general

A spate of high-profile airline accidents this year have left a lasting impression on the public. There was the fiery Japan Airlines runway collision on January 2, followed days later by the Boeing Co. door-plug blowout. From lost wheels to a turbulent Singapore Airlines flight this week, the headline-grabbing events have left the flying public to wonder whether it’s still safe to fly. The reality, statistics show, remains that getting on a Boeing or Airbus jetliner is still exponentially safer than the drive to the airport. Last year, there wasn’t a single fatality among the 37m commercial airline flights. While 2024 won’t match that record, it’s been an average year in terms of airline safety. Yet public perception remains jittery. US web searches for “flight safety” hit the highest level in March since October 2014, according to Google Trends. That year a decade ago was a particularly bad one for aviation fatalities. The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 in March was followed by the shooting down of the same carrier’s flight 17 over Ukraine in July and an AirAsia crash in December. The accidents this year have caused far fewer fatalities than in early 2014 or in 2019, when the second of two Boeing 737 Max flights crashed in March, killing 157 people in Ethiopia. Five people aboard a Japan coastguard turboprop lost their lives in early January when the plane ventured onto the runway path of an incoming Airbus A350. While nobody died in the January 5 structural failure of a 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska Air Group Inc., the accident dealt a serious blow to Boeing’s credibility and to passenger confidence. Since then, a series of more minor incidents, from a Delta Air Lines Inc. Boeing 757 losing a nose wheel to a United Airlines Holdings Inc. 737 Max skidding off a runway in Houston, have received widespread media coverage. On the flight from London to Singapore this week, a 73-year-old British man died from a suspected heart attack after the plane encountered severe turbulence.<br/>

Russia's aviation authority imposed restrictions on flights in and out of two airports in the Volga river region of Tatarstan for several hours on Thursday, while the Defence Ministry reported downing a Ukrainian drone nearby. In statements published on the Telegram messaging app, Russia's aviation watchdog said that Kazan and Nizhnekamsk airports had suspended flights, and later reported their reopening around two and half hours later. Russia's Defence Ministry said it had downed a Ukrainian drone in the Yelabuga district, close to Nizhnekamsk.<br/>

Doha's Hamad International Airport (DOH) has announced a significant milestone, having served over 50m passengers in a rolling 12-month period for the first time in its history. This remarkable achievement comes in the airport's 10th year of operations, reflecting its growth and strategic positioning as a vital global aviation hub, it said. The airport based in Qatar capital has 25z% point-to-point passenger operations. This is attributed to the increasing number of international visitors to Doha, which grew by 58% in 2023 in comparison to the previous year, as per the tourism report by Qatar Tourism, showcasing the city's appeal as a premier travel destination. In 2023, Hamad International Airport welcomed three new airline partners, with an additional four partners joining in the first four months of 2024. The airport served 255 destinations in 2023, including passenger, cargo, and chartered flight destinations – further enhancing its connectivity and service offerings. According to the recently published Airport Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific and Middle East Air Connectivity Ranking 2023, Doha boasts the second-best air connectivity in the Middle East. Air connectivity rankings are determined by the number of destinations, frequency of services, and quality of connections. This success is partly due to the airport’s robust facilities and services which permits major airlines to operate from the hub and their extensive global networks. <br/>

Boeing will burn through cash this year and deliveries of new planes won’t improve in Q2 from Q1, as the manufacturer deals with a host of production challenges tied to its bestselling planes, the company’s CFO, Brian West, said Thursday. A month ago, West forecast Boeing would generate free cash flow “in the low single-digit billions.” The new forecast shows the mounting costs of the plane maker’s latest crises. Boeing burned through nearly $4b in cash in Q1 and West said that figure could be similar or “possibly a little worse” in Q2, but that the company would likely return to generating cash in the second half of 2024. The company’s aircraft deliveries in Q1 fell to the lowest level since the pandemic. The bulk of a plane’s price is paid when it’s handed over to a customer. Boeing’s shares lost more than 7% on Thursday after West’s comments at a Wolfe Research industry conference, a slide that weighed down the Dow Jones Industrial Average. “We have frustrated and disappointed our customers because of some of the production supply chain issues that we’re up against,” West said at the conference. “And while I understand that frustration, the most important thing we can do for our customers and the supply chain in the industry is to focus on the actions that are underway as we speak so that we could stabilize this production system, improve quality, and get more predictable.” Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun in March said he would step down by the end of the year, and the company replaced the chairman and CE of its commercial airplane unit. Leading up to the shake-up, CEOs of major airline customers complained about delivery delays and difficulty planning flights because of surprise disruptions. Boeing’s latest production issues surfaced after a door plug blew out midair from a nearly new 737 Max 9 at the start of the year, just as the company was trying to repair years of reputational damage from two fatal Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.<br/>

Boeing will present its plan to fix quality problems with its assembly line to US regulators next week, the company said Thursday. The plan was ordered up by the Federal Aviation Administration in late February after a hole blew open in the side of an airborne 737 Max a month earlier. The FAA said it audited the production line at Boeing and its key 737 Max supplier and found “multiple instances where the companies allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.” It gave Boeing 90 days to present a plan — and that deadline is next week. Boeing CFO Brian West said Thursday that Boeing and the FAA have had “lots of dialogue” including two check-ins during the preparation of the plan. “The engagement is constructive,” he said at a conference organized by Wolfe Research on Thursday. “I expect next week we’re going to get some good feedback.” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said separately on Thursday that the plan is “not the end of the process, it’s the beginning.” “It’s going to be a long road to get back to where they need to be making safe airplanes,” Whitaker said in an interview on ABC News. West said he agreed that presentation of the plan is “not a finish line,” and that safety work at Boeing is currently focused on three areas: Training, “simplification of our work instructions” and tools. “Our objective is to make sure the mechanic is fully prepared to do the work as intended,” West said. “Those are basic, but they are important basics that we have a lot of people working very hard to make sure that we achieve improvements across the board in those areas.” West also acknowledged the complaints of some airline executives about Boeing’s quality and delays due to the production issues. “We have frustrated and disappointed our customers because of some of the production supply chain issues that we’re up against,” West said. “And while I understand that frustration, the most important thing we can do for our customers and the supply chain in this industry is to focus on the actions that are underway as we speak.”<br/>

Boeing said on Thursday the planemaker has updated its workforce training for new hires for manufacturing and quality after pausing it in late February. Its new hires will now receive 10 to 14 weeks of foundational skills training before moving to the production floor, which is one to two weeks more on average per employee than in the past. At its Renton training center, Boeing has installed a section of 737 fuselage for employees to practice skills such as wiring installation and identifying potential defects. Following Alaska Airlines incident on Jan.5 when a door panel of a 737 MAX 9 detached during a flight, the company is overhauling manufacturing practices as it grapples with investigations and slumping production of its strongest-selling jet.<br/>

Boeing faces a "long road" to address safety issues, the head of the FAA said on Thursday as it prepares to receive the company's plan to address concerns. In late February, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker gave Boeing 90 days to develop a comprehensive plan to address "systemic quality-control issues" and barred it from expanding 737 MAX production. Boeing has faced mounting questions after a door panel detached during a Jan. 5 flight on a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9, forcing pilots to make an emergency landing while passengers were exposed to a gaping hole 16,000 feet above the ground. An FAA audit also found serious issues. Whitaker told ABC News the 90-day plan, due next week, "is not the end of the process. It's the beginning and it's going to be a long road to get Boeing back to where they need to be making safe airplanes." He said the FAA has been working closely with Boeing over the last 90 days on "what that plan is going to look like if it's to bring the quality back where it needs to be at their factories." "It's to bring the safety system where it needs to be and bring the culture where it needs to be so that employees can speak up when they see something that is concerning."<br/>

Chinese planemaker COMAC is eyeing Saudi Arabia as a launch pad for its international ambitions, as the state-owned company steps up efforts to sell overseas and break into a passenger jet market dominated by Western manufacturers. Chairman Dongfeng He visited Saudi Arabia for the first time this week, having welcomed a Saudi delegation to the company's Shanghai facilities in February, amid warming ties between the two major economies. "COMAC envisions enhancing global connectivity and diversity by contributing to Saudi Arabia's aviation transportation development," He told an aviation conference in Riyadh on Tuesday. Aviation industry sources, however, caution that COMAC is a long way from making inroads internationally, especially without benchmark certifications from the United States or European Union, or more efficient planes. COMAC's planes fly almost exclusively within China and with one Indonesian airline, and the company, founded in 2008, is looking for international customers. It recently showcased its planes around Southeast Asia, and is pursuing certification with Europe's aviation regulator for its C919 narrow-body jet. During He's visit, Saudia Group, owner of Saudia airline and budget carrier flyadeal, said it invited COMAC to set up an assembly line in Jeddah, confirming to Reuters a report in The National newspaper based in the United Arab Emirates. Saudia is also talking to COMAC to better understand the C919 jet, but no decisions have been made, the report said. Saudi Arabia is throwing billions of dollars at its Vision 2030 plan to diversify its economy away from fossil fuels and develop a vibrant private sector.<br/>

From Taylor Swift and Kylie Jenner to Elon Musk, celebrities have come under scrutiny for using private jets, which are huge emitters. Aviation is responsible for more than 2% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, and private jets are the most carbon-intensive form of air travel. A 2021 report found that some private jets emit two tons of CO2 per hour — at least five times more pollution per passenger than commercial flights. That’s 50 times worse than trains. While some private jetsetters have turned to carbon offsets as a means to neutralize their emissions, a handful of startups are promising the world’s 23,000-plus jet owners another option: hydrogen-powered aircraft. The gas can replace fossil fuels and power planes without emitting carbon dioxide. While the technology could be an ideal solution, it also has yet to be proven, raising questions of whether flying privately using hydrogen is a climate hack for the ultra-wealthy or a risky strategy for cleaner aviation.For now, flying privately on a hydrogen-powered jet is more of an idea under development than a reality for any traveler. But Beyond Aero, a French startup founded by three aerospace engineers, aims to commercially launch a six-seat jet by 2030 and has secured letters of intent from prospective individual buyers for 19 hydrogen jets, as well as from a number of airlines.“The high-net-worth individuals were looking to reduce their emissions,” says Eloa Guillotin, Beyond’s co-founder CEO. “They want to be one of the first to fly a [hydrogen] electric aircraft.”<br/>