A US appeals court panel on Wednesday declined to block a lower court ruling that President Joe Biden could not require federal employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. By a 2-1 vote, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals declined to stay the lower-court injunction. Judge Stephen A. Higginson dissented noting a dozen district courts rejected requests to block the vaccine rule while a single district judge issued an injunction. "The only court that can now provide timely relief is the Supreme Court," Higginson wrote. Biden had issued an order requiring about 3.5m government workers to get vaccinated by Nov. 22, barring a religious or medical accommodation, or face discipline or firing. The court ordered an expedited briefing schedule with court papers due by March 23. Higginson said the public interest is not served by a US judge "lacking public health expertise and made unaccountable through life tenure, telling the President of the United States, in his capacity as CEO of the federal workforce, that he cannot take the same lifesaving workplace safety measures" as CEOs of companies like United Airlines or Tyson Foods that have imposed vaccine requirements.<br/>
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A US judge on Tuesday dismissed two charges against a former chief technical pilot for Boeing accused of deceiving federal regulators evaluating the company's 737 MAX jet, but rejected a request to dismiss the other four counts. US District Judge Reed O'Connor in Texas granted part of the request of lawyers for former Boeing technical pilot Mark Forkner, dismissing two fraud counts alleging Forkner made materially false communications concerning a key airplane software feature called Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). MCAS is a software feature designed to automatically push the airplane's nose down in certain conditions. It was tied to the two 737 MAX crashes over a five-month period in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. O'Connor ruled Tuesday the two charges could not proceed because they must involve a tangible airplane part -- rather than the MCAS software feature. "MCAS is intangible computer code in the aircraft’s flight control software," O'Connor wrote. "MCAS is not an 'aircraft part.'" O'Connor rejected a request to dismiss the other four counts which allege wire fraud. <br/>
Demand for flights in Britain is edging back towards pre-pandemic levels for the key summer holiday period, according to market data that suggests consumers are keen to get away despite the looming cost of living crunch. Data from travel trends firm ForwardKeys said bookings for the summer were 16% behind comparable levels in January 2019, while demand was ahead of pre-pandemic levels for a four-day public holiday in June. Many consumers are still booking flights at the last minute, benefiting from cheaper offers and allowing them to check whether COVID restrictions have changed. A spokesman for ForwardKeys said the summer demand was encouraging, with January a key booking month for the industry. Airlines, hotels and beach resorts have been through a tumultuous two years, slashing costs, cutting staff numbers and scrapping routes, all while taking on huge amounts of debt. In Britain and elsewhere, they now face one of the bleakest economic outlooks in decades as consumers contend with soaring energy costs, general inflation and higher taxes that come into force in April.<br/>
John Menzies, a Scottish firm that provides ground, air cargo and fuelling services at airports, has rejected a GBP469m takeover approach from a Kuwait rival, sending its shares soaring. The Edinburgh-based firm said its board had unanimously rebuffed a “preliminary and unsolicited proposal” from National Aviation Services, a subsidiary of the Kuwait-based Agility Public Warehousing, at a price of 510p a share in cash. It came after Menzies knocked back an earlier offer at 460p a share. Shares in Menzies jumped as much as 41% to 475p, a two-year high, and later traded 36% higher at 455.50p, below the offer price. It is the latest overseas bid attempt after a surge in takeovers of UK companies by foreign firms in recent months, including the GBP7b sale of Morrisons, Britain’s fourth-biggest supermarket group, to a US private equity firm. Menzies was founded in 1833 as a bookseller, but has focused on its aviation business since selling its newspaper distribution arm to the private equity firm Endless in 2018, after pressure from investors. It is one of the world’s biggest aviation services providers, with services including plane fuelling and de-icing, ground and cargo handling, and maintenance at more than 200 airports in 37 countries.<br/>
According to an updated report by the African Airlines Association (Afraa), the COVID-19 pandemic continued to hammer Africa's aviation industry in 2021, resulting in an estimated $8.6b revenue loss. While the figure is less than the $10.21b revenue loss recorded by the sector in 2020, it did mark a 49.8% decline when compared to the revenue recorded by the sector prior to the pandemic in 2019. The report blamed the revenue loss on the stringent travel restrictions placed by governments, in a bid to contain the Coronavirus. While the restrictions were well-intentioned, they also inevitably made it impossibly for African airlines to operate optimally. As a matter of fact, the traffic volume from January through to December was 42.3% less than what was recorded in 2019. "Across Africa in general, passenger traffic volumes remain depressed due to the unilateral and uncoordinated travel health restrictions imposed by some governments following the outbreak of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. <br/>
Chinese carriers reported an uptick in domestic passengers during this year’s Lunar New Year holidays, but demand is still far below that recorded before the coronavirus pandemic. Preliminary statistics from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) state that Chinese airlines carried around 5m domestic passengers during the week-long holiday, which fell between 31 January and 6 February. Compared against 2021’s Lunar New Year period, the figures represents a 40% rise in passenger numbers. However, the figure is below 2020’s more than 6m domestic passengers, and less than half of pre-pandemic 2019’s 12.8m domestic passengers. Domestic passenger load factors remained weak, at around 58%, representing a marginal 0.75 percentage point increase from 2021. China — among the few countries to retain a ‘zero-Covid’ strategy — has recently seen a spike in infections caused by the more contagious Omicron variant. Parts of the country have come under onerous restrictions to curb rising case numbers. CAAC data shows the top five airports by passenger traffic were all in southern and southwestern China: Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Kunming. While capital city Beijing — host of the ongoing Winter Olympics — and Shanghai were not among the top five airports during the holiday period, the CAAC notes there is still “strong demand” from these cities. <br/>
Deliveries of China's homegrown C919 narrow-body passenger jet are expected this year after several delays, despite a tight schedule for regulatory certifications and uncertainties related to U.S. trade bans. He Dongfeng, chairman of C919 developer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), laid out the 2022 delivery schedule for the plane Monday in an internal meeting, according to minutes published by the state-owned aircraft maker. The schedule is tight, and there are challenges from external uncertainties, according to He. The C919 is yet to be certified by Chinese aviation regulators, a precondition for its commercial launch. COMAC initially planned to deliver the C919 in 2017, but the schedule was repeatedly delayed because of technology and supply issues. Under development since 2008, the C919 targets the same market as the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737, the two bestselling commercial aircraft. The plane is designed to seat 158 to 168 passengers. The C919 made its first test flight in May 2017 with six prototype airplanes operating in different regions across China. Regulatory reviews for its airworthiness certification started in December 2020. COMAC has received more than 800 provisional orders for the C919, mostly from domestic airlines or leasing firms. In March 2021, China Eastern Airlines signed a contract to buy five C919 jetliners in the first formal order placed by a global airline.<br/>