Aviation

The World’s Top 10 Airlines of 2021 : Skytrax

Most of 2020 and 2021 has been a catastrophic period for the world airline industry, as passenger demand plummeted and countries across the world were affected by lockdowns and severe travel restrictions. The latest customer survey operated for 23 months (September 2019 to July 2021), and the 2021 Awards comprise a mix of more normal travel times combined with some travel during the global pandemic. Evaluating the Top 20 airlines, there have been some up and down movements versus 2019 results, although a core of airlines still dominate these higher positions.

Heading up the winners is Qatar Airways, named as Airline of the Year 2021, with Singapore Airlines ranked 2nd, and ANA All Nippon Airways in 3rd place, out of more than 350 airlines included in the survey results.

Qatar Airways also receives the awards for the World’s Best Business Class, the World’s Best Business Class Seat and the Best Airline in the Middle East.

Singapore Airlines, ranked No 2 worldwide, wins the top accolade for the World’s Best Cabin Crew, and is also honoured with awards for the World’s Best First Class, the Best Airline in Asia and the World’s Best First Class Seat.

ANA All Nippon Airways maintains its No 3 global ranking, and repeats its earlier success by winning the World’s Best Airport Services award. Winning the 2021 award as the World’s Cleanest Airline is a particularly high profile success during the global pandemic.

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Saudi Arabian Airlines wins the 2021 award as the World’s Most Improved Airline, ahead of Rwandair in 2nd place and JetSmart in 3rd position. This is a key award that reflects an airline’s Quality improvement across the entire Awards programme, evaluating an airline’s change in the global rating, and their performance improvements in different award categories.

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Some notable firsts include Scoot being named the World’s Best Long Haul Low-Cost Airline and Vueling Airlines winning the award as the Best Low-Cost Airline in Europe, one of the most competitive low cost airline markets in the world.

Top 10 World’s Best Airport Staff 2021

Aviation

Boeing Resumes 737 MAX Manufacturing After Seven-Week Strike

In a crucial move for its recovery, Boeing has restarted production of its best-selling 737 MAX jetliner, about a month after a significant seven-week strike involving 33,000 factory workers came to an end.

This marks a key milestone for the planemaker, which has been facing considerable challenges in recent years, including heavy debt and a series of setbacks.

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According to the report from Reuters, Boeing resumed the production of the 737 MAX jetliner last week, a pivotal step as the company aims to meet the growing global demand for air travel. With over 4,200 orders from airlines, Boeing’s ability to get the 737 MAX production line back in motion is vital for its financial recovery.

Although Boeing had previously planned to restart production earlier, the company faced numerous obstacles that delayed this process. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) head Mike Whitaker told Reuters on Thursday that while Boeing had not yet resumed production, they had plans to restart by the end of the month.

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The road to this point has been rocky for Boeing. Setbacks such as the tragic fatal crashes of the 737 MAX, the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing supply chain issues, production safety concerns, and increased regulatory scrutiny have all contributed to delays in the company’s efforts to ramp up production.

The seven-week strike, which involved thousands of Boeing’s factory workers, added yet another hurdle. Despite these challenges, production of the 737 MAX officially resumed on Friday, according to one of the anonymous sources.

Boeing, however, declined to comment on the matter. The planemaker is now focused on reaching its goal of producing 56 737 MAX airplanes per month, a target that has been delayed due to the many issues that have beset the company over the past few years.