Boeing is considering a “potential combination” with Embraer, the companies said, setting the stage for a blockbuster deal that would expand the US aerospace giant’s reach into the highly competitive market for smaller jets. The options include a joint venture that would enable the companies to cross-sell their complementary line-ups of commercial jets and negotiate better deals with suppliers, said a person familiar with the matter. Such a partnership would stop short of a politically risky takeover by Boeing, said the person. Boeing’s potential Embraer deal raises the prospect of a duopoly with Airbus that would extend into the market for smaller planes, where manufacturers in Canada, Russia, Japan and China are emerging as competitive threats. <br/>
general
EASA has issued an emergency airworthiness directive instructing the operators of a small group of Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines to ensure that no twin-engined airliner has both engines from the affected batch. It says that any airline that operates an aircraft with 2 of the engines should “de-pair” them to reduce the risk of a double inflight shutdown. The Trent 1000 is installed primarily on the Boeing 787 and the AD applies to 15 specific engines. Earlier this month, Air NZ grounded several of its 11 Boeing 787-9s after 2 incidents involving Trent 1000s. The carrier said the incidents were related to problems with intermediate pressure turbine blades on the early version of the engine. As some operators of the affected engines have already de-paired them, there are believed fewer than 15 still in service. <br/>
Supersonic passenger travel, which died out with the Concorde's demise in 2003, will make a comeback by the mid-2020s if 3 entrepreneurial US-based companies can make jets quiet and efficient enough to win over buyers and fliers. Japan Airlines and Virgin Group are backing 1 of the 3 US supersonic projects, Boom Technology which plans a 55-seat all business class jet. "This is more about engines and economics than it is about airframes," one analyst said of the challenges of a supersonic revival. To make the project economics stack up the engines need to be far more fuel efficient and less noisy than those used by Concorde or fighter jets. That has proven tough to engineer, especially at higher speeds like the Concorde's Mach 2, which halved the travel time from London to New York to 3.5 hours. <br/>
Flight crews can restrain passengers or even divert flights when violent behaviour erupts mid-air, but when the situation involves a parent potentially abusing a child, the decisions are not so clear cut. A 5½-hour JetBlue flight earlier this month continued to its final destination after passengers reported a mother mistreating her 8-year-old son as he cried. While it may vary by airline, flight attendants are trained in how to de-escalate violent situations under widely accepted procedures, and it is likely that JetBlue concluded it was safest to leave the mother and son together and not disrupt the flight, aviation experts say. "This is certainly a very unpleasant situation, but it is one that is full of…grey areas, as opposed to a black-and-white type of situation," said a travel industry analyst. <br/>
Despite the strong foundation of its well-established automotive industry, Thailand still requires decades of investment in personnel, expertise and research and development before the country can properly enter the race to become an aviation hub in Asean. Prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha last week declared that Thailand is ramping up its aviation industry in bid to become a regional powerhouse, but experts have long commented that there is still a lot to be done before the country can wrest the crown from Singapore. ICAO regional director for Asia and the Pacific office, Arun Mishra, said that Thailand's ambitious goal to become an aviation hub is possible but there are two strategic areas that the country needs to improve first: infrastructure and airport facilities, and manpower where more young professionals must be recruited. <br/>