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Regulators should work together in recertifying the grounded Boeing 737 MAX airliner instead of pursuing separate approval processes, the head of the IATA said Tuesday. “For us, it’s a big, big, big mistake. Because we have built the safety of this industry on the single certification decision and the mutual recognition and it has worked very well,” IATA boss Alexandre de Juniac said. Some international regulators have said they plan to conduct they own checks and not simply follow the US FAA should it recertify the plane. The US FAA has traditionally taken the lead in certifying Boeing aircraft, but two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia involving the Boeing 737 MAX have sparked criticism of the FAA’s oversight and its close links with the US planemaker. “If you want to restore the confidence ... we need to come back to this single, mutual recognition which has been so efficient,” de Juniac. Any changes to the certification process should be made jointly and transparently by regulators, he said. Otherwise, he said there was a risk that discrepancies could emerge if regulators followed different procedures, making the process more complex, increasing costs, and potentially less safe because of the lack of unanimity.<br/>

The aviation industry is to launch a campaign it hopes will counter a ‘flight shaming’ movement that has weakened demand for air travel in Europe where some travellers are increasingly concerned about their environmental impact. The industry’s image has been damaged this year by a growing Swedish-born movement led by activists such as teenager Greta Thunberg calling for greater action against climate change, including ditching air travel. Global lobby IATA, which represents nearly 300 airlines, is coordinating the campaign which will involve industry stakeholders. “We will launch a very, very big campaign ... to explain what we have done, what we are doing, and what we intend to do in the future,” IATA’s head Alexandre de Juniac said Tuesday. The campaign will try to explain to the public how the industry is reducing its environmental impact, countering what de Juniac said had been “misleading information.” IATA is coordinating the plan through the Air Transport Action Group, a coalition of industry organisations and companies. De Juniac did not say when the campaign would launch but said it would be available to stakeholders across the industry including airports and airlines.<br/>

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg will take a significant cut in pay for 2019 and 2020, according to the company's new chairman. Dave Calhoun, who was named Boeing's chairman last month when the board stripped Muilenburg of that title, said that the CEO called him Saturday to suggest he shouldn't take any stock or bonus money for this year. The pay cut is due to widespread criticism of the company after two fatal 737 Max crashes that killed 346 people and have been tied to a faulty safety system on the plane. The jet has been grounded since March, which has cost airlines billions of dollars, and Boeing is preparing to pay those customers $5 billion in compensation, as well as reaching settlements with families of the crash victims. The stock and bonus make up the overwhelming majority of Muilenberg's pay. In 2018, he received total compensation of $23.4m, of which $20.4m was in the form of stock and bonuses. Calhoun added that the Boeing board believes Muilenburg has done everything right during this crisis and that the CEO still has the board's confidence, and thus is the right person to continue to lead the company. "He has set us up for a return to service," Calhoun said. Story has more.<br/>

Boeing chairman Dave Calhoun said Tuesday the company’s board believed CE Dennis Muilenburg “has done everything right,” just days after he came under attack from US lawmakers and repeatedly refused to step down at a hearing on two fatal crashes involving Boeing 737 MAX airliners. “He has our confidence,” Calhoun said, adding that Muilenburg called him on Saturday, offering to give up much of his compensation for 2019 and could lose equity grants until early 2021. The board had stripped Muilenburg of his chairman title last month. “From the vantage point of our board, Dennis has done everything right,” Calhoun said. Boeing did not plan to cut the production rate of the 737 MAX or to rebrand it, he said.<br/>

The old Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Louisiana will soon be a thing of the past. State and city officials cut the ribbon Tuesday on the city's new $1.3 billion airport terminal, which is scheduled to open to the public Wednesday. The airport is located in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner. The 927,000-square-foot facility features music venues, three rooms for mothers to bring small children, and other amenities such as charging locations for electronic devices at 50% of the seats at the gates. There are also 8,000 available parking spaces. "It is a modern airline experience here. It's going to be night and day from the old terminal. It's light. It's bright. It's got all the amenities," said Cindy Perrino, the New Orleans representative for Southwest Airlines. The terminal had been scheduled to open in May 2018, but the opening was pushed back after various delays. A number of New Orleans restaurants are featured at the new terminal, and the city's mayor, LaToya Cantrell, said local musicians will perform daily at the airport. "You can come early and enjoy New Orleans right here in our terminal," the mayor said at Tuesday's ceremony. All flights scheduled to arrive at the old terminal after 8 p.m. Tuesday will be moved to the new terminal, save for a few Southwest Airlines flights.<br/>

Lawmakers from Italy’s ruling parties will present amendments to the government’s 2020 budget to introduce a new tax on airline tickets that can raise billions of euros, Education Minister Lorenzo Fioramonti said. Fioramonti, from the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, has previously proposed such a tax to help the environment and raise funds for education, but it did not feature in the draft budget presented to parliament on Monday. However, Fioramonti said he was confident the measure would be introduced in the budget by amendments during its passage through parliament where it must be approved by end-year. He said he had had positive feedback from lawmakers from various parties in the ruling coalition. “5-Star lawmakers will be happy to do that, but not just from 5-Star, also from progressive lawmakers across the board, the Democratic Party and the (leftist) LEU party,” he said. With a new levy of two euros on domestic flights and 5 euros on international flights “you get billions” of euros in new revenue, Fioramonti said, adding that he was “pretty sure” the proposal would soon be on the government’s agenda. <br/>