That poorly ventilated conference room isn’t the only place with the potential for sick-air syndrome. Airliner cockpits can also have levels of carbon dioxide elevated enough that in simulations it causes pilots to fail test manoeuvres at higher rates than normal, a new Harvard University study has found. The first-of-its-kind research suggests that current regulations aren’t adequate to assure there’s enough fresh air in airline flight decks and raises questions about whether even moderately elevated carbon dioxide levels could impact safety, said Joseph Allen, an assistant professor at Harvard’s School of Public Health and lead author of the study. “It’s clear that the air quality in the cockpit can have an impact on performance,” Allen said. “It’s clear we haven’t been thinking about it too deeply in terms of the impact on pilot performance." <br/>
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Airlines are boosting salaries and setting up training centres to combat what is projected to be one of the biggest-ever pilot shortfalls. The dearth of pilots has long been forecast, but it is only now that airlines are being forced to act. Boeing estimates that airlines around the world will need to recruit 635,000 pilots over the next 2 decades to fly the record number of planes being built and to replace the thousands of aviators expected to retire during that span. Following the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US and during the 2008 financial crisis, the aviation industry experienced a downturn and airlines consolidated. That made cockpit-crew jobs scarce and pay raises rare. In recent years, travel has picked up, but the bench of available pilots hasn’t expanded enough to keep pace. <br/>
A survey by aircraft-connectivity supplier Inmarsat has revealed that 83% of business travellers would rebook with airlines that offer high-quality connectivity and 74% of business travellers now see inflight Wi-Fi as “crucial.” “While last year’s survey confirmed that the majority of passengers feel inflight Wi-Fi is a necessity, not a luxury, this year’s survey shows the influence that demand for Wi-Fi has on customer loyalty and satisfaction,” Inmarsat said. “Globally, passengers ranked inflight Wi-Fi as the fourth most important factor that they consider when choosing an airline, behind airline reputation, free checked baggage and extra leg room,” Inmarsat said. “Passengers are now so keen to get online that more than half (53%) would sacrifice their inflight drink for internet access,” Inmarsat said. <br/>
Boeing said Wednesday it expects delivery delays of its hot-selling narrowbody aircraft to continue deeper into the year as it grapples with delays of fuselages and engines from suppliers. "You saw some of that making its way into Q2 deliveries a little bit, and you'll see more of that in Q3 where we'll expect to have deliveries lower than our production rate," Boeing CFO Greg Smith said. The top-selling 737 is powered by engines made by CFM International, which has had some industrial problems in producing its new LEAP engine for the 737 MAX and some aircraft for rival Airbus. Boeing is also grappling with delays on fuselages supplied by Spirit AeroSystems. Spirit, which makes some 70% of the structure of the 737, has faced disruptions this year in its own supply chain. <br/>
The Israel Airport Authority has opened a cyber defence centre at Ben Gurion International following a dramatic increase in the number of cyberattacks on airport systems. Airport sources said 3m cyberattacks a day are detected by the centre. Some are general spam, which is also sent to many other computer systems in the world, but 250 of them are aimed directly at the airport’s systems such as luggage handling, runway lighting and communication systems that are used by air traffic control. Sources said these attacks are isolated and, if one computer has been infected, it is immediately disconnected from the airport’s system. Israeli sources said Tuesday there are indications that cyberattacks on civil aviation systems will increase in the coming year, becoming a major threat. <br/>