While the safety of personal data online is top of mind this week, with a huge data leak affecting 73m customers of the US’s largest telephone service provider, a recent in-depth analysis by a portal specialising in online security reveals just how easily airlines can access some of their passengers' most personal data. And that's in addition to the passport numbers and biometric data they already have on file. Many seasoned travellers who book their plane tickets online often wonder if using their personal computer is really the best option, concerned that airlines will increase fares after tracking the IP address, as a passenger repeats their flight search. But using your smartphone isn't a better option, considering the access to data that carriers have, according to a detailed analysis published by Cybernews. And that's in addition to the passport number, health information and biometric data that these companies often already have access to. Geolocation, access to the camera and all the information it contains, microphones, address books, SMS messages, data storage and collection – airlines can access reams of various types of private and essential information, which tells a great deal about any particular traveller, according to this study. For this study, authors looked at 14 carriers who have an Android-compatible booking app, including AirAsia, Turkish Airlines, Ryanair, United Airlines, Aegean Airlines and Vietnam Airlines. According to the study, the US-based carriers United and American Airlines are the most data-hungry, collecting the most information, while Philippine Airlines collected the least out of the 14. Moreover, carriers don't just access this private information, they also share it with third parties, according to Cybernews.<br/>
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Monday’s solar eclipse is giving some of the country’s smaller airports their moment in the sun. The FAA reported arriving flights at airports from Burlington, Vermont, to southern Illinois were briefly halted Monday morning ahead of the total eclipse. Such disruptions are routinely caused by bad weather and heavy traffic in big-city hubs, but high demand for prime views of the phenomenon jammed some smaller airports on Monday. The best views of the solar eclipse in the U.S. span from Texas through Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio to northwestern New York and Maine, according to NASA. FAA traffic adjustments give airports time to catch up and avoid airplane parking jams on the ground. “We had to close the runway to park planes,” Alyssa Connell, head of operations at Southern Illinois Airport in Murphysboro, Illinois, told CNBC. The airport, which has three runways, took reservations for eclipse flights and on Friday reached its maximum threshold for 230 small propeller aircraft and about 45 larger jets and larger turboprops. “This is by far the most aircraft we’ve ever seen.” Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport in Vermont is scheduled to receive between 100 and 130 general aviation planes on Monday, said Dave Carman, deputy director of aviation operations. It’s also expecting some scheduled commercial passenger jet traffic. “It’s the most we’ve seen in a day,” Carman said. “It’s going to be hectic getting out,” he said.<br/>
European airlines, airports and air traffic controllers have made sweeping changes to their operations as the aviation industry tries to avoid another summer of disruption for passengers. Changes to flight schedules and efforts to reduce the risk of strikes by air traffic controllers have left industry bosses optimistic that there will not be a repeat of last summer’s problems. “In general the whole of the industry is better prepared . . . but you can never be complacent and relaxed,” said Johan Lundgren, CE of easyJet, the UK low-cost airline. British Airways is under particular pressure to improve its operational performance, after only 60% of its flights at London’s Heathrow airport were on time last year. The carrier said it had made significant changes to its ground operations at Heathrow in response, including hiring 350 more staff, upgrading equipment such as baggage loading machines and buses, and updating its notoriously unreliable IT systems. Airlines have spent the winter working with Eurocontrol, which manages Europe’s airspace and national air navigation providers, to improve the resilience of the region’s air traffic control network, including dedicating resources to ensuring the first wave of morning flights gets away on time. “If you can get the first wave away all right, the rest of the day will largely run pretty good,” said Michael O’Leary, CE of Ryanair, the low-cost carrier that last year operated the most flights in Europe. A wave of strikes by French air traffic controllers and a rise in summer storms combined to wreak havoc on flight schedules last summer, which is critical to airlines’ profits as the winter months are often lossmaking.<br/>
Employers of airport security staff in Germany and the Verdi union have agreed in principle to a wage deal after bringing in independent mediators to break their long-running dispute, both parties said on Monday. The responsible committees at the BDLS employers' association and the union have until noon on Tuesday to accept or reject the arbitration recommendation, with Verdi to refrain from calling for strikes until then. According to a statement from BDLS, the recommendation stipulates wage increases of between 13.1% and 15.1% within 15 months for some 25,000 airport security workers. Europe's biggest economy has been hit by a series of disruptive and costly stoppages affecting air and rail travel as workers demand higher wages to cope with the impact of inflation. Strikes brought 11 airports across Germany to a standstill in February and also massively affected air traffic in early and mid-March.<br/>
The acquisition of Budapest Airport could conclude "within days", Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in parliament on Monday, signalling an end to months of negotiations with majority owner AviAlliance. Since Orban took power in 2010, his government has boosted Hungarian ownership in energy, banking, telecoms and the media, and has been planning to buy the airport for years. "We hope that within days, the airport... will be owned in majority by the state", he said. Hungary's government submitted its binding offer in September 2023. In 2021, Orban's government submitted a non-binding offer to buy the airport, but the process was later halted amid high inflation and volatility in global financial markets. Economy minister Marton Nagy said earlier in 2023 the financing of the package could include budget funds and development bank money. He did not say which assets the government might sell.<br/>
Boeing likely didn’t deliver any 777 freighters during Q1, adding to its cash woes at a time when 737 Max handovers are sluggish amid heightened government scrutiny. The planemaker as of last week had 11 newly built “gliders” — an industry term for finished aircraft that are lacking engines — stashed in and around its factory in Everett, Washington, Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu said in an April 5 report citing data from Aero Analysis Partners/AIR. The cash-flow drag from 11 newly built but undelivered 777 freighters would translate to roughly $1.16b, according to George Ferguson, analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. He estimates each aircraft not delivered represents a cash outflow of about $105m. Boeing’s cash use is a growing concern for investors after the planemaker said last month that it expects to burn through $4b or more during Q1. The bottleneck highlights how Boeing’s manufacturing challenges extend beyond its cash-cow 737 Max jet. The aerospace giant is working to bring its factories and supply chain back to a steady cadence under scrutiny from US regulators following a series of quality lapses. Boeing and the 777 freighter’s engine manufacturer, General Electric Co., declined to discuss specific details around the delivery hiccup. “As the aviation industry continues to manage through supply chain constraints, we are working closely with our suppliers and customers on the timing of their deliveries,” Boeing said. A GE spokesperson said the company is coordinating GE90 engine production and delivery schedules with Boeing and airline customers. <br/>
The IATA has published a new report that outlines how its member airlines could reduce the amount of single-use plastic products (SUPP) onboard an aircraft. The report was done with the help of Travel Without Plastic (TWP). According to IATA, SUPPs are widely used in aviation since the material is strong and light and can meet safety and security regulators. The association noted that the aviation industry faces challenges in improving its cabin waste performance, including replacing SUPPs with sustainable alternatives. At the same time, IATA noted that carriers across the globe are facing technical and operational hurdles, with the lack of a harmonized and risk-based regulatory environment presenting a significant barrier to improving recycling and circularity of waste management. As a result, the current regulatory environment continues to constrain carriers on their efforts to reduce the usability of SUPPs and introduce more environmentally friendly options that would benefit passengers and the environment. IATA called for collaboration across the whole value chain, calling it vital to enable the industry to adopt the principles of a circular economy that would reduce and eventually replace SUPPs onboard commercial flights.<br/>