The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) unveiled its Air Industry Transformation Map (ITM) on Thursday, detailing its mid- to long-term plans to transform the city-state’s aviation sector. These include a new air transport undergraduate degree programme, a “Smart Tower” for air traffic controllers to manage live air traffic, autonomous systems to move passengers, baggage and cargo in airports, wearable technology for ground staff to track operations, and the world’s first passenger boarding bridge designed for operations under harsh weather conditions, among others. Through the ITM, CAAS said it aims to raise productivity by 40% and “redesign or create 8,000 good jobs” in aviation by 2025, including more jobs for professionals, technicians and cabin crew. The ITM was developed by a committee of representatives from the aviation industry, unions and the Government, and is one of 23 under the Government’s S$4.5b Industry Transformation Program.<br/>
general
According to Japan’s deputy PM, Japan has a lot to offer America: Its people are "graceful" even amid hardship, worker morale is high, and you never have to worry about getting dragged off a plane like the passenger in the United Continental debacle. "Our social fabric has not been torn apart," Taro Aso said in a speech at Columbia University on Wednesday. Japanese people endured an economic slump, stayed calm and "the sense of pride among workers is still intact" he said, adding "Airline crew will not beat you," according to the text of the speech distributed to reporters at the event. Aso, 76, who hosted VP Mike Pence in Tokyo this week for a bilateral economic dialogue, is in the US for spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and talks with his G-20 counterparts. His comment on the airline crew was an apparent reference to an April 9 incident in which a passenger was forcibly removed from a United plane. Aso, himself a one-time premier who currently oversees the finance and banking ministries, has been known for blunt comments and the occasional verbal gaffe.<br/>
Massive earthworks to prepare the way for Sydney's new airport will begin in the second half of next year as the Turnbull government gives its strongest signal yet that it is preparing to go it alone in the A$6b-plus project. Sydney Airport is widely expected within the next week to turn down the opportunity under its "right of first refusal" to build and operate the new airport at Badgerys Creek in western Sydney. This will heap pressure on the government to show it has alternative plans for constructing and financing the project. Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher said the government had undertaken significant work to ensure its timetables for construction would be met if Sydney Airport decides against building the new airport, citing meetings in recent weeks with nine large construction companies as part of the contingency planning. "I am personally very confident that there is strong interest in this project from the construction sector," Fletcher said.<br/>