Boeing issued a bulletin to its suppliers late last week that laid out practices to ensure bolts are properly torqued after multiple airlines reported loose hardware during inspections of the grounded 737 MAX 9, according to a memo seen by Reuters. The U.S. planemaker said that it is "imperative" that suppliers meet quality requirements, according to a Jan. 17 memo seen by Reuters, issued weeks after an accident when a panel ripped off of a 737 MAX 9 jet while in mid-air. "Ensure that work instructions are mistake-proof and quality is continuously monitored - particularly torquing requirements," it states. The bulletin suggests suppliers document torque requirements on work instructions, require mechanics to record how much torque is applied when fastening components, and ensure tools are properly calibrated to ensure bolts are properly tightened. Boeing declined to comment.<br/>
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The FAA’s top official said the agency may expand its probe of Boeing’s manufacturing practices beyond the 737 Max assembly operations if it finds evidence of problems elsewhere at the planemaker. For now, the agency is focused on the mid-cabin door plugs on Max 9 aircraft like the one that blew off an Alaska Airlines flight shortly after takeoff on Jan. 5, according to FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker. Airlines have reported finding loose bolts in their fleets of Max 9s after they were grounded by the agency following the accident. “Boeing manufactures a number of aircraft, so we’re going to look at the Max, but we’ll also look at the company systemically to see whether these issues run elsewhere,” Whitaker said. “It depends on where the evidence leads us.” A Boeing representative declined to comment.<br/>
Boeing Co.’s embattled CEO is set to talk with senators in Washington, DC, this week, according to people familiar with the meetings. The discussions come as the company is facing questions about its quality control and aircraft safety following a mid-air incident earlier this month. CEO Dave Calhoun will have meetings with the senators on Wednesday and Thursday, said the people, who declined to be named. Calhoun is scheduled to speak with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, the top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, and Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, where Boeing is headquartered, the people said. He’ll also be meeting with Washington Democrat Senator Maria Cantwell, the chair of the Commerce Committee, which oversees aviation matters, they said. Calhoun requested the meeting with Cantwell, one of the people said. Boeing declined to comment. <br/>
Boeing is to pause production and delivery of its 737 Max aircraft on 25 January, as it calls a “quality stand down” amid ongoing quality-control issues. The airframer states that the one-day stand down will take place at its Renton, Washington facility, where its production, delivery and support staff will pause operations “so employees can take part in working sessions focused on quality”. Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief Stan Deal says the sessions will allow workers involved in the 737 production to “pause, evaluate what we’re doing, how we’re doing it and make recommendations for improvement”. According to internal employee communications, the airframer states: “During the stand downs, teammates will participate in hands-on learning, reflection and collaboration to identify where quality and compliance can be improved and create actionable plans that will be tracked to closure.” Boeing is expected to roll out these sessions across its other facilities covering its other aircraft programmes. It is part of a wider series of steps the airframer is taking to shore up quality control, following a door plug blow-out involving an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 that had taken off from Portland, Oregon. <br/>
The EASA said on Tuesday it had adopted a US safety alert calling for checks on some Boeing 737-900ER jets. The US FAA on Sunday recommended that operators of Boeing 737-900ER aircraft, the vast majority of which are flown in the United States, visually inspect mid-exit door plugs to ensure they are properly secured. The move came after the FAA grounded 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes following a mid-air blowout of a door plug on an eight-week old Alaska Airlines jet. The 737-900ER is not part of the newer MAX fleet but has a similar door plug design.<br/>
A leading online travel agent has added filters to let users exclude flights that use Boeing’s troubled 737 Max planes, after a piece of fuselage falling off an Alaska Airlines flight led to a surge of user interest in avoiding the airliners. Kayak first introduced an aircraft filter in March 2019, to add and exclude specific models of plane, but the company says it saw little use compared with the more prominent filters of the number of stops or airports. Following the Alaska Airlines incident, it says there was a 15-fold increase in use of the original filter, prompting it to rework the setting, making it more prominent on the search page and adding the ability to distinguish between 737 Max 8 and Max 9 planes, since only the latter has been grounded by America’s FAA. “Whether you’re searching by cabin class, flight quality or aircraft type, Kayak’s filters aim to provide travellers with all the information they need to make smart decisions and travel with confidence,” a company spokesperson said. The surge of interest in the new feature demonstrates the unusual extent to which typical travellers are actively avoiding the 737 Max planes. Such filters are more commonly used by regular travellers with esoteric preferences around particular seat locations on various planes, rather than a broad-brush fear of an entire family of jets.<br/>
A small plane carrying Rio Tinto workers crashed near Fort Smith in Canada's remote Northwest Territories on Tuesday during a flight to its Diavik diamond mine, killing some people on board. There were no details on how many people died or how many had been on board, but Northwestern Air Lease, the plane's registered owner, said on its website it has two types of BAE Jetstreams its fleet, both able to carry 19 passengers. Rio Tinto CE Jakob Stausholm said in a statement that the company was devastated by the crash. “We are working closely with authorities and will help in any way we can with their efforts to find out exactly what has happened," Stausholm said. Northwestern Air Lease did not respond to requests for comment, but the premier of the Northwest Territories put out a statement mourning those lost.<br/>
Since China reopened its borders in 2023 after three years of Covid isolation, domestic travel has thrived and high-speed rail has grown increasingly popular. But international trips in and out of the country are lagging, and flight capacity is still just two-thirds of prepandemic levels. The economic stakes are high. Before the pandemic, Chinese travelers were the world’s biggest spenders, accounting for 20 percent of global tourism spending, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. In the past year, the Chinese authorities have tried to spur more inbound travel. Among the changes: China has waived travel visas or agreed to extend the length of visa-free travel for visitors from eight countries, including Germany and France. The main factor holding back international travel by Chinese will continue to be China’s economy. Growth has bounced back from the pandemic, but the weight of a severe real estate downturn has dampened consumer spending and confidence inside China. And global geopolitical tensions remain a wild card. China is engaged in trade disputes with the United States and Europe, home to many major multinational companies. As they think twice about their business in China, travel suffers. Story features what to know about the state of China’s travel economy.<br/>
Nearly 350 flights set to land or take off at Jeju International Airport have been canceled Tuesday due to heavy snow and gusty winds, according to Korea Airports Corp. (KAC). As of 5:30 p.m., 347 flights -- 176 outbound flights and 171 inbound flights -- were cancelled at the Jeju airport, affecting about 20,000 outbound passengers, a KAC official said over the phone. Two flights on international routes -- one bound for Macao and the other bound for Taipei -- scheduled to leave the airport at 10:40 p.m. have yet to be cancelled, the official said, adding there remain no planned domestic flights this evening. On Monday, some flights were also cancelled or delayed at the resort island's airport due to heavy snow and strong winds.<br/>
Pratt & Whitney expects the peak number of aircraft grounded as a result of manufacturing problems with geared turbofan engines will be lower than previously anticipated as the propulsion specialist continues to work through the issue. In September, the engine maker expanded a previously announced requirement for “accelerated inspections” of the PW1100G engines that power Airbus A320neo-family jets due to a manufacturing problem. Caused by contamination of the powder metal material used to make high-pressure turbine and compressor disks, the issue will see thousands of aircraft taken out of service over the next two years for checks. But speaking to analysts on a full-year earnings call on 23 January, Christopher Calio, COO of P&W parent RTX, said although the recovery process was in its early stages, progress is being made. While it is sticking to its overall forecast of an average of 350 aircraft on ground (AOG) each month, Calio expects “a lower peak level than previously anticipated”. That high point will still likely occur in the first quarter of 2024 “and then trend downwards”. Calio says the flatter AOG profile is due to delays in the finalisation of an airworthiness directive by the US FAA, which he expects will now be issued “in the next month or so”.<br/>