What kind of training pilots receive could determine whether Boeing’s grounded 737 Max aircraft is back in the air by the end of the northern hemisphere summer, or only much later, according to airlines, pilots unions and aviation industry experts. Whether pilots should be retrained in a few hours on iPads, or on costly and scarce 737 Max flight simulators, has emerged as one of the biggest unanswered questions surrounding the return to service of the aircraft, after 33 global regulators met in Texas Thursday last week. “At least do something other than fly an iPad,” Mary Schiavo, former inspector-general of the US DoT, said in a reference to the fact that US pilots had received only 1 to 3 hours of training on an iPad to prepare them to fly the Max before the crashes. <br/>
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Honeywell International is using blockchain to shake up the market for used aircraft components, making it easier to check the certification and origin of a part and speeding up transactions. The company’s Honeywell Aerospace unit earlier this year introduced an online marketplace based on blockchain that lets more than 800 international buyers and sellers trade aerospace parts in real time. Before blockchain, a transaction took, on average, 2 phone calls and 4 emails to arrange, and 2 days to close. The sale of larger parts such as engines could take weeks of sending quotes and exchanging documentation. With blockchain, a buyer can locate a part and purchase it immediately. The marketplace, called GoDirect Trade, has notched US$2m in sales so far, and Honeywell targets sales of $10m by year-end. <br/>
Millions of air passengers may face difficult travel during this year’s peak travel season thanks to a confluence of events that are making airlines and airports nervous. A4A estimates that a record 257.4m people will fly from June 1 through the end of August, the tenth consecutive summer increase. Those throngs—totalling on average 2.8m people each day—will confront 2 unique challenges: the possible reassignment of hundreds of aviation security personnel to the Mexican border, and the continued worldwide grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max. Three of the 4 largest US carriers are grappling with how to cover their busy summer schedules with the loss of 6 dozen Boeing 737 Max aircraft. The lack of those planes adds further pressure to carriers and customers at a time when the air travel system traditionally operates at full throttle. <br/>
Plans to construct a new central airport in Poland took a step forward as IATA said it will establish a committee to consult with airlines that would use the new facility. IATA is working with key stakeholders in Poland to establish an airport consultative committee (ACC) to facilitate contacts with the global airline community on the development of the new airport, to be located between Warsaw and Lodz and now known as Solidarity Transport Hub Poland (STH). The ACC will serve as a forum in which to exchange ideas and improve decision-making. It will essentially act as an airline technical body to review strategic options, assess costs and benefits, and consider the operational impacts on airlines and passengers. The inaugural ACC meeting is scheduled for July 18 in Warsaw. <br/>
As Sweden’s airline industry grapples with the new phenomenon of “flight shame,” which has seen some travellers starting to shun air travel because of environmental concerns, a new airport is scheduled to open in the country in December. Scandinavian Mountains Airport is located on the Swedish side of the Sweden-Norway border amid a cluster of 4 major ski resorts. The privately-owned airport lists almost 40 local businesses and tourism-related companies as shareholders. With environmental factors bulking large in Swedish politics and society, the new airport will strongly focus on reduction of carbon emissions, with the widespread use of electric vehicles one method of achieving this. The new airport has a 2,500 m runway, is equipped with a CAT III instrument landing system and will have 4 gates. <br/>