general

Airline stocks had their wings clipped on Wednesday after the WTO Wednesday cleared the way for the US to impose tariffs on European goods as part in a long-running Airbus dispute. Delta fell nearly 5% to $54.33, while United fell 4.7% to $83.69. American Airlines tumbled 5.3% to $25.37 and Alaska Air fell 3.5% to $62.69. The broader NYSE Arca Airline index fell 2.4%. The WTO’s decision authorises almost $7.5b in annual punitive levies to repair damage done to Boeing by illegal EU aid to Airbus. But the ruling leaves US carriers vulnerable to tariff hikes as most major American carriers have orders placed with Airbus. Delta said that aircraft purchases require a long lead time for production and that “imposing tariffs on aircraft that US companies have already committed to will inflict serious harm on US airlines, the millions of Americans they employ and the travelling public.”<br/>

The US FAA said Wednesday that aircraft operators must inspect 165 Boeing 737 NG airliners for structural cracks within seven days after the issue was found on a small number of planes. Boeing notified the FAA of the issue after it discovered structural cracks on an aircraft undergoing modifications in China. The FAA said subsequent inspections found similar cracks in a small number of additional planes. The FAA said planes with fewer flights will eventually get inspected. The order covers a total of 1,911 US registered planes. The inspections can be done visually and should require about an hour per airplane, the FAA said. The cracks are on what is known as the “pickle fork” — a part that attaches the plane’s fuselage, or body, to the wing structure and manages forces. Southwest, United and American Airlines are among carriers that fly the 737 NG. The NG includes the 737-600, -700,-700C,-800, -900, and -900ER.<br/>

A US panel has asked Boeing to make an engineer available for an interview after reports that the worker filed an internal ethics complaint on 737 MAX’s safety and that the planemaker convinced the regulator to relax safety standards. The engineer said in the complaint filed this year that during the development of the 737 MAX, Boeing had rejected a safety system to minimise costs, the New York Times had reported earlier. The engineer, who worked on cockpit instruments and controls, felt the safety system could have reduced risks that contributed to two fatal crashes that killed 346 people in Ethiopia and Indonesia, according to the report. “All of this information is critical to have as we prepare for our Committee’s October 30th hearing with Boeing’s CEO, as well as Boeing’s chief engineer of its commercial airplanes division, and the chief pilot for the 737,” said Peter DeFazio, chairman of the US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Boeing said it would continue to cooperate with Congress and regulatory authorities as it focuses on safely returning the MAX to service. The committee has been poring over hundreds of thousands of pages of documents and emails from Boeing and the FAA, but it was not aware of the engineer’s complaint, he said. Boeing persuaded the FAA in 2014 to relax safety standards for the new 737 MAX related to cockpit alerts that would warn pilots of problems during flight, the Seattle Times reported Wednesday, citing documents. The regulator struck out four clauses that would be requirements for any new jet being designed today, the report said. That meant the planemaker avoided a complete upgrade of the 737’s aging flight-crew-alerting system, the report added.<br/>

The US FAA will run tests in November to see whether plane evacuations can be conducted safely in an emergency, as lawmakers worry that seat configurations are too tight for modern passengers. The 12-day series of tests, which will involve 720 volunteers, is scheduled to take place at the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute in Oklahoma City. The tests will determine whether planes need new seat dimensions to improve passenger safety -- in line with the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, which requires the agency to set the minimum seat width, length and pitch. "By the end of this year, the FAA plans to conclude evacuation testing to determine what, if any, regulatory changes are necessary to implement the requirement. The testing will take place ... using a cabin simulator that is capable of testing multiple configurations," the FAA said. Rep. Paul Mitchell, a Republican congressman from Michigan, last week expressed his concern about airlines using ever-smaller seats. "It won't exactly surprise you to know I'm not a dainty guy ... there are a lot of not-so-dainty people," Mitchell told a hearing of the subcommittee on aviation. "Seat size, dimensions between seats, exits -- I'm not sure that the models that are being used, to be honest with you, really reflect current air travelers. Certainly not in the United States or North America."<br/>

One in five travellers is flying less as “flight shaming” propels travelers to shun air travel for the sake of the planet, according to a survey of 6,000 Western travellers. The survey predicted environmental concerns would keep denting air traffic, as activists such as Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg lead the way and turn people off planes. Emma Kemp, 25, a campaigner and fundraising manager at British climate change charity 10:10, said she skipped flying for her last holidays to Italy and Croatia and opted to get around by coach, train and ferry instead. “I felt I was really traveling,” she said. “And I felt at peace with myself, having done something for the planet.” If these trends continue, the expected growth in passenger numbers could be halved, Swiss bank UBS said in a report published this week. A survey of more than 6,000 respondents in July and August showed that, on average, one in five travellers in the US, France, Britain and Germany had cut air travel by at least one flight in the past year because of climate concerns. Commercial flying accounts for about 2% of global carbon emissions and about 12% of transport emissions, according to the Air Transport Action Group, an aviation industry group. The survey also found that the percentage of people thinking of reducing their flying for the same reason had climbed to 27%, up from 20% in a previous survey during May 2019. “With the pace of the climate change debate, we think it is fair to assume that these trends are likely to continue in developed markets,” wrote UBS analyst Celine Fornaro.<br/>

A ban on serving alcohol on flights could be considered as a means to reduce the number of incidents of disruptive passenger behaviour, an Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) official has said. The safety of a European flight is compromised by unruly or disruptive passengers every three hours and an escalation of such incidents in recent years has promoted the Irish aviation sector to work together to curb bad behaviour in the air. At least once a month an in-flight situation reaches a point that sees a plane having to make an emergency landing. Unruly behaviour can include intoxication, aggressive or inappropriate behaviour as well as not following the commands of flight crew, who are there to protect passenger safety. Paul Brandon, the IAA’s head of corporate affairs, said it is accepted that alcohol was a contributory factor in a large number of these incidents, but the initial focus of the ‘Not On My Flight’ campaign would be to raise awareness of the actions that will be taken against disruptive passengers. When asked if aviation authorities would consider banning alcohol on flights, Brandon said “we will see if there is a need for further action. “It is absolutely on the table, but our preference is to focus on the awareness of the risk if they disrupt a flight,” he said. Ryanair, Aer Lingus, all the main airports, the Commission for Aviation Regulation and other airlines have signed a joint declaration pledging to work to prevent and minimise disruptive incidents on flights.<br/>

UPS announced this week that it had received a certification from the FAA to use drones to deliver medical packages at campuses across the country. The certification will allow UPS to use multiple drones to deliver health care supplies within federal regulations and to fly drones beyond the visual line of sight, according to a statement from the FAA. For the past year, UPS has been collaborating with the FAA flying drones at the WakeMed campus in Raleigh, N.C., delivering medical packages — including blood samples and tissues — to different buildings on the property, according to Scott Price, the chief strategy and transformation officer at UPS. During its yearlong trial period, he said, UPS flew about 1,000 single-operator drone flights at the WakeMed campus. While UPS’s drone airline, UPS Flight Forward, is currently limited by the certification to operating on medical campuses for the next couple of years, the company hopes to expand after that. “This is the first step to being able to enable deliveries to homes and rural areas,” Price said Wednesday. The FAA certification for UPS’s drone airline comes at a time when the US is making a push to remain at the forefront of unmanned aviation, the agency said. “This is a big step forward in safely integrating unmanned aircraft systems into our airspace,” said Elaine L. Chao, the United States secretary of transportation.<br/>