US airline passenger levels this summer are projected to be “comfortably above” pre-pandemic numbers, the head of the TSA said. With disruptions to the air-travel network from Covid-19 fading, the TSA is girding for what would be a record season for air travel, Administrator David Pekoske said. “I expect that we’re going to see very, very strong demand all the way through the summertime, and that’s that’s what we’re preparing for,” Pekoske said. “It’ll be a challenge, but we’ve faced this challenge in prior years and we’ve been able to be successful at it.” Airports in Orlando, Dallas, Houston — and East Coast hubs with a large number of international flights, such as New York’s John F. Kennedy International — are expected to be busiest, Pekoske said. High volume during the spring-break period this year is one reason for the projection, he said. The agency is prepared to use more overtime and will move screeners around the country to the busiest airports to keep security lines from becoming too long, he said. Demand for flying rebounded sharply last year, but airlines and the FAA have at times been unable to keep up with demand with workforces that lagged. TSA has also struggled to hire enough people, but has seen better recruitment results and lower attrition rates so far this year. Pekoske attributed that to pay raises Congress approved last year. The pay boosts kick in in July, but Congress only provided funding for one quarter. Lawmakers must provide more funding in fiscal 2024 and beyond to maintain the raises and keep the workforce satisfied, he said.<br/>
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Two former FAA administrators are calling on the US government to overhaul training requirements for airline pilots amid a shortage of flight deck professionals that threatens to hinder the industry’s growth for years to come. In an 18 April letter to leaders of the House of Representatives’ Transportation and Infrastructure committee, Randy Babbitt and Dan Elwell say the current training regime for airline pilots in the USA is outdated and needs to be reassessed. Their comments come ahead of a congressional hearing about Federal Aviation Administration reauthorisation and the aviation industry workforce, set for 19 April. “The US pilot training paradigm is flipped from where it should be,” they write. “Today’s approach maximises ‘simple flight hours’ but allows minimal credit for the use of advanced simulator and ground training devices; we strongly believe it should be the other way around.” Currently, most prospective airline pilots in the USA must log 1,500h of total flight time before they are eligible to apply for a job piloting commercial aircraft – about six times more hours than their colleagues in other countries. There are few regulations, however, about what kind of flying pilots do to collect those hours. The pilot experience rule rule – a response to the deadly 2009 crash of a Colgan Air turboprop – does have some exemptions: military pilots can take airline jobs with 750h, and graduates of university aviation programmes can do so with 1,000h or 1,250h. Many pilots who do not fall into those categories work as flight instructors in single-engine piston aircraft – a far cry from the complex technology of multi-engine jets they would later fly for airlines. In addition, such candidates rarely experience the difficult weather conditions that they could face in commercial-jet cockpits. That kind of aviation experience is of little use as a measure of proficiency and safety, Babbitt and Elwell say. They argue the FAA should allow pilot candidates to use modern simulator technology to fill in knowledge and skills gaps. “Because of regulations written decades before the incredible advances in full-motion high-fidelity simulators, and advanced training devices, pilots are restricted from logging more than about 7% of their [air transport pilot]-qualifying time in simulators,” they say. <br/>
A parliamentary committee has recommended sweeping changes to Canada's air passenger rights framework, stressing tougher enforcement and compensation rules around flight delays. Tabled Tuesday, the report comes after chaotic travel seasons over the summer and winter holidays brought on by soaring demand, labour shortages and poor weather. Its 21 recommendations include bigger monetary penalties for airlines, smoother processing of compensation claims and automatic payout offers for customers after significant flight disruptions or denial of boarding. It further suggests putting the burden of proof on airlines to show why compensation should not be awarded, and placing the cost of resolving claims to the regulator on the carriers' shoulders. If the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) determines a customer's rights have been violated, all passengers on the same flight should be informed and offered refunds or compensation, the report states. The committee also suggests the federal government consider harmonizing its compensation rules with European regulations even when delays are for safety purposes -- a payout exemption the European Union does not allow, but often relied on by Canadian carriers, advocates say. The passenger complaints backlog at the Canadian Transportation Agency sat just below 45,000 as of Tuesday, more than triple the tally from a year ago. The ballooning backlog means each case now needs more than a year and a half to handle, spurring the committee to recommend a review of the CTA as the enforcer. It pointed to potential complaint agency models such as those for telecommunications, television and banking. Nadine Ramadan, spokeswoman for Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, said the government will review the recommendations in the coming weeks.<br/>
Airlines could be in line for E2b in European Union funding to help them switch to sustainable fuels, under reforms to strengthen Europe's climate change policies. The European Parliament on Tuesday approved a revamp of the EU carbon market, which would use proceeds from 20m CO2 permits to compensate airlines that use sustainable fuels. At today's CO2 price, that would total E1.9b, which airlines can claim from 2024 to 2030 to cover the price difference between fossil fuel-based kerosene and greener fuels, which are currently far more expensive. Aviation is seen as one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise, with zero-emission aircraft not expected for over a decade. In the nearer term, sustainable fuel is one of the few options to air travel's carbon footprint. The EU carbon market reform still needs formal approval from EU countries, due later this month, before it becomes law. Separately, the EU is also developing binding targets for airlines to increase their use of sustainable fuels. Campaign group Transport & Environment said the EU funds should be coupled with binding targets and more industry investments, to kickstart a market for green fuels. "Subsidies alone will not be enough to trigger the switch to e-fuels," the group's aviation director Jo Dardenne said. Airlines are set to face higher costs for polluting in Europe in the coming years. As part of the carbon market reforms, the EU will stop giving free CO2 permits to airlines from 2026, meaning they will need to buy a permit to cover every tonne of CO2 they emit.<br/>
Germany’s Hamburg Airport said all departures would be cancelled or take place without passengers on Thursday and Friday due to a strike by security control workers called by union Verdi, with around 80,000 passengers likely to be affected. The strike will begin on Wednesday at 10 p.m. local time (2000 GMT) and end on Friday at 11 p.m., and security control will be closed all of Thursday and Friday, the statement said. Arrivals will still be possible but flights may be delayed or cancelled, it added.<br/>
Germany’s Verdi union called on aviation security staff at three airports to hold a warning strike on Thursday and Friday over stalled wage negotiations, the union said in a statement. The strikes planned at Duesseldorf, Hamburg and Cologne Bonn airports will lead to longer wait times for passengers and flight cancellations in some cases, said the union on Tuesday. <br/>
On Tuesday morning, flights to Cape Town could not land due to technical problems experienced at Cape Town International Airport. Airports Company SA (ACSA) says flights were affected after a fibre network fault at the airport, which meant that the necessary instrument landing technology was not available to land planes in heavy fog, which hit Cape Town on Tuesday morning. Just before 10:00, the fog lifted and flights could land, Acsa confirmed. "These limitations on runway equipment and the consequential diversions are naturally as frustrating to us as they are to our customers. While we'll do our best to limit inconvenience to customers, the implications for us also include the additional costs of landing at diversion airports and refuelling to get customers back to where they need to be," says Kirby Gordon, spokesperson of FlySafair. "Effectively the operating costs of these flights triple, as we effectively do three flights to achieve one." A CemAir flight to Cape Town had to return to Johannesburg and the airline's CEO Miles van der Molen said other flights were delayed until the weather improved in Cape Town. He also pointed to the huge additional cost this creates for airlines.<br/>
South Sudan said Tuesday that international flight operations into the country have resumed after a temporary halt following the closure of Sudan's airspace amid clashes. Deng Dau Deng, deputy minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, said three airlines had suspended their flights to South Sudan Sunday due to military clashes in neighboring Sudan. "There are three international airlines to Juba that were affected on Sunday, but they have got their own routing and have arrived in Juba. We have Turkish Airlines, Egyptair, and flydubai; these were three flights that were affected," Dau told foreign diplomats in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. Since South Sudan gained independence in 2011, the country's airspace has been controlled by Sudan. Violent clashes erupted on April 15 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, and other cities, where the two sides traded accusations of initiating the conflict.<br/>
Australian Federal Police say they’ve seen a spike in arrests at public airports over the past six months, responding to 429 aviation-related incidents since November. The AFP, who police Australia’s main airports, say bad behaviour and booze have been behind the majority of the 304 offences recorded recently. While incidents spiked over Christmas, with 49 people charged in relation to anti-social or criminal behaviour, there have been a further 157 arrests by AFP. Assistant Commissioner Alison Wegg says that, although a spike in incidents can be expected during peak travel times, alcohol was often a contributing factor. “The AFP is working with airlines, airports and regulatory authorities to help ensure a safe environment for passengers,” she said. “We are conscious that times of high passenger volume, combined with higher waiting periods, can lead to an increase in disruptive or anti-social behaviour.”<br/>
Boeing is moving ahead with plans to hike output of its cash-cow 737 jetliner while dealing with the ripple effects from a new production flaw uncovered by one of its largest suppliers. The US planemaker isn’t altering the schedule for its 737 suppliers, including rate increases, CEO Dave Calhoun said Tuesday at a virtual gathering of shareholders. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Boeing intends to hike output of its workhorse narrowbody jet by 23% by midyear. Boeing understands the extent of the work it faces to repair affected airplanes in production and storage, Calhoun said, while providing few new details about the 737 disruption that the company disclosed last week. He told investors that the latest operations stumble wouldn’t stop Boeing from reaching its annual target of churning out $10b in free cash by mid-decade. The aviation titan is making “meaningful progress” on its recovery from years of crises and operational lapses, Calhoun said, adding: “We have the right team, right products, right services and right strategy. We just have to execute.” Boeing shares rose as much as 1.8% in New York trading in response to Calhoun’s remarks, erasing an earlier decline. The manufacturer was the best performer among the 30-member Dow Jones Industrial Average. Still, some shareholders signaled impatience with a string of quality lapses that have led to losses on defense contracts, and hiccups in deliveries for marquee commercial jets like the 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner. “Here we are a year later and the company still can’t seem to get out of its own way,” Paul Chesser, a director with the National Legal and Policy Center, said at the annual general meeting. Returning the 737 Max to pre-grounding production levels is crucial if Boeing is to resume being the prodigious cash generator that made it a darling of Wall Street last decade. The planemaker had seemed to be turning itself around after delivering more jets in the first quarter than rival Airbus SE for the first time nearly five years.<br/>
Airbus has started notifying airlines about delivery delays in 2024 for its best-selling A320neo family of jets, with several hundred of the single-aisle planes set to be postponed by as much as three months, industry sources said on Tuesday. Airbus confirmed unspecified delays for 2024 in a statement to Reuters but said they did not reflect any worsening of supply chain problems since it revised production plans earlier this year. It reaffirmed production targets for 2024 and beyond. "We already communicated in December on the impact for 2023 and are now talking about 2024 in detail," Airbus said by email. For airlines, the latest wave of notices marks the first concrete indication of supply constraints beyond this year. The delays particularly affect the larger and in-demand A321neo variant, which now represents over half of Airbus deliveries, the sources said. Airlines and leasing companies have protested in recent months over a trickle of short-term delay notices amid ongoing supply chain problems. Airbus is now giving more advance notice. "We try to be as transparent as possible to provide visibility for our customers," an Airbus spokesperson said. Two airline industry sources said they were still struggling to find the clarity needed for network planning, however. "We are still being drip-fed," one of the sources said, adding the delays suggested supply chains were not significantly improving. The delays do not so far include alterations to the schedule for 2023, which has already been trimmed back to target 720 deliveries, unchanged from an initial target for last year. Analysts say the jury is still out on whether Airbus will hit that target after a weak first quarter. Wide-body plane deliveries are seen under the most pressure.<br/>