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Luxair operations director calls recent incidents spate of ‘bad luck’

Minor technical issues affecting new Embraer aircraft, a crack in the cockpit window of an older Boeing, an emergency landing and several turnarounds are, he said, unrelated incidents.
Luxembourg’s national airline is currently undergoing a fleet transition. The De Havilland Q400 models are being replaced by Embraer aircraft, while older Boeing jets are being phased out in favour of new aircraft of the same brand. However, some older aircraft remain in service and are more likely to experience minor technical problems than brand new planes, Colling explained.

According to the operations director, none of the recent incidents posed a danger. A pilot for more than 30 years himself, Colling described the measures taken as purely preventive and insists that pilots followed procedures correctly in every case. In the emergency landing in Nice on 23 January, prompted by a problem with the right landing gear of a De Havilland Canada Q400, and in the case of the cracked cockpit window, the aircraft could theoretically have continued flying without risk. Nevertheless, pilots adhered strictly to safety protocols.
The Boeing 737-700 on which the crack was discovered was the airline’s oldest aircraft. It has since been withdrawn from commercial service after 22 years. According to Colling, this retirement had already been planned by the board last year. The crack occurred during what was almost its final commercial flight. As cockpit windows consist of seven layers and the damage was confined to the outer layer, there was no safety risk.

Colling acknowledged that communication with passengers affected by irregularities could be improved. Work is already under way on 38 new measures to improve customer service, he said.
Last year, Luxair scheduled 32,000 flights. In 160 cases, aircraft were unable to operate, resulting in a dispatch reliability percentage of 99.5 per cent, which is considered strong in the industry. So far this year, the rate stands at just over 98 per cent, leaving room for improvement. Colling believes this target is achievable as the fleet renewal progresses.

Also today

• A delegation of various committees travelled around Luxembourg today to inspect the living conditions of applicants for international protection, following open letters from residents complaining of very poor conditions
• Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will head to Asia this week seeking to broaden international trade, as part of his plan to reduce reliance on the United States, which he says has left the country vulnerable.
• The police mounted a search for two suspected burglars in the Leudelange area, alerting the public that they were wearing dark clothes, to not pick up any hitchhikers and to call 113 to report any suspicious behaviour
• A new Dutch government took power today, with 38-year-old centrist Rob Jetten sworn in as the country’s youngest-ever prime minister and the first openly gay one.
• Twenty-five Mexican troops died in clashes with cartel gunmen following a raid that led to the death of the country’s most-wanted drug lord,

On air

Busy, busy, busy in the studio today with Tom interviewing Zac Lawrence, lead singer of DEADLETTER and also Alexis Juncosa & Gladys Lazareff from the Luxembourg Film Festival

Figure of the day

312 secondary school pupils expelled in 2024/25 school year

• A total of 312 secondary school pupils were expelled during the 2024/25 school year, according to figures provided by Education Minister Claude Meisch in response to an LSAP parliamentary question.
• In the previous school year, the number was slightly higher at 321 expulsions, which were imposed by disciplinary committees in Luxembourg’s secondary schools. In 2022/23, the figure was lower, at 251 cases.

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