Airlines were again waiving change fees as yet another winter storm threatened to make a mess of air travel along the East Coast. Most big US carriers were waiving fees for flight changes at airports in the path of the latest storm. Forecasts were still fluid Monday evening, but it appeared increasingly likely that a half-foot or more of snow could fall across parts of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast by Thursday morning. The storm could bring accumulating snow to several major metro areas, including New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Boston. Flakes could start falling as early as Tuesday for the southernmost of those cities before spreading north into New England from Wednesday into Thursday. A number of major carriers operate one of more hub at an airport expected to see poor weather. They include American (New York JFK, Philadelphia, Washington Reagan National), Delta (New York JFK, New York LaGuardia), JetBlue (New York JFK, Boston), Southwest (Baltimore) and United (Newark Liberty, Washington Dulles). At least one airline had already begun cancelling flights. Details of the airline weather waiver policies varied by carrier, but they included numerous airports from northern Virginia through New England. <br/>
general
ICAO has extended secretary general Fang Liu’s mandate for a second three-year term, building on her initial appointment that started on Aug. 1, 2015. Liu, who is from China, was the first woman to be appointed as ICAO secretary general and only the second ICAO chief to be elected from an Asia-Pacific state. On March 16, the ICAO council agreed to extend Liu’s term for another three years, starting on Aug. 1, 2018. During her first three years, Liu has worked to improve ICAO’s efficiency and effectiveness, particularly in safety and security. She has also strengthened ICAO’s partnerships, as well as the body’s regional, technical and training presence. “Our foremost challenge is the unprecedented traffic growth along with the rapid advancements in aviation technologies. Our principal standard-making function will need to keep pace with these changes. Meanwhile, the time has come to consider a strengthened role for ICAO in implementation support,” Liu said. “My team and I are committed to the organizational culture shift to support this transformation.”<br/>