American Airlines and JetBlue Airways are gearing up to implement new restrictions on passengers traveling with service animals July 1, but the separate guidelines may soon become moot once the US DoT issues its own rules later this summer. The DoT May 6 announced it was initiating a 45-day public comment period for a proposed rule governing service animals. The changes being weighed include policies that would distinguish between different types of animals, require they travel in pet carriers, limit the number of animals allowed, and require all service animals have been trained. DoT is also weighing whether to align its definition of “service animal” with the US Department of Justice’s definition, which includes only dogs that are “individually trained to work or perform tasks” for the benefit of a person with a disability. <br/>
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A joint plan by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Florida’s Orlando International Airport (MCO) to accelerate deployment of biometric facial recognition scans on every passenger arriving or departing on international flights at the airport is reviving privacy concerns. Orlando would be the first US airport to fully implement the procedures, although a completion date for the process remains unspecified. June 21 the CBP said it was teaming with the aviation authority that oversees the Orlando airport to “commit to processing all arriving and departing international travellers with facial recognition technology … to advance the biometric exit mandate.” However, US senators Ed Markey and Mike Lee have raised concerns with the DHS about the department’s formal rulemaking regarding the biometric exit program. <br/>
The UK govt has said it is prepared to intervene to reserve slots at London Heathrow for domestic flights if the airport’s planned expansion goes ahead. The long-awaited third runway at the London hub is inching toward its starting point, although progress on the controversial project is expected to continue to be slow, with several environmental and community groups predicted to launch judicial review proceedings against the plan. Assuming the runway eventually gets the go-ahead, the govt will put in place Public Service Obligations (PSOs)—the UK equivalent of US Essential Air Services arrangements—to protect routes if required. Such a move would also exempt the PSO routes from the UK’s APD, one of the world’s heaviest departure taxes, which regularly attracts the ire of airlines. <br/>
Airbus said it will need to reconsider its footprint, investments and dependency on the UK in the event of a hard Brexit. Detailing its concerns in a briefing paper published June 21—almost 2 years after the Brexit referendum—the manufacturer said the UK leaving without a deal on a transition process, as well as exiting the European single market, the customs union and the European Court of Justice, would heavily impact its UK operations and its wider supply chain. Airbus employs 14,000 people across 25 sites in the UK and builds the wings for many airliners at Hawarden in North Wales, but said the frictions caused by a hard Brexit would see production severely disrupted. Hard Brexit, it said, would lead to slowdowns in the flow of parts and discontinued airworthiness. <br/>
The first 2 COMAC C919 flight test aircraft returned to the air June 22 after weeks on the ground for what industry sources described as modifications. The development program for the narrowbody airliner is proceeding according to plan, COMAC said. “Developmental test flights, static tests, and on the ground, post-sortie on-board tests and optimisation are being carried out in an orderly manner,” the state manufacturer said. The first prototype, unit 101, has been modified on the ground and undergone strength calibration, COMAC said. Work also included modification and calibration of the water ballast system used in flight testing. For Unit 102, COMAC said such tasks as checks on stability control have been completed. The third flight-test aircraft, among 6 planned, has been scheduled to fly this year. <br/>