following the Israel-Hamas war.

American has yet to announce plans to resume service to the country. Delta’s New York-JFK to Tel Aviv flights are set to restart on April 1.

Ryan Ewing

Ryan founded AirlineGeeks.com back in February 2013 and has amassed considerable experience in the aviation sector. His work has been featured in several publications and news outlets, including CNN, WJLA, CNET, and Business Insider. During his time in the industry, he's worked in roles pertaining to airport/airline operations while holding a B.S. in Air Transportation Management from Arizona State University along with an MBA. Ryan has experience in several facets of the industry from behind the yoke of a Cessna 172 to interviewing airline industry executives. Ryan works for AirlineGeeks' owner FLYING Media, spearheading coverage in the commercial aviation space.

Airport Workers Arrested Over Crash Video Leak

A pair of employees from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority are facing potential felony charges for allegedly leaking video of Wednesday's crash.

Ryan Ewing

Monday, February 03, 2025 at 09:18 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. (Photo: Shutterstock | TJ Brown)

A pair of employees from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority are facing potential felony charges for allegedly leaking video of Wednesday’s midair collision. MWAA operates both Reagan National and Washington Dulles airports in D.C.

According to Fox 5, Mohamed Lamine Mbengue, age 21, was arrested on Jan. 31. Authorities also arrested 41-year-old Jonathan Savoy on Sunday.

They are charged with computer trespass in Virginia, which could be a felony. Both individuals were later released pending a court date.

Mbengue and Savoy allegedly created an “unauthorized copy” of MWAA surveillance camera footage which showed the deadly crash involving a CRJ-700 and Army Black Hawk helicopter. The video later aired on CNN.

MWAA officials didn’t say whether more airport workers would face charges, per Fox 5. Details are also not yet known regarding whether the duo sold the video.

Ryan Ewing

Endeavor Air Opening Seventh Crew Base

Initially, the new base will have between 130 and 170 total crew members assigned. The airline already has a maintenance base at the North Carolina airport.

Ryan Ewing

Monday, February 03, 2025 at 04:09 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

An Endeavor Air CRJ-700 aircraft at New York's LaGuardia airport (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

Wholly owned Delta regional subsidiary Endeavor Air will open its seventh crew base in the coming months. The carrier plans to open a Raleigh/Durham domicile in the second quarter of 2025.

Initially, the new base will have between 130 and 170 total crew members assigned. The airline already has a maintenance base at the North Carolina airport.

Endeavor exclusively operates CRJ-700 and CRJ-900 aircraft under the Delta Connection brand. It currently has crew bases in Atlanta, New York LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Cincinnati, Detroit and Minneapolis.

“Endeavor’s current network flying includes considerable RDU-to-outstation activity that will best be covered by a crew base in RDU,” said Brian Darsow, the airline’s chief operating officer, in a Monday announcement. “A crew base in RDU will increase efficiency and support operational reliability. The RDU crew base will support Endeavor’s operation as the airline ramps up to operating 141 aircraft by the summer of 2025.”

In addition, Endeavor has maintenance-only bases in Des Moines, Iowa; Mosinee, Wisconsin; Indianapolis; and Knoxville, Tennessee.

Ryan Ewing

Sun Country, Teamsters Agree to 22% Raises for Flight Attendants

The deal will deliver raises, extra retirement benefits and add protections for nearly 800 flight attendants at the airline.

AirlineGeeks.com Staff

Monday, February 03, 2025 at 02:41 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

A Sun Country 737 in Los Angeles (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Katie Zera)

Sun Country Airlines and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) recently announced they reached an agreement for a tentative contract covering nearly 800 flight attendants at the carrier.

According to a Thursday news release from the labor group, the tentative agreement includes an average wage increase of nearly 22%, along with increased contributions to Teamster retirement plans and added language to protect flight attendants who are scheduled to work during holidays.

Sun Country flight attendants will participate in a ratification vote for the tentative agreement by the end of February.

Contract negotiations between Teamsters Local 120 and the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based carrier began in 2019 and entered federal mediation in December 2023. Last August, Teamsters voted by a 99 percent margin to authorize a strike against Sun Country if negotiations continued into this year.

“Sun Country Teamsters were united and determined to fight for the contract they deserve,” said Tom Erickson, Local 120 president and international vice president for the Teamsters central region, in the release. “This tentative agreement is a testament to our members’ hard work and dedication. All Sun Country Teamsters should be proud to support this contract offer.”

Chris Griswold, Teamsters airline division director, congratulated Sun Country Teamsters in a news release statement.

“This is a major step towards winning the contract our members deserve,” he said. “For years, Sun Country has treated employees as cheap and temporary labor. Sun Country Teamsters have now broken that cycle.”

In another news release from Sun Country, Chief Operating Officer Greg Mays said the carrier has “tremendous respect and appreciation” for its flight attendants.

“This Agreement in Principle reflects the important role they play in keeping our passengers safe and delivering on Sun Country’s promise of a friendly, hassle-free travel experience,” he said. “I also want to thank the IBT Negotiating Committee for their hard work and collaboration in reaching this agreement.”

AirlineGeeks.com Staff

AirlineGeeks.com was founded in February 2013 as a one-person blog in Washington D.C. Since then, we’ve grown to have 25+ active team members scattered across the globe. We are all here for the same reason: we love deep-diving into the fascinating realm of the airline industry.

United Adds New Route, Resumes Two More

United is adding three routes to its network later this year. The carrier will expand in Chicago with one new service along with two resumptions.

Ryan Ewing

Monday, February 03, 2025 at 12:24 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

A United 737-800 in San Francisco. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Ben Suskind)

United is adding three routes to its network later this year. The carrier will expand in Chicago with one new service along with two resumptions.

Starting on May 22, the airline’s newest route will connect Chicago O’Hare and Ontario, California, with daily service. Flights will be operated by a Boeing 737-800, according to Cirium Diio schedule data.

“We are thrilled that United has chosen to add service from Ontario to its home base in Chicago, which will become our airport’s 27th nonstop destination,” said Alan D. Wapner, president of the Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA) Board of Airport Commissioners, in a news release.

The route joins United’s existing service from Ontario to San Francisco, Denver, and Houston.

Resuming Service

In addition, the Chicago-based airline plans to restart service from Chicago to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Billings, Montana. These routes were last served by United in 2019.

United Express E175 — A United Express Embraer E175 (Photo: Shutterstock | Austin Deppe)

Service to Billings will operate once per day starting on May 22. SkyWest will operate the route with an Embraer E175 jet.

Beginning on May 31, the airline will also add once-weekly service to Halifax. Like Billings, this route will be flown by a SkyWest E175, but only through September.

Ryan Ewing

SkyTeam Loses Another Airline

After the Lufthansa Group finalized its 41% stake in ITA Airways last month, the Italian carrier will pivot to the Star Alliance.

Ryan Ewing

Monday, February 03, 2025 at 11:31 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

An ITA Airways Airbus A350 (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

The SkyTeam alliance will have one fewer airline later this year. After the Lufthansa Group finalized its 41% stake in ITA Airways, the Italian carrier will pivot to the Star Alliance.

ITA’s “exit phase” will take place through April 30 and is “designed to ensure a structured and efficient process,” the carrier said on Monday. The airline expects to join the Star Alliance by early 2026.

“ITA Airways will continue to collaborate with selected SkyTeam member airlines through existing bilateral agreements, maintaining the benefits available to its customers,” the company stated in a news release.

The Lufthansa Group’s subsidiaries are mostly Star Alliance members. Lufthansa itself was also a founding member of the group in 1997.

ITA joined SkyTeam in 2021 in line with its predecessor Alitalia. In October 2024, the alliance lost one of its early members, Czech Airlines, which ceased operations.

But SkyTeam recently gained SAS as one of its newest members last year. The Scandinavian airline left the Star Alliance following the completion of an acquisition by the Air France-KLM group.

Ryan Ewing

737 MAX Engine Fire Caused by Improper Maintenance

The crew reported receiving a No. 1 engine fire warning. They proceeded to shut down the engine and discharged one fire bottle, which extinguished the fire.

Ryan Ewing

Monday, February 03, 2025 at 10:48 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

A United 737 MAX 9 aircraft (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

The National Transportation Safety Board has issued its final report about the June 28, 2023, engine fire on a United Boeing 737 MAX 9. The fire occurred during taxi after the jet landed in Newark, New Jersey. The incident occurred as United flight 2376 was arriving from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The flight crew reported receiving a No. 1 engine fire warning during taxi. They proceeded to shut down the engine and discharged one fire bottle, which extinguished the fire.

No visible smoke or flames were observed externally, but maintenance personnel later found evidence of a fuel leak and heat damage to engine components.

According to the NTSB’s report, the fire originated in the No. 1 (left) engine due to a fuel leak from an improperly torqued fuel nozzle connection. Specifically, the fuel nozzle 17 pilot secondary inlet b-nut was found to have zero torque, allowing fuel to escape and ignite on contact with hot engine surfaces.

Examination of the engine revealed signs of an undercowl fire. Importantly, there was no engine case burn-through and the fire was fully contained, investigators stated.

Improper Maintenance Work

During a teardown inspection, investigators discovered that not only the fuel nozzle 17 b-nut, but also the nozzle 18 b-nut had zero torque and could be removed without resistance. This suggests improper installation during previous maintenance.

The NTSB determined the probable cause of the incident to be “A No. 1 (left) engine fire due a fuel leak that originated from the fuel nozzle 17 b-nut connection that was not properly torqued in accordance with the aircraft maintenance manual procedure.”

The fuel nozzles on the affected engine were replaced by airline mechanics on Jan. 12, 2023. After the replacement, the aircraft had accumulated 1,705 flight hours until the fire.

CFM Engine Issues

While not directly related to this incident, the report noted an ongoing issue with fuel nozzle coking in CFM LEAP series engines. This problem has necessitated frequent early replacements of fuel nozzles across the fleet.

United reported completing 443 fuel nozzle set replacements on its CFM LEAP engines as of October 2024.

In response to the incident, the carrier has revised its maintenance procedures for fuel nozzle replacement. The new process includes additional steps to ensure proper installation and multiple leak checks, including a pressurized nitrogen test and visual inspections during engine wet motor and part-power operations.

The incident aircraft, registered as N37516, sustained minor damage. None of the 184 individuals on board – including 179 passengers and five crew members – were injured.

Ryan Ewing

Duffy: FAA Keeping All Safety Positions

Newly-appointed Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy confirmed the Federal Aviation Administration is keeping all safety-related positions in place.

Ryan Ewing

Sunday, February 02, 2025 at 07:18 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

A Southwest aircraft taxis in Austin. (Photo: Shutterstock | Ceri Breeze)

Newly-appointed Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy confirmed the Federal Aviation Administration is keeping all safety-related positions in place. The news comes just weeks after President Trump ordered a federal hiring freeze and extended early buyout offers to almost all federal workers.

“So, in regard to the employment freeze, we had almost 1,200 positions that were critical safety positions that were exempted,” Duffy told CNN on Sunday. “Those included air traffic controllers. Actually, this last week, we had new air traffic controllers that were hired.”

As of last week, the agency had temporarily removed all postings from the USA Jobs website. 145 open positions have since been re-added as of Sunday, including several air traffic control openings.

“We also had postings online to bring in new air traffic controllers. So air traffic controllers were exempted from a hiring freeze, as well as other safety positions like inspectors. In regard to offers for people to take early retirement, for our department, actually, the critical positions in regard to safety are not offered that early retirement,” he continued.

“We’re going to keep all our safety positions in place.”@SecDuffy tells @jaketapper that air traffic controllers and “critical safety positions” are exempt from Trump’s hiring freeze and buyout offer for federal employees. pic.twitter.com/KQAEVmypNS

— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) February 2, 2025

Nearly all federal employees were sent offers to resign by Feb. 6 or face potential termination. These were also sent to air traffic controllers and other safety-critical roles within the FAA, according to the AP.

“They can’t spin this away. The Trump administration contacted air traffic controllers, offering buyouts to leave their jobs. It’s a very easily proven fact,” former DOT secretary Pete Buttigieg said on X.

While some improvements have been made to staffing levels, the FAA remains between 3,000 and 4,000 controllers short of its targets.

“We’re going to keep all our safety positions in place, no early retirement. We’re all going to stay and work and make sure our skies are safe,” Duffy concluded.

Ryan Ewing

NTSB: CRJ Increased Pitch Moments Before Crash

While the data remains preliminary, the NTSB said the aircraft was "beginning to increase its pitch." This followed a "verbal reaction" from the crew.

Ryan Ewing

Sunday, February 02, 2025 at 06:23 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

NTSB investigators survey the crash site following Wednesday's collision. (Photo: NTSB)

The crew onboard American flight 5342 may have attempted to maneuver the aircraft away from the helicopter moments before Wednesday’s crash, National Transportation Safety Board investigators stated. The PSA Airlines CRJ-700 and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.

While the data remains preliminary, the NTSB said the aircraft was “beginning to increase its pitch.” This followed a “verbal reaction” from the crew.

Approximately one second later, sounds consistent with an impact were heard, following the end of the recording. This data was found on the aircraft’s flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, which were recovered on Thursday.

“A CVR group consisting of party representatives from the NTSB, PSA, ALPA, and the FAA have been convened,” said Brice Banning, the investigator in charge for the NTSB, during a press conference on Saturday. “The group is currently working to transcribe the entirety of the CVR recording verbatim.”

The CRJ crew had briefed the approach for Runway 1 at Reagan National Airport before a controller asked them to switch to Runway 33. After some discussion, Banning said, the crew accepted the change.

A traffic alert was also audible in the flight deck as the helicopter drew closer, he added.

67 people died as a result of the collision, including 64 on the jet. 55 victims have been identified as of Sunday, and crews are now preparing to lift the CRJ from the river early this week.

Ryan Ewing

Air Wisconsin Set to Cut Over 500 Jobs

Unionized workers will be temporarily laid off, the airline said, while management and non-union cuts will be permanent.

Ryan Ewing

Saturday, February 01, 2025 at 02:30 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

An Air Wisconsin CRJ-200 aircraft (Photo: Shutterstock | Nathan Klemstein)

Air Wisconsin is planning to reduce its workforce when it cuts ties with American Airlines later this year. The regional carrier sent WARN Notices to workers on Thursday.

As part of a so-called “strategic shift,” Air Wisconsin will stop flying its CRJ-200s under the American Eagle brand in April. Instead, the carrier is hoping to pivot to charter and government-subsidized operations.

Roughly 513 employees may face layoffs, the airline said in the notice. This figure includes 219 management employees and 294 that are union-represented.

These layoffs are scheduled to take effect around March 31, just before the airline ends its American contract on April 3. Pilots, flight attendants, dispatchers, and mechanics, among other workgroups, are slated to be affected by these cuts.

Unionized workers will be temporarily laid off, the airline said, while management and non-union cuts will be permanent.

“Since that announcement, the Company has been working to develop alternative flying opportunities, which it expects to announce in the coming weeks. It is likely that the Company’s strategy will involve some level of company-wide workforce reductions …,” Air Wisconsin’s head of human resources said in a letter to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

The carrier has already applied to serve a handful of Essential Air Service markets in the Midwest. These proposals are currently pending approval by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Ryan Ewing