Days before the numbers are due to be announced, Boeing warned that October aircraft deliveries to airlines would be lower than normal as the planemaker continues to be dogged by supplier delays on engines and other components. Boeing CFO Greg Smith said that deliveries would rebound in November and December despite persistent problems with engine-maker CFM International. Boeing is expected to release its orders and deliveries figures for October next week. Deliveries are a closely watched metric since that is the point when airlines pay the bulk of the money for a new jetliner. Boeing is working through its recovery plan for its best-selling 737 single-aisle jetliner caused by delays on fuselages, engines and other components which created a production bottleneck at its Seattle-area plant over the summer. <br/>
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The latest in a long series of calls for improved air traffic management in Europe has come from A4E, whose 15 members account for 70% of the continent’s air travel. The CEs of A4E’s members met in Brussels Tuesday and expressed exasperation. After a summer marked by “unacceptable delays,” they are urging the EU to “take immediate action to remove European airspace inefficiencies.” En route delays, measured by Eurocontrol at 9.32m minutes last year, are set to increase by 50% in 2018, A4E said. “The reputation of Europe is at stake. Reform of EU airspace must be a top priority for the next EC and all involved national bodies,” A4E MD Thomas Reynaert said. The EC’s current term ends Oct 31, 2019. <br/>