IATA is seeking a review of commercial pilot age limits to help relieve forecast demand for cockpit crews. It has submitted a paper to the upcoming ICAO Assembly which refers to the age limit of 65 imposed on pilots by the Chicago Convention. The paper urges ICAO to examine the latest scientific evidence to multi-crew pilot age restrictions, stating that limited availability of skilled aviation personnel represents a “constraint” on the industry’s ability to recover from the pandemic. ICAO’s limit has been in place since November 2006, having been raised from 60 and, before then, from the original threshold of 45. “With demand for air travel anticipated to return to [pre-pandemic] traffic levels in 2023, and then continue on an upward growth path, the demand for commercial pilots is expected to exceed supply,” says the IATA paper. “It is therefore timely to revisit legacy age limitation requirements to ensure that they remain fit for purpose, do not represent an unjustified barrier to employment for these critical workers and do [not] constitute de facto age discrimination.” The current 65-year cut-off is based on the outcome of studies including simulator assessments. “These studies showed that the risk to the safe operation of an aircraft associated with subtle pilot incapacitation at a critical stage of flight was very low,” argues the paper. <br/>
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It seems incongruous: as people have gotten larger, airline seats have shrunk smaller. Advocates for bigger seats on planes like to think that they now have a chance to reverse that trend. Earlier in August, the US FAA sought comments on “minimum seat dimensions necessary for safety of air passengers.” The regulator will accept responses for 90 days, or until November 1. The FAA has not previously considered the issue of whether seats have become too small for the average passenger. Rather, it has focused on the more limited question of whether seats impede aircraft evacuations, which are required to take 90 seconds or less. “Their position has been consistent,” said Paul Hudson, president of FlyersRights, an airline passenger advocacy group. “The way they define safety, narrowly, is to include only emergency evacuation, and they don’t think emergency evacuation is affected by seat size. They don’t include any health or comfort issues.” While the FAA currently has no specific standards for seat pitch, the distance between the front of the seat and the back of the one in front of it, and width, it is expected to at least consider them. In 2018, as part of FAA funding process, the US Congress ordered the agency to establish minimum dimensions for airline seats within a year. A section of the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act directed the agency “to issue, after notice and comment, such rules as necessary for the safety of passengers with regard to the minimum dimensions, including seat pitch, width, and length, of passenger seats on aircraft.” FlyersRights has been advocating in the courts for an established minimum seat size since 2015.<br/>
Flight cancellations and delays by US airlines in the first seven months of the year have surpassed the comparable 2019 period, data showed, as staff shortages and adverse weather pummel operations. US-based carriers scrapped 128,934 flights from January to July, up about 11% from pre-pandemic levels, according to data from flight-tracking website FlightAware. Flight delays have also reached nearly a million this year. American Airlines Group canceled 19,717 flights, the most among big US carriers, followed by Southwest at 17,381 flights. Delta reported the least cancellations at roughly 10,000 flights. Airlines have faced a turbulent year, attracting intense regulatory scrutiny as their capacity to run flights was challenged by a shortage of pilots and unexpected storms. Carriers have raised fares to cater to a surge in domestic travel that is fast approaching pre-pandemic levels, but have been unable to fly all the passengers they book, drawing ire from lawmakers.<br/>
A "loud noise" led to false reports of an active shooter on Sunday morning at Harry Reid International Airport, causing flights delays and cancellations. Fifty-three flights have been cancelled and 322 delayed at the Las Vegas airport, according to the flight tracker FlightAware. The loud noise, which Las Vegas police said was caused by an "unruly subject" now in custody, led to a panic at Harry Reid International Airport, according to the airport's Twitter account. Some people rushed through security checkpoints during the panic caused by the noise, meaning passengers had to return to checkpoints to be re-screened before boarding their planes. The airport warned that delays are expected to continue throughout the day.<br/>
Airlines want people to take a European vacation this summer — as long as it’s not their employees. Carriers are discouraging their staff from using their employee perks for travel to and from some of Europe’s biggest airports, warning that getting a seat home will be difficult. The moves come as airport labor shortages and industry strikes have made European summer travel challenging, just as airlines were hoping to capitalize on higher bookings after a Covid pandemic slump of more than two years. American Airlines has barred staff from only using their flight benefits for personal travel from London Heathrow Airport through “at least” Sept. 11 and had temporarily banned the use of those perks from Amsterdam, through July 31. United Airlines has prohibited the use of buddy passes — deeply discounted flights for friends and family — on trips through London Heathrow through at least the end of August. United is also telling staff about the challenges with overseas travel this summer and to prioritize customers, a spokesman said. Those decisions came after Britain’s busiest airport established departing passenger caps in an effort to ease congestion this summer. Free and deeply discounted tickets are a selling point for airlines as they seek to staff up to meet a jump in bookings. But carriers also want to fill as many seats as possible with paying customers. Using those staff travel perks as a so-called nonrev or nonrevenue passenger means flying standby, compared with the confirmed space of a paying traveler. While getting a free or discounted seat is often a gamble during peak periods, this summer is proving especially tough for airline staff dreaming of a cheap European vacation. “Many European airports are experiencing overcrowding, significant delays and passenger caps, greatly limiting non-rev departure availability,” American Airlines said in a message to staff on Aug. 5. The message said that only “a handful” of travelers trying to use buddy passes recently for flights back to the US were accommodated, and that those trying to use the passes would likely be stuck in Europe for an extended period.<br/>
Boeing's 787 Dreamliner has returned to the world market for newly delivered aircraft at a time when demand for wide-body jetliners is finally stirring to life after a prolonged slump. The US planemaker delivered its first Dreamliner since May 2021 on Wednesday, in a significant milestone for the manufacturer after production problems with its wide-body jet. Boeing must now wade through painstaking regulatory checks to get further 787s delivered while chipping away at a backlog of about 120 stored planes outside its plants. But analysts say there is increasingly talk of demand for such jets after years of a market glut. From East Asia to the Gulf, several airlines are renewing wide-body fleets. Saudi Arabia is discussing a potentially significant order for wide-body jets, three industry sources said, though talks have fluctuated over several years without a deal being announced and the timing of a decision may be some way off. But with Riyadh investing in tourism and aviation as part of its Vision 2030 blueprint to diversify the economy, one person following the matter predicted a decision "sooner rather than later," with Boeing 787 and 777X seen potentially among the mix. Taiwan's government-backed China Airlines is weighing options to renew a fleet of 22 Airbus A330 jets in a competition between the 787 and Airbus A330neo. Malaysia Airlines is poised to announce on Monday a deal to acquire 20 A330neo wide-body jets, roughly half of which would be bought directly from Airbus. "I firmly believe that as borders fully reopen, we will see the same rebound in international travel that we saw in the domestic markets," Aengus Kelly, CE of AerCap, the world's largest leasing firm, said on Thursday. "Given the level of inquiry and demand we are seeing for wide-body aircraft, it is clear that the airlines are also convinced of this."<br/>
Travellers at Sydney airport were again hit by long delays on Monday morning with check-in queues spilling out of the terminal. A spokesperson for the airport said staff shortages were to blame for the extended wait times as lines stretched out in excess of 150 metres to get through security screening at domestic terminals. “Our security contractor has had significant staff sick leave today, meaning some security screening lanes were not able to be opened,” the spokesperson said. “We have customer service staff on the ground bringing passengers forward according to flight priority. We are sorry about the disruption and working hard to get everyone on their way.” Certis, contracted by Sydney airport to provide security screening services, has been struggling to restore its workforce to pre-Covid levels and has been offering incentives to staff to turn up to work. Passengers turned to social media to vent their frustration, reporting wait times of more than an hour to make their flights on Monday morning. Similar screening delays were impacting Jetstar and Qantas flights, with a “queue shed” set up at the domestic terminal to manage crowd control. Sydney airport was named one of the world’s worst airports last month after being plagued by weeks of flight cancellations and delays.<br/>
A NSW man has faced the ACT Magistrates Court on firearms charges after shots were fired inside Canberra Airport on Sunday afternoon. Ali Rachid Ammoun, 63, has been charged with shooting at a building, possessing a firearm without a licence or permit, and discharging a loaded weapon in a way that caused another person to fear for their safety. He did not enter a plea and did not apply for bail. ACT Policing were called to the airport on Sunday afternoon following reports of gunshots in the main terminal building. They said one person was taken into custody and a firearm was recovered. No injuries were reported. Ammoun appeared before Magistrate Robert Cook via videolink on Monday morning, wearing a short-sleeved white shirt with a tropical print. The magistrate ordered that Ammoun have a psychiatric assessment at the ACT’s jail, the Alexander Maconochie Centre. He will next appear in court on September 5. Police will allege that the man arrived at Canberra Airport at approximately 1.20pm before sitting on seats near the southern check-in desks on the first floor. They will allege that at about 1.25pm he drew a firearm and fired a number of shots into windows of the building. The airport was evacuated and aircraft with passengers remained on the airfield. The airport returned to normal operations at about 5pm, with flights resuming shortly afterwards.<br/>