Boeing aims to sell 535 jetliners this year, it was reported Monday, well below the plane maker’s official forecast of 740 to 745 aircraft. If correct, the reduced tally would mirror a slowdown in aircraft sales at Boeing and rival Airbus. Widebody plane sales are under particular pressure. Still, asked about the internal forecast which has not been made public, Boeing said it remained committed to its target of selling about as many planes as it delivers this year, or about “740 to 745.” New aircraft sales have slowed as airlines rein in capacity amid weak global growth, and as low oil prices prompt some carriers to fly older planes longer, rather than upgrading to new fuel-efficient models. Also, many airlines already ordered new planes over the past few years, which has cooled demand. <br/>
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Statistics compiled by Sita show a steadily decreasing likelihood of bags going astray. Last year had the lowest rate of wayward luggage — 6.5 bags per 1,000 — in the dozen years Sita has been keeping track. Various advances in technology and bag-handling procedures deserve credit, including improvements over the years in the bar-coded tags and optical scanners that have long been in use for identifying and sorting checked luggage. But optical-scanning systems have their limits, and the airline industry has been slow to adopt methods used by other industries that need to track items through the shipping process. That is why the airline industry and some airport managers are intent on improving the tracking rate by looking beyond the 30-year-old baggage bar code. They are adopting tags that do not need to be seen to be read. <br/>
Passengers of EasyJet and British Airways, and the UK’s biggest package holiday operators, could be charged GBP25 if they make a complaint about delays, cancellations or lost baggage that is subsequently not upheld. The airlines, plus Thomson and Thomas Cook, have joined a dispute resolution service for tricky complaints that cannot be resolved by the companies themselves. But passengers who use this must pay if their case is unsuccessful. Previously, the Civil Aviation Authority ran a free mediation service between travellers and airlines for passengers who were not satisfied with the resolution provided by the company. But under new aviation rules, airlines and package holiday providers have voluntarily agreed to be registered with the external Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme. <br/>