general

Last year was the safest ever for commercial air travel, despite a massive rebound in passenger flights, an airline industry group said Wednesday. The only fatal accident of a passenger plane was the crash of an ATR turboprop operated by Nepal's Yeti Airlines during a domestic flight, killing 72 people, according to the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) annual report. The IATA said it counted another 29 accidents in 2023 that did not involve fatalities or loss of the plane. In 2022, there was a total of 42 accidents, of which five were fatal and took 158 lives. The IATA counts a non-fatal accident as an event that causes damage of at least $1m or equal to 10% of the plane's value. IATA statistics do not cover business, military, private, maintainance or training flights. The IATA said "2023 saw the lowest fatality risk and 'all accident' rate on record." "On average a person would have to travel by air every day for 103,239 years to experience a fatal accident." The low crash rate came despite the number of flights last year rising 17% to 37.7m, the IATA said. "Even if flying is among the safest activities a person can do, there is always room to improve," said IATA Director General Willie Walsh, citing "two high profile accidents in the first month of 2024."<br/>

The FAA said Wednesday that it had asked Boeing to provide the agency with a “comprehensive action plan” to address quality-control issues within 90 days, the regulator’s latest push for safety improvements after a panel came off a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet in flight in early January. The FAA administrator, Mike Whitaker, made the request on Tuesday when he met with Boeing’s CE, Dave Calhoun, and other company officials for what the agency described as an “all-day safety discussion.” “Boeing must commit to real and profound improvements,” Whitaker said. “Making foundational change will require a sustained effort from Boeing’s leadership, and we are going to hold them accountable every step of the way, with mutually understood milestones and expectations.” Calhoun said the plane maker had “a clear picture of what needs to be done.” “Boeing will develop the comprehensive action plan with measurable criteria that demonstrates the profound change that Administrator Whitaker and the F.A.A. demand,” Mr. Calhoun said. “Our Boeing leadership team is totally committed to meeting this challenge.” The meeting on Tuesday, which took place at the FAA’s headquarters in Washington, came two weeks after Whitaker toured Boeing’s 737 plant in Renton, Wash. During his visit, Whitaker spoke with Boeing engineers and mechanics to try to get a better sense of the safety culture at the factory. The FAA said after his visit that Whitaker planned to discuss what he saw during his visit when he met with Boeing executives in Washington. On Monday, the FAA released a report by a panel of experts that found that Boeing’s safety culture remained flawed, despite improvements made after fatal 737 Max 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019. The report, which was mandated by Congress, had been in the works before the harrowing episode in January involving the Max 9.<br/>

The Justice Department is reviewing whether an early January incident in which a part of a Boeing plane blew out in midflight violated a 2021 agreement to settle a criminal charge against the company, according to a person familiar with the review. Boeing agreed to pay more than $2.5b to settle the charge, which stemmed from two fatal crashes of its 737 Max 8 planes. The deal, reached in the final weeks of the Trump administration, was criticized at the time as being too lenient on the company. Under the terms, Boeing agreed to compensate the families of the crash victims as well as the airlines affected by the grounding of the planes. The Justice Department agreed to drop a criminal charge that was based on the actions of two employees who had withheld information from the F.A.A. Last month, a panel in the fuselage of a larger Max 9 blew out at an altitude of 16,000 feet shortly after takeoff from Portland, Ore., exposing passengers to deafening wind. There were no serious injuries, but the incident could have been catastrophic had it occurred minutes later, at a higher altitude. The panel is known as a “door plug,” which is used to cover a gap left by an unneeded exit door. The episode in January reignited the intense scrutiny and criticism that Boeing faced after crashes in Indonesia in late 2018 and Ethiopia in early 2019 killed a combined 346 people. The Max 8 and Max 9 were banned from flying globally days after the second crash. Since the jetliners started flying again in late 2020, they have carried out several million flights worldwide. The weight of the crisis appeared to be lifting before the January incident. A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board suggested that the plane in that episode may have left Boeing’s factory without bolts needed to secure the panel. The Federal Aviation Administration immediately grounded nearly 200 Max 9 jets in the United States, pending inspections. Flights using the plane have since resumed. The F.A.A. also increased inspections of the Washington State factory where Boeing makes the Max. <br/>

Hundreds of flights were canceled and dozens of others rescheduled in Argentina on Wednesday as unionized air travel workers went on a 24-hour strike nationwide to demand better wages, in the latest sign of social unrest in the South American country. Most of the country’s more than 50 airports remained open but airlines had canceled hundreds of flights. At the country's largest airport on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, the Ezeiza international airport, only the low-cost company Flybondi and American Airlines were operating Wednesday. The state-owned Aerolíneas Argentinas said in a statement that 331 flights were affected by the strike called by the Association of Aeronautical Personnel, the Argentinian Association of Airline Pilots and the Union of Senior and Professional of Aero Commercial Companies. The strike is expected to impact nearly 24,000 passengers of the state-owned airline alone, with an economic impact estimated at $2m, according to Aerolíneas Argentinas. Union members blame the government for a breakdown in salary negotiations. The union conflict started last week when the Argentine government proposed a 12% increase in pay that was deemed insufficient by the three unions that bring together the staff of several airlines. The strike comes as inflation in Argentina has skyrocketed in recent months, largely as a result of a 50% devaluation of the local currency implemented by the government of President Javier Milei and the elimination of subsidies for public transportation and services such as electricity.<br/>

Bankrupt Brazilian airline Gol received US court approval on Wednesday for a $1b loan, after resolving the concerns of a group of lenders that feared they would be sidelined by the new loan. Gol had previously proposed borrowing $950m in bankruptcy, but it allowed the objecting lenders to kick in an additional $50m on the new loan and receive interest on that new debt, Gol's attorney Justin Cunningham said at a hearing in Manhattan. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn approved the loan at the hearing in Manhattan, saying he was pleased to see a compromise. "It's nice when more people want to put money in," Glenn said. The previously objecting lenders, a group of investment funds that had loaned money to Gol in 2020, will not receive the same level of fees as the original group of lenders, who could receive up to $47.5m in additional commitment fees and backstop fees under the loan agreement, according to court documents. Gol instead agreed to pay them $800,000 for attorneys' fees and costs related to the renegotiation of the loan. Gol filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States on Jan. 25. The airline had been suffering from long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel and has had difficulty sourcing sufficient Boeing 737 Max aircraft to meet a surge in post-pandemic demand for air travel, according to court documents. Glenn previously approved a portion of the loan, allowing Gol to borrow up to $350m at a court hearing in January.<br/>

European airlines are signing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) deals needed to meet carbon-reduction targets set by the European Union. The adoption of alternative fuels made from bio-based materials could cut carbon emissions by up to 80% compared to conventional fuel, and is seen as a means of helping the sector reach its net zero emissions goal by 2050. In November 2023, a Virgin Atlantic plane made a 100% SAF-powered flight from London to New York City to highlight the importance of the alternative fuel's use. SAF currently makes up less than 0.1% of aviation fuel used globally and costs three times as much as regular jet fuel when made from waste oils, with other versions made from green hydrogen costing even more.<br/>Here are some deals signed so far:<br/>

Munich airport is to introduce a validation system to examine the potential for virtual control tower installations at major hubs. The system is to be implemented by the Frequentis DFS Aerosense venture following an international tender. “In an initial project phase, the potential and suitability of the virtual tower for larger airports such as Munich will be determined and validated from both an operational and technical perspective,” it states. These validation exercises will be carried out next year. The programme will look at such specific-use cases as the establishment of an interim virtual tower while the main control tower at Munich is undergoing renovation. German air navigation service DFS’s Munich facilities will accommodate the working environment for the virtual tower, which will include high-definition 360° panorama tilt-and-zoom cameras mounted on the main tower. “The system is to support complex operations including mixed approaches and departures, and independent parallel runway operations,” says Frequentis DFS Aerosense. While DFS has been using remote towers at smaller airports – such as Saarbrucken – CE Arndt Schoenemann says the Munich virtual tower project will enable the organisation to “explore its potential” and possibly “take a further step towards more digitalisation”. “When making such a fundamental change, it is important that all stakeholders, especially air traffic controllers, are engaged in the project at an early stage to ensure full acceptance,” adds DFS Aviation Services managing director Andreas Potzsch.<br/>

Spanish airport operator Aena, the world's largest in terms of passengers, said on Wednesday it expects to handle 1m tourists a day this year after booking record profit in 2023, recovering faster from the pandemic than its peers. Aena, which operates all Spanish airports as well as terminals in Latin America and Britain, said 2023 net profit rose 81% to a record E1.63b as passenger traffic surpassed pre-pandemic levels. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected a 62% increase in net profit. Aena's overall revenues jumped 21% to E5.14b, more than the 19% estimated by analysts, as its commercial income improved more than its revenues from airlines operations due to lower fees than in 2019. In pre-pandemic 2019, net profit was E1.44b. Traffic at Spain's airports, all operated by Aena, rose 16% in 2023 to a record 283.2m passengers, 3% more than in 2019, before the pandemic brought air traffic to a halt. The company took over the management of 11 airports in Brazil at the end of last year, including the Congonhas terminal, Brazil's second largest, which allowed it to manage 314m passengers in 2023, securing its position as the world's largest operator. Aena CEO Maurici Lucena told a press conference his company may be handling nearly 1m passengers a day on average as early as this year.<br/>

Guyana will make the first eligible carbon credits available to airlines to counter pollution under the start of a landmark U.N. emissions deal, a government official told Reuters on Wednesday, in what some industry groups fear will be a rare offering. Almost 5m credits that support the South American country's rainforests can be purchased by airlines to cover their obligations during the first phase of the UN-brokered CORSIA deal which starts this year, said Pradeepa Bholanath, a director at Guyana's Ministry of Natural Resources. Airlines now buy carbon credits voluntarily. Under the 2016 CORSIA deal approved by the UN ICAO assembly, carriers from more than 100 participating countries would have to offset rising emissions above the baseline of 85% of 2019 levels. Airline trade group IATA expects that threshold will be crossed this year, with ICAO projecting 2024 passenger air traffic levels to be around 2% higher than in 2019. With sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from products like used cooking oil in short supply, airlines are largely relying on offsets to counter emissions, as they face opposition to pollution from flights. But with few eligible credits now available for airline purchase under CORSIA's first phase from 2024 to 2026, some industry groups fear a looming supply shortage. Countries have been asked to take steps to prevent so-called "double claiming," where credits supporting projects bought by airlines are not also used to meet national obligations under the Paris Agreement on climate change.<br/>

IFM Investors Pty, the Australian asset manager with stakes in airports from Sydney to London, plans to spend more than A$1b ($651m) ramping up domestic production of sustainable aviation fuel. Depending on the amount of feedstock available to make the fuel, IFM’s investment — one of the largest financial commitments yet in an area that’s key to decarbonizing air travel — could swell to A$2b within five years, Danny Elia, the firm’s global head of infrastructure asset management, said. IFM aims to propel use of the cleaner-burning jet fuel to 10% of Australia’s total by 2030. “We’ve got a vested interest in facilitating cleaner flying,” Elia said in an interview. “If we don’t, all parts of the community will see that it’s unacceptable to travel.” IFM’s pledge reflects a growing recognition that aviation’s social license to operate, as well as its commercial future, hangs on a comprehensive carbon cleanup. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), made from agricultural feedstock or waste oils, can cut aircraft emissions by as much as 80%, according to the airline industry. But time and money aren’t on aviation’s side. Some $5t of investment may be needed to reach a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, much of it plowed into sustainable fuel production, the International Air Transport Association says. Even though the current global supply of green fuel is less than 1% of total requirements, SAF has emerged as the most powerful tool to reduce pollution from air travel, which accounts for 2.5% of global carbon emissions. Electric planes don’t have sufficient range, and hydrogen propulsion isn’t expected to make a meaningful impact for decades. At last week’s Singapore Airshow, frustration boiled over with the current dribble of SAF. Boeing Co. accused the world’s biggest oil companies of inaction. IATA Chief Willie Walsh also implored them to make more, calling it an “existential issue” for the airline industry.<br/>

Airlines are trialling new techniques to shave minutes off turnaround procedures as a way to cut costs. Flight companies in the US are making changes to reduce taxiing times and manage gate assignments more effectively. It’s good news for carriers, who save money, but also for travellers who could experience fewer delays. Story looks at how air travel might become more efficient in the future. e.g. Airlines look to make flying more efficient: Shaving mere minutes off flight times might seem trivial on paper, but it can result in huge savings for airlines. It also means an improved service for travellers. Arriving a couple of minutes earlier can make the difference between catching or missing a connection. It also reduces the domino effect of delays, meaning flights across the board are more likely to be on time. And: London trials AI to improve airport capacity. London's Heathrow airport is currently testing the use of AI technology to improve traffic management. The system will help the airport recover capacity losses of 20% due to low cloud and reduced visibility from the control tower. Heathrow hopes to minimise flight delays by using ultra-high definition cameras, advanced AI and machine learning technology to take over from human controllers when weather conditions impair visibility. This will allow runways to be cleared more efficiently and ensure the next flight can arrive or take off on time. The technology is also being used at Eindhoven, Schiphol and Berlin Brandenburg airports.<br/>

The global commercial aircraft fleet and the aircraft maintenance market will grow slower than previously expected over the next decade due to tepid economic growth, regulations, constrained production of new aircraft and a pilot shortage. That is according consultancy Oliver Wyman, which predicts in a new report that the number of commercial aircraft worldwide will increase from 28,400 today to 36,400 in 2034, equating annual growth of 2.5% over ten years. That expectation is down notably from the 2.9% estimated fleet expansion rate Oliver Wyman predicted in the 10-year forecast it released last year, and far less optimistic than the 3.9% decade-long annual growth rate the consultancy predicted prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. The latest downward revision reflects “modest global economic growth – the product of high interest rates worldwide – and lower-than-anticipated aircraft production,” Oliver Wyman says. “This year holds its own set of challenges, from continued labour shortages and supply chain fragility to production constraints, slower economic growth” and sustainability-related regulations, particularly those in western Europe. “Despite rising demand for air travel, a return of profitability and more new fuel-efficient aircraft, the fleet will experience slower growth than in the years before the pandemic,” the management consultancy adds. The figures reflect significant troubles that cropped up in recent years within the aerospace production industry, including Pratt & Whitney’s recall, disclosed last year, of more than 1,000 PW1100G geared turbofans, which are one of two power options for Airbus A320neo-family aircraft. CFM International’s competing Leap turbofans have also suffered reliability issues.<br/>