At long last, the most unpopular seat on a plane is getting a revamp that claims to solve its key associated miseries: its occupant having less space, and without sole ownership of an armrest. A new staggered seating system dubbed the ‘S1’ has, after 5 years of development, been approved by the US FAA. At least 1 US airline has already ordered it, to be installed on 50 aircraft by the end of the year. Upon first inspection, the design doesn’t look so radical, slotting the middle seat a few inches behind and below its neighbours. But this simple tweak to the layout affords the middle seat an extra 3 inches of width, plus rights to both armrests. While various other cabin designs over the years have proposed wider middle seats, this layout doesn’t “steal width” from the adjacent seats, the company says. <br/>
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The US, Tuesday, warned companies against dealing with Iranian airlines, alleging that many of them support Iran in regional violence by transporting fighters and weapons to international locations. Entities that provide services for designated Iranian airlines, including financing, reservations and ticketing as well as procurement of aircraft parts, could be at risk of enforcement actions or economic sanctions from the US, the Treasury Department said in an advisory. “The international civil aviation industry, including service providers like general sales agents, brokers, and title companies, need to be on high alert to ensure they are not complicit in Iran’s malign activities,” Sigal Mandelker, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said. <br/>
The heads of unions representing North American pilots and aviation workers gave US lawmakers a rundown of their top safety-related legislative priorities at a hearing of the US House Aviation Subcommittee July 18. ALPA president Joe DePete highlighted the retention of congressionally mandated first officer qualifications, and lauded Congress for retaining the 1,500-hr. flight training rule in 2018’s FAA Reauthorisation Act. The union chief warned about “people and organisations ... reducing the requirements currently in place to obtain an air transport pilot certificate,” an apparent reference to groups representing regional airlines that argue the requirement has resulted in a shortage of professional pilots at commercial airlines. <br/>
IATA is closely monitoring the potential aviation impact of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, reiterating WHO guidance that air connectivity should be maintained. According to the latest WHO statistics, there have been 2,512 confirmed or probable cases since the DRC Ebola-virus outbreak was first declared Aug.1, 2018. July 17, WHO DG Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus further escalated the situation to a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern”. This means the virus could pose a public health risk to other countries, requiring a more coordinated international response. Despite the escalation, the committee stressed the need to keep transport links and borders open. “Such measures are usually implemented out of fear and have no basis in science,” the committee said. <br/>
Russia’s United Aircraft Corp will need a RUB300b (US$4.8b) capital injection “to complete the financial restructuring,” Rostec Corp CE Sergey Chemezov said in a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin July 22. “First of all, this sum is needed to implement the MC-21 programs and other civilian projects … We have inherited numerous loans from the 1990s and the early 2000s. Of course, we are servicing these debts and repaying the interest, but we will have trouble repaying the actual loans themselves,” Chemezov added. Earlier in July, Rostec announced plans to raise RUB100b with a series of bond issues that will list at MOEX Russia. The company said it will finance several civil projects, including the creation of ambulance aviation and development of MC-21 narrowbody aircraft. <br/>