The flight-control feature implicated in two fatal crashes on Boeing’s 737 Max was built on a foundation of false assumptions. Boeing underestimated its risks, didn’t consider how changes to the system would heighten the danger, and kept some of the government regulators overseeing the plane’s design in the dark, a report by Indonesian investigators concluded. The most comprehensive review to date of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System also found that the US FAA delegated too much authority to Boeing for its approval. The designers and the regulators also used unrealistic assumptions about how pilots would behave, the report concluded, giving them just four seconds to diagnose and react when the unfamiliar system fired, for example. Moreover, the investigators said, current regulations don’t require the potential for human failure to be considered as manufacturers calculate the probability of an aircraft system failure. “The aircraft design should not have allowed this situation," Indonesia’s NTSB said in a sweeping 322-page report released Friday. The NTSC issued its conclusions and 25 recommendations to local regulators, the airline, Boeing and the FAA, almost one year after a Lion Air 737 Max dove at high speed into the Java Sea, minutes after takeoff from Jakarta on Oct. 29, prompted by a malfunction with MCAS that repeatedly commanded the plane to dive. Separately, Ethiopian authorities are preparing a report on a March 10 crash near Addis Ababa of a 737 Max. “We are addressing the KNKT’s safety recommendations, and taking actions to enhance the safety of the 737 MAX to prevent the flight control conditions that occurred in this accident from ever happening again," said Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, using the Indonesian initials for the investigative agency. “Safety is an enduring value for everyone at Boeing and the safety of the flying public, our customers, and the crews aboard our airplanes is always our top priority." Story has full details.<br/>
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Boeing Friday promised to act on safety recommendations for its 737 MAX aircraft made in a new report by Indonesian investigators on the deadly Lion Air crash a year ago. The company also voiced its grief over the Oct. 29, 2018 crash after take off from Jakarta that killed all 189 people on board, a response that marked a shift in tone compared with its reaction to a preliminary report last November. In a statement on Friday, Boeing CE Dennis Muilenburg outlined changes planned for the so-called MCAS cockpit software that has been widely linked to the accident and the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet five months later. “We are addressing the (Indonesian accident agency) KNKT’s safety recommendations and taking actions to enhance the safety of the 737 MAX to prevent the flight control conditions that occurred in this accident from ever happening again,” he said. The company’s previous statement, which included no comment from Boeing leaders and was viewed as clumsy by some family representatives, indirectly pointed the finger at Lion Air’s cockpit and ground crew by listing questions that the report hadn’t answered. Senior aviation officials, speaking privately, as well as analysts and some Boeing insiders expressed surprise at the time, saying the statement tested the limits of a UN-backed agreement to prevent parties commenting on live investigations. The rules against speaking out during investigations are usually strictly followed by all planemakers including Boeing. With dozens of lawsuits pending, Boeing has not admitted liability. But in March it acknowledged that MCAS was one link in a wider chain of events when an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX also crashed, leading to a worldwide grounding of the fleet. In their final report on Friday, Indonesian investigators highlighted design flaws in MCAS software while also revealing errors or confusion among crew and faulting airline operations. <br/>
The head of a US Senate panel reviewing two catastrophic Boeing 737 MAX crashes told Reuters ahead of hearings this week that the plane would not return to US skies until "99.9% of the American public" and policymakers are convinced it is safe. Boeing CE Dennis Muilenburg will testify for two days before Congress starting on Tuesday, which is the anniversary of the Lion Air 737 MAX crash in Indonesia, the first of two crashes within five months that killed a total of 346 people. "Clearly the accidents didn't have to happen and I don't think there was sufficient attention to how different pilots would react to signals in the cockpit," Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee that will hold the first hearing, said Friday. Several reports have found Boeing failed to adequately consider how pilots respond to 737 MAX cockpit emergencies in designing the airplane. The FAA has spent months reviewing Boeing's proposed software upgrades to a key safety system and other training and system changes but is not expected to allow the plane to return to service until December at the earliest. "That plane won't fly unless 99.9% of the American public and American policymakers are convinced that it's absolutely safe," Wicker said, adding he planned to raise Boeing's communication with the FAA during the 737 MAX's development and "the relationship between regulators and manufacturers" during the hearing.<br/>
Brazil is working to bring the Boeing 737 MAX airplane back to service “by the end of the year,” Civil Aviation Secretary Ronei Glanzmann said on Sunday. The MAX has been grounded for months after two deadly crashes, and U.S. airlines do not expect to see it return to service before 2020, according to their flight schedules. Glanzmann’s statement is the first by Brazil’s government on the Boeing issue. Brazil’s civil aviation regulator has been working closely with the US FAA on getting the plane back in the skies. Brazil’s largest domestic airline, Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, is a major MAX customer, and has ordered over 100 of them. Glanzmann made his remarks during an airline industry conference in Brasilia organized by ALTA, a group that represents the interests of Latin American carriers.<br/>
The US government said on Friday it would bar US airlines from flying to all destinations in Cuba besides Havana starting on Dec. 10 as the Trump administration boosts pressure on the Cuban government. The US DoT said in a notice it was taking the action at the request of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to “further the administration’s policy of strengthening the economic consequences to the Cuban regime for its ongoing repression of the Cuban people and its support for Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.” The move will bar US air carrier flights to any of the nine international airports in Cuba other than Havana and impact about 8 flights a day. The prohibition does not impact charter flights. There are no foreign air carriers providing direct scheduled flights between the United States and Cuba. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said in a tweet that his country strongly condemned the move and that it “strengthened restrictions on U.S. travel to Cuba and its citizens’ freedoms.” Rodriguez said sanctions would not force Cuba to make concessions to US demands. These flights carry almost exclusively Cuban Americans visiting home at a time when the Trump administration has drastically reduced visas for Cubans visiting the United States. Some 500,000 Cuban Americans travelled to Cuba last year. The new measure takes effect soon before Christmas and New Year’s when Cuban Americans flock to the island for family reunions.<br/>
Even as power was fully restored late Saturday morning at New Orleans' main airport, nearly 84,000 customers in the region were still without electricity as the remnants of Tropical Storm Olga moved across the Gulf Coast. Olga is expected to bring heavy rain Saturday to parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, according to the National Weather Service. The central Gulf Coast into the Lower Mississippi Valley and western Tennessee Valley could receive 3 to 6 inches of rain, forecasters said. Coastal flooding from above normal tides and isolated tornadoes are possible Saturday as the storm moves in, the weather service said. The storm, which was downgraded Friday night to a post-tropical cyclone, began causing disruptions early Saturday. Entergy New Orleans reported around 6 a.m. ET that tens of thousands of customers were without power. The number ticked up as the morning went on. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport reported hours later that its power had been restored. "Travelers should still check with their airlines about delays and cancellations as the airport resumes normal operations," airport authorities said in a tweet.<br/>
Brazil is determined to lure airlines to operate domestic flights in Latin America's largest aviation market, and is taking meetings with at least three carriers, a senior government official told Reuters. "We are going to talk with Jet Blue, we are going to talk with Volaris, a Mexican group ... we are going to talk with Sky Airline, which is Chilean," said Ronei Glanzmann, Brazil's civil aviation secretary. "These are conversations to introduce Brazil to them, they do not mean that the airlines are saying that they will come here," he added. Glanzmann said the meetings with Volaris and JetBlue Airways Corp will take place on Monday. A representative for Sky said they had cancelled their participation in the ALTA conference due to the civil unrest in Chile, but declined to comment on taking a meeting with the Brazilian government. Jet Blue and Volaris did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Brazil's government has recently begun a push to open its aviation market, the largest in Latin America. Right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro has allowed foreign carriers to set up domestic carriers in the country. Currently, Brazil's domestic air travel market is highly concentrated among three airlines. Until earlier this year, there was a fourth player, Avianca Brasil, but the airline stopped operations in May after filing for bankruptcy operations late last year, highlighting the high risk and volatility of operating in Brazil. Reaction to Brazil's liberalisation been slow, but already Spanish airline group Globalia has declared its intention to operate a domestic airline in Brazil. But Glanzmann hopes others will too. His strategy, he said, involves airlines dipping their toes in the Brazilian market first by operating international flights. "We are working first with international routes, but we are already working so that those operations will become domestic operations in the Brazilian market," Glanzmann said.<br/>
England rugby fans have forced airlines to consider putting on extra flights to Tokyo as World Cup final tickets flood resale sites. BA have been overwhelmed by the demand from England supporters rushing to book flights for the coveted Rugby World Cup final, where they will face South Africa this Saturday. The airline reported a spike in interest for flights to Tokyo - which is around 20 miles north-east of the final venue - as England's passage to the final was sealed on Saturday morning following a triumphant victory over back-to-back world champions New Zealand’s All Blacks. But supporters have found themselves racing against the clock to reserve what few seats are left on the twice-daily scheduled flights. The airline has said that they are considering the option of chartering further planes to ensure fans don’t miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime. A BA spokesman said: "Since England's amazing win, we've seen a 184% surge in the number of people looking at flights to Tokyo on ba.com. As it stands, we only have a tiny number of seats left on our twice-daily flights to the Japanese capital this coming week, but we're exploring a number of options to help fans get there." A shortage of seats on direct flights might also tempt supporters to look at making multiple stops around the globe in order to get to Yokohama. <br/>
Almost 8,000 new private jets are expected to be bought by multinational companies and the super-rich over the next decade, each of which will burn 40 times as much carbon per passenger as regular commercial flights, according to a report by aviation firm Honeywell Aerospace. About 690 new business jets are expected to take to the skies in 2019, a 9% increase on 2018, as businesses and the wealthy refresh their fleets with new models released by three of the world’s biggest private jet manufacturers. Despite their huge carbon footprint, demand for new private jets is expected to continue to grow next year, according to the report. Over the next decade, the number of new private jets taking to the skies is expected to total 7,600 – costing buyers a combined $248b. One-fifth of the new jets is expected to be ordered by “super-emitter” celebrities and other members of the richest 1% of the population, who use the planes to fly between their homes in the world’s most desirable locations. The jets are also bought by big companies to ferry executives across the world. There are currently more than 4,600 private jets operating. “It is the introduction of many new aircraft models at the same time, with new clean streamline designs, that is driving demand for new private jets,” Gaetan Handfield, senior manager of marketing analysis at Honeywell Aerospace and author of the report said. “People like to have the newest and best jets.”<br/>
Beijing's new US$63b Daxing airport began its first scheduled international flights yesterday as it ramped up operations to help relieve pressure on the city's existing Capital airport. Shaped like a phoenix - though to some observers it is more reminiscent of a starfish - the airport was designed by the late Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid, and formally opened in late September, ahead of the Oct 1 celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. It boasts four runways and is expected to handle up to 72m passengers a year by 2025, eventually reaching 100m. An Air China flight to Bangkok was the first international flight to leave yesterday, while BA will operate the first transcontinental flight, to London. About 50 foreign airlines plan to move all or part of their China operations to the airport. The relocation is due to be completed by the winter of 2021. But Air China and its Star Alliance partners will remain mostly at Capital airport. The new airport, roughly the size of 100 football fields and expected to become one of the world's busiest, has come in for some criticism due to its distance from central Beijing.<br/>
The Tokyo area’s two international gateways are looking to push Japan’s soaring tourist numbers even higher while also putting their Asian rivals on notice by adding more international flights ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics. Japan’s biggest airport, Haneda, is set to add 50 international routes per day as, starting in late March, the government for the first time will allow aircraft to fly over central Tokyo during the day. That would raise the number of international passengers at Haneda — officially known as Tokyo International Airport — by 7m to reach 25m per year, allowing the hub to leapfrog Kansai International Airport as the nation’s second-busiest in terms of international passenger traffic after Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture. With the additional flights, the number of international passengers at the two giant airports serving the greater Tokyo area would rise to 57m per year, putting it closer to rival Asian hubs Singapore (62m), Seoul (66m) and Hong Kong (72m). “In terms of attracting foreign companies and improving the convenience of airports, Singapore airport is the model that Japanese airports have to emulate,” said aviation analyst Kotaro Toriumi. “That’s why they are beefing up international flights at Haneda. Transit passengers from abroad will also be able to easily enjoy tours in Tokyo for a day or half a day, since it takes more time to get to the heart of Tokyo from Narita.” Amid signs of improving relations with China, highlighted by Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s first state visit as president to Japan next spring, Narita Airport emerged as an unexpected beneficiary last month when Beijing and Tokyo agreed to scrap a cap on landing slots at Chinese airports. Narita is hoping to secure a significant boost in the number of flights to Shanghai and Beijing.<br/>
Doha’s Hamad International Airport (HIA) has revealed plans for its second phase of expansion, which will be split into two stages—Phases A and B. Phase A will consist of the central concourse linking concourses D and E. Construction will begin by early 2020 and will increase the airport’s capacity from the current 30 million to more than 53m passengers annually by 2022. Phase B, which will be completed after 2022, will extend concourses D and E to further enhance the airport’s capacity to more than 60m passengers. “The expansion of Hamad International Airport is a vital part of the future success of the Qatar Airways Group, and of course of the country’s preparations to host the 2022 World Cup and beyond,” Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker said. “Plans for the phase two expansion focuses on capacity and passenger experience." "Our expansion has been designed to seamlessly integrate with the existing terminal, allowing smooth passenger flow and improving the overall passenger experience by minimizing travel distances for connections and providing clarity and intuitive wayfinding,” HIA COO Badr Mohammed Al Meer said.<br/>“Our ultimate aim at HIA is to become a destination in our own right, not just a gateway.”<br/>