The EU is introducing rules to tighten assessments of pilots' mental health following the Germanwings crash in 2015. The EC said Wednesday the new rules, which take effect in 2020, will oblige airlines to perform a psychological assessment of pilots before they start flying. They also call for systematic tests on pilots and cabin crew for psychoactive substances before they're hired, and unannounced testing after they recover from any illness and return to work. Pilot Andreas Lubitz locked his captain out of the cockpit and flew a Germanwings plane into a French mountainside in 2015, killing 150 people.<br/>Lubitz suffered from depression several years previously, but authorities and his airline later deemed him fit to fly.<br/>
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The three biggest US airlines changed how they refer to self-ruled Taiwan on their websites to avoid Chinese penalties ahead of a Wednesday deadline - revisions Beijing described as “positive developments.” Earlier this year, China demanded that foreign firms, and airlines in particular, not refer to Taiwan as a non-Chinese territory on their websites. Beijing set a final deadline of July 25 for the changes and last month rejected US requests for talks on the matter, adding to tension in relations already frayed by an escalating trade conflict. Taiwan is China’s most sensitive territorial issue. Beijing considers the island a wayward province of “one China.” Reuters reported early on Tuesday that American Airlines, Delta and United were set to change how they refer to Taiwanese airports on their websites. American Airlines confirmed the change later in the day. A check of all three airlines’ websites on Wednesday showed they now list only Taipei’s airport code and city, but not the name Taiwan. “China is willing to share China’s development opportunities with foreign companies and welcomes them to invest in and operate in China,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Wednesday. “Of course we hope that when they operate in China they respect China’s laws and rules, China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the feelings of the Chinese people.”<br/>
Airlines had a rough May, with more cancellations, more late flights and more mishandled bags than the month before, the Transportation Department announced Wednesday. Despite the performance, the number of complaints filed by consumers to the DOT dropped, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The 1,102 complaints were down from 1,169 in April and 1,784 in May 2017, according to the bureau’s Air Travel Consumer Report for May, the latest month for which federal data is available. The 17 airlines that report their reliability cancelled 1.2% of their domestic flights in May, according to the report. That’s up from 1% in April and 0.8% in May 2017. Delta held its usual perch with a statistical 0 percent of its flights cancelled, with only 23 scrapped in May. Hawaiian Airlines cancelled 0.1% of its flights and Allegiant Air cancelled 0.3%. Story has more statistics.<br/>