The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board will tell the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday the agency needs more funding and warn cuts could put probes into aviation and rail accidents at risk. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy will tell a committee hearing, in written testimony seen by Reuters, that funding levels in a Senate bill "would require us to reduce staffing levels and would degrade our mission readiness for critical safety investigations". Those probes include a February 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment in Ohio and another into the Jan. 5 mid-panel panel blowout of a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft. "It is critical for the agency to have additional resources to respond to events," Homendy's testimony says. "We owe it to the families of those involved, to the communities where events occurred, and to the traveling public to find out what happened, why it happened, and to make recommendations to help ensure it never happens again." Homendy says she expects President Joe Biden next week to request $150m for NTSB for the 2025 budget year, up from $145m proposed for this year. A Senate bill would authorize $145m for the NTSB next year, $5m less than what Biden is expected to seek. Homendy says the NTSB, with 230 investigators currently, needs 50 additional employees for full staffing including 16 aviation investigators and 10 highway investigators as well as another $2.4m to replace aging and obsolete equipment "critical to conducting robust and comprehensive investigations."<br/>
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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Tuesday U.S. regulators will keep Boeing "under a microscope" as the planemaker works to address quality issues. The FAA said Monday the agency's six-week 737 MAX production audit into Boeing and supplier Spirit AeroSystems found multiple instances where the companies allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements. Buttigieg told CNBC that air travel is the safest mode of U.S. travel but "keeping it that way is going to require Boeing to step up and the FAA to keep Boeing under a microscope, including this tough step that was unprecedented of limiting how many aircraft they can produce in a month until they can demonstrate that if they want to make a higher number, they can do it safely." The FAA also said Monday it found "non-compliance issues in Boeing’s manufacturing process control, parts handling and storage, and product control." The FAA has not detailed the specific corrective actions Boeing and Spirit must take but sent a summary of its findings to the companies in its completed audit. Boeing said Monday "by virtue of our quality stand-downs, the FAA audit findings and the recent expert review panel report, we have a clear picture of what needs to be done." The FAA's audit was prompted by a Jan. 5 mid-air emergency involving a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 that lost a door plug at 16,000 feet. . The FAA previously barred Boeing from expanding 737 production and in January said "the quality assurance issues we have seen are unacceptable."<br/>
Germany's Verdi union on Tuesday called on aviation security staff to strike over stalled wage negotiations, leading Hamburg Airport to cancel passenger flights on Thursday and leaving Frankfurt Airport likely to carry only those already in transit. The union said Tuesday that there will be an all-day strike at both airports in passenger and goods control, cargo control and service areas. Hamburg Airport said that of the 141 departures it had scheduled for Thursday, all passenger flights would be cancelled.<br/>A spokesperson for Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport tab said passengers coming from outside the airport may not be able to enter it that day, although this is still being examined.<br/>
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has requested Vietnamese operators to “proactively plan” for their operations – including drafting backup plans – following a spate of operational challenges that has led to fleet ”fluctuations”. Citing two examples of operational snags, the authority says that it is focused on “reviewing relevant plans and policies” to minimise the impact on travellers. Issues with the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G have impacted the operations of two major operators: Vietnam Airlines and low-cost carrier Vietjet. Both carriers have had to take an unspecified number of Airbus A320neo-family aircraft out of operations for inspections. To this end, the authority is requesting airlines to plan for additional aircraft to supplement operations, including taking additional jets on wet lease. The CAAV also notes that Bamboo Airways’s restructuring – amid financial difficulties – has led to it grounding its fleet of three Embraer E190s, a move aimed at saving costs. The airline deploys the type on flights from Ho Chi Minh city and Hanoi to the southern island of Con Dao, due to airport infrastructure limitations. Con Dao airport is unable to handle larger narrowbodies like the Boeing 737 or A320. <br/>
Christchurch Airport has stopped calling itself “climate positive” in its marketing after it was accused of greenwashing. However, the airport maintains the term is a “factually accurate” description of its business operations. A complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority said Christchurch International Airport Limited’s (CIAL) use of the phrase was misleading as the calculations it was based on did not include emissions from flights. CIAL data shows flights in and out of the airport generated more than 675,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions last year. “To claim that the airport is ‘climate positive’ is grossly misleading, incorrect and frankly ridiculous,” the complainant said. However, the airport maintained the term was not misleading, as it had been independently certified climate positive. To achieve that, the business was required to offset at least 120% of “controllable” emissions. Emissions from flights are not classified as controllable. CIAL said it prioritised reducing carbon emissions over offsetting them and had significantly cut direct emissions. Remaining operational emissions were offset in order to achieve net zero.<br/>
Boeing and its largest union open talks on Friday seeking the first new contract in 16 years as the U.S. planemaker grapples with its ongoing 737 MAX safety crisis and after big gains by workers in other sectors of the economy. US unions have capitalized on tight labor markets to win hefty contracts at the bargaining table, with mainline pilots, autoworkers and others scoring big raises in 2023. Unlike auto workers who were able to leverage strong industry profits, Boeing is losing ground to rival Airbus and trying to manage a crisis that erupted after a door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX jet in mid-air on Jan. 5. Boeing reported a net loss of $2.2b in 2023 after losing $5b in 2022. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), which represents over 30,000 Washington state workers building Boeing's 737 MAX jets, wants better retirement benefits and wage increases exceeding 40% over three to four years after what it termed years of stagnant earnings. “We have a lot to make up for,” said Jon Holden, president of the IAM's District 751 representing the Seattle-area workers. Workers are scheduled to vote for a strike authorization mandate on July 17, but could not strike before the contract expires on Sept 12. Workers ratified a contract in 2008 and approved two extensions in 2011 in 2014. The current eight-year extension began in 2016. Boeing said Tuesday that it is "confident we can reach a deal that addresses the needs of our employees while allowing us to win new business in a very competitive global market."<br/>
An Airbus contract offer being voted on this month by Montreal-area workers involved in the production of its smallest A220 jets is being dismissed by their union as "totally unacceptable," according to a memo to members. Airbus is holding talks with the estimated 1,300 workers in Canada's province of Quebec at a time when the European planemaker is trying to control costs on its loss-making A220 jet. While details of the deal will only be presented on March 10, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) warned in the letter that the offer "doesn't work at all and is totally unacceptable." A vote on a deal to replace the contract that expired in December 2023 will be held on March 17. "This offer, that we consider as hostile, cannot be left without consequences," union negotiators said in the French-language letter. "We must send a clear message to the employer." "We have submitted a contract offer to the union that we believe is fair and reasonable while ensuring the long-term success of the A220," Airbus said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. "We remain committed to this negotiation," Airbus added. If the offer is rejected, IAM members can speak in favour of using pressure tactics. Workers, however, would first need to approve a strike authorization mandate before downing tools.<br/>