Europe and the US tried to bridge differences over emissions standards for aircraft on Sunday as global aviation leaders prepared to adopt new rules that could affect Boeing and Airbus Group's production of the largest jetliners and freighters. Proposals being debated in Montreal by the ICAO would force makers of the world's largest passenger jets to upgrade or stop producing certain models as early as 2023, according to sources close to the negotiations. US and European negotiators are trying to come up with the world's first carbon dioxide emissions standards for aircraft as part of the industry's contribution to efforts to combat climate change. Aviation was not included in the global climate deal agreed by a UN conference in Paris in December, but ICAO is trying to nail down the first of its two-part strategy as soon as Monday after six years of talks. It is due to finalize a market-based mechanism for all airlines later this year. Differences remain on where to place the bar on efficiency, with the US and Canada pushing for more stringent targets than the EU, while environmental groups have accused Europe of dragging its feet.<br/>
general
Japanese and South Korean airlines are altering some flight paths to avoid possible falling rocket parts after North Korea said it planned to launch a satellite. Pyongyang told the International Maritime Organization Tuesday it intends to launch an Earth observation satellite between February 8 and 25, IMO spokeswoman Natasha Brown said. The planned launch overlaps with some flight routes connecting Japan with the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Based on coordinates provided by North Korea to the IMO, the first stage and fairing of the rocket will drop off in waters between South Korea and China. Its second stage is expected to fall into waters off the Philippines' northern coast. Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) announced Thursday changes in seven flight paths between Japan and Southeast Asian capitals during the announced launch window. These route changes will stretch flight times by five to ten minutes, according to the officials. "The move is to comfort customers who might worry about their flights in the region, given how North Korea's announcement to launch a satellite was so widely covered in the media," an airline spokesperson told CNN. South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport also said that airlines would re-route 41 flights between February 8 and 25.<br/>
Helped by falling oil prices, airlines are reporting record profits, but for many passengers this sudden bonanza has meant little more than extra bags of free peanuts and pretzels. The four biggest domestic carriers — American, Southwest, Delta and United — together earned about $22b in profits last year, a stunning turnaround after a decade of losses, bankruptcies and cutbacks. A big reason for this is the plunging price of jet fuel, which now costs only a third of what it did just two years ago. But that windfall is only slowly finding its way down the aisles. Days after reporting record profits, for instance, two of the nation’s biggest airlines brought back free snacks in coach. United said it would begin serving complimentary stroopwafels, which it described as “Dutch-made toasted waffle treats,” and American said it would offer free meals in economy class on flights between Dallas and Hawaii, and free snacks on all domestic flights. Airfares, however, have remained stubbornly high. Rick Seaney, co-founder of FareCompare.com, says airfares have been essentially stable for the last two years except on some routes where airlines have faced competition from low-cost carriers like Spirit Airlines.<br/>
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Republican chairman on Wednesday plans to unveil legislation to dramatically reshape the nation’s air-traffic-control network. But growing Democratic and industry opposition threatens to make the bill another victim of partisan gridlock. Part of a FAA reauthorization measure, the proposal calls for creating a standalone, nonprofit corporation funded by user fees that would take over the agency’s responsibilities for managing air-traffic operations and oversee modernization of the system. According to one industry official who has seen the language, it envisions an 11-member governing board—with seats assigned to labor, airline and private-aviation interests—and a three-year phase-in period. While most provisions are similar to previous versions of the bill circulated as early as last summer, this official said one new funding wrinkle is likely to raise questions in some airline circles. The measure, according to the official, effectively exempts two categories of aircraft from user fees: much of business aviation and all of general aviation, or small planes primarily flown by private pilots. Those groups have been most outspoken in objecting to the private corporation proposal.<br/>
Airbus Group will fly the largest version of its new single-aisle plane for the first time as early as this week, though using different engines than originally planned. The plane maker has dropped plans to use engines made by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp., for the maiden flight of the A321neo aircraft in favor of ones manufactured by CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric Co. and France’s Safran SA. The European company had long said it would fly the maiden flight with its Pratt-powered test aircraft first, so the shift is unusual given the years of advanced planning aerospace companies make for new jets.<br/>
The rapidly spreading Zika virus is discouraging many Americans from traveling to Latin America and the Caribbean, with 41% of those aware of the disease saying they are less likely to take such a trip, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows. The poll is the latest sign the virus, suspected to be linked to thousands of birth defects in Brazil, could depress travel to popular cold-weather getaways in the coming months. Airlines and cruise ship operators have yet to report drops in bookings because of Zika, and analysts have downplayed the impact that newly sedentary parents-to-be could have on their revenue. Still, awareness of the mosquito-borne virus has surged to nearly two-thirds of Americans, according to the poll of 1,595 adults in the United States conducted Feb. 1-5. That compares with 45% who had heard of Zika in a Reuters/Ipsos poll from late January. The US CDC has advised pregnant women to avoid travel to areas with an active outbreak of Zika, and the World Health Organization has declared an international emergency over the disease.<br/>