Weeks after halting production of the 737 MAX, which has been grounded for almost a year, Boeing is seizing on the lull to conduct an overhaul at its Seattle-area factory to curb inefficiency, improve quality and ease the plane's re-entry to the market, people familiar with the matter said. Backed by engineers from roughly a dozen suppliers such as fuselage maker Spirit AeroSystems and robot maker Electroimpact, Boeing is fixing inventory management, upgrading automated tooling, and addressing "high-defect" areas. While Boeing has long said the Renton plant is already the most efficient in aviation, such longstanding problems were viewed as too risky to address during years of helter-skelter production to meet record jet demand. <br/>
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US airline pilots will receive mentoring and revamped training under a sweeping new regulation designed to address air-crash revelations in which crews didn’t follow basic rules. The FAA Monday published a final regulation designed to improve pilot “professionalism,” more than 3 years after the rule was proposed. “This final rule will mitigate incidents of unprofessional pilot behavior and reduce pilot errors that can lead to a catastrophic event,” the FAA said in the regulation. The new rules will take effect in 2022 and 2023, FAA said. It resulted from fatal crashes more than a decade ago in which pilots didn’t follow basic safety procedures, such as avoiding distracting conversations while preparing to land, the FAA said. In the wake of those crashes, Congress in 2010 ordered the FAA to revamp the pilot training rules. <br/>
Families buying airline tickets are increasingly faced with a costly decision: pay up for seat assignments or risk not sitting together on the plane. Anna Laitin, director of financial policy for Consumer Reports' advocacy arm, said it's a calculation travellers with younger children should not have to make. The organisation last week launched an online petition urging American, Delta and United to allow adults traveling with children 13 and younger to sit together without paying a fee. The initial goal was 25,000 signatures, which was quickly surpassed. Monday, the number of signatures was approaching 45,000. A Consumer Reports review of more than 130 complaints submitted to the US DoT found that airlines have separated or suggested separating children as young as 2 years old from their parents on a flight. <br/>
Chinese airframer Comac is pushing ahead with efforts to maintain its C919 and ARJ21 test flight programs as public health officials continue to grapple with the coronavirus outbreak. Comac officials acknowledged last week that its flight test missions had become increasingly challenging under the shadow of the coronavirus, which now is taking a toll on the global economy. With many workers unable to reach facilities and offices and supply chains disrupted, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has begun supporting coordination among teams working under quarantine, while test facilities have implemented strict control measures to protect those involved in aircraft production and flight testing. CAAC hopes to resume a number of key civil aviation projects nationwide. <br/>
An online flight booking company with links to collapsed budget airfare company Bestjet has left travellers thousands of dollars out of pocket after it entered voluntary administration just days after customers say they handed over money to the firm. Sydney-based Fly365 appointed a voluntary administrator Friday, wiping both its website and Facebook page and leaving customers who believed they had secured flight bookings through the company with little information about how to recoup their money. The company is just one of a number of online flight-booking agencies to collapse in recent months, and its demise raises questions about the adequacy of self-regulation in the industry. <br/>