Rolls-Royce is expected to incur further costs on its troublesome Trent 1000 engine programme, after discovering new issues with the latest variant of the turbine powering Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner. The engine maker, which is facing a bill of close to GBP1b in cash to resolve turbine blade problems on the Trent 900 and 1000, will now have to address issues with the Trent 1000 TEN, which entered service in November. The news is the latest blow in a 2-year saga of spiralling issues on the Trent 1000 engine. Turbine blades have been corroding and cracking on certain variants of the engine, prompting a huge schedule of repairs. The company has told the 12 airline customers using the Trent 1000 TEN that within a year of entering service the engine will have to be taken off wing and parts replaced. <br/>
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The Friday before July 4 may approach a record for the busiest day ever for US airports, the head of the TSA said. Traffic for the day could top 2.6m passengers, making it “potentially one of the busiest in TSA history,” TSA administrator David Pekoske said Wednesday. TSA says 9 of the top 15 days in the past 16 years have occurred since May 2017 and the peak day last year was the Friday before Independence Day, when 2.65m people flew. A4A projects that air travel this summer will rise by 3.7% to an all-time high of 246m passengers. TSA is preparing for the increased volume of passengers by adding 1,600 officers during peak days across the top 50 US airports, notifying fliers of changes in regulations, such as additional screening for powders, and rolling out CT scanners in some airports that provide better screening of luggage. <br/>
Feb 6, Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched its largest rocket into the Florida sky. On-board was “Starman,” a dummy strapped into the billionaire’s cherry red Tesla roadster. Minutes later, fans cheered as Musk topped himself by nailing a simultaneous landing of the Falcon Heavy’s boosters. It was arguably a turning point for the commercial space age. Airlines were somewhat less thrilled. On that day, 563 flights were delayed and 62 extra miles added to flights in the southeast region of the US, according to FAA America’s airspace is a finite resource, and the growth of commercial launches has US airlines worried. Whenever Musk or one of his rivals sends up a spacecraft, the carriers which operate closer to the ground must avoid large swaths of territory and incur sizable expenses. <br/>
The new CE of the UK’s aviation regulator has warned Heathrow airport that it must not renege on commitments to keep passenger charges affordable as a result of its GBP14b expansion. In his first public speech since taking over the Civil Aviation Authority in May, Richard Moriarty said: “Heathrow would be doing itself a great disservice if — a week following the vote — they walk back from what has been a commitment to affordable charges they’ve given over the past months and years.” Moriarty also warned that the govt should not use Brexit as “an opportunity to restrict competition” or “undermine hard-won consumer and environmental protections” which had been built up over the years of the UK’s EU membership. Heathrow’s passenger charge of GBP22 per person is already one of the most expensive in the world. <br/>