Global air passenger traffic slowed in September to a 5.7% year-over-year increase, its weakest growth rate since February, but largely a temporary lapse attributable to the impacts of hurricanes on Latin and North America and a typhoon on Japan, according to IATA’s September Air Passenger Market Analysis. IATA indicated there will likely be significant ongoing impact from the storms on passenger traffic to and from the most affected Caribbean islands. “But the fact that airport operations in the major US airports have since returned to normal suggests that the industry-wide impact will largely be reversed ... next month,” IATA senior economist David Oxley said. But in the bigger picture, IATA is noting that the upward trend in seasonally adjusted passenger traffic has slowed through the year. <br/>
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It’s not news that airlines have been squeezing more — and smaller — seats into the backs of their planes. The question is how far they can push their quest for higher profits before running into a backlash from their customers. “The commercial side — primarily the people who run airline revenue departments — want more seats on planes,” said Henry Harteveldt, co-founder of Atmosphere Research Group, an airline and travel industry analyst. They’re up against “the people in the airlines’ marketing departments, who are trying to act as their passengers’ advocates and push back on some of these initiatives.” To accommodate the airlines, seat manufacturers have been skimming and trimming from just about every dimension, relocating the seatback pocket, replacing padding with elastic mesh and whittling down the armrests. <br/>
General Electric is exploring options for its aircraft leasing operations, including the sale of all or part of the business, as CE John Flannery searches for new divestitures, according to people familiar with the matter. GE is considering options for GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), the world's second-largest lessor, following expressions of interest from some of its competitors, the sources said Monday. A spin-off of the business is also a possibility, the sources said, cautioning that GE may decide to keep the business. Consolidation in the sector has intensified in the last few years, as Asian competitors chip away at the market shares of AerCap and GECAS. GE is looking to bounce back after what Flannery last month called horrible results in Q3. <br/>
Public Safety minister Ralph Goodale says the govt is working to resolve ongoing airport hassles children face due to security snags — and passing a federal bill now before Parliament is the first step. Families from the group known as the No Fly List Kids came to Ottawa Monday with the aim of ensuring that funding for a new computer system to fix the problem is included in the 2018 federal budget. Parents of children who have repeatedly endured nerve-racking airport delays because a youngster’s name matches one on a no-fly list say the federal legislation will do nothing in the short term to ease their woes. The legislation, part of a broad package of security-related measures, would also allow federal officials to electronically screen air passenger information against the list, a process currently in the hands of airlines. <br/>
Just ahead of US president Donald Trump's visit to China, the FAA has signed an airworthiness certification deal that effectively opens the door to Chinese sales of airplanes to the US and other countries. The agreement boosts Beijing's hopes of becoming a global supplier of commercial jetliners and of breaking open a market currently dominated by Boeing and Airbus. "It is a really big deal; a milestone in the US-China relationship," Geoffrey Jackson, executive director of the US-China Aviation Cooperation Program, a Beijing-based body created by the US govt and aerospace companies, said of the agreement. The FAA confirmed the agreement Oct 27, 4 days after its announcement by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. <br/>