Boeing moved Saturday to ease tensions with regulators over the return to service of its 737 MAX, saying it was up to the US FAA and its global counterparts to approve changes to the jet in the wake of two accidents. The FAA told its staff this week to take whatever time was needed to review the grounded plane after Boeing said it expected the FAA to certify the 737 MAX in mid-December. "We put some targets out that still line up to December...type certification," Stan Deal, CE of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said. "The FAA has said they are not going to put a time frame on it and we are going to track behind them on this," he added. US officials privately said this week that Boeing's timetable was aggressive -- if not unrealistic -- and was not cleared in advance by regulators. <br/>
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A senior Boeing executive said Saturday the company knows it has to re-earn the public’s trust as it works to win approval from US regulators to get its grounded 737 Max jets flying again. Stan Deal, president and CE of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said the company’s “number one focus remains safely returning the Max.” Deal said the company knows it has “to restore the confidence of our customers and the flying public in Boeing.” Deal spoke ahead of the biennial Dubai Airshow, which starts Sunday and is expected to produce major deals between commercial and military manufacturers and Mideast buyers. Boeing has customers in the region financially impacted by the grounding of the 737 Max, including Flydubai, which has more than a dozen of the jets in its fleet and more on order. <br/>
US air-safety regulators are considering ways to alter fundamentally how they certify aircraft in the wake of Boeing’s 737 MAX crisis, the head of the FAA said Sunday. FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson has previously said he wants to adopt a more holistic approach to certification. He provided new details about the agency’s thinking, including the possibility of the FAA being involved in the design of a new plane from the outset. There should be more dialogue between the FAA and plane makers over the course of the development of a new jet, Dickson said. He said that “human factors”—such as how rapidly airline pilots realistically are able to react in certain emergency situations—should be more of a priority in the process of designing jets, echoing earlier comments. “That probably needed to happen some time ago,” he said. <br/>
Airbus could potentially build an emission-free, 100-seat regional aircraft by the early 2030s, as the aviation industry speeds its response to mounting concern over air travel’s carbon footprint, according to the head of the planemaker’s new-product development arm. The manufacturer is working on multiple methods to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, Sandra Bour Schaeffer, CE of Airbus ExO Alpha, said Saturday. The company is working with partners including engine manufacturers and start-ups to build more fuel-efficient engines, explore hybrids and alternative fuels, and to improve aerodynamics, Schaeffer said. “Today there is no single solution to meet the commitments in 2050 but there are a number of solutions that if you put together will drive to that path,” Schaeffer said. <br/>
Airlines are 'discriminating' against older travellers by charging extra to book over the phone, Which? has warned. An investigation by the consumer watchdog found that holidaymakers were being hit with surcharges of up to GBP20 for not booking flights online. Which? called the practice a “subtle form of discrimination” against older people, who are travelling more than previous generations. Rory Boland, Which? Travel, editor said: “The travel industry must urgently address this problem and stop penalising older generations who are more active and more determined than ever before.” The figures come as Which? found that older holidaymakers were being hit with increasing travel insurance costs, even when they had no health issues to declare. <br/>
Germany’s parliament has approved a bill to introduce a price for carbon emissions in the transport and heating sectors as part of a broader package of measures designed to tackle climate change. Lawmakers also voted Friday to back a price hike for airline tickets on domestic and European flights. The 3 parties in govt have pushed through the measures at high speed since agreeing them among themselves 2 months ago. Scientists and economists consider carbon pricing to be an effective way of steering companies and consumers away from heavily polluting sources of energy such as coal, oil and natural gas. To balance the increased costs, the bill includes tax breaks for commuters and people who invest in improving their home insulation. <br/>