US regulators are seeking to identify flawed slat-track assemblies from Boeing 737 Max jets in order to avoid checks on older 737 variants. The FAA states that certain track assemblies were manufactured incorrectly and are affected by hydrogen embrittlement, which reduces their strength and could ultimately result in failure and the loss of a slat. Boeing has indicated that 148 such assemblies were incorrectly produced but the FAA points out that, because the parts are rotable and not serialised, they could be removed from 737 Max 8 and Max 9 jets and reinstalled on previous 737 variants such as the -800 and -900. "The current shortage of non-discrepant parts makes this removal and reinstallation more likely to happen," says the FAA in a directive. <br/>
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A month after a flight attendant was bitten by an emotional support animal, the US DoT told the airline industry Thursday that carriers can’t bar certain dog breeds because airlines deem them dangerous, handing a victory to pit bull fans. But the federal agency gave airlines the green light to require passengers to produce records on vaccinations and training to determine if a specific animal poses a threat on a plane. And bans on certain species — snakes, for instance — will be allowed to stand. The effort by the DoT to clarify its policy on animals in planes is the latest chapter in the long-running saga over emotional support animals. A4A said that many fliers have been fraudulently passing off their pets as emotional support animals to avoid having to pay animal transport fees. <br/>
US Customs and Border Protection experienced a systems outage for processing passengers on international flights at various airports, the agency said Friday. But by early evening, CBP tweeted that the affected systems were coming back online, but officials would “continue to monitor the situation.” Individual airports also took to Twitter to say the outage appeared to be ending. A CBP official said the outage affected airports nationwide, while the agency added that lines were longer at some airports as a result as more international travellers waited to be cleared. During the shutdown, the agency said CBP officers continued to process the airline passengers using alternative procedures. <br/>
The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) is crafting a penalty scheme to punish airlines for “chronic delays.” CAB executive director Carmelo Arcilla said that the regulator plans to release in 2 months a memorandum circular that will impose sanctions on carriers’ “chronic” flight delays. “We are coming up with a regulation to... penalise chronic delays. What we are looking at is drawing the line between normal delays — these are unavoidable at a certain level — and chronic delays,” Arcilla said, describing occasional delays as a “reality”. CAB says there is “chronic delay” when more than half of a carrier’s flights in a month are delayed. Last month, the CAB started requiring local airlines to submit a monthly report of their on-time performance to help the regulator evaluate operational efficiency at the country’s gateways. <br/>