Airlines paralysed by the epic winter storm in the US Northeast began to rebuild their schedules even as they pre-emptively scrapped some Monday flights, pushing the tally of cancellations toward 12,000 over a 4-day period. "We are not currently seeing any airline flights arrive or depart from the major New York or Washington, DC, airports, although limited service is expected to begin Sunday," data tracker FlightAware.com said Sunday. New York LaGuardia had almost 700 flights wiped out Sunday, more than 70% of the planned total, according to FlightAware. New York's other two major airports, JFK International and Newark Liberty International, each had about half their usual complement of take-offs and landings erased as of 9:15 am. FlightAware logged more than 630 Monday cancellations, with United Airlines' hub at Dulles International outside Washington airport accounting for roughly a third of the total. <br/>
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Complaints against US airlines doubled year-over-year in Nov 2015, according to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics' Air Travel Consumer Report. Passengers logged 884 complaints against the 13 major US airlines in Nov 2015, compared to 443 complaints registered in Nov 2014. US airlines in this complaint category are primarily those with at least 1% of total domestic scheduled-service passenger revenues, as determined by the BTS. Complaints against all airline services—including US airlines, foreign airlines, travel agents and tour operators – totaled 1,308 for Nov 2015, up 43.4% year-over-year (YOY), but down 14.3% from October 2015, according to the US DoT. SkyWest Airlines had the best record in Nov—with the least amount of complaints—registering 0.32 complaints per 100,000 system wide passengers, followed by Southwest Airlines (40 complaints per 1.15m enplanements). <br/>
The demise of the jumbo jet has come a little closer after Boeing announced it would scale back production of its famous 747 to just 1 plane every 2 months, with orders having all but disappeared. The distinctive 4-engine plane has fallen from favour since more efficient twin-engined models were developed that could operate on long-haul routes – particularly lucrative transatlantic flights – on a fraction of the fuel. Boeing had prolonged the life of the 45-year-old design with its latest, more fuel-efficient iteration, the 747-8, whose freight version looked to have particular potential with early sales. But the manufacturer said a stalling air cargo market was killing off demand for the plane. Ray Conner, CE of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said: "The air cargo market recovery that began in late 2013 has stalled in recent months and slowed demand for the 747-8 freighter." <br/>
Europe is calling for a considerably less ambitious carbon emissions standard for airplanes than the US in a new global push to reduce aviation's contribution to climate change. The standard would mark a turning point for efforts to regulate fast-growing emissions from airplanes, which are not covered by December's much-hailed Paris climate agreement. The milestone would apply to new models and existing aircraft put into production after 2020, but the EU's preferred version would be less stringent than alternative US proposals. Both blueprints have been filed with the ICAO ahead of talks in Montreal next month. The gap between the two proposals is greater than the annual emissions of most medium-sized European countries, and privately confirmed by EU officials. Aviation is responsible for around 5% of the world's global warming at present. <br/>
Boeing could benefit from a potential bonanza of plane orders from Iran, the country's transport minister said Sunday, as the Islamic Republic seeks to upgrade its aging aircraft fleet with deals that could also include Airbus A380 superjumbos. Iran is eager to re-establish ties with Western companies following the lifting of sanctions as part of a wider accord to significantly constrain the country's nuclear activities. It has already said it agreed to buy Airbus jetliners, though the plane maker hasn't confirmed an order beyond saying it could enter into business with Iranian airlines in compliance with international laws. Years of sanctions have left Iran with one of the world's oldest aircraft fleets, which it is eager to modernise. "We need short-, middle-range and longer-range airplanes," Iranian transport minister Abbas Akhoundi said. Aviation would be key to reviving the country's tourism industry, he said. <br/>