Airlines and aircraft engine makers are racing to identify bogus spare parts that have infiltrated the global fleet via an obscure UK supplier, a potentially costly and complicated forensic endeavor affecting the world’s most widely flown passenger jets. Southwest said Friday that it had removed two “suspect parts” traced to closely held AOG Technics Ltd. from one of its Boeing Co. 737 aircraft, becoming the first major carrier to publicly disclose doing so. Hours earlier, CFM International Inc., the joint venture of General Electric Co. and Safran SA that makes the engines for many older-generation Airbus SE A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft, said parts with fraudulent documentation had been put on 68 of its power plants. The widening scandal has shaken an industry where safety is the guiding principle, with exacting standards for aircraft manufacturing and maintenance that demands each component be verified. Regulators, airlines and other industry players have been scouring their records to hunt down the suspect components sold by AOG, the obscure supplier at the center of the crisis. CFM, the world’s largest jet-engine manufacturer, filed a lawsuit in the UK against AOG Technics. The suit seeks an injunction to force AOG to provide more information to aid the aviation industry’s search for suspect components. It also seeks to recover any parts in AOG’s possession purported to be from CFM or GE. In response to questions from Bloomberg News, which first reported on the AOG case, Southwest said that two low-pressure turbine blades were the components it pulled from one of its engines. The carrier took “precautionary and immediate measures” to remove them based on the fact they were supplied by AOG. The parts were found in an engine on a Boeing 737 NG, an older version of Boeing’s most popular model. CFM supplies engines to both the Airbus and the Boeing planes. <br/>
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The White House on Friday announced $26m in new funding to improve US aviation safety after a series of potentially catastrophic near-miss incidents and is pressing Congress for more funding. The FAA will spend $10m to improve controller situational awareness and reduce runway close calls by deploying surface surveillance systems to additional airports, the White House announced. Reuters first reported the planned investments. The NTSB is investigating seven runway incursion events since January. The White House said the FAA will also spend $8m to expand its terminal automation system to prevent incorrect runway landings that can result in close calls. The FAA is also spending another $8m to deploy a runway incursion memory aid device used by controllers for occupied and closed runways to 72 additional airports. The device provides alerts to remind controllers to check runways before issuing clearances. The White House on Friday also called on Congress for new money for aviation safety. The current FAA authorization expires on Sept. 30. “Without sufficient funding levels and continued investment in safety, the current standard Americans expect could be jeopardized in the future,” the White House said. Separately, the FAA on Friday said it was seeking recommendations on how it could require cockpit-alerting technologies designed to reduce runway safety events. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy in May said the United States needed to invest more in aviation safety technology solutions after a series of close-call incidents this year. There was a near collision just last month between a Southwest Boeing 737 and a Cessna Citation 560X business jet in San Diego. Technology systems that help detect aircraft and ground vehicles at airports to prevent runway incursion are currently used at 43 U.S. airports. That technology needs to be upgraded and extended to all other commercial airports she said. The United States has about 500 commercial airports. <br/>
The US FAA is taking the first step toward mandating cockpit-alerting technologies to reduce the risk of runway mishaps. The agency announced Friday it has requested recommendations from an advisory panel on technology to keep flight crews from landing or taking off from the wrong runway or taxiway. “As we conduct this critical safety work, it is important to further consider how human factors also contribute to these events since alert technologies are only part of the solution to mitigating incursion and loss of separation,” the agency said in a letter to the advisory panel. The new technology is designed to prevent incidents such as a 2017 case in San Francisco in which an Air Canada jet missed multiple aircraft by as little as 6 meters after pilots mistakenly almost landed on a taxiway. The National Transportation Safety Board had recommended such technology after its investigation. One of the few fatal US crashes in recent decades occurred when a Comair Inc. flight in 2006 attempted to take off on a runway in Lexington, Kentucky that was too short. The jet clipped trees and crashed, killing 49. The agency has said it’ll conduct mandatory training for air-traffic controllers to address a spike in serious near-collisions on airport runways. The action followed a safety alert prompted by the runway close calls, where regulators called on air operators to remind employees of existing rules. The new technology would help improve runway safety, but isn’t designed to address a recent spate of near collisions between planes on landing strips. The FAA has separate technology to address those incidents, but it is only installed at 43 large airports and has been prone to breakdowns.<br/>
Two victims who perished in the World Trade Center have been identified more than two decades after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, New York City’s chief medical examiner said Friday. The names of the victims, a man and a woman, are being withheld at the request of their families, officials said. They are the 1,648th and 1,649th victims whose remains have been identified since 2001. The remains of 1,104 victims, or 40% of those who died in the attacks, still have not been found nearly 22 years after al-Qaida terrorists hijacked commercial airlines and crashed them into the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan. The towers were destroyed in the attacks, leaving more than 2,700 people dead. Dr. Jason Graham, New York City’s chief medical examiner, described the painstaking effort to identify the victims’ remains as “the largest and most complex forensic investigation” in US history. Investigators have spent decades using DNA testing to identify tens of thousands of remains recovered from the Ground Zero disaster site. More than 30% of the remains recovered are still unidentified, according to the medical examiner’s office.<br/>Graham said in a statement Friday that the medical examiner’s office has made a “solemn pledge” to return the remains of those who perished to their loved ones. The identification of the man was confirmed through DNA testing of remains recovered in 2001. The woman was identified through the testing of remains recovered in 2001, 2006 and 2013. The announcement that two victims were identified comes three days before the anniversary of the attacks. The man and the woman are the first new identifications since September 2021. <br/>
Six years after it brought a respite from airport chaos to Los Angeles, a luxury travel company is betting that Atlantans and those passing through will pay more—an additional $4,850 per visit, to be exact—for a touch of elegance. PS, formerly named Private Suite, made its name by bringing the private jet airport experience—which completely bypasses security queues and streamlines luggage handling—to commercial air travelers at LAX. Founded in 2017, the company this week opened a second location adjacent to the airfield at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where Delta maintains its hub and which ranks as the world’s busiest airport. There, as at LAX, the company’s staff will whisk customers to and from the aircraft door of commercial flights. At its private terminal, staff will pamper guests with food and cocktails—whisking over a glass of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and a charcuterie plate, for instance—while assisting them with travel needs and helping them avoid security lines via an exclusive TSA checkpoint. It’s unlikely that PS guests will need to wait in any kind of line: Each lounge’s capacity is technically 32, the maximum number of people allowed; a spokesperson says the property will probably “never be full.” Avoiding airport nightmares doesn’t come cheap. Any of three private suites, which come stocked with snacks and beverages, plush furniture and views of the airfield, cost $4,850 per use for up to four travelers. A less-exclusive shared lounge called the salon runs to $1,095 a person, with space for 20. PS memberships, which start at $1,250 per year, can lower the per-use rate. If you pay for the highest all-access premium membership—$4,850 annually—use of a suite drops to $3,550 and salon use to $750. Owned by private equity group TPG Inc., PS declined to disclose its revenue or daily customer counts in Los Angeles, but says that it plans to open additional private terminals at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Miami International Airport by 2025. Story has more.<br/>
Passengers aren't the only ones feeling cramped these days. Though Canadian flights have long been dominated by Air Canada and WestJet, the emergence of newer carriers including Flair Airlines and Lynx Air has shaken up the sector, injecting fresh competition to a once-complacent market. Most airlines are setting plans in motion to ramp up growth over the next year, adding more planes to an already crowded field -- and cheaper fares on the busiest routes. "Whenever you've got players trying to establish themselves in these markets, it is a boon for consumers," said former Air Canada COO Duncan Dee. Key domestic arteries such as Toronto-Vancouver, Vancouver-Calgary and Montreal-Toronto host more airlines than ever -- up to six now versus as few as two several years ago -- with fares dragged down by a pair of budget carriers. The cost of a domestic round-trip plane ticket fell to $289 on average this fall, a drop of 24% from 2019 levels and 11% from a year ago, according to travel booking app Hopper Inc. The hub-to-hub rivalries within Canada come ahead of a battle over routes running from big cities to sun destinations this winter. More than three-quarters of the trips by ultra-low-cost Flair this winter will be to the US. Sun Belt, Mexico and the Caribbean compared with 40% last winter, CEO Stephen Jones said in an interview last month. It plans to grow its fleet by nearly a quarter to 26 planes next year. Lynx, a no-frills airline that launched its maiden voyage in April 2022, aims to expand to 17 aircraft from nine at the moment. Its newest route flies between Toronto and Los Angeles for as low as $129 one way, tax included. The cheapest Air Canada ticket on the same route and dates was $490. "We're really investing strongly in this market, because it's underserved by low-cost carriers," Lynx CEO Merren McArthur said of sun destinations -- particularly flights out of Toronto's Pearson airport. Meanwhile, Porter Airlines has bought 50 132-seat Embraer E195s, hoping to grow its fleet to 79 by 2025 from 46 currently. "They will not shy away from a gun fight," John Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University, said of Porter. <br/>
PM Justin Trudeau and the Canadian delegation are stuck in New Delhi after his aircraft experienced technical issues, an inauspicious end to a trip that included criticism from the Indian government. Trudeau, government staff and journalists traveling with the prime minister were set to leave India on Sunday night after the Group of 20 leaders’ summit. It’s unclear when and how they will be able to depart the country. “These issues are not fixable overnight, our delegation will be staying in India until alternate arrangements are made,” a statement from Trudeau’s office said.<br/>
The US Department of Transportation has told Mexico that it will officially recover a US-given air safety rating next week, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday, preempting the much-anticipated decision. Mexico was downgraded by the US FAA to the Category 2 safety rating more than two years ago, pausing Mexican airlines' plans to expand new routes to its northern neighbor. The FAA, responding to a request for comment on Lopez Obrador's remarks, said it continued to assist Mexico's civil aviation authority and it expected to conclude the process "in the near future." The downgrade was a major blow to national carriers, as US airlines were able to scoop up market share. Mexico overhauled its civil aviation law, but faced several hurdles in recovering the Category 1 rating. "This is good news," Lopez Obrador said in a regular morning press conference, explaining that Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena had been informed by the U.S. Department of Transportation of the upcoming decision. "All of the requirements have been met," he added. In a June audit, the FAA raised concerns about Mexico's process for post-accident investigations and for carrying out medical exams for sector employees, meeting minutes obtained by Reuters showed.<br/>
The UK competition watchdog has provisionally upheld a ruling to force Heathrow to cut its landing fees in a long-running dispute between airlines and the owner of the country’s biggest airport. The Civil Aviation Authority, the industry regulator, in March ordered the airport to the west of London to reduce its charges to airlines by almost a fifth from GBP31.57 per passenger to GBP25.43 from next year. But both sides lodged appeals with the Competition and Markets Authority against the decision with Heathrow arguing it should be allowed to increase its fees, or risk investment at the airport, and airlines wanting a further cut. In its provisional ruling on Friday, the competition watchdog found “the CAA was not wrong in most of [its] decisions”. Heathrow and some of its biggest airline customers, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, have been at loggerheads over whether the airport should be allowed to increase its fees following the pandemic, which hit the aviation industry hard. The charges are typically passed straight on to passengers through ticket prices. In its findings, the CMA noted that the CAA was “wrong in relation to one small element” of the calculation it made for an allowance for exceptional events that might reduce passenger numbers. The competition watchdog also found that one policy from the aviation authority had been applied “in a purely mechanistic way [that] was inappropriate given the extreme impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on passenger numbers”. But it added that any “reconsideration of these aspects” by the CAA were expected to have “only a small net impact” on the level of the charges.<br/>
The Airports of Thailand (AoT) is soft-launching the Satellite 1 (SAT-1) terminal at Suvarnabhumi International Airport on Sept 28 after a trial put the system to an early test. Suvarnabhumi director Kittipong Kittikachorn said the airport executed a full-scale trial with 180 mock passengers with their luggage to test operations at the SAT-1 satellite passenger terminal and the main terminal. The trial was assisted by Thai Airways who provided its cabin crew and aircraft for the procedure. The operation was also observed by Immigration Division 2, the Cargo Clearance Customs Bureau, Aeronautical Radio of Thailand and Bangkok Aviation Fuel Services, said Mr Kittipong. He said the trial included a full-scale operation concerning aircraft, arriving and departing passengers, transfer passengers, baggage handling systems and cargo operation. The next two trials will take place on Tuesday, operated by Thai AirAsia X and Worldwide Flight Services Bangkok Air Ground Handling Co Ltd, and on Sept 20 by Thai Vietjet, specifically for departing passengerson night flights, said Mr Kittipong. During the soft-opening period between Sept 28 and Oct 28, the SAT-1 terminal will be open to three airlines: Thai AirAsia X, VietJet Air and Emirates. The new terminal is expected to be fully operating by December this year in a bid to reduce congestion at the main terminal.<br/>
The Melaka International Airport (LTAM) at Batu Berendam is set to be developed as a preferred aerospace and business aviation hub, says Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh. The Melaka Chief Minister said he is taking steps to ensure LTAM continues to be a regional aviation hub by introducing more aerospace ecosystems. "Currently, we are discussing with Indonesian carriers for air connectivity between cities in that country and LTAM. The state government is also in the midst of discussions with seven airlines to operate commercial flights at LTAM," he said Saturday. Ab Rauf said he also scheduled to talk with an Italian helicopter manufacturing conglomerate next month to discuss the prospect of turning LTAM into a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) centre. Meanwhile, he said the decision by the two airlines to cease operations at LTAM is purely a commercial decision made by the service providers. "The state government has nothing to do with the decisions made by these airlines," he said.<br/>