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The Texas attorney general has opened an investigation into a key Boeing supplier that is already facing scrutiny from federal regulators over quality of parts that it provides to the aircraft maker. The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said it began looking into Spirit AeroSystems because of “apparent manufacturing defects” in parts that “have led to numerous concerning or dangerous incidents.” In a statement Friday, a Spirit spokesman said, “While we do not comment on investigations, Spirit is wholly focused on providing the highest quality products to all our customers, to include the Boeing Company.” Paxton asked the Wichita, Kansas-based supplier to turn over documents produced since the start of 2022 about communication with investors and Boeing about flaws in parts and corrective steps the company took. The request goes into detail in seeking internal discussions around Spirit’s efforts to create a diverse workforce “and whether those commitments are unlawful or are compromising the company’s manufacturing processes.” Paxton asked for a breakdown of Spirit’s workforce by race, sexual orientation and other factors, and whether the makeup has changed over time.Since a Spirit-made door-plug panel blew off an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max in January, some conservatives have tried to link aviation safety to diversity at manufacturers. Paxton is a conservative Republican who this week agreed to pay $271,000 in restitution to victims and take 15 hours of training in legal ethics to settle felony charges of securities fraud. Paxton did not admit wrongdoing in the 9-year-old case. The FAA launched an investigation into Boeing Spirit after the Alaska Airlines incident. An FAA audit of manufacturing procedures in Spirit’s factory gave the company failing grades in seven of 13 areas. Boeing is in talks to buy back Spirit, which it spun off nearly 20 years ago, as part of a plan to tighten oversight of manufacturing in its supply chain.<br/>

The new head of Boeing's troubled commercial airplane unit said the planemaker faces a "pivotal moment" as it works to boost quality and address significant concerns from regulators and airline customers after a panel flew off a 737 MAX 9 jet in January. "This is a pivotal moment for us, and we have serious work ahead to build trust and improve our operations," said Stephanie Pope, who was named president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes on Monday, in an email to employees on Wednesday seen by Reuters. Pope was named COO in December and retains the title after holding a wide range of prior jobs at Boeing. On Monday, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun announced he would leave by the end of the year, while the company's long-time head of commercial airplanes, Stan Deal, retired effectively immediately and the board chair Larry Kellner stepped down and was replaced as chair by director Steve Mollenkopf. GE CEO Larry Culp, who has been touted by industry executive analysts as a possible replacement for Calhoun, said at an event in New York he was fully focused on GE Aerospace and would return to its headquarters in Ohio. "There's no better business. There's no better job," Culp said. He said Boeing's board would be focused on leadership qualities in its CEO search. "This is a big company going through tremendous challenge right now," Culp said, saying the planemaker must be thinking about long-term product and corporate strategy. "It won't be enough to get through the challenges of 2024."<br/>

Air travel was already expected to pick up next week because of Spring Break, but Federal Aviation Administration officials said now until mid-April will be increasingly busy due to "the Great North American Eclipse." Many Americans are planning on flying on April 8, the day when the U.S. will experience a total solar eclipse that will track across the sky from Texas to Maine. While some eclipse chasers will be heading toward states in its main path, others are timing flights to view it while airborne. The eclipse "will likely mean crowded parking lots at airports and long lines at security checkpoints," Marisa Garcia, a senior contributor at Forbes, told CBS News. "It's going to be hectic but fun," she added. "Go with the mindset that it's going to be busy and pack light and pack carefully. Be patient and pleasant with everyone." Passengers on the day of the eclipse should expect air traffic delays and an unusually high number of drones in the skies, FAA Senior Technical Advisor Kevin Morris said in an advisory video. According to the FAA, these airports could see delays on April 8: Little Rock, ArkansasChicagoIndianapolisBostonKansas City, MissouriBuffaloClevelandToledo, OhioErie, PennsylvaniaMemphisAustin, TexasDallasHoustonSan Antonio, TexasBurlington, Vermont. Garcia said American Airlines could see the biggest delays at Dallas-Fort Worth, the airline's main hub, which is squarely within the eclipse's path of totality — where it can be seen in full.<br/>

The Argentinian and US governments have gone to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and made a claim against Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro-led government after it closed Venezuelan airspace to all Argentinian-registered aircraft due to the country’s involvement in the seizure and subsequent scrapping of Emtrasur Cargo’s B747-300M. Members of both governments asked for Venezuela's airspace to be reopened. Aerolíneas Argentinas has so far borne the brunt of the measure, having to reroute two of its flights, departing from Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini to Punta Cana and New York JFK to avoid Venezuelan airspace, ch-aviation previously reported. However, the Venezuelan authorities have defended their actions, arguing that Argentina and the United States had violated the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. It will only revert the sanctions when the Argentinian government “compensates” the now-dormant Emtrasur “for damages incurred”. ICAO told ch-aviation that “at this time [...] it is not in a position to release any information or a statement relating to the matter.”<br/>

Productivity has slipped at a Montreal-area Airbus factory trying to ramp up assembly of the planemaker's smallest commercial jet, as workers consider a new contract offer, according to sources and a union memo sent on Friday. Airbus and union negotiators failed to reach a negotiated deal this week following intensive talks, but a second company offer will be considered by the estimated 1,300 workers on April 7, according to the memo seen by Reuters. Details of the new offer, made after workers overwhelmingly rejected an earlier one this month, were not available. Assembly workers at the plant, which makes A220 jets, were recently told by the company that overtime work was cut and productivity was down due to the talks and supply chain snags, three sources who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters. The European planemaker is trying to grow production of the money-losing A220 jets, which have roughly 110 to 130 seats, to a combined 14 planes a month in 2026, spread between the factory in Mirabel, Quebec, and a plant in Mobile, Alabama. That would be up from six a month in December 2022, the latest publicized rate. "Despite a certain slowdown in productivity felt recently, we are maintaining our overall ramp-up target of 14 aircraft a month in 2026," a spokesperson for Airbus's Canadian division said in a statement. "We have taken measures to recover efficiency." The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union (IAM), which wants higher wages and better conditions for the workers at the Airbus facility in Mirabel, said earlier this month it would start pressure tactics that would slow production after workers gave strike authorization.<br/>

Airports in Sofia and Bucharest on Sunday removed passport check points for those departing to or arriving from most European Union member states as Bulgaria and Romania partially joined the Schengen open-travel zone. The two countries reached an agreement late last year to join Europe's free-travel area by air and sea after Austria opposed full membership, including land crossings, saying Romania and Bulgaria needed to do more to prevent illegal immigration. "Of course this is a very beautiful achievement for Bulgaria which makes things easier for us, as Bulgarians," said Mincho Yurukov, who arrived to Sofia airport from Berlin. "Also, we feel like Europeans, that is a very important thing, the flight is much nicer, no checks." The Interior minister in the outgoing government, Kalin Stoyanov, told journalists on Sunday that Bulgaria should become a full member of the Schengen zone by the end of this year, meaning border check points will be removed for people and goods travelling by road and by rail. The Romanian prime minister has also said the country expects to finish negotiations on land borders this year. "I welcome the lifting of internal air and sea border checks. This is a great success for both countries," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a statement. "Together, we are building a stronger, more united Europe for all our citizens,” she said.<br/>

China's civil aviation transport will see steady growth in the summer-autumn aviation season this year, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Sunday. From March 31 to October 26, 188 domestic and foreign airlines plan to arrange 122,000 passenger and cargo flights per week. In terms of international flights, 17,257 passenger and cargo flights are scheduled every week, connecting China and 70 other countries, including 51 Belt and Road partner countries. As for domestic flights, 51 domestic airlines plan to arrange 101,536 flights in the Chinese mainland every week, an increase of 2.5% compared with the same aviation season in 2023.<br/>

Air traffic controllers have taken the first steps towards organising their first strike in more than 20 years. Union Civil Air said it would apply to the Fair Work Commission to authorise a vote in a move that could potentially lead to huge delays and cancellations across airports nationwide. Controllers are demanding better “work-life balance” alongside improved pay, but Airservices Australia, the government organisation that oversees ATC, insists it has already offered staff a $75m pay rise comprising 11.2% over three years. It significantly comes after aviation rescue firefighters, also overseen by Airservices, confirmed they would take industrial action, including an overtime ban, from 5 April. “Airservices was clearly warned on multiple occasions about the white-hot anger and despair that exists among employees due to the torrid workplace environment, and the appetite to pursue further action if claims were not met,” Civil Air’s Peter McGuane told The Australian. “They chose to ignore these warnings.” The union said it’s also seeking a 15.4% superannuation contribution to its members but is only being offered 11%. A note to members added that the deadlock hasn’t been broken despite 14 meetings with management since November.<br/>

Earlier this month, a demonstrator aircraft for what could be the first new civil supersonic plane to be launched since the 1960s took to the skies. It’s a milestone moment in the highly anticipated new era of supersonic travel. The XB-1, a technology demonstrator aircraft built by Colorado-based Boom Supersonic, successfully completed its first test flight at the Mojave Air & Space Port in California, it was announced March 22. The XB-1 is the the world’s first independently developed supersonic jet and paves the way for the development of Boom’s commercial plane Overture. Now, 10 years after the Boom Supersonic project began in 2014, CEO Blake Scholl tells CNN Travel over video call, there are an exciting few months ahead. “I very much believe in the return of supersonic air travel, and ultimately to bring it to every passenger on every route. And that’s not something that takes place overnight,” says Scholl. “The hard part of building a supersonic jet is making something that’s so sleek, and so slippery, take off and land safely.” XB-1’s first flight met all of its test objectives, including safely reaching an altitude of 7,120 feet (2,170 meters) and speeds of up to 238 knots (273 miles per hour). That’s quite a bit below the altitudes reached by commercial airliners, which fly between 31,000 feet to 42,000 feet. As for Mach 1 – the speed of sound – that’s about 760 mph, depending on altitude and temperature. But the plan is for XB-1 to achieve that supersonic ambition pretty fast. “We’re gonna be doing a whole series of flights – 10 to 15 total – over the next five to seven months to break the sound barrier for the first time,” says Scholl.<br/>