Airports are taking steps to avoid gridlock during the upcoming holiday travel seasons, with some limiting flights during peak hours to avoid the long lines and luggage piles that marred last summer. The sudden rebound in air travel demand during last year's holiday season as the pandemic subsided in Europe and North America caused chaos at some airports which were short of staff to handle the flood of passengers. While smoother holiday travel is expected for Europe and North America, airlines and airports which learned tough lessons on holiday travel in 2022, are taking a more prudent approach as global traffic rebounds roughly to pre-pandemic levels. Canada's largest airport, for one, has set hard limits on the number of commercial flights that can arrive or depart in any given hour during peak spring and summer hours, the operator of Toronto Pearson International Airport told Reuters. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) also said in an emailed statement it will cap the number of passengers that can arrive internationally, or depart to the United States through each terminal in a given hour. "The GTAA has taken decisive measures designed to flatten peak-hour schedules for the March break and the upcoming summer season," said the authority which did not give further details. "These slot measures strike a balance between airline commercial interests and the capabilities of the entities across the entire airport ecosystem." Air Canada, the country's largest carrier, said the GTAA's limits were accounted for in its plans, while rival WestJet Airlines said the limitations "have created hurdles and required adjustments when planning our transborder and international flying."<br/>
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More than 1,000 US flights have been canceled while another 3,800 others have been delayed as of 3:30 pm ET Thursday, according to FlightAware, as a massive winter storm system continued to beleaguer northern states. Nearly 1m customers were without power in five states Thursday, according to poweroutage.us, while another 4.3m Americans are under a winter storm warning. Travelers should check their flight status with their airline and, if needed, passenger rights on the Department of Transportation's Airline Customer Service Dashboard. Anyone whose flight is canceled has the right to a refund, regardless of the type of ticket booked, according to DOT rules. Delta, SkyWest and Southwest have the highest number of cancellations among US airlines, impacting between 2 and 7% of their scheduled flights.<br/>
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the committee's top Republican urged the Biden administration to halt Chinese airlines and other non-American carriers from flying over Russia on US routes. Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat, and James Risch, the committee's top Republican, in a letter seen by Reuters urged the Biden administration to ensure no commercial airline overflying Russian territory arrives or departs from a US airport. It also encouraged the administration to "strongly and publicly discourage US persons, citizens, and permanent residents from traveling on flights over Russian territory." US airlines and other foreign carriers are barred from flying over Russia. Russia banned airlines from the United States from overflights after the US barred Russia flights in March 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine. "An additional byproduct of the current situation is that it puts US airlines at a competitive disadvantage relative to airlines from other countries willing to do business with Russia," the senators wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg that was copied to White House's national security adviser Jake Sullivan. The State Department declined to comment. US air carriers currently serve Shanghai from the United States through a stop in Incheon, South Korea, while Chinese carriers serve the United States directly, flying through Russian airspace.<br/>
After Mexican regional carrier Aeromar shuttered its operations last week, workers in the country's aviation sector are bracing for more turbulence as financial, legislative and safety barriers pile on. While the heavily indebted Aeromar was a relatively small operation compared to peers, its closing is a symptom of a national problem, the flight attendants' union said Thursday, after a string of other airlines have closed. In total, Aeromar left behind debts of around 7b pesos ($381.28m), the union said, citing lawyers' estimates. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said last week that Aeromar had been "poorly run" and that unspecified legal action was being taken. Lopez Obrador also touted the planned purchase of Mexicana, another defunct airline which the government plans to turn into a military-run commercial carrier.Former Mexicana employees have yet to be liquidated and more than 100 lawsuits remain open from flight attendants' union members alone, the group said. "We don't want that same error to be repeated (with Aeromar)," said union leader Ada Salazar. "In Mexico, remember that legal processes aren't quick." Workers also fear that new legislation could create additional headaches for Mexican aviation. A proposal to overhaul the sector - which unions and airlines overwhelmingly agree is necessary - is with Congress now, but the sector has spoken out against several of its terms. Congress also passed a law Thursday giving Mexico's armed forces a more prominent role in airspace monitoring. That has caused alarm, as has a measure to allow "cabotage," or give foreign airlines clearance to operate domestic routes within Mexico. The CE of low-cost carrier Volaris said Thursday industry leaders had told the transportation ministry and lawmakers they "don't consider the opening of cabotage to be needed."<br/>
Flights to and from Amsterdam's Schiphol will be limited to 460,000 in the year through September 2024, the airport said, calling it a temporary solution for the government-proposed cap of 440,000 to cut noise pollution and for environmental reasons. The previous cap was set at 500,000 flights a year. The airport called upon the government to speed up the implementation of a new system that would cap traffic not at a specific number of flights, but instead focus on the maximum level of noise and air pollution allowed. This would leave the option open for future growth if airlines manage to reduce pollution from their flights. Royal Schiphol Group, the operator of airports in the Netherlands, is majority owned by the Dutch state. The Dutch government did not reply to a Reuters' request for comment, but Transportation Minister Mark Harbers told NPO Radio 1 on Thursday that Schiphol's 460,000 cap should be a first step to implementing the 440,000 cap.<br/>
Heathrow airport will stop airlines adding extra flights to their schedules during the peak summer season in a new effort to avoid travel disruption hitting passengers. The hub airport has agreed scheduling limits with carriers to control the numbers of passengers moving through the airport during the busiest periods, according to a document filed with the UK’s slot co-ordinator. Such limits, which stop carriers from adding new flights if spare slots become available as the summer progresses, are designed to create a “firewall” to “protect the operations” of the airport, the document says, rather than “allow additional peaks to be created”. Passengers suffered a wave of disruption across many European airports last year as the industry struggled to hire enough staff after travel rules relaxed. Heathrow imposed a controversial cap on passenger numbers last summer to avoid last-minute disruption and delays, triggering a dispute with carriers after it asked them to stop selling tickets for flights that had already been scheduled. However, this summer’s scheduling limits have been agreed with airlines and will not affect their planned schedules. Heathrow CE John Holland-Kaye said the airport would be busier than 2019 on some days this year, but that he expected operations to run smoothly after a recruitment drive. He added that the slot limits were a “normal thing to do . . . so that you do not put too much pressure on the system”. Heathrow said on Thursday that passenger numbers had more than trebled in 2022 to 66mn following the removal of travel restrictions in Q1 of the year. It said this growth had been higher than any other airport globally following the return of mass travel, but conceded it “was challenging operationally”.<br/>
London’s Heathrow Airport is seeking higher passenger charges to meet rising costs and let it expand services as airlines ramp up operations in the post-pandemic era, Chief Executive Officer John Holland-Kaye said. Passengers flying through the UK’s busiest airport tripled to 62m in 2022 as countries lifted restrictions, the company said while reporting results. Losses narrowed to GBP684m ($822m) in 2022, nearly half of previous year, due to inflation and higher charges. “You can see here that a business that is economically regulated is still loss making while the airlines are returning to profits and dividends,” Holland-Kaye said. Britain’s aviation regulator has delayed a decision on fee hikes as it evaluates how a UK recession and rising interest rates impact travel demand. The airline industry is set to achieve its first post-pandemic profit this year, with carriers likely making a collective $4.7b in net income in 2023, the IATA said in December. An interim charge of GBP31.57 ($38) per passenger starting February through the rest of 2023 was announced in December, pending a final ruling on a five-year charging structure. It has been opposed by all the major airlines. The airport will not have a cap on passengers in place for the busy summer travel season as it stepped up employment in the past 18 months to handle the surge in air travel. Heathrow was particularly hit last year after a shortage of workers forced it to curtail operations when arrivals surged. <br/>
Oman has agreed to allow Israeli airlines to use its airspace, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. “This is an historic decision that will shorten the road to Asia, lower costs for Israeli citizens and help Israeli airlines to be more competitive,” Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said. The two countries do not have formal diplomatic relations. Oman reiterated its commitment to non-discrimination under international air navigation rules, but refrained from any mention of Israel. “As part of the Sultanate of Oman’s continuous efforts to fulfill its obligations under the Chicago Convention of 1944, the Civil Aviation Authority affirms that the Sultanate’s airspace is open for all carriers that meet the requirements of the Authority for overflying,” Oman’s government said in a tweet. Israeli airlines had already been granted overflight rights by Saudi Arabia, and the arrangement with Oman will allow those companies to make better use of the airspace. Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the US National Security Council, said in a statement that “for the first time in history, passengers flying to and from Israel will now be able to travel on direct routes between Israel, Asia, and points in between. The United States was pleased to support these efforts through months of quiet diplomatic engagement.”<br/>
Hong Kong has pledged to reclaim its status as an international aviation hub, as it introduces a raft of measures to boost the recovery of passenger traffic at Hong Kong international airport (HKIA). In the city’s first annual budget speech since onerous zero-infection restrictions were scrapped, finance secretary Paul Chan says the Airport Authority Hong Kong, which operates HKIA, will roll out a series of initiatives, including reducing or waiving certain airport charges, as well as incentives for airlines to resume operations to Hong Kong. Hong Kong passenger traffic collapsed amid the pandemic, as the city hewed close to the ‘zero-Covid’ policy of Mainland China, resulting in its borders remaining mostly shut for more than two years. Once among the world’s busiest airport, HKIA saw passenger volumes shrink to a small fraction of pre-pandemic levels, as airlines began suspending flights, with some even completely exiting the market altogether. It was only around late-2022 that the city began easing restrictions, including scrapping mandatory quarantine. The move resulted in a rise in HKIA passenger numbers for January, up 28-fold to 2.1m. Chan, speaking on 22 February, adds that his government will press ahead with developing the HKIA area into an ‘Airport City’ – a “node of various economic activities with aviation as its core business”. The finance secretary adds that HKIA’s Three Runway System expansion project will be completed by end-2024. “HKIA will have its capacity substantially increased and its position as a regional multi-modal transportation hub further enhanced. <br/>
Boeing has temporarily halted deliveries of its 787 Dreamliners so it can do additional analysis on a fuselage component, the company and the Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday. “In reviewing certification records, Boeing discovered an analysis error by our supplier related to the 787 forward pressure bulkhead. We notified the FAA and have paused 787 deliveries while we complete the required analysis and documentation,” Boeing said. The company won’t be able to resume deliveries until it can show the FAA it has resolved the issue, but production will continue and Boeing doesn’t expect the issue to require additional work on the 787s. “There is no immediate safety of flight concern for the in-service fleet,” the company said. “We are communicating with our customers and will continue to follow the lead of the FAA. While near-term deliveries will be impacted, at this time we do not anticipate a change to our production and delivery outlook for the year.” The planes, which are often used for long-haul international routes, have suffered several issues for several years. This is not the first time that deliveries were halted.<br/>
Relatives of people killed in two Boeing 737 MAX crashes on Thursday appealed a US judge's rejection of their bid to prosecute the planemaker by reopening or dismissing Boeing's January 2021 deferred prosecution agreement. The US Justice Department agreement gave Boeing immunity from criminal prosecution over fraud conspiracy charges related to the plane's flawed design. In return, Boeing has to pay $2.5b in fines and compensation to the government, airlines and a crash-victim fund. US District Judge Reed O'Connor in Texas ruled he did not have legal authority to grant the relatives' requests despite what he called "Boeing’s egregious criminal conduct." Boeing declined to comment. "The families now come to this court to see that justice is done," they said in a filing with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals arguing the Justice Department "misled the families as to whether a criminal investigation existed and then secretly cut a deferred prosecution deal without informing the families at all." O'Connor ruled in October that the 346 people killed in two Boeing 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 are legally "crime victims" and said the Justice Department had not complied with its obligations under the law. O'Connor ordered Boeing arraigned on the 2021 felony fraud conspiracy charge. Boeing pleaded not guilty last month and had argued against reopening the plea deal as did the Justice Department. Boeing says it has fully complied with the agreement and made significant reforms.<br/>
FedEx Corp. pilots are inching closer to a potential strike as negotiations stall on a new labor agreement. Leaders of the FedEx Express pilots union approved a strike authorization vote, according to a statement Wednesday from the Air Line Pilots Association. A date for the vote wasn’t specified. The union said no new talks have been scheduled between the two sides. The move underscores the rift between the union and FedEx management despite almost six months of oversight by a federal mediator. Calling for a vote is one step in a lengthy process laid out under federal law that could lead to an eventual strike. The potential vote has no impact on FedEx’s service and the company said in a statement that it’s “still in productive negotiations” with its pilots. “Strike authorization votes are a common tactic for labor organizations,” FedEx said. Shares of the Memphis, Tennessee-based company fell 1.4% in New York trading. The FedEx Express talks are occurring at the same time the four largest US passenger airlines engage in efforts to reach new pilot contracts. Relations across the industry have been tense as unions seek increases in compensation and more flexible work schedules, and pilots have frequently picketed outside of airports and sites of company investor meetings.<br/>
The new boss of Rolls-Royce has launched a sweeping review of the aircraft engine maker, pledging that there is “much more” to come after last year beat expectations, sending shares up more than 20%. Tufan Erginbilgic, who joined as chief executive on 1 January, said the FTSE 100 manufacturer had been underperforming financially for years and outlined key areas for reform that he said would deliver materially higher profit, cashflows and returns. The comments follow his warning to employees last month that Rolls-Royce is a “burning platform” that must transform to survive. Erginbilgic pledged to do better in future, even as the company reported a 57% increase in underlying profits to GBP652m, GBP505m generated in cash and revenues up 16% to GBP12.7b in 2022 – well above analysts’ expectations. Rolls-Royce shares rose by 24% on Thursday to 133p, their highest level for more than a year as investors welcomed the stronger than expected recovery. The company, which earns maintenance revenues depending on the hours flown by the engines it makes, said engine flying hours were at 65% of pre-pandemic 2019 levels and were expected to rise to 80-90% of 2019 levels this year thanks to the easing of travel restrictions in China. The pandemic presented a serious threat to Rolls-Royce as revenues from its civil aerospace business dried up. Yet Erginbilgic, who replaced the retiring Warren East, said Rolls-Royce had serious problems before Covid-19 struck, and outlined plans to increase the company’s profitability.<br/>