Air fares are rising at more than twice the rate of inflation, as carriers cash in on soaring demand for travel that has defied broader economic headwinds. Average ticket prices on more than 600 of the world’s most popular routes rose at an annual rate of 27.4 per cent in February, the latest month for which data is available, marking the fifteenth consecutive month of double-digit growth, according to a Financial Times analysis of data from aviation company Cirium. By contrast, US inflation, a proxy for global inflation in developed economies, has grown at less than half that over the same period. The data analysed prices on popular routes flown across the world and used average one-way fares in economy, excluding taxes and fees. It found significant price rises across many routes this year, compared to pre-pandemic levels. The average one-way economy class transatlantic flight from London Heathrow to New York’s JFK was $343 in February this year, 23% higher than in the same month in 2019. Fares between New York and Singapore were 45% higher at $887, while Dubai to Frankfurt tickets were 51% up at $360. Sixty routes with at least one leg in North America out of a total of more than 300 routes have set new highs in the past 12-months, including seven setting a new peak in February. Fares between Miami and Bridgetown, Barbados grew 126 per cent in the year to February and ticket prices between Los Angeles to Mexico City International almost doubled — the highest year on year changes in air fares since at least 2014, the first year for which data is available. Passengers’ willingness to pay high fares underlines the furious rebound in demand for flying over the past year, and how airlines are enjoying a sharp turnaround in fortunes following the pandemic.<br/>
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Air traffic control in the United States is understaffed by about 3,000 positions, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNN on Friday, as hiring to fill some of that gap opened. The FAA ATC workforce currently numbers about 11,500 controllers, but “the optimal number is closer to about 14,500,” the secretary said on CNN News Central. The numbers are similar to the agency’s assessment this spring that about one in five controller positions nationwide are vacant. “We have thousands of controllers in training right now but also a number who are eligible to retire,” Buttigieg said. He spoke as the agency began hiring on Friday – targeting 1,500 new entry-level air traffic controllers this year – and published an annual report on the agency’s ATC workforce. That report showed the agency hired 1,026 controllers last year, just shy of its targets, acting FAA administrator Billy Nolen told Congress in a letter. The FAA also experienced more controllers leaving the job last year than it had planned, and is further short-staffed because the coronavirus pandemic “has resulted in delayed certification for most existing developmental controllers.” Recently, Nolen told reporters that the agency’s planned 3,300 hires in the next two years will mostly replace those who are retiring. About 500 of those hires will hold positions that are currently empty.<br/>
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will hold a May 23 forum on the danger of runway incursions after a series of close call incidents raised questions about the safety of US aviation. The NTSB is investigating six runway incursion events since just the start of the year. The board said the roundtable will bring together aviation industry, labor and government safety experts to discuss the problem and possible solutions. Last month, the FAA named an independent safety review team to look at ways to boost air safety after a series of near miss incidents in Texas, Boston, Florida as well as a near collision at New York's John F. Kennedy airport when a Delta Boeing plane came to a safe stop after air traffic controllers noticed an American Airlines Boeing 777 had errantly crossed from an adjacent taxiway as well. The US has not had a major fatal US passenger airline crash since February 2009. "We've made this one of our top priorities to move from not just zero fatal accidents, but zero serious near misses as well," Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen said last month. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said she hoped candid discussions would "spur meaningful, immediate action on the areas where we’re stalled." In March, the FAA said it was taking steps to improve its air traffic control operations and convened a safety summit. "There is no question that we are seeing too many close calls," FAA Air Traffic Organization COO Tim Arel said.<br/>
Airlines and unions disagree on many aspects relating to today's tight labour market, but concur on at least one thing: The need to diversify the pilot workforce pool. At a recent congressional hearing, Regional Airline Association (RAA) President Faye Malarkey Black rued the "very limited diversity" within airline cockpits, echoing remarks from the Air Line Pilots Association's (ALPA) Jason Ambrosi who noted a dearth of pilots who are women and people of color, saying "that must change". The alignment stood out because Ambrosi and Black disagreed about key elements in today's employment market, including whether a pilot shortage exists. The population of US airline pilots and engineers is currently 95.7% white and 9.2% female, according to US data. Tapping into underrepresented populations has emerged as a solution to the industry's workforce stresses from the surge in travel demand following the COVID-19 downturn, issues that have also affected other corners of aviation. Over the last 18 months, there has been a scramble for seasoned pilots after thousands of pilots accepted early retirement while airlines cut costs during the pandemic. Whereas major US airlines drew 50% of their pilots from the military in the year 2000, that share has dropped to just 15 per cent due to the military's shift to unmanned aircraft. Today, three-quarters of major airline recruits come from regional airlines, according to consultancy Oliver Wyman.<br/>
US airlines had baggage fee revenue of more than $6.7b last year, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. American Airlines alone earned almost $1.4b from checked bags, accounting for more than 2% of the carrier’s full-year revenue. For decades, most bags flew for free, but in recent years fees have surged, boosting the bottom line of the nation’s carriers. “There’s a lot of complexity behind what goes into ensuring that a passenger’s bag arrives at their destination with them,” said Kirk Pilliner, general manager of Baggage Operations for Delta Air Lines. At Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, more than 30 miles of conveyor belts, an army of 2,000 workers and a fleet of airport tugs ferry bags from the terminal to the aircraft to ensure passengers are reunited with their luggage at their destination. US carriers hauled more than 470m passenger bags last year.<br/>
It may be a tough summer to fly. More passengers than ever will be taking to the skies, according to the Transportation Security Administration. And the weather so far this year hasn’t exactly been cooperating. A blizzard warning in San Diego, sudden turbulence that injured 36 people on a Hawaiian Airlines flight bound for Honolulu, a 25-inch deluge of rain that swamped an airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: The skies have been confounding forecasters and frustrating travelers. And it may only get worse as the climate continues to change. “Intense events are happening more often and outside their seasonal norms,” said Sheri Bachstein, chief executive of the Weather Company, part of IBM, which makes weather-forecasting technology. So, will flights just get bumpier and delays even more common? Not necessarily. New sensors, satellites and data modeling powered by artificial intelligence are giving travelers a fighting chance against more erratic weather. The travel industry “cares about getting their weather predictions right because weather affects everything,” said Amy McGovern, director of the National Science Foundation’s A.I. Institute for Research on Trustworthy AI in Weather, Climate and Coastal Oceanography at the University of Oklahoma. Those better weather predictions rely on a type of artificial intelligence called machine learning, where in essence, a computer program is able to use data to improve itself. In this case, companies create software that uses historical and current weather data to make predictions. The algorithm then compares its predictions with outcomes and adjusts its calculations from there. By doing this over and over, the software makes more and more accurate forecasts.<br/>
Some 40 kilometers south of the Rwandan capital of Kigali in the Bugesera District, construction vehicles and high-visibility vests swarm across an arid expanse of land. Here, two strips of tarmac are the cornerstone of a $2b airport, whose developers want it to be the jewel in the crown of Africa’s aviation industry. Slated for completion in 2026, the new facility will boast a 130,000-square-meter main terminal building capable of accommodating 8m passengers a year, a figure expected to rise to over 14m in the following decades. Adjacent will be a dedicated cargo terminal, capable of accommodating 150,000 tons of cargo a year. It’s a significant upgrade on the existing Kigali International Airport, which is set to remain operational for special arrivals, some chartered flights, and a pilot training school. Pre-pandemic, the airport was shuttling close to 1m passengers annually, but its geographic limitations – perched on top of a small hill and surrounded by human settlements – meant a move was necessary to allow expansion.<br/>