A passenger plane flying out of Kennedy International Airport had to bring its takeoff to an abrupt halt on Friday night after another crossed the runway in its path 1,000 feet ahead, according to the FAA. The departing plane, a Boeing 737 operated by Delta, was about to take off around 8:45 p.m. when a Boeing 777 operated by American Airlines crossed the runway ahead of it, the FAA said. The Delta plane, Flight 1943, came to a “safe stop” after air traffic controllers noticed the other plane, the agency said. The American Airlines plane, Flight 106, had “crossed from an adjacent taxiway,” the FAA said. The agency said it was investigating and that information about what happened was “preliminary.” The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages Kennedy, declined to comment and deferred questions to the FAA. Flight 1943 typically flies from Kennedy to the Dominican Republic, according to the flight-tracking site Flight Aware. American Airlines Flight 106 typically flies from Kennedy to London. In an audio clip on Twitter posted by Ross Feinstein, a former spokesman for American Airlines and the TSA, air traffic controllers can be heard instructing the Delta crew to cancel takeoff. One of the controllers then appears to tell the crew members of the American Airlines flight that they were supposed to be on a different runway. Feinstein said it was exceedingly rare for such near collisions to occur on runways.<br/>
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A man in his 60s has been arrested in connection with an investigation linked to the discovery of traces of uranium found in a cargo package at London’s Heathrow Airport, the UK Metropolitan Police said on Sunday. The man was arrested on suspicion of a terror offence on Saturday and was released on bail as part of the investigation, the Police said. A very small quantity of uranium was detected in a package that arrived at Heathrow Airport on Dec. 29. Richard Smith, head of London police’s Counter Terrorism Command said that, despite the arrest, the incident does “not appear to be linked to any direct threat to the public”. Officers attended an address in Cheshire yesterday and the man was taken to a police station in north west England and was today released on bail until a date in April. Uranium can be used for civilian power generation and scientific purposes and is a key ingredient in nuclear weapons. Certain isotopes emit radiation that can be harmful to humans, and the metal itself is toxic if ingested or inhaled.<br/>
Financiers at the centre of a $200b industry underpinning airline fleets are meeting in Dublin this week, gambling that China's decision to free travel will accelerate their recovery from a pandemic downturn, while warning of a shortage of jets. Three years after the spread of COVID-19 grounded thousands of airliners, demand for air travel is booming again, boosted by Beijing's decision last month to unwind its zero-COVID policies. In a report on Monday, the world's second-largest aircraft leasing company, Chinese-owned Avolon, predicted global traffic would return to pre-pandemic levels as early as June this year - months earlier than most in the industry have predicted. The International Air Transport Association, which represents global airlines, is predicting full recovery in 2024. "After a 70% recovery in passenger traffic last year led by ... Europe and North America, Asia will drive growth in 2023, helped by the recent reopening in China," Avolon said. Data so far suggests Chinese are resuming travel ahead of the Lunar New Year, despite worries about infections after Beijing ended curbs last month, with passenger traffic jumping to 63% of 2019 levels since the annual travel season began. Others are not so upbeat. "Airlines are not dramatically increasing their frequency to China. It's going in the right direction but ... it's going to take some time," said aviation adviser Bertrand Grabowski.<br/>
Western nations need to offer more subsidies to encourage the airline industry to switch to electric-powered planes, according to one of the leading emissions-free start-ups. Anders Forslund, CE and co-founder of Heart Aerospace in Sweden, said airlines were generally too focused on short-term profitability and needed countries to follow the likes of Norway, which aims to electrify all domestic flights by 2040. “Governments are the ones making the rule book,” Forslund said. “There must be an economic incentive for airlines to take on this leadership. It needs a push, and it needs the push now.” Heart, a start-up based in Gothenburg on Sweden’s west coast, is developing a 30-seater regional aircraft for 2028 and has firm orders for 230 planes from United Airlines and Mesa Airlines in the US as well as Air Canada. Other airlines including SAS, BRA and Icelandair in the Nordics have signed letters of intent for the aircraft, while Air Canada and Swedish defence company Saab became shareholders in September. Heart recently changed its plans from a pure electric 19-seater to a larger hybrid aircraft, which will use sustainable aviation fuel to power its reserve system needed for emergencies, something that extends its range to 800km from 200km if solely using batteries. Forslund pointed to public service mandates in the US and Norway as something necessary to help develop such a regional electric plane. “The reason it works in Norway is subsidies. The fact that they’re rich is that they can pay the premium, just like they did in electric cars,” he said, noting that the success of Tesla’s Model S led to it developing the cheaper Model 3. Heart is not just touting the zero-emissions potential for its plane but also the lower noise it produces on take-off and landing. <br/>
Airbus said it had withdrawn from a US government-named panel reviewing Boeing’s safety processes and how they influence Boeing safety culture after two fatal 737 MAX crashes in recent years killed 346 people.The FAA panel named last week includes MIT lecturer and aerospace engineer Javier de Luis whose sister was killed in a MAX crash, as well as experts from NASA, the FAA, labor unions, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines, GE Aviation and FedEx Express. Among those named was James Tidball, head of certification for Airbus Americas. Airbus said in a statement to Reuters it appreciated the FAA's recognition of Tidball's impartiality concerning safety but given "the panel’s focus on a particular (Original Equipment Manufacturer, Tidball)... has decided to recuse himself from this working group." The panel, which Congress required under a 2020 law to reform how the FAA certifies new airplanes, has nine months to complete its review and issue findings and recommendations. Congress directed the agency to appoint a panel by early 2021, but the FAA missed that deadline. A 2020 US House report said the MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 "were the horrific culmination of a series of faulty technical assumptions by Boeing's engineers, a lack of transparency on the part of Boeing's management, and grossly insufficient oversight by the FAA."<br/>
Lessor Avolon is upbeat about the aviation sector’s prospects in 2023 but highlights some key challenges facing the sector. In its 2023 outlook, the lessor contends that the aircraft leasing sector drove world fleet growth over the last three years, and now manages 53% by value. And where 2022 demonstrated airline resilience, 2023 will see them “enroute to profitability and growth again.” “For every two seats of airline capacity added in the world today, one is in Asia,” says Avolon. “China’s reopening will unlock significant demand, driving rapid recovery in the region.” On the year ahead, Avolon forecasts that China’s opening will help push global passenger traffic to 2019 levels by June. “Asia-Pacific was rapidly recovering before China’s removal of quarantine restrictions,” says Avolon. “Despite the implementation of testing requirements, reopening of the world’s second largest aviation market will drive a rapid uptick in air travel. The expected mild recession in the West should not impede the positive outlook for air travel, driving a return to operating profits for the airline sector in all regions.” Still, it notes plenty of challenges, both near and long term. Economies and supply chains are suffering “whiplash” as activity rebounds following the pandemic years. It forecasts that airframers will continue struggling to meet production targets, and that airline consolidation will accelerate as the rate of new start-ups entering the market slows. It observes that over 100 new carriers were started over the last three years to take advantage of available aircraft and crews. Avolon also observes that there are 1,200 more stored aircraft now than in 2019 owing to “artificially low retirements,” and that a retirement wave is to be expected. “Uncertainty in future fleet requirements, an increase in freighter demand, a depressed used serviceable materials market, and limited labour availability have all contributed to a lack of fleet exits,” it says. “This trend will reverse in the coming year as personnel reactivating aircraft today are redeployed to restock parts inventories tomorrow.” <br/>