Boeing executives successfully beat back shareholder challenges to their authority on Monday as the company signaled it expects regulators to take a key step next week in the effort to get the 737 MAX back in the air following two deadly crashes. The aerospace giant, under scrutiny following the crashes that killed 346 passengers and crew and grounded the MAX worldwide, won a vote of confidence from its investors, even as company management faced tough questions over plane design and the possible missteps in getting the aircraft to market. Boeing expects the FAA to conduct a test flight by the end of next week of the software fix the company developed for the flight system on the 737 MAX, a company spokesman said Monday. That would be a critical step in certifying the aircraft as flight-worthy. However, an FAA spokesman said the agency had not released a date or time for the flight yet. Amid reports of missteps in developing the newest version of its most popular aircraft, concerned shareholders used the annual meeting to seek greater transparency by proposing to make the chairman an independent director and to disclose lobbying activities and trade association memberships. But those proposals garnered just 34 and 32% of the votes, respectively, somewhat better than similar measures last year, but still well below 50%. The defeat of those motions no doubt was relief for CE Dennis Muilenburg and other company brass but there was little sense of triumph at an annual meeting that included a moment of silence for the lives lost. Story has more background.<br/>
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Boeing said Monday it did not "intentionally or otherwise" deactivate a safety alert for its angle-of-attack sensors on its 737 MAX aircraft, responding to reports the planemaker failed to tell Southwest and the USaviation regulator that the safety feature was deactivated before recent crashes. "The disagree alert was tied or linked into the angle of attack indicator, which is an optional feature on the MAX. Unless an airline opted for the angle of attack indicator, the disagree alert was not operable," Boeing said. It said the disagree alert is not necessary for the safe operation of the airplane. The company said following software modifications all new MAX aircraft will have an activated and operable disagree alert and an optional angle of attack indicator, while current MAX airplanes will have the ability to activate the disagree alert.<br/>
When Boeing launched its 737 MAX jetliner in response to Airbus's record-selling A320neo, a wave of poker-faced satisfaction spread through Airbus headquarters in France. Its reasons for cheering Boeing's decision to make a similar jet, based on a similar strategy of engine efficiencies, partly explain why Airbus is wary of exploiting Boeing's misery over the global grounding of the MAX today, industry sources say. Airbus has joined major airlines in expressing confidence that Boeing will emerge soon from a crisis caused by two fatal crashes. In the first place, that is because both giants share a stake in preserving public trust and rarely compete on safety. "This is not good for aviation," new Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said of the MAX crisis earlier this month. But the history of the MAX and its competitor, the Airbus A320neo, also illustrates why the two companies are unlikely to come to blows over the future of the MAX beyond their fierce day-to-day competition, strategists and industry officials say. Story has history, details.<br/>
Boeing was sued Monday by two Canadians who lost 10 family members in the March crash of a 737 Max in Ethiopia, adding to the aircraft manufacturer’s legal woes stemming from two deadly crashes by the jet. Among the 157 people who died when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed minutes after takeoff on March 10 were plaintiff Manant Vaidya’s mother, father, sister, brother-in-law and two nieces. Also on the doomed flight were the wife and three children of Paul Njoroge, the other plaintiff. The series of complaints, filed in a federal court in Chicago, allege that Boeing was negligent in its design and certification of the 737 Max, including a system on the jet that automatically pushes the aircraft’s nose down when sensor data indicate the plane is approaching a stall. The Ethiopian Airlines crash and the October crash of a Lion Air 737 Max off the coast of Indonesia have been linked to the jet’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, which automatically pushes down the aircraft’s nose to help prevent a stall. In both crashes, pilots struggled to keep the plane aloft after the system was activated by erroneous sensor data and ultimately pushed the planes into a fatal dive. “If they deny their negligence, we are going to seek every single email, text message between them and the FAA,” said Robert Clifford, attorney for Njoroge and Vaidya, on Monday.<br/>
A number of airlines experienced delays on Monday when their systems had a technical glitch, causing backups across the country. Travelers vented their frustration on Twitter, blaming airlines like Alaska, American and JetBlue. But the real culprit was Sabre, a relatively unknown software system used by airlines for a variety of simple purposes, like tracking bookings and calculating baggage weight. Sabre and other systems like it handle many crucial back-end airline functions, including taking reservations and scheduling flight crews. When its software works as intended, it makes it easier for airlines to operate smoothly. “It's optimized for speed and reliability,” said Samuel Engel, a senior vice president and head of the aviation practice at the consulting firm ICF. “They often get referred to as the heart of the airline in the sense that they have arteries that touch every organ.” But when the system has even a small snag, the effects can ripple across the global flight network long after the initial problem gets solved. The same system experienced a failure in March.<br/>
The head of the largest independent association of US flight attendants called on FAA acting administrator Dan Elwell to implement a host of safety initiatives from last year’s FAA Reauthorization Act, saying the agency “has already missed several deadlines” related to rest hours, seat size and toxic fumes. In an April 26 letter to Elwell, Association of Professional Flight Attendants (AFPA) national president Lori Bassani said the FAA had missed a deadline from the law requiring the agency to increase flight attendants’ minimum rest hours from 8 to 10 hrs., which the law states can “not be reduced in any circumstances.” The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 required the agency to modify the existing rule within 30 days of its passage in October 2018. An FAA spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the expected rule’s delay. Bassani also called on Elwell to act on a mandate from the law to study potential safety benefits of minimum seat dimensions. <br/>
Three flights were diverted from London’s Gatwick Airport April 28 following unconfirmed reports of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) activity outside the airport perimeter. The three diverted flights—a British Airways (BA) flight from Heraklion and two easyJet flights from Amsterdam and Barcelona—diverted to London Stansted Airport as a precautionary measure after reports of a UAV (drone) sighting at around 16:05 local time. “Gatwick investigated a report of an unconfirmed sighting of an object outside the airport’s 5km exclusion zone but—following a full assessment—the airport remained fully operational throughout,” a Gatwick spokesman said. He added the decisions to divert were taken by the operating captains while the drone sighting was being investigated. All three flights returned to Gatwick.<br/>
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador Monday symbolically launched work on a new airport for Mexico City to replace the nearly half-built $13b project he cancelled upon taking office. López Obrador promised the new Felipe Ángeles airport northeast of the capital won't exceed its budget and will save the government money even with the cancellation of the partially built airport. "It's going to resolve the problem of saturation at the current Mexico City airport , but also be an example of how you can carry out a rational, austere policy based on honesty that needs to establish itself as the way to live and the way to govern in our country," López Obrador said. The new airport — named for a general allied with revolutionary icon Pancho Villa — is at the Santa Lucia military air base and the army is in charge of getting it built for $4.1b. It is supposed to begin operating in mid-2021, though construction has not yet begun. Two new runways would be added to its existing one and the commercial airport would share the space with the military. Critics have argued that the new airport will have difficulty operating simultaneously with the existing airport, but in a report by the military, consultant Navblue said they could operate simultaneously in terms of air space.<br/>
The aviation fuel of the future could be made in Scotland - with scientists working to create an environmentally-sustainable replacement. The fuel is made from waste wooden pellets which are heated, turned into a gas and mixed with other ingredients. A team from Heriot-Watt University is close to working with a major airline on piloting the biomass fuel. It comes as Scottish and UK ministers prepare to receive fresh advice on when to aim for net-zero carbon emissions. The Edinburgh-based university is one of three which are through to the finals of a British Airways competition to create a green fuel which can carry 300 passengers on a long-haul flight. Prof Mercedes Maroto-Valer, who is leading the project, said: "We are really addressing global challenges and finding solutions for decreasing carbon dioxide emissions. The aviation sector in particular is increasing its CO2 emissions and what we want is to help them to find the fuels of the future that will be sustainable. What we have demonstrated over the last three years is that our process is viable, that it actually works and produces aviation fuel lower in CO2 emissions than current fuels, and we're now ready to jump into the next stage."<br/>