The Philippine airport authority on Sunday suspended flights at Manila’s international airport after a volcano in nearby Batangas province spewed a giant plume of ash. The Taal volcano generated a 1-km high ash plume accompanied by rumbling sounds and tremors earlier in the day, indicating increased unrest that could lead to a hazardous eruption in weeks. “Flight operations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport have been temporarily suspended due to the volcanic ash from the eruption of Taal Volcano,” the Manila International Airport Authority tweeted. Passengers have been advised to coordinate with their respective airlines for details on flight schedules.<br/>
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Boeing’s CE, Dennis Muilenburg, ousted amid the worst crisis in the company’s history, will depart with stock and pension awards worth more than $60m, the company announced on Friday. Muilenberg, 56, will forfeit stock worth $14.6m, according to Boeing, but is contractually entitled to receive $62.2m in stock and pension awards. “We thank Dennis for his nearly 35 years of service to the Boeing Company,” the company said. “Upon his departure, Dennis received the benefits to which he was contractually entitled and he did not receive any severance pay or a 2019 annual bonus.” Muilenberg presided over Boeing as two of its top-selling 737 Max jets crashed, killing 346 people. The disasters led to a global grounding for the jet and criticism of the company’s cosy relationship with its regulator, the FAA. On Thursday Boeing released emails to a congressional committee investigating the tragedies in which its own executives mocked the regulator, joked about safety and said the Max had been “designed by clowns”. Muilenberg was appointed CEO of Boeing in July 2015. He started working as an intern at the company in 1985.<br/>
The FAA said Friday it plans to fine Boeing $5.4m for installing substandard parts on the wings of 178 of its 737 Max jetliners, which have been grounded since two crashes linked to other systems on the planes. The proposed civil penalty follows an FAA announcement last month that it would fine Boeing more than $3.9m for installing the same parts on other versions of the 737. Boeing said it has no reports of the parts causing a problem during flights. The company said it is working with airlines to make corrections, and will make sure all inspections and any needed part replacements will be done before the 737 Max planes return to service. The FAA proposed fine covers tracks that guide the movement of control surfaces called slats on the front of the wings on 737s _ both the Max and the previous model of 737, called the NG. The slats give the planes extra lift during take-offs and landings. The FAA said that poor oversight of suppliers led Boeing to install tracks that could become brittle and weak because of mistakes during manufacturing. Boeing has 30 days to respond to the FAA.<br/>
Airbus has revealed cancellations for 33 A350s, all the -900 variant, in its end-of-year backlog revision. Analysis of the airframer’s figures indicate eight aircraft have been struck from Hong Kong Airlines, whose A350 commitment has fallen from 13 to five – three of which have already been delivered. Synergy Aerospace had 10 A350s on order but all 10 appear to have been removed from the backlog. The company had originally ordered 10 A350-800s more than a decade ago, for its OceanAir operation, before switching to the -900. None of the aircraft has been delivered. Airbus has also revealed that 15 A350-900s have been removed from the batch of 23 aircraft allocated to unidentified customers. Removal of the 33 aircraft in December 2019 follows cancellations of 46 A350s earlier in the year – with Etihad Airways accounting for 40. Airbus logged gross orders for 101 A350-900s during 2019. The 79 cancellations left it with a net year-end figure of 22.<br/>
Dubai International, one of the world’s busiest airports, canceled, diverted and delayed flights on Saturday due to heavy rain and flooding, Dubai Airports said. Flights are likely to be delayed throughout the day and some have been canceled or diverted to nearby Al Maktoum airport, state-owned Dubai Airports said. Video footage and images posted on social media showed part of the airport’s runway area submerged under water. Dubai airport is the base of airlines Emirates and flydubai. Emirates said several flights to and from Dubai had been delayed. Flydubai said its flights were also delayed, while some had been diverted.<br/>
The United States is curbing public charter flights to Cuba in a further effort to squeeze the Cuban government’s income, the U.S. State Department said on Friday, prompting an outcry from officials in Havana. The Trump administration, in its latest effort to roll back warmer U.S-Cuba ties established by the Obama administration, said it would only let some charters into Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport but did not say how many. US officials, in October, banned regularly scheduled flights to all Cuban cities except Havana. “Today’s action will further restrict the Cuban regime’s ability to obtain revenue, which it uses to finance its ongoing repression of the Cuban people and its unconscionable support for dictator Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and other Cuban officials blasted the move, calling it a violation of human rights that would hinder family reunification. The flight caps would punish Cubans “on both sides of the Florida Strait,” the foreign ministry’s General Director for US Affairs Carlos Fernandez de Cossio tweeted.<br/>