India is considering setting an experience threshold for pilots who fly Boeing’s 737 MAX planes, as it moves to ensure safety once the aircraft returns to service, a senior official of the air safety regulator told Reuters. The 737 MAX, the fastest-selling plane in the history of Boeing, has been grounded worldwide since March, after 346 people were killed in two crashes in five months. Boeing is making software changes, readying a new pilot training plan and must run a key certification test flight to get approval from the US regulator, the FAA, before the planes can resume flying. India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) may consider mandating a minimum number of flying hours for pilots of the 737 MAX, the source said, adding a decision would be made once it is clear when the planes are fit to return to the air. “Pilot training is a serious matter for the DGCA and the airlines will also need to work on building pilot confidence,” said the source, who sought anonymity, as the discussions were private. The regulator will also make it mandatory for Boeing to set up simulators in India and for airlines to carry out comprehensive pilot training before it allows the planes to start flying, the source added.<br/>
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France’s Safran has shelved plans to install an electric taxiing system on Airbus A320 jets after the planemaker halted discussions on the project, it CE said. The system relies on electric motors embedded in landing gear to allow planes to push back and taxi without their jet engines running - saving fuel, curbing emissions and ending last-minute delays while waiting for airport tugs. Several such projects emerged during a spike in oil prices earlier this decade and have come to the fore again due to pressure to reduce emissions, but development has been hindered by weaker oil prices and shifts in jet flying patterns. Safran acknowledges the system would be uneconomic for long flights because those jets do not spend enough time taxiing to justify carrying the motors, which weigh some 400 kg. But for planes doing six or seven short trips a day and looking to cut extra minutes off turnaround times, the benefits could be worth 4% in lower fuel consumption, the French company said. Analysts say the trend in single-aisle jets like the A320 has recently, however, been toward longer flights enabled by design improvements.<br/>
The head of French jet engine maker Safran has voiced caution over the ability of aerospace supply chains to ramp up quickly after the return to service of the Boeing 737 MAX, which has been grounded for months following two fatal accidents. Safran co-produces the LEAP engine for the MAX through its CFM International joint venture with General Electric. Once the jet returns to service - the timing of which is in the hands of regulators - Boeing plans to reach a previously targeted production level of 57 aircraft a month by end-2020 from its current rate of 42, down from 52 before the grounding. It has not offered further details on how fast output would rise. Safran CEO Philippe Petitcolin noted planemakers like Boeing typically alter production in incremental steps of 5 aircraft a month. “It is usually recommended to go up by 5 a month every 6 months, otherwise you can lose everyone (suppliers),” he said. He declined to comment directly on Boeing production plans, but his comments suggest the planemaker may not find it easy to reach 57 a month until 2021, even if the MAX is ungrounded this year.<br/>
India is considering amending a rule to allow overseas control of local airlines, according to a person familiar with the matter, which may help its indebted national carrier lure a foreign suitor after multiple failed attempts for a sale. At a meeting in early November, India’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade asked the aviation ministry if it would be feasible to change the so-called “substantial ownership and effective control” clause, the person said, asking not to be identified as the details aren’t public. The rule mandates that control of an airline always remain in Indian hands, one of several reasons global firms have been wary of bidding for Air India Ltd. Doing away with the “substantial ownership” clause will enable an overseas stakeholder weigh in on major decisions of local airlines. That may lure foreign investors to the Air India sale without forcing the government to go down the politically contentious route of lifting the cap on overseas equity investment. Currently, foreign airlines are barred from buying more than 49% in a local carrier, and foreign investors, other than airlines, need government approval to buy a stake bigger than 49%.<br/>
Some airlines seem to be embracing a rail-orientated gear switch. KLM recently announced plans to partner with European train companies Thalys and NS to replace one of its five daily flights between Amsterdam and Brussels with a high-speed rail service. Elsewhere in Europe, Austrian Airlines is offering "AIRail," another terrestrial service in partnership -- or codeshare, in aviation parlance -- with that country's national rail operator ÖOB. In Germany, Lufthansa has a collaboration with train network, Deutsche Bahn. So are these down-to-earth moves by air carriers being made for the sake of the environment, or the bottom line? There's clearly a business rationale. Replacing short-haul flights with trains frees up landing and departure slots at busy airports that can be used for more lucrative long-haul services. They also make the airline look greener, even if there's no long-run difference to its carbon footprint. As train expert Mark Smith, founder of rail route encyclopedia The Man in Seat 61, puts it, airlines replacing flight routes with train services combines both "good PR" and "hard commercial reason." "There is this trend towards lower carbon travel and the airlines are aware that this is something they can be seen to be doing," Smith said. "This sort of nods towards that, whilst actually there are sound commercial reasons for doing it, by freeing up the long haul slots."<br/>
Trials of next-generation self-driving electric wheelchairs have been carried out at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, to help elderly and other people get to boarding gates more easily. Japan Airlines aims to start using the self-driving wheelchairs as early as the business year that starts next April. Currently, JAL offers manual wheelchairs at airports across the country. Around 100 JAL customers a day use wheelchairs at Haneda. The self-driving wheelchairs are designed to allow users to move without any escort. They automatically return to their home positions after use, making it unnecessary for workers to go and collect them. A trial was conducted at Haneda on Nov. 2 and 3 to see whether users could operate a self-driving wheelchair without hitting other people or obstacles, and whether the wheelchairs would return to their original position. JAL plans to carry out a second trial early next year. <br/>