The Transportation Department on Wednesday announced new rules taking aim at two of the most difficult and annoying issues in air travel: obtaining refunds and encountering surprise fees late in the booking process. “Passengers deserve to know upfront what costs they are facing and should get their money back when an airline owes them — without having to ask,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement, adding that the changes would not only save passengers “time and money,” but also prevent headaches. The department’s new rules, Buttigieg said, will hold airlines to clear and consistent standards when they cancel, delay or substantially change flights, and require automatic refunds to be issued within weeks. They will also require them to reveal all fees before a ticket is purchased. Airlines for America, a trade group representing the country’s largest air carriers, said in a statement that its airlines “abide by and frequently exceed” D.O.T. consumer protection regulations.<br/>Passenger advocates welcomed the new steps. Tomasz Pawliszyn, the chief executive of AirHelp, a Berlin-based company that assists passengers with airline claims, called it a “massive step forward and huge improvement in consumer rights and protection” that brings the United States closer to global standards in passenger rights. Story features what is known about the D.O.T.’s new rules, which will begin to go into effect in October.<br/>
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French aviation authorities warned of major travel disruptions as air-traffic controllers launch a protest campaign against work-rule changes ahead of the Summer Games in Paris. Airlines have been asked to reduce their flight schedules by 75% at Paris Orly airport on Thursday, by 55% at Charles-De Gaulle, 65% at Marseille and 45% at all other metropolitan airports, aviation authority DGAC said in a statement. “Significant cancellations and delays are expected at all French airports” due to strikes and protests, France’s flagship airline said on its website. A detailed flight schedule will be published later Wednesday, the Air France-KLM unit said. France’s air-traffic control unions are protesting the government’s effort to rewrite labor rules by including them among workers required to give strike notice in a timely manner. The dispute is raising concerns that travel disruptions could mar the run-up to the Olympic Games, set to kick off in Paris on July 26. Sncta, the nation’s biggest air-traffic-control union, said Wednesday it had reached a deal to lift its strike notice, and backed away from a potential strike from May 9 to 11. Other strikes and protests remain in place, with “intense” talks ongoing, according to DGAC. A series of air-traffic control strikes roiled air travel across Europe last year, leading to thousands of cancellations and delays not only on flights to and from France but on other routes as well. That affected low-cost carriers like Ryanair Holdings Plc, which demanded the European Union do more to protect the industry in France.<br/>
The biggest union representing French air traffic control workers, the SNCTA, will call off a threatened strike on April 25 after reaching a deal with management over working conditions, it said on Wednesday.<br/>Many airlines have said they will cancel flights on Thursday owing to expected disruption while talks continue with other trade unions representing French air traffic controllers.<br/>
Heathrow has promised it has a “robust operating plan in place to keep the airport running smoothly” this summer as it faces the twin pressures of record-breaking passenger numbers and potential industrial action. The UK hub airport is experiencing surging demand for travel across all its key routes, leading it to raise its forecasts for full-year passenger numbers from 81.4mn to 82.4mn, which would beat 2019’s previous record. “We are seeing growth in all markets and in all classes [of travel],” said chief financial officer Javier Echave. The announcement comes as Unite union revealed plans for two sets of strikes in May, including contracted refuelling staff over the early May bank holiday. Nearly 800 workers employed by the airport are to walk out for seven days from May 7 in a dispute over plans to outsource some jobs to contractors. Heathrow, which said there would be no job losses, said it expected the airport to continue to operate normally throughout the strikes. “I think that the key message is reassurance . . . we expect no disruption,” Echave said. The two-runway airport has long operated at close to its maximum capacity. But Echave said airlines had turned to using larger aircraft and shifted an increasing number of their routes from short-haul to long-haul, which allows passenger numbers to rise within the airport’s limits of 480,000 flights a year. Heathrow boosted its predictions for passenger numbers this year after a record-breaking first quarter in which 18.5mn travellers passed through the airport, driven by growth in Asian routes. The airport said adjusted pre-tax profits for the quarter were GBP83m, swinging from a loss of GBP139m in the same period last year.<br/>
Airlines in the UK will be required to progressively switch to greener but more expensive fuel sources under government plans to help the heavily polluting industry decarbonise. Ten per cent of all jet fuel on flights taking off from the UK will need to be made up of so-called “sustainable aviation fuels”, or SAFs, by 2030, the government said on Thursday. Made up of a diverse range of sources from crops and used cooking oil to household waste, SAF can emit about 70% less carbon dioxide over its life cycle than traditional aviation fuel and is largely compatible with existing aero-engines. It currently represents the only realistic way for the airline industry to reach its target of net zero by 2050, given that breakthrough technologies such as hydrogen- or electric-powered passenger aircraft are still in experimental stages. But the new fuels are currently at least three times as expensive as traditional jet fuel, and only produced in very small quantities. Less than 1% of UK jet fuel was made from SAFs last year. With 1.2mn tonnes a year needed in the UK by 2030 under the mandate, the government hopes that binding targets will spur fuel companies to produce more, particularly in the UK, driving down the price in the process. “Sustainable aviation fuel protects the future of the UK aviation, the thousands of British jobs that depend on it, and the holidays and business travel flights that we all rely on,” said transport secretary Mark Harper. Environmental groups and some scientists have questioned the aviation industry’s reliance on SAFs to reach its target of net zero by 2050, and say it is unclear whether alternative fuels are viable or truly sustainable when needed at scale, arguing that flying less is the only way to genuinely cut emissions. Most airline bosses expect that a gradual switch to more expensive SAFs will lead to higher ticket prices as higher fuel costs are passed down to consumers.<br/>
IATA has urged the governments of Pakistan and Bangladesh to release more than $720m in blocked airline funds, while calling for simplified processes to repatriate the money. Philip Goh, IATA’s regional vice-president for Asia-Pacific, says the timely repatriation of these funds “is critical for payment of dollar-denominated expenses such as lease agreements, spare parts, overflight fees, and fuel”. Goh adds: “Delaying repatriation contravenes international obligations written into bilateral agreements and increases exchange rate risks for airlines.” IATA has called on Pakistan to simplify its “onerous” repatriation process, which currently requires audit and tax exemption certificates. The requirements “cause unnecessary delays”, the industry association adds. Pakistan accounts for about $399m in blocked funds. As for Bangladesh, IATA says the country’s central bank must prioritise the aviation sector’s access to foreign exchange facilities. The country is holding $323m in blocked funds, according to IATA. “We recognise that governments have a difficult challenge in how foreign currencies are used strategically,” says Goh. ”Airlines operate on razor-thin margins. They need to prioritise the markets they serve based on the confidence they have in being able to pay their expenses with revenues that are remitted in a timely and efficient fashion.” <br/>
Boeing on Wednesday reported a $355 million loss for the first three months of the year, as it deals with a quality crisis stemming from a Jan. 5 flight during which a panel blew off one of its planes. The loss was not as steep as analysts had expected, and it was smaller than the $425 million loss in the first quarter last year. Boeing brought in more than $16.5b in revenue in the first quarter, less than it reported last year, and the company burned through almost $4b in cash, in both cases surpassing analyst expectations. The panel blowout on a 737 Max 9 jet during an Alaska Airlines flight resulted in no major injuries, but the incident dealt a heavy blow to the company, reigniting concerns about Boeing’s practices five years after two fatal crashes involving 737 Max 8 planes. Since the Jan. 5 flight, the company has taken steps to improve quality, including expanding inspections, changing how work is performed, increasing training and soliciting more feedback from employees. “We are absolutely committed to doing everything we can to make certain our regulators, customers, employees and the flying public are 100% confident in Boeing,” Dave Calhoun, Boeing’s CE, said in a letter to employees on Wednesday. Last month, Calhoun said he would step down by the end of the year, part of a management shake-up. Boeing is also in talks to buy Spirit AeroSystems, a troubled supplier that builds the body of the Max jet and that had been a part of Boeing until it was spun out two decades ago.<br/>
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Wednesday that Boeing must meet a government mandate to address systemic quality-control issues within 90 days before it will be able to boost 737 MAX production. Buttigieg noted that Boeing is about halfway through that 90-day clock set by the FAA. "We're not to going let them (increase production) until they have satisfied to the FAA that they can do it safely," he said at an event at Reagan National Airport outside Washington. The FAA in late January took the unprecedented step of telling Boeing it would not allow the U.S. planemaker to expand 737 MAX production in the wake of a mid-air emergency on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9. The Justice Department has opened a criminal probe into the mid-air cabin panel blowout. FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker told Reuters in March that Boeing is allowed to produce 38 of the 737 planes per month, but actual current production "is lower than that." Reuters reported earlier this month that Boeing's monthly output rate fell as low as single digits in late March. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said on an earnings call on Wednesday that the FAA wants a plan in 90 days "that, in essence, monitors and measures whether our production system is in control moving forward." "90 days isn't like a wave a magic flag, and everything is great, and you guys can go from 38 to 40," he added.<br/>
The US Justice Department could decide by the first week of June whether to tear up its controversial deferred-prosecution agreement with Boeing, according to lawyers for the families of people killed in two crashes of 737 Max jets. Prosecutors met with the families Wednesday in Washington to share information about the timing of their investigation and listen to concerns. The relatives have criticized the department’s 2021 deal that would allow Boeing to escape criminal charges over crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people, if the company met certain conditions, amended its disclosure practices and paid a $243m fine. But Boeing’s most recent mishap — a midair blowout of a door plug on the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines plane in January — sparked a criminal investigation of the company’s practices and raised the possibility of ditching the DPA, which was set to expire just days after the accident. The department has until July to nix the agreement. Prosecutors aim to decide by early June to give families and Boeing enough notice of what they’re planning. A judge would still have to approve any changes to the deal. During the meeting in Washington, the families and their lawyers raised questions about the deferred-prosecution agreement and how it came about, according to several attendees who spoke at a press conference. But they said Justice Department prosecutors didn’t provide much detail. “The families were very disappointed that the Justice Department refused again and again to answer their questions,” said Paul Cassell, a former federal judge who is leading the families’ efforts to scuttle the 2021 deal. “We have no idea what the Justice Department will do, which leads us to believe they’re still in bed with Boeing and are going to be moving to dismiss the charges this summer. If they move to dismiss, we will fight that motion vigorously.” The Justice Department and Boeing declined to comment on the meeting. <br/>
When Boeing named Stephanie Pope to the new position of COO in December, the move was widely viewed as a sign that she might succeed the company’s CE, Dave Calhoun, in the next few years. Four months later, facing its second big crisis in five years, the company has begun a fresh search for another CE. And Pope appears to be just one of several potential candidates for one of the most prominent and perilous positions in corporate America: fixing Boeing. Late last month, the company announced that Calhoun would step down at the end of the year, much earlier than expected. The chairman of Boeing’s board vacated his position immediately, and the head of its troubled commercial planes business departed. The management changes came after a panel blew off a 737 Max 9 jet during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, an incident that renewed questions about the quality and safety of Boeing’s planes several years after two fatal crashes of 737 Max 8 planes in 2018 and 2019. As recently as 2021, Boeing had signaled that Calhoun, who took the company’s reins after the Max 8 crashes, would not leave anytime soon. The company’s board raised the mandatory retirement age for the CE to 70, from 65, a change that would have allowed Calhoun to stay in the job until April 2028. But the Alaska Airlines incident disrupted those plans, and Boeing’s board must now identify a new top executive on a more compressed timeline. That new leader has to be someone who can prove to regulators, airline executives, employees and investors that Boeing is firmly committed to improving the quality and safety of its products. “Given the nature of what’s required, the new C.E.O. may prove to be a bit of a unicorn,” analysts at Bank of America Global Research wrote in a research note this month. “They need a strong strategic view, an understanding of engineering, an understanding of manufacturing and they need to have an ability to win hearts and minds.”<br/>
Two framed documents from a long career at Boeing hang side by side in Merle Meyers’s home: A certificate from 2022 that thanks him for three decades of service. And a letter he received months later reprimanding him for his performance. The documents reflect his conflicting emotions about the company. Meyers, who worked as a Boeing quality manager until last year, holds deep affection for the aircraft manufacturer, where both he and his mother worked. But he is also saddened and frustrated by what he described as a yearslong shift by Boeing executives to emphasize speed over quality. “I love the company,” said Meyers, 65, who is publicly sharing his concerns for the first time, supported by hundreds of pages of emails and other documents. For years, he said, quality was the top priority, but that changed over time: “Now, it’s schedule that takes the lead.” Boeing is revered by many aviation professionals as a lasting symbol of ingenuity and an engineering and manufacturing powerhouse. It is so important to the U.S. economy that presidents have effectively served as salesmen for its planes abroad. The company is a dominant force in Washington State and a top employer in the Seattle area, where it was founded and produces the 737 and other planes. A job at Boeing is often a source of pride, and many employees have intergenerational ties to the company. In addition to his mother, Meyers said, his wife’s father and grandfather also worked there. But that shared pride has been badly bruised in recent years. The company’s reputation was tarnished by a pair of fatal crashes of the 737 Max 8 in 2018 and 2019 and an episode when a panel blew out of a 737 Max 9 plane on Jan. 5. That flight reignited intense scrutiny from regulators, airlines and the public. Last month, Boeing’s CE, Dave Calhoun, said he would step down at the end of the year, and its chairman left his position immediately. The company said it had since taken steps to improve quality, including increasing inspections, adding training and pausing production so managers can hear directly from workers. “We are using this period, as difficult as it is, to deliberately slow the system, stabilize the supply chain, fortify our factory operations and position Boeing to deliver with the predictability and quality our customers demand for the long term,” Calhoun said in a letter to employees on Wednesday. While aviation remains exceedingly safe — far fewer people die on planes than in cars, trucks or buses — the Jan. 5 flight highlighted quality concerns raised by Meyers and other current and former employees. Many who have spoken out say they have done so out of respect for Boeing employees and their work, and a desire to push the company to restore its reputation.<br/>