The global airline industry’s fortunes have improved since IATA’s mid-year financial forecast for the industry, according to the association’s chief economist Marie Owens Thomsen, with positive factors continuing to more than offset negative ones. Speaking to FlightGlobal at the IATA World Sustainability Symposium in Madrid on 3 October, Owens Thomsen cited a stronger-than-expected recovery in global airline traffic, saying that the “sweet spot” the industry was in earlier this year is “maybe even sweeter” today. By the end of this year, “almost everybody will be back to 2019 levels except China”, she says of the global traffic recovery to pre-Covid levels, which IATA expects to be achieved on a whole-industry basis in 2024. IATA’s latest traffic and capacity data – released on 4 October – shows that in August this year, global revenue passenger kilometres were at 95.7% of 2019 levels, with available seat kilometres at 96.9%. Within those figures, North American and Latin American airlines were already exceeding 2019 traffic, with every other region within a single-digit percentage point of doing the same. That strong traffic trend is one contributing factor to IATA’s likely upgrading of its projection that the industry will achieve a net profit margin of 1.2% this year, Owens Thomsen says. Other factors continue to underpin that performance, she states, crucially including relatively low unemployment rates globally, despite economic challenges, which are proving to be a “greater positive than the negative effect of the high inflation rates”, she explains. “Certainly in my 30 years in finance as a macro-economist I have never seen anything like it,” she says, comparing today’s “jobs rich” recovery with the “jobless” recovery that followed the financial crash in 2008. “As long as people are earning an income, they can still fly,” she says. <br/>
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The family name on the signature approving the sale of a complex jet engine part might perhaps have rung alarm bells: Chirac. It accompanied the sale of a key component called a low-pressure turbine blade by a British distributor to a Florida firm in 2019 and aimed to show that the part, designed for the world's most widely used jet engine, the CFM56, was authentic. Four years later, engine maker CFM International, which supplies Airbus and Boeing (BA.N), has embarked on a worldwide hunt for thousands of parts with suspected false documentation from the same vendor - some of which have remained undetected for years. So far there are no reports of counterfeit parts and CFM - owned by GE Aerospace and France's Safran - says the problem involves apparently false declarations by nonexistent employees - like the approver identified as "Geoffrey Chirac," who shares a last name with a former French president. But it fears false paperwork can be used to pass off old parts as new or offload parts that lack the traceability needed to ensure they are safe. That has upset one of the world's most scrutinised industries and rekindled calls for extra regulation. "This is not a new issue in the industry. There have always been people wanting to make money out of aircraft parts," said Phil Seymour, president of UK-based aviation consultancy IBA. "The big issue here is that these parts have found their way into engines; that's the game-changer for me." According to CFM court documents, the alarm was first raised on June 21 when TAP Air Portugal's maintenance arm said it was worried about the documentation for a small part called a damper that it had acquired from UK distributor AOG Technics. Story has more.<br/>
United Airlines' plan to navigate the operating constraints dogging US carriers is simple – bigger planes. In announcing plans on Tuesday to order 110 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus, Chicago-based United cited the shortage of air-traffic controllers, congested airspace and limitations on runways and airport gates that have forced many carriers to cut the number of flights they offer. With United expecting those problems to worsen by the end of the decade as demand surges, it is buying bigger planes with more seats - a strategy rival airlines have embarked upon as well. "The country is just not building a lot more runways and that's just going to cause us to need to upgauge our aircraft to respond to growing demand," United's CCO Andrew Nocella said Tuesday, using an industry term for a shift to larger planes. He added that travel demand cannot be met without bigger planes. The company aims to increase average seats per departure in North America by more than 40% in 2027 from 2019. United's latest order includes 50 Boeing 787-9 planes that it plans to operate on many routes currently being serviced by 767s. That version of 787 holds up to 129 more seats than the 767s in its fleet. Similarly, the 60 Airbus A321neos that United is buying can accommodate up to 30% more seats than some of Boeing's 757s that it has been flying.<br/>
A FedEx plane has skidded off the runway during a crash landing at a Tennessee airport in the US when its landing gear did not descend, but no one was injured, officials said. Public safety agencies rushed to the Chattanooga Regional Airport late on Wednesday (Thursday NZT) after reports that the FedEx Boeing 757 had experienced a landing gear failure shortly after takeoff, the Chattanooga Fire Department said in a tweet. The aircraft, which had three crew members aboard, circled and then made its final descent and came to rest beyond the runway in a safety area, fire officials said. Video posted by Hamilton County EMS shows sparks flying when the plane touches down, but officials said there was no fire, only smoke from the engines. “Great work by the pilot and airport personnel, as well as all responding agencies for their coordinated efforts,” the fire department tweeted. A FedEx spokesperson told news outlets that the flight from Chattanooga to Memphis experienced an issue right after taking off. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating the “gear up landing” at the airport. The Chattanooga Airport closed its primary runway due to the crash landing and said some flight times could be affected, news outlets reported.<br/>
From the perspective of Dion Flannery, CE of Ohio-based PSA Airlines, there are signs that pilot-supply issues plaguing US regional carriers are becoming less severe. In April 2022, PSA lost 47 captains on top of the 10 that transition monthly to mainline partner American Airlines. “This April, we lost eight,” Flannery tells FlightGlobal. “So, far better this year than last year in terms of an unsustainable level of attrition… But it’s still too much.” Indeed, for the past 18 months, PSA has kept about 15 aircraft parked and waiting to fly for lack of pilots. Such was the sentiment at the Regional Airline Association’s annual Leaders Conference in Washington, DC, where industry analysts and executives met in late September to dissect a pilot shortage causing a broad contraction of air service to small and rural communities across the USA. “It’s not a debate about whether it’s real or not ,” Flannery says of the pilot shortage. “It’s very real.” Regional aviation remains a critical cog in the country’s transportation system, Martyn Holmes, CCO of Embraer Commercial Aviation, told conference attendees: “Even with factors like the pilot shortage and salary hikes, regional aviation remains the best way for mainline carriers to serve thinner markets effectively.” But the pilot shortfall is here to stay, according to Geoff Murray, a Chicago-based consultant at Oliver Wyman who says the effects of the shortage are likely to reverberate into the 2030s. The firm’s 10-year pilot forecast is less dire than one year ago, however. Last year, Oliver Wyman predicted North America would be short 17,286 pilots by 2032. Now, it expects a shortage of 13,305 pilots by 2032.<br/>
Mexican stocks sank after the government unexpectedly moved to change concession agreements of airport operators, the latest challenge by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to business interests. The benchmark stock index fell more than 4.4%, the most intraday since March 2020. Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste SAB, Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB, and Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte SAB shares tumbled as much as 44%. For the latter, known GAP and OMA, respectively, it was the worst intraday drop on record. The national aviation agency “unilaterally and without prior communication” modified the fee structure related to its airports, GAP said in a statement sent to the local regulator after-hours on Wednesday. A large part of airport operators’ revenues in Mexico come from so-called TUAs, or passenger fees for airport use. It wasn’t immediately clear what changes the government had made, and the companies didn’t elaborate. GAP, Asur and OMA said in filings that they are evaluating the effect of the changes on their operations. A spokesman for the infrastructure, communications and transport ministry didn’t reply to a request for comment.<br/>
A Danish court on Thursday gave a two-month suspended prison sentence to a 31-year-old Swede for making a joke about a bomb at Copenhagen’s airport this summer. In late July, Pontus Wiklund, a handball coach who was accompanying his team to an international competition, said when asked by an airport agent that a bag of balls he was checking in contained a bomb. “We think you must have realised that it is more than likely that if you say the word ‘bomb’ in response to what you have in your bag, it will be perceived as a threat,” the judge told Wiklund, according to broadcaster TV2, which was present at the hearing. The airport terminal was temporarily evacuated, and the coach arrested. He later apologised on his club’s website. “I completely lost my judgment for a short time and made a joke about something you really shouldn’t joke about, especially in that place,” he said in a statement. According to the public prosecutor, the fact that Wiklund was joking, as his lawyer noted, did not constitute a mitigating circumstance.<br/>
Belgian officials are looking into risks around the presence of China’s Alibaba Group Holding at a cargo airport in the city of Liege, the country’s intelligence service VSSE said on Thursday. Referring to the company’s main European logistics centre at Liege Airport, the security service said it was working to “detect and fight against possible spying and/or interference activities carried out by Chinese entities, including Alibaba”. The Belgian authorities are looking into Alibaba’s operations at the airport based on an analysis of China’s legal framework, the statement added. The presence of Alibaba “still constitutes a point of attention” for the VSSE, it said, due to legislation which obligates Chinese companies to share data with the Chinese authorities and intelligence services. The Financial Times, which first reported the news, said Alibaba denied any wrongdoing. Alibaba did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Alibaba signed an agreement with the Belgium government in 2018 to open an e-commerce trade hub, run by its logistics arm Cainiao, that would include investment in logistics infrastructure.<br/>
Excavations have started for a new airport in Poland that aims to form part of a transport hub for central and eastern Europe while airport operators are in the process of being selected. The project developer, Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK), said that large-scale geological excavations as well as demolition and removal works are underway at the airport site while regulatory approval continues to progress. The transport hub is being built around 40 km outside Warsaw. The Airport Master Plan has been prepared and the environmental decision was in July issued by the Regional Director for Environmental Protection (RDOŚ). The General Plan has also been approved by the Minister of Infrastructure, while the Civil Aviation Authority (ULC) has issued an Air Promise, necessary for the construction of the airport. In the autumn, CPK will apply to the local region for a location decision and the next step will be an application for a building permit. The commissioning of the first phase of the CPK airport consists of two runways and infrastructure with a capacity of up to 40m passengers per year. It is planned to open in 2028. So far, over 1,000 ha of land have been purchased by CPK under a Voluntary Acquisition Programme (PDN). The procedure for the selection of a financial partner for the airport part has also now entered a decisive phase. <br/>
Russia’s finance ministry said on Thursday it had allocated another 70.5b roubles ($712m) from its rainy day fund to a company buying aircraft from foreign lessors, a step that could lead to more deals involving stranded planes. Before last year’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia was a major market for aircraft lessors, which bought jets from Boeing and Airbus and leased them to Russian airlines. Western sanctions then forced lessors to cancel hundreds of leases and Moscow refused to allow the planes to leave. Ireland-based AerCap, the world’s largest aircraft lessor, said last month that it had received $645m from Russian state-owned insurance company NSK in a full settlement of insurance claims in relation to 17 aircraft and five spare engines leased to Russian state-controlled airline Aeroflot and its subsidiary Rossiya. The planes became the property of NSK after the insurance claim was settled, a landmark agreement in a dispute over 400 Western planes stranded in the wake of the Ukraine invasion. The finance ministry said it had diverted money from its National Wealth Fund (NWF) to NSK subsidiary NLK-Finance, set up by Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency Rosaviatsiya. “In September 2023...NWF funds in the amount of 70.5b roubles were placed in bonds of NLK-Finance,” the finance ministry said. The total amount of NWF funds placed in NLK-Finance bonds is now 167.5b roubles, the ministry said, without saying why it was allocating the NWF funds to NLK-Finance.<br/>
Queenstown Airport is expected to remain closed for “several hours” after a bomb threat prompted an evacuation and emergency response. Police and Aviation Security were investigating reports of what “appears to be an explosive device” at 8.40am on Friday, a police spokesperson said. The Defence Force’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit were at the site and are currently assessing the device. The airport had been evacuated as the airport activated its emergency security protocols, with passengers taken by bus to a secure location. In an update at 11am, Queenstown Airport said it remained closed while authorities worked through a risk assessment process, which was “likely to take several hours”. Food and shelter was being arranged for passengers who required it. Queenstown Lakes District mayor Glyn Lewers said the Queenstown Event Centre had been opened up to accommodate the “approximately 200 passengers that were evacuated”. Lewers said about 11.30am they were waiting for the Defence Force to arrive from Christchurch. The airport had advised people to contact the airline they booked with for further information and to rebook if they had flights booked for Friday. Police advised people to avoid the airport until the incident was resolved and there were no flights in or out of Queenstown at present.<br/>
Boeing has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indonesia related to civil aviation, as it opens a new permanent office in Jakarta. The MoU with Indonesia’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) looks to help the country strengthen its aviation sector with a focus on flight safety, efficiency, and sustainability, says Boeing.“Indonesia is home to one of the world’s largest aviation markets,” says Zaid Alami, country managing director at Boeing Indonesia. “The MoU with Indonesia’s DGCA and the opening of Boeing’s new permanent office in Jakarta further demonstrates our commitment to Indonesia and our customers while laying a strong foundation for future growth.” The office opening follows Jakarta’s signing of an MoU in August to buy up to 24 F-15EX fighters. Should the deal be finalised, it will mark a major step for Boeing’s defence business in the region. Cirium fleets data suggests that Indonesia is also a critical market for the US airframer’s commercial arm, with 204 Boeing aircraft in service in the country, and another 45 in storage. In addition, Indonesian carriers have orders for 278 Boeing 737 Max-family narrowbodies; low-cost carrier Lion Air accounts for 229 of those orders, and Garuda Indonesia 49. The status of the Garuda order is unclear, however. Garuda had orders for 50 737 Max 8s and took delivery of one example before returning it to a lessor, and has previously stated that its commitment with Boeing has been terminated.<br/>