general

The United States has resumed providing Honduras with radar information used for the surveillance and pursuit of aircraft suspected of transporting drugs, a Honduran military chief said on Monday. The United States suspended radar information cooperation with Honduras in 2014 after the Honduran Congress passed a law that authorized its air force to shoot down aircraft suspected of transporting drugs. Honduras shot down two suspected drug-running planes in 2012, and in response, the US suspended cooperation, arguing it violated a bilateral agreement prohibiting attacks on civilian aircraft. The head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Honduran Armed Forces, Vice Admiral Jose Fortin, posted on Twitter a letter from the US embassy in Honduras indicating that the State Department had lifted restrictions to "allow the US government to resume the exchange of real-time air tracking data with Honduras." "Honduras has demonstrated that it can employ adequate security procedures," the embassy said in the letter, addressed to Defense Minister Jose Manuel Zelaya. The embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Zelaya said in a post on Twitter that the policy change was a "clear sign of President Xiomara Castro's commitment in the fight against drug trafficking and in the security of the region."<br/>

Airlines flying to Heathrow have been told to carry as much fuel as possible in their tanks because of supply problems at Britain’s largest airport, in a controversial practice that can increase carbon emissions. The airport asked airlines to carry excess fuel on the way to London and to avoid carrying too much when departing, citing supply issues, in a notice sent on Sunday. The notice covered nine days from Sunday 23 July to Monday 31 July. Heathrow said there had been no impact on passengers or flights from the request. Fuel tankering is controversial because the practice significantly increases the weight of kerosene stored in the aircraft’s wings. That extra weight increases the amount of fuel burned on a flight, and therefore its carbon footprint. Yet despite the extra cost and carbon emissions, it can be financially worthwhile for airlines if fuel is cheaper at one airport than at another. In Europe alone the practice produces 900,000 tonnes of unnecessary carbon emissions a year – equivalent to about 2,800 flights between Paris and New York – according to a 2019 study by Eurocontrol, an air traffic controllers’ group. The main reason for tankering was to avoid higher prices at some airports, saving airlines a combined E265m, Eurocontrol said, although airlines also used it occasionally if strikes threatened to disrupt refuelling. British Airways is among companies that have previously been accused of regular tankering. The Times last month reported that BA had regularly used fuel tankering since 2019, when it had promised to “review” the practice after a BBC Panorama investigation. The world’s bestselling plane, the Airbus A320, has the capacity to carry upwards of 24,000 litres of fuel, weighing 19 tonnes, in tanks in its wings and the main body of the plane. For shorter routes not all of the capacity would be required.<br/>

The wave of strikes threatening the summer getaway at London’s Gatwick airport appeared close to being resolved on Monday, after ground handling staff received a series of new pay offers. Almost 1,000 workers were due to walk out for eight days in July and August in a dispute over pay with four companies contracted to run airlines’ ground operations at the UK’s second busiest airport. The stoppages were set to cause disruption for thousands of holidaymakers at a peak time for travel and put further strain on Gatwick’s operations, which have already been hit by disruption caused by air traffic control delays this summer. But the Unite union on Monday said that it had called off strikes by workers at DHL, which is contracted to run operations for Gatwick’s largest airline easyJet, after they voted to accept a 15% rise, an uplift in skills pay and an increased premium for working overnight shifts. “This is an excellent result secured by the steadfast position of our DHL members,” said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham. The union added that staff at two other ground handlers, ASC and Menzies, were being balloted on “improved offers”, although it cautioned that walkouts were still possible if workers rejected them. Talks in the final dispute with Gatwick Ground Services, a subsidiary of British Airways, were “progressing in a positive direction”, Unite said. Strikes by GGS workers scheduled between July 28 and August 1 have been suspended, but a second walkout between August 4 and August 8 would go ahead “if a satisfactory outcome is not reached in time”, Unite said. Critical to airlines’ operations, ground handling companies are subcontracted to run services ranging from check-in to baggage handling and refuelling. Labour shortages across ground handlers were one of the biggest causes of last year’s sweeping travel disruption, but companies have reported far higher staffing levels this year, in part because of significant pay rises.<br/>

Boeing executives will face hard questions from investors about whether a recent labor deal reached by Spirit AeroSystems could raise aircraft production costs when the US planemaker releases its second-quarter financial results on Wednesday. Spirit, which produces part of the fuselage of every Boeing passenger jet, reached an agreement with its machinists union on June 29, a week after employees at its Wichita, Kansas-based headquarters voted to strike. Operations fully resumed on July 5. Analysts said they will seek answers about whether the agreement, which boosts wages by at least 23.5% over four years, could also result in raised prices for Boeing. "What (the strike at) Spirit actually told us is what's happened to the cost of skilled touch labor - which is that it has just gone through the roof," said Nick Cunningham, an aerospace analyst at Agency Partners. Aircraft producers are typically able to shield themselves from inflation through contractual escalation clauses that pass rising costs to airlines. However, those clauses have ceilings, and Spirit -- which expects to burn cash in 2023 -- may not be financially capable of absorbing higher labor costs, said AeroDynamic Advisories analyst Richard Aboulafia. "What are you going to do, say, 'You'll have to cut your profit margins?' They don't have profit margins," Aboulafia said. Investors will also seek details about whether the two-week work stoppage delayed production of Boeing's bestselling 737. Bank of America analyst Ron Epstein wrote in a July 12 note that 13% of the 49 narrowbody 737s delivered in June came from Boeing's inventory compared to 5% in April and May - potentially signifying a slowdown of fuselages from Spirit.<br/>

FedEx Corp.’s unionized pilots rejected a tentative agreement to renew a labor contract on which talks have dragged on for more than two years. The courier’s pilots voted 57% against the deal while 43% were in favor, the Air Line Pilots Association, or ALPA, said in a statement. There are about 5,000 FedEx pilots, according to the company, and 98% participated in the vote, an ALPA representative said. “Our members have spoken and we will now regroup and prepare for the next steps,” Capt. Chris Norman, the FedEx chair for ALPA in the statement. “FedEx pilots remain unified, and that will drive a new path that will help produce an agreement that all FedEx pilots will be proud to support.” The rejection adds to a labor conflagration this summer in which Hollywood screenwriters, United Parcel Service Inc. delivery drivers and auto workers are all on strike or threatening to do so. The pandemic unleashed a worker movement fueled by anger at inflation undercutting their wages and the realization of their importance after they kept businesses going during at the height of Covid-19 chaos. Still, FedEx pilots have little choice but to continue flying while negotiators return to the bargaining table. They fall under the Railway Labor Act, which governs only the airline and rail industries and makes it difficult to strike. Although FedEx’s labor contract became amendable in November of 2021, the union cannot take any action until the National Mediation Board gives up on working out a mediated solution and declares the talks at an impasse. FedEx said that the no-vote doesn’t impact its service. “While we are disappointed in these voting results, FedEx will continue to bargain in good faith with our pilots to achieve an agreement that is fair for all FedEx stakeholders,” the company said. <br/>

China’s largest battery maker for electric vehicles has launched an aviation division in preparation to begin mass production of electric planes, according to reports. Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), which supplies batteries for Tesla, claims to have achieved the “holy grail” energy density required for commercial electric aircraft of 500 Watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg). The company announced the feat at the Auto Shanghai trade fair earlier this year, with chief scientist Wu Kai claiming that it was poised to begin production of a commercially viable battery for electric aircraft. “With an energy density of up to 500Wh/kg, it can achieve a high energy density and a high level of safety at the same time in a creative manner, opening up a brand-new electrification scenario of passenger aircrafts,” the company said in a statement at the time. “CATL can achieve mass production of condensed battery for electric vehicles in a short period of time.” CATL has now launched a joint venture with state-owned plane manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), Yicai Global reported, following four years of research into the technology. The advent of electric aircraft has become a realistic prospect in recent years following several major battery breakthroughs that have the potential to overcome cost and capacity limitations. Israel-based startup Eviation completed the first flight of an electric commuter plane last year, taking off from an airport in Washington before touching down eight minutes later. The Alice aircraft is capable of transporting nine passengers and their luggage, or a tonne of cargo, and has been hailed as the first battery-powered plane viable for short-haul commercial journeys of up to 645km.<br/>