The ECE will propose legislation next year requiring airlines to run mental health checks on pilots before they start commercial flying, as part of efforts to prevent a recurrence of last year's Germanwings crash. Authorities have been looking at ways to toughen pilot screening and better assess their mental health after a young pilot locked himself in the cockpit and crashed a Germanwings plane into the Alps in March 2015, killing all 150 aboard. Under the new proposals, put forward by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on Friday, operators will have to ensure pilots have access to support programs. Airline crews will also be subject to more drug and alcohol testing, including on being hired, after serious incidents and if there is suspicion of substance abuse. Germany, where Lufthansa unit Germanwings is based, has already altered its aviation laws to incorporate such tests. The European Cockpit Association, representing over 38,000 pilots across 37 European countries, said it welcomed the proposals on support programs and psychological assessments but was skeptical as to whether the proposals for random alcohol and drug checks would work. "The experience from the US shows such random screening to be very costly, but to be 10 times less effective in identifying problem cases than peer support programs," ECA President Dirk Polloczek said.<br/>
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Hundreds of flights into and out of Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports were canceled on Sunday as a winter storm system dumped moderate to heavy snow on the Upper Midwest and Lower Great Lakes regions before heading toward the US Northeast. A winter storm warning was in effect in the Chicago area on Sunday afternoon, with total accumulations of up to 10 inches (25 cm) expected by midnight CST, the National Weather Service said. It warned of difficult driving conditions in and around the country's third-biggest metropolitan area, where snow began falling on Saturday afternoon. As much as 13 inches of snow fell in parts of Michigan and up to 9 inches in parts of Minnesota by 8 a.m. CST on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. At O'Hare International Airport, the world's fourth-busiest airport, United and American have scratched most regional flights and some mainline service, while Southwest Air has canceled most flights out of Midway International on Sunday evening and Monday morning, the airports said. Passengers took to Twitter to vent their frustrations over one of the first winter storms to snarl air traffic in the region this season. All told, more than 1,200 flights into and out of O'Hare were canceled as of Sunday afternoon, according to the Flightaware tracking service, while nearly 200 Midway flights were scratched.<br/>
As more airlines roll out in-flight internet and regulators loosen rules governing wireless devices on planes, one country is a holdout in continuing to prohibit passengers from using WiFi on board: India. Home to the fastest-growing major air-travel market and a galloping economy, India hasn’t consented to the use of onboard WiFi in its airspace due to security concerns. Carriers including Emirates Airline, Jet Airways and Indian associates of Singapore Airlines and Malaysia’s AirAsia say they are eager to offer WiFi if only the government would allow it. Some have been lobbying New Delhi to change the law, according to aviation and tech industry executives. Some Indian officials have indicated recently that they wish to lift the ban, and suggested such a move isn’t far off, but a deal has yet to materialize. For travelers, the lack of WiFi is an inconvenience as more passengers—and their bosses—come to expect connectivity at 30,000 feet. A global survey of some 7,300 passengers by the International Air Transport Association last year found 36% were willing to pay for in-flight internet. “For business executives flying for an important meeting or presentation, it’s very painful to be cut off from the team during the flight,” said Amber Dubey, partner and India head of aerospace and defense at KPMG. “The fears about safety and security are a bit overstretched. The technology has been tested thoroughly and approved by international regulators.” WiFi is now commonplace on US airlines and many carriers elsewhere. Typically, connectivity is provided by companies such as Gogo Inc. and SITA OnAir. Fees vary, but connection speeds are slower than those on the ground.<br/>
Air traffic congestion is a big hurdle for the Gulf airlines, warns Alexandre de Juniac, the new Director-General and chief executive of IATA. “In the Gulf, the infrastructure problem for air traffic control is becoming a very big issue – causing delays, causing disruptions. And it’s not the matter of capacity. The Gulf states should have kind of a unified system, or cooperative, collaborative system to run their skies,” he told Gulf News in an interview on Thursday in Geneva. Asked if there was any progress made by the region in that direction and if IATA had made any headway in tackling the situation, de Juniac said: “Yes. They have launched two programmes for that, and yes, I think they will do the job. Each of the [Gulf] countries have a national aviation strategy so for them it’s a big concern, it’s a big priority.” Asked what the Middle East carriers needed to do to improve their profitability, de Juniac said: “What we say to the governments over there is do not increase too much taxes and charges. Otherwise you will put an end to that fantastic success story.” IATA spends a lot of time “fighting taxes and charges”, he added, and sometimes enlightened government policies are the result. “And combined increases in passenger fees in the UAE and Qatar are risking the Gulf’s amazing success story with $700 million in new costs,” de Juniac said.<br/>