A Boeing engineer who went public last week with safety concerns about the company’s 787 Dreamliner told a Senate panel on Wednesday that he was concerned that shortcuts the company was taking would eventually lead to a crash if they continued unchecked. The engineer, Sam Salehpour, testified that in an attempt to address bottlenecks, Boeing introduced production shortcuts with the potential to lead to planes breaking apart during flights. Salehpour said that the company was knowingly putting out defective planes and that he was punished by his superiors for raising his concerns. “I have analyzed Boeing’s own data to conclude that the company is taking manufacturing shortcuts on the 787 program that may significantly reduce the airplane’s safety and the life cycle,” Mr. Salehpour told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s investigations subcommittee. He added that details “the size of a human hair can be a matter of a life and death.” Salehpour, who has been at Boeing for over a decade, said the problems resulted from changes in how sections of the Dreamliner were fastened together during the manufacturing process. Boeing has acknowledged that manufacturing changes had been made but said that the durability of the airframe was not affected, and the company has continued to express confidence in the plane and its safety. “Extensive and rigorous testing of the fuselage and heavy maintenance checks of nearly 700 in-service airplanes to date have found zero evidence of airframe fatigue,” Boeing said in a statement issued before the hearing, adding that the company was “fully confident in the safety and durability” of the plane.<br/>
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Boeing, which builds planes for presidents and holds billions in government contracts, is at risk of losing its unmatched clout in Washington. On Wednesday, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is planning a hearing on what it calls a “broken safety culture” at the maker of Air Force One, Super Hornet fighter jets and commercial airplanes millions of people fly on every year. Boeing has been facing allegations of shortcuts and short-sightedness after a series of safety problems, including a Jan. 5 incident where a door plug was sucked off an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 mid-flight. The increased scrutiny is expected to test a Boeing lobbying operation that has seen a series of changes. The company has severed its connection with one of K Street’s most powerful firms, and some veteran lobbying staffers have left to join competitors. A key lawmaker has said she won’t accept campaign donations from Boeing executives. In February, Boeing cut ties with Cornerstone Government Affairs, which helped it navigate the aftermath of two 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. Ziad “Z” Ojakli, Boeing’s chief in-house lobbyist, ended the relationship because Cornerstone had taken on a client, Sierra Space Corp., that had hired Ojakli’s predecessor at Boeing, Tim Keating, according to people familiar with the matter. Cornerstone didn’t respond to requests for comment. Boeing said the termination was amicable. CEO Dave Calhoun ousted Keating, who had been at Boeing for more than 14 years, in 2021 and tapped Ojakli, a former Ford Motor Co. lobbyist, as his successor. The transition is said to have been bumpy: Ojakli and many staffers he hired are still coming up to speed on the aerospace business, according to people familiar with the matter, and so far haven’t forged ties with many lawmakers who’d advocated for Boeing in the past. “Boeing has made significant changes across our leadership group since 2019, and our government operations team is no exception,” said company spokesperson Connor Greenwood. “We’ve added new leaders with significant transportation and safety experience to the organization, and they are communicating transparently with government officials and policymakers every day.” <br/>
French infrastructure group Vinci said on Wednesday that its airports subsidiary has signed an agreement to buy a 50.01% stake in Edinburgh Airport for GBP1.27b. "The remaining 49.99% stake will be managed by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which has owned the airport since 2012," Vinci said in a statement, adding that the transaction is expected to be completed during the summer of this year.<br/>
Chinese carriers saw their Q1 passenger traffic reach an all-time high, with domestic traffic recovering well beyond pre-pandemic levels. Data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) shows Chinese carriers to have carried close to 180m passengers in the January-March quarter this year, 38% higher year on year, and more than 10% higher compared to Q1 2019. System-wide traffic grew 46% year on year, and was 13% higher than pre-pandemic levels. Domestic traffic led the sharp increase seen in Q1: CAAC data indicates domestic passenger volumes, at 160m, were up 14% versus Q1 2019. International passenger volumes, however, have yet to recover fully. Chinese airlines carried 14.1m international passengers during the quarter, or about 78% of 2019 levels. CAAC data also shows that cargo volumes hit historic highs: Chinese operators carried slightly over 2t of cargo in the quarter, a 34% jump year on year and about 20% higher than 2019 volumes. The agency states: “In the first quarter of 2024, [the civil aviation sector] got off to a good start, with both passenger volumes and cargo…volumes hitting the highest values in the first quarter of previous years.”<br/>
Thailand and New Zealand have agreed to resume direct flights after the pandemic shut air connectivity as leaders of the two countries vowed to triple bilateral trade in the next two decades. The two countries will also prioritize visa facilitation to achieve the goals of having 100,000 New Zealanders visit Thailand and 40,000 Thai tourists travel to New Zealand by next year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said at a joint press conference with his counterpart Christoper Luxon in Bangkok on Wednesday. The two prime ministers agreed to expand economic cooperation and increase two-way trade and investment in areas of mutual expertise and interest, according to a joint statement. The leaders are looking forward to seeing tariff-free entry for all Thai and New Zealand imports from Jan. 1 and noted that bilateral trade has more than tripled in the 20 years since the countries signed an economic partnership pact. Srettha and Luxon agreed to elevate diplomatic ties between the two nations to a Strategic Partnership “in 2026 or sooner”, according to the Thai leader. The two leaders also agreed to deepen cooperation to tackle organized crimes including human and drug trafficking.<br/>
Plans are afoot to further develop a special economic zone (SEZ) north of Philippine capital Manila by introducing affordable housing inspired by Singapore’s HDB flats and developing an existing civil aviation complex into a global hub a la Changi Airport. Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, who wrapped up a four-day visit to the Philippines on April 17, said the Republic looks forward to exchanging ideas with the Philippines as the latter seeks to bring them to fruition. Filipino officials gave the minister a tour around New Clark City, a 9,450ha community currently being developed inside the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone, which was formerly a US military base. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said in February that he wants New Clark City to become the country’s first smart city, inspired by Singapore’s infrastructure and development model. Sixteen Singapore firms are currently operating in Clark, employing over 1,600 people and generating investments worth US$139.92m as at 2023. There are over 1,000 local and foreign businesses in the SEZ. Joshua Bingcang, head of the agency tasked to convert former US military bases in the Philippines into modern mixed-use communities, said the Philippines wants to build an affordable housing complex in Clark, with architecture modelled after Singapore’s Housing Board designs. Plans are also under way to develop the 2,300ha civil aviation complex around Clark International Airport into a global hub inspired by Changi Airport, said Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) president and CE Arrey Perez. These include building sports and entertainment facilities that can host large-scale international events, and an agricultural trade hub that would support Mr Marcos’ food security agenda.<br/>
Embraer SA’s push into a market long dominated by Boeing Co. and Airbus SE is bearing fruit in equity markets, as a flow of new orders from North America and Europe to Asia sends the stock soaring. The São José dos Campos-based aircraft manufacturer has jumped about 42% this year, touching the highest since 1997 and leading gains on Brazil’s benchmark equity index. Its US-traded shares have climbed almost 32% — more than double the advance seen by Airbus stock — while Boeing has slumped 34% in the span. “There was a supply duopoly between Boeing and Airbus, and Embraer has been investing for a long time to compete and break that,” said Priscila Araujo, a portfolio manager at Brazilian asset manager O3 Capital. Higher demand for private jets and smaller-sized commercial aircraft after the pandemic has helped the company secure new orders abroad, supporting its performance, she added. While the Brazilian planemaker so far hasn’t won huge orders, markets are optimistic — the stock’s 12-month target price, which is at a record, implies further gains of about 17%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Airbus and Boeing are sold out of their most popular narrow-body models until the end of the decade, creating an opportunity for Embraer to offer its largest planes. The company’s tanker-transport military aircraft, the KC-390 Millennium, has lured interest from nations across Europe and Asia, becoming more profitable international export. Deals with India and Saudi Arabia “will change the size of the company” if confirmed, said Pedro Martins from Ace Capital. Though Embraer reported lighter than expected deliveries in the Q4, its guidance for 2024 — consolidated revenue between $6b and $6.4b and strong deliveries expected in its commercial and executive aviation segments — sent shares jumping. JPMorgan raised its price target for the ADRs citing a “superior” growth outlook. “Embraer is showing a resilience that was not expected, and profiting from the success of the KC-390 and also with the strong demand in the private jet market,” said Daniela Da Costa-Bulthuis, Rotterdam-based portfolio manager at Robeco Institutional Asset Management.<br/>
Electric aircraft maker Eve has signed a letter of intent with Japan's public helicopter charter service company AirX to sell up to 50 electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, it said on Wednesday. Eve, which is controlled by Brazilian planemaker Embraer said the letter includes a firm order for 10 eVTOL and an agreement involving other potential 40 units. Eve did not release financial terms under the letter of intent. The Embraer firm, which earlier had reported an order backlog of more than 2,800 eVTOLs, plans to enter into service in 2026.<br/>