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U.S. House and Senate negotiators agreed late Tuesday to revise language in an aviation reform bill to ensure quick refunds for airline passengers whose flights are canceled and who are not seeking alternative flights. On April 24, the U.S. Transportation Department finalized new rules that later this year will require automatic cash refunds for canceled flights when passengers choose not to take a new flight. A bipartisan proposal in Congress released last week that said passengers must request the refunds had raised concerns the law could undercut a rule that would ensure people who bought non-refundable tickets got reimbursed for canceled flights. But under revised language first reported by Reuters and made public Tuesday, refunds would be automatic in many instances. Automatic refunds would not apply if passengers rebooked and accepted a new flight. Senators hope the revised bill will win approval before a Friday deadline to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration for five years. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, a Democrat who led the talks on the revised language, said, "Statutory rights to refunds are a big win for consumers in this bill. Passengers can reject vouchers or alternative flights, and without hassle, get a refund."<br/>

International airline passengers arriving at British airports, including Heathrow Aiport near London, faced long lines at immigration checkpoints for several hours on Tuesday evening before the British Border Force announced that a nationwide computer outage that caused the delays had ended. “Border Force is currently experiencing a nationwide issue which is impacting passengers being processed through the border,” Heathrow, the country’s largest airport, said on social media at 9:15 p.m. Just before 2 a.m. on Wednesday, Heathrow announced that the issue had been resolved. The Home Office, which administers the Border Force, said that it had fixed the outage across all airports shortly after midnight, according to BBC News. A spokesman for the agency told the news outlet that the issue began around 7:50 p.m. Tuesday. There was no evidence of a malicious cyber attack and border security had not been compromised at any point, the agency added. Manchester Airport, Gatwick Airport near London, Belfast International Airport in Northern Ireland and several other airports had reported being affected Tuesday evening, though the overall number of affected airports wasn’t clear. Officials said that the problem originated with the Border Force’s “eGates,” immigration checkpoints that process arriving passengers through the border. Officials at Gatwick and Manchester Airports said Tuesday that there were no flight delays or cancellations related to the outage, but said that they were working with Border Force officials to assist passengers experiencing delays at immigration.<br/>

The debt burden for construction of Hong Kong’s airport expansion has soared to HK$123b (US$15.7b), with no end in sight to a levy on passengers who fly out from the city. The Airport Authority said on Tuesday the total debt for the airport expansion work, expected to be completed this year, had jumped because of the impact of the coronavirus crisis. “There were significant increases due to the Covid pandemic … since the commissioning of the three-runway system will be introduced in phases, it is difficult to say when we can stop charging the related levies,” Julian Lee Pui-hang, the authority’s director of finance, told a Legislative Council panel.<br/> “We also expect it will still be a while before [passenger numbers] fully recover.” Lee was speaking after questions from Perry Yiu Pak-leung, a tourism sector lawmaker, who wanted to know when the authority would stop the special charges, introduced in 2016 to help fund the expansion of the airport. The “Airport Construction Fee” at present charges every passenger, including those transiting through Chek Lap Kok, between HK$70 and HK$180 a trip, depending on distance and seat class, and is collected as an extra fee when tickets are bought. Lee told lawmakers in 2022 that travellers were likely to continue to pay the tax until at least 2033, although he did not mention a date at Tuesday’s meeting. The airport’s HK$141.5b expansion project included a new 3.8km third runway, which came into service in 2022, a second terminal building opposite the present one, as well as another concourse.<br/>

Boeing has been in crisis mode ever since the near-catastrophic accident on a 737 Max 9 in early January — and there’s little sign it’s catching a break anytime soon as the next investigation looms — this time involving the flagship 787 Dreamliner model. The company disclosed on Monday that it had alerted authorities to potentially incomplete inspections on the long-haul jetliner, setting in motion an investigation by the US Federal Aviation Administration. While the latest mishaps don’t create an immediate flight safety issue, they will disrupt factory operations as Boeing conducts tests on aircraft being assembled. Potentially the most damaging revelation was the suspicion that workers at the factory in North Charleston, South Carolina, may have falsified records to cover up their shortcuts. A review revealed that “several people” had not performed a required test during the wing attachment to the aircraft body, but recorded that work as having been completed, according to Boeing. The latest twist risks worsening a crisis of confidence that has thrown the company into turmoil since a fuselage panel blew off a nearly new 737 Max plane mid-flight on Jan. 5. The FAA’s new probe also comes after whistleblowers told US lawmakers last month that the planemaker prioritizes production rates over safety and quality. While Boeing has pushed back on that charge, the accusations and investigations add to a narrative that one of the most venerable US manufacturers has lost its way. The panel incident created a chain reaction at Boeing and the wider aviation industry, pushing out senior management and forcing the company to slow down production. That, in turn, means fewer planes for airlines clamoring for more jets, and a massive cash drain at Boeing, which heavily relies on 737 shipments to bolster its earnings. Boeing shares, already among the worst performers on the Down Jones Industrial Average this year, took another hit on Monday, slumping as much as 2.8% after the announcement and extending the drop since January to 32%.<br/>

Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. expects to produce Boeing Co. 737 Max aircraft bodies at a lowered rate for the rest of the year, pressuring its finances as the two companies work to improve quality in their factories. Boeing’s largest supplier only expects to ship around 350 fuselages for the cash-cow jetliner this year as the two manufacturers step up inspections under scrutiny from US regulators and lawmakers. Spirit has slowed its own production by about a quarter to a 31-unit monthly pace, it said as it reported first-quarter earnings on Tuesday. The disruptions will have a “material impact” on Spirit’s cash flow throughout 2024, the supplier said in a statement. The Wichita, Kansas-based manufacturer also said it has been unable to reach a deal with Airbus SE to raise prices on parts it supplies for the A220 and advanced A350 aircraft models, which resulted in a further drag on cash flow. Spirit posted a first-quarter adjusted loss of $3.93 per share compared to a 54 cent deficit estimated by analysts. Free cash flow was negative $444m in the quarter, far more than than the $69m use of cash in the prior-year period. The results underscore how Boeing’s crisis is pressuring the finances of the critical supplier and former unit the planemaker spun off in 2005. “The death throes of Spirit are hard to watch, as these 1Q numbers are pretty horrendous,” analyst Rob Stallard of Vertical Research Partners said in a note to clients on Tuesday. Boeing in March confirmed it was in discussions to acquire Spirit in an effort to bring more of its aircraft production under its direct control. The planemaker is working to stabilize its supply chain and bolster quality standards after a fuselage panel blew off a 737 Max 9 mid-flight in January. <br/>

The nation's major airlines are showing growing preference for Airbus planes amid inadequate quality control of scandal-tainted Boeing whose defective airplanes escalate safety woes across the industry, according to company officials, Tuesday. Boeing has rapidly lost its once-robust corporate reputation after its Boeing 737 MAX — operated by Alaska Airlines — lost a door-plug panel during a flight in January, as no bolts had been installed on it. In April, a Boeing 767 aircraft of Delta Air Lines also made an emergency landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after its exit slide fell off in midair. A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 also returned to Denver International Airport last month after its engine cover fell off during takeoff. Given that any airline can take a serious hit in revenue and reputation in case of such a malfunction, planes from Airbus are increasingly being preferred by Korean aviation players, according to officials from major airlines here. "Boeing's sequential involvement in safety scandals pushes more airlines to opt for Airbus jets," an official from an airline here said. "The safety concerns are escalating day after day, so it is natural for any airlines to display more preference for jets not manufactured by Boeing." In March, Korean Air, the nation's flag carrier, clinched a contract with Airbus to procure 33 state-of-the-art A350 family of aircraft with an investment of $13.7b (18.61t won). Asiana Airlines also operates 69 passenger planes, but only 10 out of them are from Boeing. T'way Air is also scheduled to borrow Airbus A330-200 aircraft from Korean Air for its new routes to Europe.<br/>

China's COMAC is expanding production facilities for its homegrown C919 jets in Shanghai, according to one of the project contractors, as the state-owned planemaker ramps up manufacturing to fulfill hundreds of new orders. China Aviation Planning and Design Institute (Group) Co. Ltd. (AVIC-CAPDI), a state-owned provider of aviation planning and construction services, said on its WeChat account at the end of April that the company had "recently won the bid for the second phase of the C919 large passenger aircraft batch production capacity construction project". AVIC-APC said the project was in Pudong, Shanghai, and had a total construction area of 330,000 square meters. COMAC is headquartered in Shanghai. "The completion of the project will meet the future batch production needs of the C919 large passenger aircraft, effectively improving its production efficiency and providing strong support for the commercial operation and market competition of domestically produced big aircraft," it said.The second phase of the project, according to AVIC-CAPDI, mainly includes the construction of assembly plant, parts warehouse, and tarmac area. It was not immediately clear what the first phase of the project is. AVIC-CAPDI's statement was widely reported by local media on Monday but was deleted by the company on Tuesday. AVIC-CAPDI and COMAC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The factory expansion comes as Air China and China Southern Airlines, two of the country's largest carriers, placed orders amounting to 100 C919 jets each, expanding commercial operations of the plane amid ambitions by Beijing to take market share from industry leaders Airbus and Boeing.<br/>