general

The largest US airlines are making money again. Labor unions don’t want them to spend it on stock buybacks. A condition of the $54b in federal aid that airlines received to pay workers during the Covid pandemic prohibited carriers from share buybacks. That ban is in effect through Sept. 30. But in a campaign and public petition that launched Thursday, some of the largest airline labor unions — representing more than 170,000 pilots, flight attendants, customer service agents and other industry staff — are urging carriers to stabilize operations and invest in workers before spending on buying back their own stock. “We can’t allow executives to send one dime to Wall Street before they fix operational issues and conclude contract negotiations that will ensure pay and benefits keep and attract people to aviation jobs,” Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants, which represents some 50,000 cabin crew members, said in a release announcing the anti-buyback campaign Thursday. The campaign is also supported by the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, Air Line Pilots Associations, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Transport Workers Union of America, and the Communications Workers of America. The four biggest US carriers — Delta, United, American and Southwest — spent about $40b buying back their companies’ stock between 2015 and early 2020, according to S&P Global. “Our highest financial priorities right now are restoring our balance sheet and investing in our employees and customers,” United said in a statement. The carrier is in the middle of a fleet refresh with close to 300 aircraft set for delivery in the coming years. Southwest declined to comment and American and Delta didn’t immediately respond. Many of the workers represented by the unions advocating against a resumption of buybacks are in contract negotiations with their carriers. In addition to higher pay, unions are pushing airlines for more predictable schedules after last-minute airline travel chaos roiled plans for customers and staff alike.<br/>

The French island of Corsica has been rocked by a violent thunderstorm this morning, with winds as strong as 200 kph (136 mph) experienced in some areas. The storm was witnessed at Ajaccio Airport, where gusts of 131 kph shook planes parked on the apron and sent debris flying. In a video shared online, large objects including cargo containers can be seen spinning across the airport, as a pair of Volotea Airbus A319s brace against the storm. Reports stated that luggage carts and containers had lifted off the ground, and that pieces of the terminal roof were torn off in the winds. Air Plus News shared photogeaphs of the same Airbus A319 with significant damage to what looks like part of the fuselage, as well as the winglets of the aircraft.<br/>

The number of reported incidents involving aiming of lasers at U.S. airplanes hit a record in 2021, according to a federal government report, which also said regulators should do more to address the problem. The Government Accountability Office said the FAA should strengthen its efforts to address the practice that regulators say can pose a serious safety issue. Reported laser incidents rose 42% in 2021 to 9,273. Intentionally aiming lasers at aircraft poses a safety threat to pilots and violates federal law. "Many high-powered lasers can incapacitate pilots flying aircraft that may be carrying hundreds of passengers," the FAA said. The FAA asks pilots to complete laser pointing incident questionnaires upon landing. But GAO said "FAA received responses for about 12% of the 8,221 laser incidents that occurred over a recent one-year period." The FAA said on Thursday that in order to reduce attacks, "the agency conducts outreach to educate the public about the hazards of lasers aimed at aircraft." The agency noted it can issue fines of up to $11,000 per violation and $30,800 for multiple laser incidents. The agency said it issued $120,000 in fines for laser strikes in 2021.<br/>

Spain's Aena Thursday won the rights to operate the largest block of airports auctioned by Brazil's government for 2.45b reais ($471.61m), adding to its portfolio in Latin America's largest economy. Aena was the only bidder for a block of 11 airports that includes the crown jewel of the auction, the Congonhas domestic airport located in the city of Sao Paulo, one of the busiest airports in the country. The Spanish company, which already operates six airports in northeastern Brazil, made an offer that represented a 231% premium over the minimum amount required. Aena is expected to invest around 5.8b reais in the block. A consortium including brokerage XP Inc and French infrastructure company Egis, made the sole bid for the block comprising the smaller airports of Jacarepagua in Rio de Janeiro and Campo de Marte in Sao Paulo. The offer was for 141.4m reais, in line with the minimum required amount for the block, and the firms are set to invest 560m reais in the airports. A group comprising Brazilian companies Socicam and Dix was the winner in a bidding war with Vinci Airports for the licenses to operate the airports of the state capitals of Para and Macapa for 125m reais. The offer was 120% above the minimum price set by the Brazilian government.<br/>

UK operator Titan Airways has tightened its procedures for handling cockpit-voice recorder information after it accessed a recording in breach of regulations following a Boeing 737-400 incident at London Southend. The incident, on 18 June last year, involved the jet’s becoming stuck after its right-hand main landing-gear left the taxiway as the aircraft manoeuvred after landing. Titan did not notify the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch, initially believing the incident was not serious. But the airport operator had notified the AAIB, which informed Titan on the day of the occurrence that it would carry out a safety investigation, and the carrier acknowledged this decision. Once a formal state investigation has been initiated, strict European Union regulations – still retained under UK legislation – protect cockpit-voice recorder information, and prohibit disclosure until the inquiry is concluded. But Titan’s safety department wrote to the crew of the 737 stating that it wanted to listen to the recording because the AAIB had asked it to investigate – which it had not – and that it sought information for the “official ICAO Annex 13 report”. “These communications are likely to have given the impression to the crew that the operator was acting on behalf of the AAIB, which was not the case,” says the inquiry. “The AAIB seeks the information it requires directly from those able to provide it and does not ask operators to act on its behalf.” It specifically stresses that it “never” asks operators to listen to cockpit-voice recordings or interview crews. According to the inquiry Titan was “not sure” that the nature of the investigation brought the strict protection regulation into effect. It chose to access the cockpit-voice recording under a subordinate regulation which permits disclosure under certain conditions – including having established handling procedures for the recording, and ensuring consent from crews and maintenance personnel. But this regulation is overruled once a state investigation is underway, and the inquiry says it “could not” be used as legal justification for Titan to listen to the recording. It adds that the carrier, in any case, did not have procedures in place for handling a recording or transcripts, which would have been required beforehand. <br/>

The owners of Doncaster Sheffield Airport have been urged to extend a consultation on the future of the site. Peel Group has begun a six-week consultation after saying the airport "may no longer be commercially viable". But politicians in South Yorkshire want the deadline pushed back to the end of 2022 and have asked the firm to outline all the options being considered. Meanwhile, South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard said he has not ruled out public ownership of the airport. In a letter to John Whittaker, chairman of Peel Group, political leaders, including Mr Coppard, and MPs Nick Fletcher, Ed Miliband and Rosie Winterton, said they were "disappointed" with the length of the consultation. It states: "We encourage Peel Group to extend the consultation period to the end of 2022 to enable meaningful engagement and consideration of options." It also calls for the owners to "outline all of the options they are open to exploring for the future of the airport", including the sale of the site.<br/>

Developers aiming to resurrect Manston airport in the south-east UK have again secured approval for the project from the government, some 18 months after a court quashed a previous consent order. RiverOak Strategic Partners is intending to re-open the airport as a dedicated air freight facility. The application for the project was originally accepted for examination four years ago, and development consent was granted in July 2020 – even though the examining authority had concluded that the benefits would not outweigh its impacts, and that consent should not be given. In February last year a court threw out the decision, stating that the government had not explained adequately why it disagreed with the examining authority. Transport secretary Grant Shapps’s office has set out a detailed series of reasons for reinstating the approval in an 18 August letter. These include placing “substantial weight” on the airport capacity which Manston will deliver to the south-east UK, given the overall strain on capacity by 2030 if London Heathrow’s third runway is not completed. Shapps’s office also believes the government’s decarbonisation targets can be met “without directly limiting aviation demand”, and that the examining authority was wrong to conclude that Manston’s carbon dioxide contribution will have a material impact on the government’s ability to achieve its targets. The office also argues its case on various other issues, including noise, traffic and socio-economic benefits. It states that it is “satisfied” that there is “clear justification” for authorising the Manston airport project. The airport site is located in Kent, and lies some 100km east of central London. <br/>

Oman is refusing to allow Israeli flights through its airspace, conceding to intense Iranian pressure, according to a report Thursday in Israel Hayom. Securing passage over the skies of the Persian Gulf Arab country was necessary to take advantage of Saudi Arabia's announcement last month that it would open its airspace to all airlines, which includes Israeli flights. The hope was that Oman opening its airspace would be a formality after the Saudi move, significantly reducing travel time to destinations in the far east such as India, Thailand and China. Flights from Tel Aviv to Asia had to previously avoid the Arabian Peninsula, adding between two to three hours of travel time. Last week, the CEO of El Al said that permission for El Al Israel Airlines to fly over Oman was expected in "a matter of days." Dina Ben-Tal, speaking to reporters, said the airline had already received approval to fly over Saudi Arabia. However, the company must also pass over Oman to avoid Iran and save time for journeys to Asian countries. "Recently, Iran has greatly increased its pressure and threats on the Gulf countries so that they will not carry out normalization measures vis-à-vis Israel," Dr. Yoel Gozhansky, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, told Israel Hayom.<br/>

Chinese authorities have been testing a new in-flight turbulence measurement technique intended to take into account different aircraft types and provide more accurate crew perception. Under ICAO standards turbulence is categorised as light, moderate, or severe based on a cube-root function of the eddy dissipation rate. But this dissipation rate is an independent measure of turbulence and not a function of the aircraft type, its airspeed, mass, or other specific parameters. “ICAO’s current in-flight turbulence level categorisation cannot accurately reflect a crew’s perception for the same [eddy dissipation] value on different aircraft types,” says a Civil Aviation Administration of China paper submitted ahead of September’s ICAO Assembly. It says this can lead to difficulties for crews to make the correct response based on their perception of turbulence. The paper says crews usually use aircraft load as a basis for judging aircraft envelope and manoeuvring margin performance. Chinese researchers have been testing a draft standard – with the assistance of an airline in the country – which focuses on a technique to convert eddy dissipation rates into corresponding loads using quick-access recorder data. Once the relationship between the two is established, says the CAAC paper, the technique can convert forecast turbulence from aviation meteorological services into aircraft load, crew perception, and a different turbulence index with four categories – light, light-to-moderate, moderate, and severe. Tests of this new turbulence standard has involved 770 verification flights and 850 crew members, and the CAAC paper claims an accuracy rate of 82% based on crew feedback.<br/>

Heavy rain continued to pelt New Zealand on Thursday, causing further disruptions and road closures from a storm that has already forced hundreds of people to evacuate their homes. Residents in the northern part of North Island found themselves isolated after landslides, fallen trees and floodwaters blocked highway access. The stormy weather also forced some schools to close, airlines to cancel flights and business to shutter. The storm sunk at least one sailboat near Auckland and caused a home to slip down into a gully in the town of Tāhunanui.<br/>

Asian aircraft lessor BOC Aviation said nine aircraft deliveries due in the first half had slipped into later periods because of manufacturer delays related to supply-chain and regulatory issues as well as labour shortages. The lessor said client American Airlines Group Inc had received two Boeing Co 787s this month, the first deliveries globally since May 2021 after the US FAA approved the resumption of deliveries following production problems. BOC Aviation, which has a fleet of 390 owned planes, expects to receive seven more 787s this year, COO David Walton told analysts on an earnings call on Thursday evening. Other large lessors like AerCap Holdings and Air Lease Corp have also reported airplane delivery delays. BOC Aviation swung to a $313m net loss in the first half, in line with guidance provided last month, due to the $518m after-tax impact of writedowns of 17 aircraft that remain stuck in Russia. More than 400 leased planes worth almost $10b remain in Russia after sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine forced lessors to cancel their contracts with Russian airlines, which then declined to return most of the planes. BOC Aviation said it had filed an insurance claim in June. The lessor had held cash collateral representing 28% of the value of the planes that it was able to draw down when they were not returned, which Walton said he believed was the highest among its peer group.<br/>