general

The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has shown that common ground heaters could be used to raise the temperature of aircraft interiors to levels sufficient to kill the coronavirus and other biological contaminants. In two tests conducted in May 2020, the interior of a Boeing C-17 cargo aircraft was sealed using materials common to military installations and was heated to 10°C (50°F) above ambient temperatures over a six-hour period, says the AFRL on 9 June. The heaters used in the experiment are found at all military bases, and are commonly used by maintenance crews to keep warm or to heat equipment. “Our goal with this test was to demonstrate the ability for any Air Force base to assist with aircraft disinfection utilizing only commonly available equipment and materials,” says Doug Lewis, team leader of the 711th Human Performance Wing Protection Systems, which is leading the effort. “We knew that if we could prove the ability of this equipment to heat aircraft interiors to temperatures in the [49°C] range, we were potentially demonstrating an Air Force-wide disinfection capability, pending further laboratory results.” Aircraft heating could be reapplied to commercial airliners or business jets, providing a cheaper and more effective means for cabins to be disinfected. However, the six-hour period used in the experiment would likely be too time consuming during normal airline operations as aircraft are often expected to turn around within less than an hour.<br/>

The White House wants a plan in place by Sept. 1 for airlines to collect contact tracing information from US-bound international passengers, but will not immediately implement a CDC proposal, three people briefed on the matter said Wednesday. The Trump administration convened a high-level White House meeting on Tuesday that included Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, and other senior officials. The White House tasked a interagency working group with adopting an interim solution by June 30 and ahead of any potential coronavirus second wave. A debate over how data should be collected from passengers in order to quickly identify and contact people exposed to the coronavirus has dragged on for months without resolution. In February, the CDC issued an internal final rule that aimed to require airlines to collect five contact data elements from international passengers and electronically submit them to Customs and Border Protection to facilitate contact tracing. That has not been enforced. Airlines strongly protested, saying it was unworkable. They argued they could not provide such information, especially from passengers booking tickets through third-party websites. If no workable plan is identified, the administration will likely move ahead with the existing CDC plan, sources said.<br/>

LaGuardia Airport’s new arrivals and departures hall at Terminal B will open Saturday despite a global pandemic that has decimated air travel. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who held his daily coronavirus briefing in the new terminal building Wednesday, said the opening was a welcome development as the region begins to reopen after a three-month shutdown. “We needed this today,” Cuomo said. “We needed to see the light at the end of the tunnel.” The new 8,500-square-foot arrivals and departures hall is part of an $8b overhaul of the airport’s three main terminal buildings, which began in 2016. The hall includes soaring works of public art, three times as much space for security checks and 17 large bathrooms with touch-free sinks and hand dryers. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, it also includes plexiglass screens at check-in desks, retail and food areas, as well as hundreds of stations dispensing sanitizing liquids and wipes. The Terminal B project is being built by a consortium that includes airport developer and manager Vantage Airport Group. Airport officials said the project is on track to be completed in about 18 months. Vantage will operate the terminal through 2050. Before the pandemic, Terminal B handled about half of LaGuardia’s 31m annual passengers. George Casey, chief executive of Vantage Airport Group, said daily passenger numbers are slowly climbing, numbering in the thousands today compared with hundreds weeks ago.<br/>

From 1960 to 2000, the aggregate profits of the US airline industry would have been enough to pay for the delivery of just two 747 jumbo jets. Then, after the 2008 financial crisis, things changed. A wave of mergers between US airlines resulted in rapid consolidation. As the market became less fragmented and operating models leaner, it started to appear that the US airline industry would become reliably profitable for the first time in its history. Operating margins moved from negative to positive. Shares in Delta Air Lines rose fourfold from the start of 2009 to the start of 2015. United rose by more than 5.5 times. The “Great Consolidation” had occurred. Investors came to believe that a more consolidated industry would behave in a more predictable fashion and that the remaining operators would refrain from brutal price wars that flooded the market with seats and cheap tickets. If they all kept in line, all would benefit. Over recent years, investors and analysts in European airlines have eyed the transformation in the US and started to dream that, maybe, the same Great Consolidation could be possible across the Atlantic. Unlike in the US, market share in Europe is still highly fragmented, with incumbent formerly state-owned airlines competing with big low-cost carriers such as Ryanair and easyJet, and other smaller ones. Story has more. <br/>

Up to 124,000 jobs in the UK’s aviation industry and its supply chains are at risk of disappearing in just three months because of the coronavirus, according to new research. Without government bailouts designed around protecting workers, a minimum of 70,000 jobs are likely to go, a report from the New Economics Foundation found. Of those, 39,000 are directly employed in aviation, with the remainder in the supply chain. The scale of job losses is on a par with the collapse of Britain’s coal industry in 1980-81, and the report’s authors warned that the true number is likely to be higher by the end of the financial year next April. The report, written jointly with the Trades Union Congress, aviation unions and climate action charity Possible, calls on the government to expand its existing coronavirus job retention scheme to include specific help for aviation industry workers. Proposals include retraining staff whose jobs are vulnerable, with some of the costs being covered by future taxes on the sector. To ensure the public gets a fair return for any taxpayer money invested, the NEF recommends that the government takes an equity stake in businesses that are bailed out, with conditions attached to limit executive pay and shareholder dividends while requiring investment in green technology and carbonisation.<br/>

Argentina, which has one of the strictest travel bans in the world, is planning to resume commercial flights sooner than expected. The country may reopen travel as soon as mid-August as infection rates drop in some major cities around the world, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Some European countries are considered among destinations for the first flights because key cities have eased their lockdowns with the number of reported cases dropping, said the person, asking not to be named because the discussions are private. Argentina implemented some of the earliest and most uncompromising measures in Latin America to halt the spread of the virus. Back in April, the country announced that airlines can only sell plane tickets and operate regularly after Sept. 1. Now, Argentina is looking to authorize flights with a maximum passenger capacity of 70%, said the person. Domestic operations may begin even sooner than foreign ones. While flights between cities -- excluding the capital, Buenos Aires -- will start gradually from mid-July, those including the city will start operating during the first half of August. All airplanes to and from Buenos Aires will only operate from Ezeiza International Airport for at least 120 days, while local airport Aeroparque Jorge Newbery undergoes runway expansion. A decision to reopen low-cost airport El Palomar, formerly a military base, remains on hold.<br/>

Boeing has pledged to take additional steps to promote diversity and equality and to address racial discrimination following nationwide protests calling for reforms to address inequality. The airframer’s CE David Calhoun laid out broad strokes of Boeing’s effort in a 10 June letter to staff, making Boeing the latest large US company to pledge support for the movement. Calhoun’s letter follows the 25 May death of George Floyd, an African American who died under a Minneapolis police officer’s knee. Floyd’s death sparked nationwide demonstrations, tense standoffs between police and protestors, and instances of looting. “What’s happening across the US now goes beyond discrimination and harassment, beyond diversity and inclusion. What we’re seeing is the ongoing human cost of historic and persistent racial inequality in the United States,” says Calhoun’s letter to staff. “As a company and as human beings, we need to work even harder at doing something about it.” Calhoun had addressed intolerance in another letter, sent to staff 1 June, that stressed Boeing’s dedication to inclusion, pledged support for unfairly-treated staff and encouraged broader discussion. The broader effort that Calhoun outlined today came after staff asked him to do more, he says.<br/>

Boeing is aiming to conduct a key certification test flight on its grounded 737 Max jet in late June, two people briefed on the matter said Wednesday. The 737 Max has been grounded since March 2019 after two fatal crashes killed 346 people. Boeing told airlines it hopes to conduct the flight in late June, the sources said. Asking for anonymity because they had not been authorized to speak publicly, they said Boeing had also notified airlines of a fix to address safety concerns about the placement of wiring bundles on the aircraft. Reuters has previously reported that the FAA does not plan to clear Boeing for a resumption of 737 Max flights until at least August. The sources warned the date could slip into July for the certification test flight, as the dates for many milestones for returning the plane to service have been repeatedly pushed back. The FAA said Wednesday it was "in regular contact with Boeing as the company continues its work on the 737 Max ... The aircraft will be cleared for return to passenger service only after the FAA is satisfied that all safety-related issues are addressed." Boeing declined to comment.<br/>

Aircraft parts maker Spirit AeroSystems Holdings announced on Wednesday a 21-day layoff for staff doing production and support work for Boeing's 737 program. Spirit, which makes the 737 fuselage, said the temporary layoffs and furloughs of roughly 900 workers at its Wichita, Kansas, facility would be effective June 15. The company cited impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and uncertainty surrounding the 737 MAX's return to service following fatal crashes as reasons for the cuts.<br/>