Boeing said it had enlisted victim-compensation attorney Kenneth Feinberg to distribute US$50m to communities affected by two crashes involving the 737 MAX. The plane maker pledged $100m last year to support families and communities affected by a Lion Air crash in waters near Jakarta, Indonesia, and an Ethiopian Airlines crash in Ethiopia. Feinberg and his colleague Camille Biros have experience working for corporations and public entities after disasters. They helped to determine payouts for people affected by the 9/11 attacks, worked with BP after the Deep Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and assisted General Motors in paying compensation to customers whose vehicles had faulty ignition switches. <br/>
general
Flights to and from Heathrow continued to be disrupted after the airport was hit by technical issues affecting its departure boards and check-in systems. At least 58 of Monday’s arrivals, equivalent to 9%, were cancelled due to the knock-on effect of the problem, which emerged Sunday. A further 30 departing flights were also grounded at the airport. All the flights affected Monday were operated by British Airways, which is the largest airline at the west London hub. Heathrow apologised for the disruption and said extra staff had been drafted in to help with directing people to their gates. A Heathrow spokesman said: “Following yesterday’s technical issue, Heathrow’s systems are stable and the airport is operating as normal. We apologise for the inconvenience this caused our passengers. <br/>
Sukhoi’s civil aircraft division has commenced testing of a new Russian-built air-conditioning system as part of its development of a revised Superjet 100 with greater domestic content. The ‘SSJ New’ is intended to have a higher proportion of Russian-supplied systems and components, under an import-substitution strategy for the country’s aviation industry. Sukhoi Civil Aircraft says the air-conditioning system provides cabin pressurisation, fresh air to the passengers, and temperature control. It is testing the key air-cooling unit which moderates the hot incoming air from the Superjet’s engines and auxiliary power unit. Deputy general director for development Andrei Nedosekin says the manufacturer aims to reduce the cost of the aircraft and increase its reliability “without compromising the comfort level”. <br/>