Boeing’s 737 Max is about to join the list of brands trying to come back from ignominy. Analysts are digging into decades-old safety scares for clues to the future of the jetliner -- and Boeing’s finances. There’s the Chevrolet Corvair rollovers that launched Ralph Nader as a consumer advocate in the 1960s, gas-tank explosions that sank Ford’s Pinto in the 1970s, and the Tylenol poisonings of 1982 that spurred tamper-proof packaging. But there’s little precedent for the tangle of safety, regulatory and financial issues buffeting a workhorse jet that’s vital to sustaining the surge in global air travel. After 2 crashes of the aircraft model in 5 months and a grounding that’s nearing the 2-month mark, some nervous passengers are vowing to avoid the Max. <br/>
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Groups representing major US airlines, airports and travel industry companies Friday urged US Senate leaders to back additional funding for Customs and Border Patrol officers as the Trump administration said Friday it was shifting additional officers to the southwestern border. A4A joined other major travel groups and IATA to back additional emergency funding and warned of the impact of shifting more officers from airports and other ports of entry. “The traveling and shipping public should not be subjected to excessive wait times, and we need to avoid inflicting damage on commerce and the overall US economy," their letter said. Airports and other groups earlier this month backed Senate legislation that would hire at least 600 new CBP agents annually. <br/>
UK airline passengers could be better protected if their airline collapses under proposals set out following a review of airline insolvency commissioned by the Department for Transport in the wake of Monarch Airlines’ 2017 collapse. The failures of XL Airways in 2008 and Monarch both led to the govt asking the CAA to intervene to bring stranded passengers home, the DfT said as the May 9 final report was released. The report recommends a new Flight Protection Scheme amounting to less than $0.65 per person, which would protect passengers if an airline became insolvent while they were abroad, as well as reforms to the UK’s airline insolvency regimes so carrier’s own aircraft can be used to repatriate its passengers should it fail. <br/>
Taxing aviation fuel would cut the sector’s carbon emissions by 11% and have only a “negligible” impact on employment and gross domestic product in the EU, according to a leaked EC report. Applying a tax to jet fuel of E330 per thousand litres for certain types of flights would increase ticket prices across the bloc by 10%, to an average of E333, according to the final draft of the report. It would also cut the yearly number of travellers by 11% to 613m, it said. The report conceded that a tax would reduce jobs in the aviation sector by 11% but said it would have little overall impact on total European employment — 3.2m of the bloc’s 194m jobs are in aviation. Similarly, while fuel excise duty would cut the fiscal value added by aviation, this would be offset by the additional funds raised, the report stated. <br/>