More than 100 US airports will be awarded $970 million in federal grants, the latest effort to upgrade the nation’s infrastructure — a top priority of President Joe Biden. The new funding, announced Thursday, comes as airports in recent years have raced to modernize terminals and add new amenities, seeking to ride a rebound in air travel after the coronavirus pandemic. The latest round is on top of the nearly $2 billion granted to airports over the past two years for capital improvement projects that include wider concourses, adding extra gates to accommodate more plane service and ensuring airports meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards. “America has been thinking a lot about air traffic lately,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on a call with reporters Wednesday. “A flight doesn’t begin just when you settle into your seat on board. First, you’re in the terminal and your experience depends in many ways on the conditions of that terminal building.” US airports need $151b over the 2023-to-2027 period to meet infrastructure needs, according to Airports Council International-North America. Passenger traffic returned to pre-pandemic levels very quickly, as travelers were eager to get back to business and personal trips. Among the 114 airports to receive new funding are Chicago O’Hare International Airport in Illinois, with $40m, and Salt Lake City International Airport in Utah, with $20m. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was awarded the most money with $50m. The grants are a part of the Biden administration’s effort to promote projects backed by a bipartisan infrastructure law passed in 2021, highlighting funding for ports, transit, roads and bridges. <br/>
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Passenger numbers at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International airport increased almost 12% in 2023 to reach 104.7m, ensuring the Delta Air Lines hub will retain its position as the busiest airport in the world. Atlanta has for many years been the biggest airport in the world by passenger, bar the pandemic-fuelled exception of 2020 when Chinese airport Guangzhou – boosted by the early reopening of the large Chinese domestic market – led the way. It reclaimed its position as the busiest airport in the world in 2021, and while 2023 passenger traffic statistics for many leading airports are still to be disclosed, another year of strong growth means Atlanta remained the biggest airport by passenger number last year. Passenger levels at Atlanta increased 11.6% from 93.7m to almost 104.7m in 2023. That was driven by an almost 10% rise in domestic passengers to 91.8m and a 29% jump in international passengers to 12.8m. Delta, the airport’s biggest customer, accounted for almost three-quarters of passengers in 2023 at Atlanta. Southwest, which transported 4m passengers through Atlanta, was the second biggest operator with an 8% share. It marks the first time Atlanta has passed the 100m passenger mark since the pandemic, but levels remain below the pre-crisis high of 110.5m. While 2022’s second biggest airport, Dallas/Fort Worth, has not yet published full-year figures, data for the 12 months to November 2023 shows growth at a similar 11% pace to just over 81m. Denver airport, the third biggest airport in 2022, recorded a 12% rise in passenger numbers to 77.8m. That is 13% above pre-crisis levels of 69.3m.<br/>
The FAA's top official said on Thursday he will discuss Boeing's quality control and manufacturing practices at a Washington meeting with company executives, after a panel blew out of a 737 MAX plane in flight in January. The date of the meeting is not yet available but follows a trip this week by FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker to Boeing in Seattle. Boeing is under fire from regulators and lawmakers after the Jan. 5 in-flight blowout on an Alaska Air 737 MAX 9 led to a broader crisis over its manufacturing practices. The FAA has also prohibited Boeing from increasing its MAX production rate without FAA permission. The US regulator expects to complete an audit of Boeing’s production quality systems in the next few weeks and receive an independent assessment from a panel tasked last year with reviewing the planemaker's safety culture. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said in a statement that the planemaker would cooperate fully with the FAA and respects its regulatory oversight. "This increased scrutiny that comes from us or a regulator or from third parties will make us better,” Calhoun said.<br/>
The FAA has taken action to address another issue involving the anti-ice system on Boeing’s 737 Max, after Boeing notified the regulator that a fault could render the system inoperative. Details of the latest anti-ice system concern come as Boeing works to fix for a separate and unrelated anti-ice problem that generated controversy in recent months. In a new proposed order, the FAA says the anti-ice system on 205 US-registered 737 Max jets can possibly become inoperative if the standby power system control unit fails. The regulator has known about the issue for some time. Boeing identified the problem in 2021 during a review of flight deck systems, and notified the FAA about the concern that same year. In November 2022, Boeing issued a bulletin to operators specifying a technical fix. ”Boeing fully supports the proposed directive, which makes mandatory the instructions we shared with operators in November 2022. We continue to provide our customers the support they need to address this issue,” Boeing tells FlightGlobal. “This is not an immediate safety of flight issue and the fleet can continue operating safely.” The FAA’s proposed order says “a potential single point of failure exists” in the 737 Max’s standby power system control unit. Such a failure can result in a “non-latent loss of the entire battery bus and consequent unannunciated loss of control and indication of both engine anti-ice systems”, adds the document, posted to the US government’s regulatory notice database on 14 February. It adds that the condition, if not addressed, could result in loss of thrust on both engines due to damage from operation in icing conditions without the anti-ice system activated. The FAA says its action responds to “a Boeing review” of the 737 Max’s standby power system control unit. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<br/>
Operators of ATR turboprops are being instructed to conduct urgent checks for possible wrongly-assembled valves on the engine fire-extinguishing systems. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has ordered the checks in an emergency directive which covers both the ATR 42 and 72, up to the -500 variants. EASA states that a scheduled maintenance operation identified incorrect marking and assembly of two-way valves in the left- and right-hand fire-extinguishing systems. As a result, says the regulator, the systems “did not operate as intended”. Similarly-affected systems could suffer from “reduced performance” in the event of an engine fire, it adds. ATR has issued inspection and rework instructions for the parts involved.<br/>
India's law enforcement agency overseeing indirect taxes has summoned Indian offices of international airlines over alleged tax evasion on import of services, CNBC-TV18 reported on Thursday citing sources.<br/>The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) was seeking clarification over payment of crew salaries and staff expenses at the offices of the international airlines, the report said. The report named British Airways-owner International Consolidated Airlines Group, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Saudi Arabia Airlines, Emirates, Oman Airlines and Air Arabia as the airlines under the DGGI scanner.<br/>
Melbourne airport is facing its busiest day since before the pandemic and one-way domestic prices are surging in excess of $1,500 as Swiftie mania descends on the capital city. The pop superstar Taylor Swift has already touched down for the Australian leg of the sold-out Eras Tour, but the journey is just beginning for thousands of interstate fans making the trek to Melbourne ahead of her Friday night concert. A spokesperson for Melbourne airport said 117,000 passengers were expected to move through terminals on Friday – a post-Covid record. There were 775 take-offs and landings scheduled, also a record number. “Airlines such as Qantas and Virgin Australia have added extra flights from key domestic destinations, and there are also extra flights operating from New Zealand to allow people to get to the concerts this weekend,” the spokesperson said. “February is typically the quietest month for travel, so to be breaking records today is extraordinary.” Social media users have reported an “electric” atmosphere on domestic flights to Melbourne, with a video of flight attendants dancing to Shake it Off going viral and an entire flight from Perth bursting in to an impromptu rendition of Cruel Summer.<br/>
Airbus confirmed on Thursday that the OneSat family of commercial telecom satellites had been swept up in financial charges at its Space business. In November, Airbus announced E400m of charges related to unidentified satellite programmes at the nine-month stage, mostly taken in the third quarter. Industry sources said at the time that these notably included the OneSat family. On Thursday, Airbus added another 200m of charges, bringing last year's total to E600m. "OneSat is a programme that is ongoing. We have recorded charges in 2023, big time, but we remain very committed to the programme," Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury told a news conference. OneSat is a family of mid-market geostationary satellites that can be reconfigured in orbit with an eye on contracts from the telecoms sector, whose technological needs change rapidly in contrast to the increasing lifespans of modern satellites. It was launched in 2019 with Inmarsat as a debut customer and Airbus has so far sold nine of the satellites, including one to an undisclosed customer. But in the five years since it was launched, the commercial satellite market has been shaken up by new competition including the spread of low-Earth low-cost constellations. In an interview on Thursday, CFO Thomas Toepfer stressed OneSat was one among several programmes involved in a recently completed review of the Space portfolio.<br/>
Airbus said Thursday that it would ramp up deliveries this year of some of the world’s most sought-after aircraft, bolstering its position as the largest plane maker and pulling further ahead of Boeing as its U.S. rival focuses on the fallout from a major safety crisis involving its 737 Max line of airliners. Airbus, the European aerospace giant, plans to deliver around 800 jets to customers this year, including the popular single-aisle A320neo, its main competitor to the 737 Max. It delivered 735 planes last year, more than it had originally targeted. This year’s push is intended to meet what Guillaume Faury, the plane maker’s chief executive, said was a sharp recovery in demand for air travel after pandemic lockdowns. Airbus pulled in a record 2,094 commercial aircraft orders last year, partly on a surge in demand for narrow-body and midsize jets from India and other rapidly growing countries. That added to the company’s extensive backlog of 8,598 commercial aircraft at the end of 2023. By contrast, Boeing delivered 528 commercial airplanes and recorded 1,576 net orders. Airbus has also started work on preparing a successor for the best-selling A320neo, Mr. Faury announced. The new plane would be more fuel-efficientand would take to the skies by the mid- to late 2030s. The development of that plane, known as the Next Generation Single Aisle, would put Airbus further ahead of Boeing in terms of cutting-edge technology aircraft. The plane is intended to burn around 20 percent less fuel per seat and be made entirely with sustainable or synthetic materials. Analysts said Boeing may not have the war chest to advance with new plane development as it prioritizes dealing with its quality control crisis. Airbus reported adjusted earnings of E5.8b in 2023, a small increase from the previous year, on revenue of more than E65b. The company added a special dividend, on top of its usual payout, as its net cash exceeded E10b.<br/>