Boeing is cutting about 4,000 jobs and could double that number this year to slash costs as the aeroplane maker faces intense competition from Airbus. Boeing said it would reduce the headcount in its commercial airlines division by 4,000, with around one-third through voluntary layoffs and the rest by leaving positions unfilled, a spokesman said. “While there is no employment reduction target, the more we can control costs as a whole the less impact there will be to employment,” Boeing’s Doug Alder said. The job cuts would include hundreds of executives and managers, and employees would only be forced to leave as a last resort, he said. Boeing will also cut about 10% of the 5,700 jobs in its test and evaluation division, which conducts flight and lab tests, the company said. <br/>
general
A group of Hawaii lawmakers says the growing size of Americans and obesity issues should be taken into account when airlines determine the size of their seats. Many travellers are getting fed up with the tight spaces they’re allowed on airplanes, so a group of state senators introduced a resolution urging the federal secretary of transportation to set minimum sizes for airplane seats. A4A opposed the legislation, saying there’s no data to suggest seat sizes are unsafe. “Airlines already offer varied products within each aircraft at different price points,” said David Berg, senior VP of the group, in written testimony against the resolution. “If an individual desires more leg room there is a product for that. Customers should decide what space they want, not the federal govt.” <br/>
Outgoing IATA DG Tony Tyler will at FIDAE this week single out Brazil and Venezuela for “misguided” policies that are holding back development of aviation in a region that is among those with “the greatest potential for traffic growth” in the world. Tyler will also praise Latin America’s safety record, which “has improved considerably over the past decades”, much of it due to “effective collaboration” between airlines, govts and other stakeholders. But he will condemn Venezuela for “the worst example of misguided policy in the region”, noting that the govt is “creating a very difficult operating environment for airlines. Many of them have reduced service and currently the country is underserved by air.” <br/>
Last week’s bombings have put the operators of Brussels Airport in a difficult position: how to quickly reopen a vital but severely damaged piece of transport infrastructure while respecting the scene of such trauma. The twin explosions blew out the building’s glass front and air ducts, partially collapsed ceilings and ripped apart check-in desks, computers and other equipment central to an airport that last year handled more than 23m passengers. The arrivals hall underneath was also damaged. A third bomb, containing even more explosives than the first two, detonated in the emptied building hours later, causing further destruction. To get the airport back to its full capacity of around 600 daily flights will require a full renovation of the departure hall and could take months, a spokeswoman said. “We won’t commit ourselves to a date”. <br/>
Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has received more than two dozen hoax calls recently, costing the airlines and security agencies millions of rupees. Senior security officials said that the current security plan makes the IGI airport an easy target, when it comes to a Brussels-like terror attack. The CISF, too, said that the IGIA was not built in a manner to facilitate security checks before entry into the airport. The officials said that change in the security plan would require complete overhauling of the terminals; otherwise it would make the airport more vulnerable to terror attacks. As per available data, more than a dozen cases were registered pertaining to hoax calls at the IGIA police station against the Safety of Civil Aviation this year, but only 2 callers have been traced so far. <br/>
Travellers flying out of Dubai's airports will pay a new fee to cover improvements at the long-haul hub, the city-state's crown prince announced Wednesday, as Gulf countries grapple with low oil prices. Passengers departing from Dubai will pay a AED35 (US$9.50) service fee for flights leaving after June 30 that have been booked since March 1. That includes most passengers transiting through Dubai International Airport, though children under 2 will be exempt. The fee will go toward expansion projects like Dubai International Airport's new Concourse D, the expansion of the airport's Terminal 2 and the renovation of Terminal 1. The city is also expanding Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central, with hopes of one day transferring all Emirates airline flights there. <br/>