The US FAA on Sunday disclosed a new problem involving Boeing’s grounded 737 MAX, saying that more than 300 of that troubled plane and the prior generation 737 may contain improperly manufactured parts and that the agency will require these parts to be quickly replaced. The FAA said up to 148 of the part known as a leading-edge slat track that were manufactured by a Boeing supplier are affected, covering 179 MAX and 133 NG aircraft worldwide. Slats are movable panels that extend along the wing’s front during takeoffs and landings to provide additional lift. The tracks guide the slats and are built into the wing. The 737 MAX was grounded globally in March. Boeing has yet to submit a software upgrade to the FAA as it works to get approval to end the grounding of the 737 MAX. In a statement issued after the FAA announcement, Boeing said it has not been informed of any in-service issues related to this batch of slat tracks. Boeing, the world’s largest plane maker, said it has identified 20 737 MAX airplanes most likely to have the faulty parts and that airlines will check an additional 159 MAXs for these parts. Boeing said it has identified 21 737 NGs most likely to have the suspect parts and is advising airlines to check an additional 112 NGs. The NG is the third-generation 737 that the company began building in 1997. The affected parts “may be susceptible to premature failure or cracks resulting from the improper manufacturing process,” the FAA said. The FAA said a complete failure of a leading edge slat track would not result in the loss of the aircraft, but a failed part could cause aircraft damage in flight.<br/>
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Airlines urged regulators on Sunday to coordinate on software changes to the Boeing 737 MAX in a bid to avoid damaging splits over safety seen when the aircraft was grounded in March. The IATA, whose 290 carriers account for 80% of world flying, said trust in the certification system had been damaged by a wave of separate decisions to ground the jet, with the US last to act. Airlines are worried further differences between regulators over safety could confuse passengers and cause disruption. “Any rift between regulators is not in anyone’s interest,” IATA DG Alexandre de Juniac said. Boeing’s best-selling jet was grounded after two crashes, in Indonesia and Ethiopia, over five months killed a total of 346 people. The FAA initially resisted the decisions led by China, but later followed suit. Airline officials say any new bout of staggered decisions could cause problems in operations and code-sharing. “Obviously for us to operate the MAX, the approval from the Singapore authorities is not enough. We have to operate somewhere ... Indonesia and China are two important markets for us,” Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong said. But the European Union’s top transport official said bloc’s regulator, the European Aviation Safety Agency, reserved the right to carry out its own separate review at its own pace. “Certainly EASA will take a very close look at the results (of proposed design changes) and then make a decision and that message was very clearly passed,” Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc said.<br/>
IATA is lowering its 2019 profit forecast for the airline industry amid rising fuel prices and weakening world trade. IATA said airlines are expected to earn $28b this year, down from the $35.5b it had predicted in December. "Margins are being squeezed by rising costs right across the board, including labor, fuel, and infrastructure," the industry body said in a statement Sunday. It said competition among airlines remains stiff and "weakening of global trade is likely to continue as the US-China trade war intensifies," primarily affecting the cargo business, although passenger traffic could also be hit if tensions rise. Addressing concerns over two deadly passenger plane crashes involving Boeing's 737 Max model, IATA's DG said the disasters "have put our reputation in the spotlight." "Investigations will ultimately reveal the cause. And a remedy will be found," Alexandre de Juniac said. The 737 Max was grounded after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet in mid-March. A Lion Air Max crashed in October off the Indonesian coast. In all, 346 people died. "The consequences of these tragedies, however, go far beyond the technical," he said. "Trust in the certification system has been damaged — among regulators, between regulators and the industry and with the flying public." De Juniac called for confidence to be restored in the way that civil aircrafts are certified by aviation authorities and for better coordination among regulators and industry when accidents occur and swift action needs to be taken.<br/>
For Embraer Commercial, the escalating rift between the US and China is making things difficult. That’s because the commercial plane-making unit of Embraer SA counts China as its biggest market and is in the process of being taken over by the US’s top exporter, Boeing. The unit, which will be renamed Boeing Brasil Commercial, is seeking antitrust approval from China for the deal and waiting for for two plane models to get certified by Beijing to deliver the aircraft to Chinese airlines. “We are trying as best we can to stay away from the political environment,” said John Slattery, head of Embraer Commercial. “There’s very little upside for Embraer to comment on trade disputes between superpowers.” There’s much to be worried about. What began as a trade dispute between the world’s two biggest economies has morphed into full-blown tensions. China just warned it will establish a blacklist of entities that could harm its local companies, a sweeping order coming on the heels of the US decision to cut off much-needed American supplies from Chinese technology champion Huawei Technologies. So for the soon-to-be American company, it appears the best strategy for now is to lay low, play down the company’s new owner and hope for the best. "The political relationship between China and Brazil is the only one I can talk to," Slattery said. "That relationship is robust and positive. I’m hopeful that we will see, in the near term, certification of those aircraft,” he said adding that the company still expects to complete all antitrust approvals before the end of this year. <br/>
Donald Trump’s intensifying trade war with China dented air cargo traffic even before FedEx Corp. got dragged into the brawl, as companies worldwide reconfigure their supply chains in the face of increasing tariffs. Global cargo demand fell 4.7% in April from a year earlier, according to the IATA, equaling a February drop that was the worst in three years, with the biggest declines coming from manufacturing hubs in Asia and Europe. Freight operators are bracing for more disruption as tensions between Washington and Beijing ratchet up, and trade experts warn that declining shipments – worsened by Brexit jitters and simmering tensions in the Middle East – indicate a slowdown in global growth. “If we see a further deterioration and tariff increases, there will be further damage to world trade,” IATA DG Alexandre de Juniac said. “It will clearly be a difficult year for world cargo.” The US in May raised tariffs on $200b of Chinese exports and blacklisted Huawei Technologies. After Trump said duties on Chinese goods “could go up very, very substantially,” China accused the US of seeking an “unequal trade deal” and said it would draw up a list of “unreliable entities” that could be targeted for retaliation. On Saturday, China said it would probe FedEx, after some Huawei packages were reportedly diverted to the US without authorization. Evidence of impact from the escalations is piling up. Story has more.<br/>