United Airlines’ CE is warning that Boeing and broader US industry will suffer if the US Congress fails to exempt Boeing’s 737 Max 10 from a new cockpit-alert-system requirement. That requirement takes effect on 27 December, and the clock is ticking as Boeing works to avoid further delays to its Max 7 and Max 10 certification timelines. “Boeing is our largest exporter – high tech manufacturing – the very thing that everyone in Congress wants us to create,” Kirby says during an event in North Charleston, South Carolina on 13 December. Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal says Boeing is continuing its Max 7 and 10 certification work under the existing requirements, on the expectation the exemption will come through. “We are going to keep our head down, working on certification… under the current law,” Deal says. “This story is compelling because we’re just trying to keep the aircraft safe.” Under a 2020 law, the FAA will be prohibited, as of 27 December, from certificating aircraft lacking a modern “flight-crew alerting system”. No Max variants have such technology. The Max 7 and 10 are now in the certification process and would be subject to the new regulation, barring an exemption. “The choice is, do you have American workers build these airplanes in Seattle, or are they built in Europe, China,” adds United’s Kirby. He says changing the Max 7 and Max 10’s cockpits will reduce safety. “Putting a different cockpit in requires the same pilots to be trained in two different cockpits and in two different systems… It’s a degradation of safety as opposed to an improvement,” Kirby says. United has orders for 442 737 Max, including at least 236 Max 10s, according to Cirium data. It also operates Max 8s and 9s, which are already certificated. Story has more. <br/>
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Lufthansa Group subsidiary Swiss International Air Lines has taken a financial stake in synthetic fuel producer Synhelion to help accelerate availability of SAF. The Zurich-based carrier said on 15 December that investing in the Swiss start-up is “essential to the achievement of the ambitious climate goals within the aviation sector”. Swiss does not specify the amount of its investment. Synhelion produces solar fuels, which are “synthetic fuels produced from solar energy” that can replace fossil-based fuels, according to its website. The synthetic fuels are “fully compatible with existing global fuel infrastructure” and can be used in aircraft, ships, trucks and cars. The fuel is produced through application of concentrated sunlight to manufacture synthetic gas, which is then industrially synthesised into kerosene, says Synhelion’s website. SAF includes several types of low-carbon fuels, including synthetic and bio-derived fuels. “Synhelion, Swiss and the Lufthansa Group have been collaborating very constructively on bringing solar fuels to market for the aviation sector for more than two years,” says Swiss CE Dieter Vranckx. “We are delighted that, with our new financial involvement, we can now make a further substantial contribution to helping Synhelion scale up and commercialise its innovative alternative fuel product.” Synhelion will use the funds to scale up and commercialise its technology, Swiss says. It will expand its production facilities “to industrial dimensions”. “Synhelion’s technology also offers sizeable development potential, and holds many strategic advantages over other technological approaches,” Swiss says. For example, the company has a heat storage facility that enables its plant to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without drawing on an electricity grid. Earlier this year, Swiss agreed to be the first airline customer of Synhelion’s “sun-to-liquid” solar fuel, which will initially come from a demonstration plant under construction in Julich, Germany, in 2023. The aim is for a larger commercial operation to come on stream in Spain in 2025, and multiple plants to follow.<br/>
China’s ‘big three’ airlines – Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines – saw November’s capacity and passenger numbers decline sharply from a year earlier. Air China’s ASK’s dropped 26.2% year on year, with RPKs falling 22.7%, according to a company statement. During the month it carried 2.2m passengers, down 28.6% from a year earlier. It’s passenger load factor for the month was 62.1%, up 2.8% from a year earlier. At Shanghai-based China Eastern, ASKs fell 43.2% from a year earlier, with RPKs dropping 36.7%. The airline carried 2.5m passengers during November, down 41.4% from a year earlier. Load factor during November was 55% during the month, up five percentage points from a year earlier. Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines also had a dismal November, with ASKs falling 42.6%, and RPKs drop 40.5%. It carried 4.3m passengers during the month, down 40.5%. Load factors came in at 65.6%, up 2.4 percentage points from a year earlier. The carriers provided no insight into the sharp drop off in traffic during the month, but the results likely reflect China’s sudden dropping of leader Xi Jinping’s ‘zero-Covid’ policy. Anecdotally, this has resulted in a massive spike in coronavirus infections.<br/>
Asiana Airlines has confirmed that HDC Hyundai Development Company and Mirae Asset Securities will appeal a November 2022 court ruling that allowed the airline to keep a multi-billion won deposit related to a failed takeover bid. The out-of-pocket parties filed their appeal last week. "The announcement on this day [December 8] is that Mirae Asset Securities is also appealing against the lawsuit for the return of the down payment, which was defeated in the first trial following HDC Hyunsan on December 7," an Asiana spokesperson told local media. The matter relates to a 2019/20 bid by HDC and its consortium partner Mirae to take over the airline. The bid failed, largely due to Asiana's shifting financial fortunes and an unwillingness from the airline to allow follow-up rounds of due diligence. However, HDC and Mirae had also deposited KRW217.7b won (US$165m), which represented 10% of the takeover price, into an escrow account. After the collapse of the talks, Asiana argued that under the terms they were entitled to keep the deposit. The dispute was heard in the Seoul Central District Court last month where the ruling was in Asiana's favour. The judge ruled that the airline did not have a refund obligation. While Asiana welcomed the decision, HDC said at the time that the decision was "negative" and that they would appeal.<br/>
Air India has launched another long-distance flight to the US, this time between Mumbai and San Francisco. The airline operates several US flights, mostly from New Delhi, but with more long-range planes on the way, new routes like this will feature on its network soon. On December 15th, Air India launched its first nonstop service between Mumbai (BOM) and San Francisco (SFO). The flight lasted for almost 16 hours and was operated by the newly acquired Boeing 777-200LR, which formerly flew for Delta Air Lines. Flight AI 179 left Mumbai at 14:30 and landed in San Francisco at 17:26 after flying for 15 hours and 48 minutes. It will operate three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays and take Air India’s India-US frequency to 40 nonstop flights per week. The occasion was marked with a launch ceremony at Mumbai airport involving lamp-lighting and cake and ribbon cutting. Passengers on the flight were also treated to a specially curated goodie bag by Air India.<br/>