Travel is so busy this spring break season at Miami International Airport that officials are advising flyers to give themselves an extra hour – arriving three hours, rather than two – before a domestic flight. Miami International is the fastest-growing airport in the United States, setting monthly passenger records 12 of the past 13 months. Experts predict that this spring, nationwide travel will be about 1% up on this same period in 2022, when travelers surged onto flights as the pandemic subsided. The tourism industry says spring break this year could have been, but bad flying experiences from last year are holding some people back. Combined with some safety concerns after a series of runway close calls, some would-be travelers are staying at or close to home. “That is leading some travelers to say, ‘you know what, I would travel more if we could fix that air travel experience,’ ” Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the US Travel Association, told CNN. “This system is getting a bit overwhelmed because of the demand for travel,” Freeman said. “It is a system that is in dire need of investment in technology and people.” Because spring break weeks vary in different parts of the country, the aviation world looks broadly at March and April as peak months. TSA figures show March so far is about 3% slower than 2019. The Federal Aviation Administration reports nearly 50,000 flights scheduled on some peak days. Overall, industry body Airlines for America expects 158m people will fly during the two-month window. “We’re expecting this spring break to likely break records for number of travelers who are getting out there and how much they’re spending,” said Hayley Berg of the travel app Hopper.<br/>
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A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Wednesday will make a new push for legislation to bar passengers fined or convicted of serious physical violence from commercial flights after a series of recent high-profile incidents. Three lawmakers said on Monday they plan to reintroduce the "Protection from Abusive Passengers Act," saying the enhanced penalty is a strong deterrent and needed to improve aviation worker and passenger safety and "minimize disruptions to the national aviation system and restore confidence in air travel." Senator Jack Reed and Representative Eric Swalwell, both Democrats, and Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick are introducing the bill after a series of incidents aboard airplanes. Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union opposed creating a no-fly list for unruly passengers, saying the U.S. government "has a terrible record of treating people fairly with regard to the existing no-fly list and other watch lists that are aimed at alleged terrorists." During the early stages of the pandemic, much of the passenger anger was sparked by the federal government mask mandate. Despite the end of the airplane mask mandate in April 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigated 831 unruly passenger incidents in 2022, up from 146 in 2019, but down from 1,099 in 2021, the lawmakers noted. The total number of incidents reported onboard has fallen sharply and returned to pre-COVID levels. The FAA received 2,456 unruly passenger reports in 2022 and proposed $8.4m in fines, down from 5,981 reports in 2021, which included 4,290 mask-related incidents. The FAA proposed $5m in fines in 2021. At a planned news conference on Wednesday, the lawmakers will be joined by flight attendants from Southwest, Frontier Airlines and American Airlines, as well as unions including the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA and the Air Line Pilots Association.<br/>
Pilots’ unions are putting their combined weight against single-pilot operations of commercial aircraft, calling concepts leaning more heavily on automation a “profit-driven scheme that poses a significant safety risk”. Air Line Pilots Association, International, the European Cockpit Association and the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations said on 27 March they have formed a coalition against reducing flight crews and “vowed to take collective action to protect the flying public”. “Despite developments in automation and improved technologies on the flight deck, two pilots at the controls remain the most important safety features of an aircraft,” the pilot groups say. “Pilots eliminate system-failure scenarios and act as a critical onboard backup for failed systems, bridge technology gaps and adapt in real-time and in the real environment to unanticipated situations and emergencies.” The unions say they their new coalition will counter “aggressive corporate-led lobbying campaigns targeting regulators around the world, including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)”. A UN agency that promotes safe and efficient air transport, the ICAO has for several years studied new operational concepts, including full automation and extended minimum crew operations. In a January 2022 working paper, the agency acknowledged that public and pilot acceptance would be a major obstacle to changing the long-established two-in-the-cockpit rule for commercial aviation. “The implications of single-pilot operations are easily understandable to non-specialists,” the ICAO says. “The general acceptance of these new concepts is of relevance, particularly as there may be concerns from both aviation employees and passengers.” The European Union Aviation Safety Agency is also researching whether one pilot could be removed from the cockpit for part of the flight – or all of it – without increasing safety risks, and exploring extended minimum-crew operations as a stepping stone to single-pilot operations.<br/>
President Joe Biden's nominee to head the FAA who withdrew from consideration said on Monday he did not see a path forward for winning approval. Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington said in a statement that he had written to Biden on Friday to withdraw. "I no longer saw a respectful, civil, and viable path forward to Senate confirmation," Washington said on Monday. "I faced cheap and unfounded partisan attacks and procedural obstruction with regard to my military career that would have further lengthened the already delayed confirmation process." He added: "I decided that for the good of the FAA and the country, I would withdraw my name from consideration." U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg confirmed on Saturday that Washington had withdrawn. Washington's statement on Monday offered more details into his thinking. Senate Republicans said Washington was unqualified to serve, citing his limited aviation experience and failure to answer some key questions. Democrats were forced to cancel a planned committee vote last week on his confirmation after some senators remained undecided. U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema, an Independent, said on Monday: "The administration should quickly nominate a permanent FAA administrator with the necessary, substantial aviation safety experience and expertise." The FAA has been without a Senate-confirmed administrator for nearly a year. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell said: "Republicans chose to drum up falsehoods rather than give the flying public and the aviation industry the leadership needed now."<br/>
Germany’s air and rail services ground to a halt Monday during a one-day strike as workers join peers in France and the UK to fight for higher pay. The walkout also affects some ports, with the Verdi and EVG transport and railway unions coming together in a strike that resulted in severe disruption to travel. Verdi is demanding a raise of 10.5% for public sector workers. Major airports including Frankfurt and Munich won’t operate Monday. Frankfurt Airport advised passengers changing planes to avoid the hub. Long-distance, regional and local trains operated by Deutsche Bahn and other railway will also come to a standstill, EVG said. Frankfurt airport, Germany’s biggest, was expected to handle more 1,100 takeoffs and landing on a normal Monday. Verdi Hamburg on Saturday said it has made agreements with all affected companies in order to guarantee safe passage in the event of accidents, emergency landings or medical or patient transport. Travelers already got a taste of the chaos Sunday when Deutsche Lufthansa AG was forced to cancel some flights due to technical issues. Europe’s biggest airline group has suffered a spate of strikes and operational mishaps in recent months, riling passengers as air travel comes back from the pandemic and more people gear up to fly on their Easter vacation.<br/>
Plans to increase passenger numbers and change weekend flying times at London City Airport have been opposed by the London mayor's office. Arrivals and departures are not allowed at the airport between 12:30 BST on Saturday and 12:30 on Sunday. Airport management want to operate flights until 18:30 on a Saturday, under plans submitted to Newham Council. Deputy mayor for planning, Jules Pipe, said it does not fit the London Plan. The proposal for the airport also includes increasing passenger numbers from 6.5m per year to 9m and allowing up to 12 more arrivals between 18:30 and 19:30 in British Summer Time. But it is not looking to increase its 111,000 annual flight limit. The scheme was described by the Greater London Authority (GLA) as "the most substantial proposed change to the airport's operations since it first opened 35 years ago". More than 500 people have objected to the plans, including Lewisham Council. In a letter from the council's environmental protection team, they argued that there was "no justification for ending the 24-hour ban" of flights on weekends. Lewisham Council said it was concerned that changing the operating hours would result in more noise and air pollution for residents.<br/>
The head of the Histadrut labor federation on Monday declared a “historic” labor strike in an attempt to “stop the madness” of the government’s controversial judicial overhaul, ramping up demonstrations after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was fired for speaking out against the planned changes. As part of the labor action, workers at Ben Gurion Airport swiftly announced they would prevent departures. Other organizations also declared they were joining the strike. “We are all worried about Israel’s fate,” Histadrut chief Arnon Bar-David said during a press conference alongside business leaders and public officials. “Together we say, enough!” “We have lost our way — this is not about left or right,” he continued. “We can no longer polarize the nation.” The announcement came ahead of an expected statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he is freezing the legislation. The union boss said he had done “everything” in recent weeks “to stop the situation,” but the efforts came to naught. “We are all joining hands to shut down the State of Israel,” Bar-David said. “The malls and the factories will close.” Shortly after Bar-David spoke, the workers union at Ben Gurion Airport was the first to take action, with its head announcing an immediate halt to departures. “I ordered the immediate halt of takeoffs at the airport,” Pinchas Idan said in a statement, without giving further details.<br/>
Airports in the Middle East will need to invest $151b in capacity expansion as the global air passenger demand is expected to increase more than two-fold in 2040, according to the Airport Council International (ACI). “This necessitates an investment totalling $2.4 trillion for Middle East and Asia-Pacific airports until 2040 to accommodate this growth,” ACI said. The Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions are expected to account for 58% of the global air passenger demand in 2040. The ACI forecasts close to 19.7b passengers are expected to traverse the world’s airports by 2040 and the Middle East airports will handle 1.1b passengers by 2040 – a significant increase from 2019’s 405m. The CAPA - Centre for Aviation, one of the world’s most trusted sources of aviation market intelligence, says there have been 425 major construction projects at existing airports, with $450.7 billion in total committed expenditure globally, each of which is at various stages, from preparatory to about to conclude, along with 225 new airport projects and airport investor numbers swelling to 1074, including 258 airport operator groups or consortiums. Its database has region-wise listed the total numbers of the airport project and the volume of investment include 155 in Middle East worth $209.4b.<br/>
The gigantic twin tail fins, once stretching as high as a six-story building, are gone. So are the tailplane, flaps, hydraulic systems, fuel pumps and three of six engines of the plane, which was destroyed in fighting in the first days of the war. Piece by piece, workers are now dismantling the wreckage of the gigantic Mriya cargo plane, the heaviest airplane ever flown, with plans to build a new one with salvaged parts. The restoration of the plane, whose name in Ukrainian means The Dream, has begun. With the war still raging, the immense job of rebuilding Ukraine, where hundreds of thousands of homes, hospitals, schools and bridges are blown up, still seems a distant prospect. Measured against those daunting challenges, the work on the new plane is hardly a top priority from a humanitarian point of view. But it is meant in part as an inspiration, according to executives at the aircraft company that owns it, Antonov. If something as gargantuan and complex as this airplane can be restored, they say, so can the rest of the country. “People should have hope,” said Vladyslav Valsyk, deputy director and chief engineer of Antonov, a state-owned company. “They have to know this plane is not abandoned. Yes, there is a lot of work to do, but we are working.” But critics say that devoting money and energy to rebuilding the plane would be a misplaced priority. Valery Romanenko, an aviation analyst, has said to Ukrainian media that Antonov should focus only on “doing something urgent for the armed forces” during the war, such as making drones. “There are just no words,” he said of the plan to build a new Mriya.<br/>
The number of flights between Gimpo International Airport and Chinese destinations has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, according to the Korea Airports Corp., Monday. The airport operator said the total weekly flights between Gimpo and the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai returned to 56 as of Sunday, after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Four airlines ― Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Air China and China Southern Airlines ― will each operate seven flights per week between Gimpo and Beijing. Among them, China Southern Airlines' newly-launched air route will fly to Beijing's Daxing International Airport ― the Chinese capital's second airport that opened before the pandemic in September 2019. Daxing is also the world's biggest airport that is expected to handle up to 100m passengers in the future. Between Gimpo and Shanghai, a total of 28 weekly flights will be restored to pre-pandemic levels with four air carriers ― Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai ― each operating seven flights per week. On Monday, the KAC held a commemorative event at Gimpo airport's international terminal. High-ranking officials of the KAC and the airlines, as well as Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming were invited to the event. "Before the pandemic, the exchange between the two countries was very dynamic, with around 10m annual travelers and 1,200 weekly flights," Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming told The Korea Times, highlighting the importance of a resumption in exchanges between the two countries. He explained that both countries still see high travel demand from tourists and business people. The resumption of flights between Gimpo and China will "create a new dynamic in human resource exchanges and economic cooperation between the two countries," he said.<br/>