general

Boeing projected the need for 2.11m new commercial airline pilots, maintenance technicians and cabin crew to operate the world’s commercial airline fleet by 2035. As detailed in Boeing’s 2016 Pilot and Technician Outlook, the manufacturer estimated the global airline industry will need to hire “about 31,000 new pilots, 35,000 new technicians and 40,000 cabin crew annually” through 2035, or 106,000 new personnel every year. Boeing projected the need for 617,000 new commercial airline pilots globally over the next 20 years, up 10.6% from its forecast last year. Boeing’s 20-year forecast for commercial airline maintenance technicians grew to 679,000, up 11.5% from last year. New to the outlook in 2016 is a projection for cabin crew. Boeing projected 814,000 new cabin crew personnel will be required over the next 20 years. <br/>

The US and Mexico agreed to put into force a new air transportation agreement that is expected to boost travel and clear the way for any city to have direct airline service to the neighbouring nation, the US DoT said Monday. It said the two countries exchanged diplomatic notes Friday to bring the agreement into effect after 4 years of talks. The agreement will allow "increased market access for passenger and cargo airlines to fly between any city in Mexico and any city in the US," the DoT said. The expanded access under the agreement starts Aug 21. The accord, which modifies a 1960 agreement, removes the numerical limitations on the number of airlines that may provide passenger service between all US-Mexico city pairs. As a result, some city-pair markets may new carriers for the first time. <br/>

The Department of Homeland Security is pushing to increase the number of American law enforcement personnel stationed at airports abroad to screen passengers before they board planes to the US, officials say. The effort would be designed to extend the US’ border security to foreign airports as part of new initiatives to reduce the risk of potential terrorists entering the country. Under a smaller program already in place, called Preclearance and run by US Customs and Border Protection, officers are based at foreign airports where they collect fingerprints and photos and check travel documents before allowing passengers to board a plane traveling to the US. The foreign airport is responsible for many of the program’s costs, including the construction and maintenance of the space inside the airport. <br/>

The US Environmental Protection Agency has finalised its determination that aircraft greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions “contribute to the pollution that causes climate change and endangers Americans’ health and the environment.” EPA said it anticipates developing regulations for an aircraft emissions standard “at least as stringent as” the standard being developed by ICAO. Commercial jet aircraft covered under EPA’s finding range in size from the Embraer E170 to the Airbus A380. Commercial turboprop aircraft covered under the finding include the ATR 72 and the Bombardier Q400. While some larger business jets are covered, aircraft not covered by the finding include smaller business jets, smaller turboprops (such as an ATR 42), small piston-engine aircraft used for recreational flying and military aircraft. <br/>

Malaysian authorities plan to implement increased security at airports across Malaysia following recent terrorist events at various transport locations across Europe. Malaysian deputy transport minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said “increased security mechanisms” would be applied at airports such as Kuala Lumpur International and Sepang, as well as at connected rail transport hubs such as KL Sentral. The minister specifically cited attacks at Turkey’s Istanbul Ataturk and Belgium’s Brussels Airport in Zaventem as indicators of the need for increased security in Malaysia. The minister said that although the govt was “serious in tackling security threats” and was working on new cross-departmental mechanisms to improve internal cooperation, it was committed to avoiding increased delays or administration to operators. <br/>