Hurricane Dorian, currently a Category 5 storm, is tearing through the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas. It's expected to strike Grand Bahama, the northernmost island in the archipelago, late Sunday or early Monday before it nears the US coast, forecasters say. The National Hurricane Center called the weather event in the Abaco Islands "life-threatening," with reports of 220 mph wind gusts and a storm surge of 18 to 23 feet above normal tide levels. As of Sunday morning, airlines had cancelled over 335 Sunday flights to/from/within the United States and about 609 flights on Monday, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.com. Airlines have been issuing waivers for several days to travellers headed for destinations in the storm's projected path. American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest, JetBlue, Spirit, United and Frontier have all offered waivers on change fees for itineraries in potentially affected destinations. Destinations in Georgia and the Carolinas have joined airline advisories as the storm progresses northward. Orlando International Airport said it would remain open on Monday in light of the storm's shifting path. It initially announced it would cease operation at 2 a.m. Monday local time. Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale International Airport are both monitoring the storm's progress, according to advisories posted to their websites.<br/>
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The FAA said Friday a blue-ribbon panel of experts around the world will need a few more weeks to finish its review into the Boeing 737 MAX certification. The team, which is reviewing the approval of the now grounded jet involved in two fatal crashes since October, is taking additional time to finish documenting its work and the FAA said it expects its recommendations in the coming weeks. Boeing has said it hopes to receive regulatory approval for updated flight control software at the center of both crashes in October, but it could take a month or two for airlines to train pilots on the new software and prepare the jets for commercial flight after sitting idle for months. The Joint Authorities Technical Review is chaired by former National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Christopher Hart, and the FAA said its focus on the certification of the aircraft “is separate from the ongoing efforts to safely return the aircraft to flight.” In September the NTSB plans to outline airplane design certification procedures, the head of the agency, Robert Sumwalt, told Congress in July. Sumwalt said in March that the agency was “examining the U.S. design certification process to ensure any deficiencies are captured and addressed” after two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes. <br/>
The German government wants to ensure that airlines pay a fair price for the carbon emissions for which their industry is responsible, an environment ministry spokesman said on Friday, adding that flights could not remain cheaper than train travel. Earlier, Alexander Dobrindt, parliamentary leader of a Bavarian conservative party that is allied with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats had called in an interview with newspaper Bild for punitive tariffs to be imposed on flights costing less than 50 euros. “Nine euro tickets for flights within Europe have nothing to do with market economics or climate protection,” he told the newspaper. “There needs to be a minimum flight price and rail journeys need a VAT cut.”<br/>
A US appeals court says travellers can sue the government over mistreatment by federal airport screeners because the agents can act like law enforcement officers, including when they conduct invasive searches. The 9-4 decision Friday by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned earlier rulings and is a setback for the Transportation Security Administration and its screeners. The government is generally immune from lawsuits, but a federal law lets people sue over the actions of officers who can conduct searches and arrest people. A district court and a three-judge panel of the same appeals court said TSA officers are just screeners who inspect passengers and bags. The full appeals court said, however, that screeners aren't entitled to immunity from lawsuits because they perform searches for violations of federal law. The court majority noted that TSA calls the screeners officers, they wear uniforms with badges including that title, and hold positions of authority. The judges also rejected the government's argument that airport screening is different from a search because airline passengers consent to it. They said it's indeed a search — noting that screeners can explore a passenger's entire body including sensitive areas.<br/>