Canadian airlines and flight crews are forbidden to consume cannabis for at least 28 days before going on duty, the country’s transportation regulator said on Thursday. Transport Canada’s new policy, which is effective immediately, says no person should work while “under the influence of any drug,” according to statement posted on its website. Canada became the first developed country in the world to legalize cannabis in October 2018. Since then, various industries have issued guidelines around cannabis use. The aviation regulator said the move aligns with scientific consensus on drug usage while on the job and the Department of National Defence and Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s policies on cannabis. <br/>
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Airport security queues could soon be less stressful for Heathrow passengers who should be able to keep liquids and laptops in their hand baggage when new 3D scanners are introduced. Following successful trials of the new equipment, the UK’s biggest airport plans to spend GBP50m on new scanners across its four terminals by 2022. The computed tomography (CT) scanners, used in hospitals to scan patients, produce more detailed images that allow security staff to assess cabin bags with electronic equipment and liquids inside. The technology is expected to lead to a relaxation of current rules, which state that passengers can only carry liquids such as toiletries or medicine in individual containers of 100ml or less, with the items placed in a separate, clear plastic bag to pass through security. The changes should cut queuing times, as well as reduce plastic waste. There are hopes that the improved technology could potentially end the liquids ban altogether. However, abolition would likely require the scanners to be installed at all airports, an expensive process that could take several years beyond Heathrow’s 2022 target.<br/>
Travel problems have persisted at Los Angeles International Airport following a power outage that darkened the entire facility and caused flight diversions, delays and cancellations. Terminal 1 handles Southwest flights and was cleared early Thursday after officials decided departing passengers needed to be rescreened. An airport tweet says the action was related to Wednesday night’s outage and was taken out of an abundance of caution. Following a security sweep, passenger screening lanes reopened before 7 a.m. But the airport says Southwest reports 11 flight cancellations and 15 delays related to the situation. The power outage happened shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday. Electrical generators kicked in and all but three terminals had power within the hour. Restoration of regular power to those terminals took three or more hours.<br/>
The White House has moved to shore up its support for Donald Trump’s nominee to be head the US aviation regulator, after it emerged he had not disclosed details of a lawsuit with which he is involved ahead of his confirmation hearings. A White House spokesman said on Thursday the US president continued to support Stephen Dickson, the man he selected to take over the FAA earlier this year. The Trump administration is hoping Dickson will restore some stability at the FAA, which has been accused of failing to spot problems with the Boeing 737 Max aircraft, two of which have recently been involved in fatal accidents. The president’s backing comes despite concerns in the Senate Commerce Committee that Dickson failed to disclose a lawsuit brought by a Delta pilot against her employer when the nominee was a senior company executive. The lawsuit alleges Dickson retaliated against Karlene Pettit after she blew the whistle on safety lapses at the company — something the airline denies. <br/>
Major airline companies have complained to US regulators about fees to ship jet fuel on Buckeye Pipe Line Company’s refined products line to New York City area airports, saying they have each overpaid between $900,000 and $1.7m. American Aviation Supply LLC, Delta, JetBlue and United called Buckeye’s rates “unjust and unreasonable,” according to a complaint to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission dated on Wednesday. The company in 2018 over-recovered its cost of service by about 16.6%, the complaint added. Each complainant overpaid between $0.9m and $1.7m from May 1, 2017 to April 30, 2019, the complaint said. The company’s pipeline transports petroleum products between Linden, New Jersey and the New York City market, including Newark Liberty International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport.<br/>
Airlines denied boarding to more passengers in Q1 2019 compared to the same period last year amid the fallout from the Boeing 737 Max grounding in March, according to a new government report, with just two weeks of data included since the grounding began. The DoT revealed that in Q1 2019, the involuntary denied boarding rate, also known as "bumping," was 0.32 for every 10,000 passengers, which was more than double compared to the same period last year. The US grounded all Boeing 737 Max planes on March 13 after an Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 on board. "American Airlines and Southwest Airlines separately informed the Department that the grounding of the 737 MAX aircraft has negatively impacted their involuntary denied boarding statistics during this reporting period," according to the report. The DoT report only includes two weeks of data since the planes' grounding, which means possible ripple effects remain to be seen. The American Airlines Network (including partners) saw the highest number of bumped passengers: 3,533. Southwest Airlines had the second-most with 1,594 involuntarily denied. Overall, 6,175 were involuntarily denied,<br/>
The US House Appropriations Committee has approved legislation granting $17.7b to FAA in FY2020, advancing the bill to the full chamber where it is scheduled to be taken up later in June. The measure was approved mostly along party lines in a 29-21 vote, with many Republicans seeking reductions in spending elsewhere in the overall appropriations bill. The $17.7b earmarked for FAA is roughly $267m more than the enacted 2019 level and $614m more than the administration’s request. The committee indicated in report language attached to the bill that it boosted funding for aviation safety in part in anticipation of the findings of multiple, ongoing reviews of FAA’s aircraft certification process, saying it expects the probes to “result in the need for greater technical competency at the FAA and deep, substantive responses to the recommendations from these reviews.” Of the $10.7b proposed for FAA’s operations budget, the vast majority—$9.83b—comes from the Airports and Airways Trust Fund. The operations budget is mostly flat from 2019, although spending on aviation safety rose to $1.6b from $1.3b. “Incorporating a ‘safety first’ approach into the FAA and its operations is essential and takes precedence over the commercial success of any technology, manufacturer, carrier or airport,” the report says.<br/>The budget would send $3b to FAA for its facilities and equipment budget, as well as $191m for research, engineering and development, both unchanged from 2019 levels.<br/>
Airbus's slow order activity failed to pick up in May, during which the airframer gained business for just a single A320neo. The agreement is for the corporate ACJ320neo version of the single-aisle twinjet. It barely made any difference to the negative net order figure of 57 aircraft recorded by the company over the first five months of the year. The airframer has taken orders for 43 long-haul and 25 single-aisle aircraft since the beginning of this year, but suffered heavy cancellations including more than 70 A350s and A380s. But the imbalance could be rectified, to an extent, during the upcoming Paris air show, an event at which Airbus has typically used to unveil significant order agreements. The airframer will be keen to generate publicity at the show, on its home turf, particularly given that it is marking its 50th anniversary and the Paris event will be the first since Airbus appointed new individuals to several senior management roles. Airbus has delivered 313 aircraft so far this year, 90 more than it had at the same point in 2018.<br/>