How safe is it to fly in the age of Covid-19? The question has been the subject of debate for almost two years. The airline industry has argued that the risk to passengers is very low; independent researchers have tended to say that it’s not high, while stipulating that it’s impossible to assess with real accuracy. Whatever the odds of getting infected by the coronavirus on a plane, they’ve grown worse with the spread of the omicron variant. Story has question and answer format. 1. How many fliers have caught the virus? It’s impossible to know. In October, a group of researchers published a paper in the Journal of Travel Medicine in which they tallied 64 cases of in-flight transmission documented in studies published roughly during 2020. But any count of known cases will reflect the difficulty establishing the spread of a virus on a plane. 2. Why is it hard to establish? It involves knowing a passenger was infected, interviewing and testing as many as hundreds of fellow fliers, then, ideally, analyzing the genomes of any additional viruses that turn up to check for connections to the first passenger’s infection. That’s a huge research project, impossible to undertake with every known case of someone flying while capable of infecting others with the coronavirus. A study published in March found that 14% of wastewater samples from 198 commercial planes arriving at Dubai Airport tested positive for the presence of coronavirus genes, suggesting at least someone on board was infected. With more.<br/>
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This is supposed to be a year of revival for airlines. It’s off to a rough start. The industry ended an already messy holiday season with thousands more flight cancellations as companies struggled to deal with bad weather and keep planes and airports staffed because of a surge in coronavirus infections. More than 8,000 flights in the United States were canceled from Saturday through Monday, affecting more than one in 10 scheduled flights, according to FlightAware, a tracking service. “We had a series of punches that really knocked the industry to the ground,” said Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research Group, a research firm that specializes in the travel industry. The recent cancellations were caused by storms that produced heavy snowfall in the Midwest over the weekend and over the eastern United States on Monday, the worst day of the holiday season with more than 3,000 canceled flights. Southwest and SkyWest Airlines, which operates regional flights for several major carriers, were responsible for about a third of all cancellations over the weekend and Monday. “Our planners continue their work to anticipate operational challenges today following the winter storm that moved across the country over the weekend, creating a band of heavy winter weather affecting the Baltimore/D.C. area Monday morning,” Southwest said. The airline has a big hub at Baltimore/Washington International Airport.<br/>
After a bruising holiday week of flight cancellations and record surges in Covid-19 cases, a powerful winter snow storm Monday further snarled US transport, shuttering the federal government and bringing Washington to a standstill. The storm packed an unexpectedly fierce punch and appeared to have caught much of the capital city off guard, temporarily stranding US President Joe Biden on Air Force One and dumping up to 23 centimeters of snow on Washington. Many Americans have been scrambling to return home after the Christmas and New Year period, with thousands of flights cancelled due to bad weather and airline staffing woes blamed in part on rising coronavirus infections among crews. More than 4,900 flights Monday, the first workday of 2022, were cancelled globally as of 8:30 pm (0130 GMT Tuesday), including 3,173 flights within, into or out of United States, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. The latest cancellations -- along with 6,775 US flight delays Monday -- compounded holiday travel misery. While much of the US Mid-Atlantic was caught in the bad weather, conditions were acute in the capital and neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia, where accumulation in some spots topped 12 inches, according to meteorologists who described it as the region's biggest snow storm in at least two years. Airports were experiencing blizzard conditions, with authorities at Washington and Baltimore airports reportedly ordering temporary ground stops during a midday whiteout.<br/>
Verizon and AT&T said late Monday that they had agreed to delay their deployment of new wireless technology for two weeks, giving in to the demands of federal aviation regulators who have raised concerns that the signals could create an airline safety hazard. The companies made the decision after initially rebuffing a request for a delay made last week by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Steve Dickson, the head of the FAA. “At Secretary Buttigieg’s request, we have voluntarily agreed to one additional two-week delay of our deployment of C-Band 5G services,” said Kim Hart Jonson, a spokeswoman for AT&T. Rich Young, a spokesman for Verizon, said the company had also accepted the delay. Jonson said that AT&T was still “committed” to a proposal by the two companies to initially operate the new segment of the 5G wireless network at lower power than normal, along with other measures to mitigate the concerns of aviation regulators.<br/>
The largest US pilots union is accusing the Federal Communications Commission of ignoring safety concerns about new 5G wireless frequencies that the labor group says it had raised as far back as 2018. The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents more than 60,000 pilots in North America, said in a letter Monday that it has repeatedly requested technical information to support the agency’s decision to approve the new use of the frequencies by wireless companies. “To date, the FCC has ignored our requests,” ALPA President Captain Joseph DePete wrote to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “Years later and on the brink of C-band 5G deployment, the FCC has still not provided (nor made public) a point-by-point analysis and resolution of each of the aviation safety concerns.” <br/>
Chinese MRO company GAMECO has expanded its maintenance capacity with a third hangar at its Guangzhou base. The third hangar adds 11 more heavy maintenance lines to existing capacity, covers an area of more than 50,000 sqm, and is capable of handling a wide range of Airbus and Boeing types. GAMECO states that the facility can simultaneously park six widebodies and five narrowbodies, which it adds will “effectively alleviate” the shortage of maintenance slots. The China Southern Airlines-owned company adds: “After [the] hangar is put into use, it will also drive the development of line maintenance, component repair, composite repair, landing gear overhaul and part manufacturing…providing stronger support for the rapid growth of China Southern Airlines’ fleet and greater production capacity to undertake third-party business at home and abroad. [The hangar’s] completion strengthens the position of Guangzhou airport economic zone as an important national aircraft maintenance center and it brings Guangzhou city a huge step closer to achieve the goal of being a truly global aircraft maintenance centre.” <br/>
Hong Kong’s Airport Authority is aiming to raise up to $4b in a multi-tranche dollar bond offering, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity as the information has not yet been made public. The authority has mandated 22 banks to work on the deal, a term sheet seen by Reuters on Monday showed. Hong Kong’s airport authority, which operates the city’s main airport, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Raising up to $4b will be a major test of investor sentiment towards the airport which has been hit by an increasing number of flight bans ordered by the Hong Kong government as part of its pandemic restrictions. Calls with Asian, European and USinvestors to judge demand for a deal will start Tuesday, according to the term sheet. One of the proposed tranches will be a 5-year green bond, the term sheet said, which will be issued under the authority’s recently established Sustainable Finance Framework.<br/>
The Transport Ministry is seeking the government's approval to carry out Suvarnabhumi airport's East Expansion project, which will increase the passenger handling capacity of Thailand's main aviation gateway. Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob said Airports of Thailand (AoT) has enlisted the help of the International Air Transport Association (Iata) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to revise the blueprint of Suvarnabhumi airport's expansion — a project which would cost the government an estimated 57 billion baht. Iata has concluded its study, while the ICAO has yet to submit its findings, the minister said. To prevent further delays in the airport's development, the ministry will ask a government committee overseeing the airport's expansion to allow the East Expansion project to proceed. Once the committee — chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul — approves the request, the project's proposal will be forwarded to the cabinet for endorsement. Work on the project could begin as soon as it is endorsed by the cabinet. The East Expansion project, which will increase the passenger handling capacity of Terminal 1 at Suvarnabhumi, had earlier been approved by the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC). As for the airport's North Expansion, Saksayam said it will need to be jointly discussed between the AoT and the NESDC, taking into consideration an ICAO study on the matter. <br/>
Jet engine maker Safran believes the worst of the crisis in aviation caused by COVID-19 is over, and plans to hire 12,000 people worldwide this year to build its capacity back up, its CE told a French newspaper. "Today air traffic is recovering, the placing of orders is dynamic, the tempo is increasing. The worst is behind us. I am very confident," Olivier Andries told the Figaro. "We are in the process of coming out of the crisis and we've decided to relaunch our hiring, with 12,000 hires planned in 2022, of which 3,000 will be in France," he was quoted as saying. Safran is the world's third largest aerospace contractor and with General Electric it co-produces engines for Airbus and Boeing aircraft. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Safran, along with most other players in the sector, reduced capacity and cut some jobs in response to the sharp downturn in orders from airlines.<br/>