IATA expects increasing trade tensions and higher costs will mean a cut in 2019 industry profit forecasts. IATA trimmed its 2019 global airline industry profit forecast to US$35.5b in December, from $38b, after it hit $32.3b in 2018. IATA DG Alexandre de Juniac gave a strong steer Friday that the industry group would trim its widely watched forecast again when it meets in Seoul next month. "We are a bit pessimistic," he said. "I think we should be more cautious," he added, referring to probable changes to the forecasts published in December. Trade tensions are already hurting cargo demand and passenger demand is sure to be affected too, he said. Airlines are also beginning to acknowledge concerns that the industry has reached the top of its business cycle after a longer than usual expansion. <br/>
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Boeing Co has made corrections to simulator software that mimics the flying experience of its 737 MAX jets, and the company has provided additional information to device operators, a spokesman said Friday. The spokesman said the changes will ensure that the simulator experience is representative across different flight conditions and will improve the simulation of force loads on the manual trim wheel that helps control the airplane. The comments came after the New York Times Friday reported that Boeing recently discovered that the flight simulators airlines use to train pilots could not adequately replicate conditions that played a role in the 737 MAX crashes. Although the simulators are not built by Boeing, the planemaker does provide the underlying information on which they are designed and built, the New York Times said. <br/>
Commercial airliners flying over the Persian Gulf risk being targeted by "miscalculation or misidentification" from the Iranian military amid heightened tensions between the Islamic Republic and the US, American diplomats warned Saturday, even as both Washington and Tehran say they don't seek war. The warning relayed by US diplomatic posts from the FAA, though dismissed by Iran, underscored the risks the current tensions pose to a region critical to both global air travel and trade. Oil tankers allegedly have faced sabotage and Yemen rebel drones attacked a crucial Saudi oil pipeline over the last week. Meanwhile Saturday, Iraqi officials said ExxonMobil began evacuating staff from Basra, and the island nation of Bahrain ordered its citizens out of Iraq and Iran over "the recent escalations and threats." <br/>
US members of Congress and airport stakeholders reacted with apprehension to reports that TSA will divert hundreds of agents from airports to the southwestern border with Mexico to deal with a surge of migrant crossings, following separate Customs and Border Protection diversions of hundreds of CBP Officers to the US-Mexico border earlier in May. Up to 175 law enforcement officials and as many as 400 people from TSA Security Ops, as well as federal air marshals, could be sent to the border to relieve logistical challenges posed by the large number of migrants there. The Airports Council International-North America said US airports are “very concerned that the deployment of TSA Officers to the border will further deplete limited staffing at security checkpoints and contribute to even longer passenger wait times.” <br/>
The US DoT has announced plans to distribute US$779m in supplemental funding for infrastructure grants to 127 airports across all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The latest tranche of funding will go toward construction and equipment to increase airport security, capacity and safety. The funds are separate from the $3.31b awarded to airports as part of the Airport Improvement Program during FY 2018. Projects selected to receive the funds will include runway reconstruction and rehabilitation, as well as the maintenance of taxiways, aprons and terminals. The announcement was applauded by A4A, which said the grant awards “should make members of Congress think twice” about a proposal to lift the Passenger Facility Charge cap from $4.00 to $8.50 per flight segment. <br/>
There are delays and cancellations at Manchester Airport after a "power issue" affected fuel supply. Flights to Tenerife, Belfast and Milan are among 87 cancelled, while others have been delayed by hours. A Manchester Airport spokesman said: "Due to a power issue this afternoon there is currently an issue with the fuel supply at the airport. Engineers are on site to fix the issue and we are working with airlines to try and minimise the impact." It is believed all fuelling at the site has stopped. Passengers said they had been stuck on grounded planes for 2 to 3 hours. A spokesman said the airport "remains operational as not all flights are impacted". The airport said of the 87 flight cancellations, 42 were arrivals and 45 were departures. <br/>
Spanish tourism and transportation company Grupo Globalia will launch a new air carrier in Brazil, Brazilian Infrastructure minister Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas said Saturday. Globalia owns the Air Europa carrier and companies in the tourism sector, including hotel operators and travel services such as Travelplan and Groundforce. The Brazilian minister said the decision by Globalia to start air transportation services in Brazil followed a regulatory change allowing foreign companies to control airliners in the country, something not previously possible. "It is the first airline to decide to operate in Brazil after the new legislation. It will hire people locally and will increase competition in the sector," said Freitas in his tweet. The new legislation allowing foreign ownership of air carriers still needs a final nod of approval from the Brazilian Congress. <br/>
China is planning to lower wholesale aviation fuel prices as early as July, part of Beijing's pledge to reduce business costs in a slowing economy, said an oil industry executive and a spokeswoman with the Chinese aviation authority. The cuts will apply to both ex-refinery prices and rates charged to airlines by China's dominant jet fuel distributor China National Aviation Fuel Group , and could amount to a total annual savings to airlines of more than CNY1b (US$143.84m), said the industry executive Thursday. "This is part of the aviation authority's response to the (Chinese) Cabinet's call to help smaller businesses and consumers, as the economy is really slowing," said the executive. A CAAC spokeswoman said the price cuts will start in July including reductions to marketing and operational charges. <br/>