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Supply chain issues that have dogged the delivery of new aircraft around the world could stretch into 2026, according to International Air Transport Association Director General Willie Walsh. “Our assessment is that it’s not getting worse but it’s not getting better either,” Walsh said in an interview with Bloomberg Television at the IATA annual meeting in Dubai on Sunday. “I see these problems continuing certainly through this year, 2025 and probably into 2026.” Some airline CEs are “incredibly frustrated” at their inability to get the jets that they’ve ordered into service, and “that is delaying growth plans and growth opportunities that they have,” he said. Boeing Co. and Airbus SE, which together control the vast majority of airplane manufacturing, have been grappling with supply chain issues like parts and labor that were only exacerbated by the Covid pandemic. Now, the wait time for new jets stretches into “several months and in some cases, years,” Walsh said. Asked whether those supply chain headaches take the focus away from other pressing challenges facing the global aviation industry, like achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, Walsh said they did not. “There is still very much a focus on sustainability,” he said, noting that chiefly, the concerns center around the inadequate supply of sustainable aviation fuel. Walsh cited France as one example where stick-like approaches aren’t working, with fuel suppliers simply passing on the penalties for not providing enough SAF to airlines. “It’s having zero environmental impact and it’s having a negative economic impact.”<br/>

Aircraft shortages are turning into a moneymaker for some airlines as the dearth of supply allows carriers to sell new planes to leasing companies at much higher prices than they paid. Carriers such as Denver-based Frontier Airlines and Hungary's Wizz Air have reported gains up to hundreds of millions of dollars through selling planes after taking delivery and renting them back for their own use. These sale-and-leaseback transactions have long been a way for airlines globally to generate liquidity and ease the strain on their balance sheets. The tight airliner market has made these deals far more attractive, with US airlines this year accounting for 24% of global sale-and-leaseback transactions, up from 10% in 2022, according to Cirium Ascend Consultancy. Passenger carriers will receive 19% fewer aircraft this year than expected because of production issues at Boeing and Airbus, according to AeroDynamic Advisory. In addition, roughly 350 Airbus A320neo jets are expected to be grounded between 2024 and 2026 to deal with a flaw with RTX's Pratt & Whitney engines. As a result, new aircraft prices are 20% higher than the pre-pandemic period, said John Heimlich, chief economist at Airlines for America (A4A). Frontier this month reported a gain of $71m in Q1 from these deals, up 78% from last year. It will likely see similar gains in the current quarter, said Rob Morris, head of global consultancy at Cirium.<br/>

The IATA revised down its estimates for the production of sustainable aviation fuel after finding that projects are so far failing to deliver fast enough. In a briefing at its annual meeting in Dubai, IATA said that it now sees 51m tons of cumulative renewable fuel capacity by 2030, down from the 63m tons it initially estimated in December. IATA made the adjustment after examining projects it tracks and finding many of them aren’t where they need to be to produce sufficient fuel by the end of the decade. “This is really what’s going to be ready by 2030,” IATA’s Director of Net Zero Transition Hemant Mistry said. “Part of what we’re trying to do is build a foundation for what the airlines will use and we need to make sure that’s credible in the first place.” Airlines are facing increasing pressure to decarbonize, with sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, currently seen as the main short-term solution to reduce emissions. However supply of the fuel is nowhere near what it needs to be, with airlines often struggling to secure sufficient amounts. IATA sees SAF production tripling this year to 1.5m tons, but that will only be 0.5% of the total industry’s fuel needs. The body said that production must increase by a factor of 1,000 by 2050, a huge challenge but one that’s achievable with strong and urgent public policy support. “That sounds like it’s really almost not possible, but the thing is the world has achieved these types of challenges many times over in the past,” IATA Chief Economist Marie Owens Thomsen said.<br/>

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Friday said major U.S. airlines had declined to commit to boosting travel benefits for military personnel, the latest clash between the Biden administration and the air carriers. Buttigieg in April had urged airlines to do more for military personnel and vowed to publicize the issue on a dashboard but he said major carriers including Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines have declined to "make clear and enforceable commitments to U.S. service members and their families." Airlines, who employ a large number of military veterans, insist they go beyond what USDOT is measuring benefits but some say do not want to add those benefits to customer service plans, which would then open them to USDOT enforcement actions if they did not abide by those commitments. Airlines for America, a trade group representing the largest U.S. passenger airlines, said the dashboard "shows only a fraction of what airlines offer service members" and said it "fails to reflect the numerous benefits carriers already offer." The dashboard measures whether airlines will voluntarily commit to waiving cancellation and change fees and ensure full refunds for service members and family who cancel or reschedule travel plans due to military orders; offering some free baggage and the lowest fare for flights to visit service members recently injured in the line of duty. "Service members and their families make extraordinary commitments and sacrifices for this country, and they deserve support and recognition whenever they fly," Buttigieg said. Six of the 10 airlines received no green checkmarks from USDOT, including the largest three airlines along with Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and JetBlue Airways. Allegiant and Spirit Airlines got four checks and Frontier three. Southwest Airlines received two checkmarks because of its existing baggage and change fee policies applying to all passengers.<br/>

Blocked airline funds have fallen by 28% after Nigeria cleared most of its backlog but the issue continues to be acute in several countries, particularly Pakistan and Bangladesh. Airlines face $1.8b in blocked funds today, IATA announced during its AGM in Dubai on 2 June, representing a fall of $708m from December 2023. Pakistan is the worst offender, IATA says, with some $411m blocked, followed by Bangladesh ($320m) and Algeria ($286m). Central African Franc-zone countries, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Eritrea and Zimbabwe are also among the eight countries that account for 87% of the blocked funds. Notably, however, Nigeria’s blocked funds have fallen from around $850m in June 2023 to $19m today, IATA says. “We commend the new Nigerian government and the Central Bank of Nigeria for their efforts to resolve this issue,” says IATA director general Willie Walsh. “Individual Nigerians and the economy will all benefit from reliable air connectivity for which access to revenues is critical.” Emirates suspended some flights to Nigeria in September 2022 in response to the situation. The airline association also notes that Egypt has cleared its backlog. “However, in both cases, airlines were adversely affected by the devaluation of the Egyptian Pound and the Nigerian Naira,” IATA says.<br/>

Budget airlines including easyJet and Ryanair have been hit with fines totalling E150m by the Spanish government for policies that include charging passengers extra for cabin luggage. In the biggest sanction issued by the Spanish government’s ministry of social rights and consumer affairs, the carriers easyJet, Ryanair, Vueling and Volotea have been penalised after an investigation launched last summer. Under the judgment, the four airlines face being banned from charging passengers for cabin luggage in the future. The Spanish news outlet Cadena SER reported that the fines would total E150m, with the airlines also being censured for charging passengers extra fees to reserve adjacent seats for children and other dependents. The Spanish Airline Association (ALA), which represents the airlines, has hit back at the decision, calling the fines “disproportionate”, and pointing out that airlines could still appeal. Ministry sources told the Guardian that the general directorate of consumer affairs had opened up an investigation in June last year after complaints by consumer organisations over “abusive practices” being deployed by the airlines. The investigation focused on four areas, which included charging extra for cabin luggage and seat selection. The government investigation also looked at concerns around a lack of transparency by the airlines over the final price of services when booking online, and the decision to block cash payments at the airport for additional services.<br/>

Egyptian safety oversight capabilities are being kept under scrutiny by the European Commission, although it has not moved to blacklist any of the country’s carriers. The Commission states, in a 30 May blacklist update, that it held a technical meeting with Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority representatives in mid-April as part of a review of the regulator’s activities and documentation. While Commission acknowledges that the ECAA is engaged in a “comprehensive” restructuring process, it adds: “It nevertheless appears that the current focus of the ECAA is on addressing mainly visible and obvious deficiencies without sufficiently robust root-cause analysis. “Increased efforts are needed as regards safety oversight of Egyptian air carriers and improved safety culture, as well as proper implementation of corrective and preventive actions.” The authority was informed, during the technical meeting, about particular concerns such as the lack of implementation of a national aviation safety plan, issues with promoting a robust safety culture, and lack of verifiable numbers for active flight-operations inspectors to oversee 16 carriers holding air operator’s certificates. Shortcomings including lack of guidance – both within carriers and the ECAA – on establishing flight-data analysis programme, and an absence of inspector training records, were also brought up.<br/>

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Sunday reaffirmed the "warm and friendly" ties between both countries. Singapore and Ukraine also inked an agreement that would pave the way for increased air connectivity between the nations, said the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Zelenskyy was in Singapore this weekend for the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's top security conference. Following the meeting, Wong and Zelenskyy witnessed the signing of the Ukraine-Singapore Air Services Agreement. The agreement supports air connectivity between both countries, allowing airlines of both sides to operate unlimited frequencies of passenger and cargo services, said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) in a press release on Sunday. It utilises the third and fourth freedom of traffic rights between Singapore and any point in Ukraine, with no restrictions on capacity, routing, or aircraft type. "The agreement marks an important milestone in bilateral aviation relations, and replaces a previous agreement between the two countries from 2011," said CAAS. <br/>

Relatives of passengers who died in two jetliner crashes pushed federal officials Friday to prosecute Boeing on criminal charges related to the accidents no later than this fall but said they got no commitment from the Justice Department. The Justice Department determined two weeks ago that Boeing violated terms of a settlement that let the company avoid prosecution for deceiving regulators who approved the Boeing 737 Max. Prosecutors have said they will announce by July 7 whether the company will face sanctions. Boeing agreed in 2021 to pay $2.5b — mostly compensation to airlines — to avoid prosecution on a fraud charge. Relatives of some of the 346 people who died in the 2018 and 2019 crashes have tried ever since to scuttle the settlement. It appeared that the fraud case would be dismissed permanently. But in January, a door plug blew off a Max during an Alaska Airlines flight, leading to new investigations of Boeing. “They claimed the Max is completely safe, it’s the most-scrutinized plane ever, even as the doors blow off on the Alaska Air (Max), and they can’t blame the pilots anymore,” said Michael Stumo, whose daughter, Samya, died in the second crash. The Justice Department declined to comment Friday but has said that Boeing violated terms of the 2021 settlement by failing to make promised changes to detect and prevent violations of federal anti-fraud laws. Prosecutors have not publicly disclosed instances of potential fraud. In early May, Boeing disclosed that workers at a South Carolina plant falsified inspection reports on some 787 Dreamliner jets.<br/>

Boeing’s largest factory is in “panic mode”, according to workers and union officials, with managers accused of hounding staff to keep quiet over quality concerns. The US plane maker has been grappling with a safety crisis sparked by a cabin panel blowout during a flight in January, and intense scrutiny of its production line as regulators launched a string of investigations. Its site at Everett, Washington – hailed as the world’s biggest manufacturing building – is at the heart of Boeing’s operation, responsible for building planes like the 747 and 767, and fixing the 787 Dreamliner. One mechanic at the complex, who has worked for Boeing for more than three decades, has claimed it is “full of” faulty 787 jets that need fixing. Many of these jets are flown from Boeing’s site in South Carolina, where the company shifted final assembly of the 787 in 2021 in what was characterized as a cost-cutting measure. “There is no way in God’s green earth I would want to be a pilot in South Carolina flying those from South Carolina to here,” the mechanic, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, told the Guardian. “Because when they get in here, we’re stripping them apart.” Managers at Everett “will hound mechanics” to keep quiet about quality-assurance concerns and potential repairs, the mechanic alleged, emphasizing speed and efficiency over safety. He added: “Boeing has to look in the mirror and say: ‘We’re wrong.’”<br/>

Boeing executives are unlikely to be criminally charged over fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people as the statute of limitations has likely passed, US Justice Department officials told victims' family members in a meeting. Details were corroborated by a person familiar with the gathering on Friday and correspondence reviewed by Reuters. The deadline for prosecuting most federal crimes is five years. The Justice Department found in mid-May that Boeing violated a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) that had shielded the company from a criminal charge arising from the fatal crashes. Officials agreed to ask a judge to dismiss the charge of conspiring to defraud the US FAA as long as Boeing abided by the terms of the agreement over a three-year period ending Jan. 7, 2024. But an in-flight blowout two days before the agreement expired exposed ongoing safety and quality issues. A panel blew off a new Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet during a Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines flight. Boeing has until June 13 to outline any disagreements with the department's finding that it violated the 2021 agreement. The Justice Department has until July 7 to inform a federal judge in Texas of its plans. Boeing has said it believes it has "honored the terms of the agreement" and looks forward to responding to the Justice Department.<br/>

The next CEO of Boeing should have an understanding of what led to its current crisis and be prepared to look outside for examples of best industrial practices, the head of the International Air Transport Association said on Sunday. Boeing is engulfed in a sprawling safety crisis, exacerbated by a January mid-air panel blowout on a near new 737 MAX plane. CEO Dave Calhoun is due to leave the company by the end of the year as part of a broader management shake-up, but Boeing has not yet named a replacement. "It is not for me to say who should be running Boeing. But I think an understanding of what went wrong in the past, that's very important," IATA DG Willie Walsh told Reuters TV at an airlines conference in Dubai, adding that Boeing was taking the right steps. IATA represents more than 300 airlines or around 80% of global traffic. "Our industry benefits from learning from mistakes, and sharing that learning with everybody," he said, adding that this process should include "an acknowledgement of what went wrong, looking at best practice, looking at what others do".<br/>

Safety and quality problems exposed at Boeing following a door plug blowout earlier this year risk shaking travellers' confidence in flying, a top executive at rival Airbus said. Christian Scherer, CEO of Airbus' Commercial Aircraft business, told German weekly magazine WirtschaftsWoche that the issues were "a burden for the entire industry". "Boeing's problems could cause more people to question how safe flying actually is," Scherer was quoted as saying.Boeing has been under mounting pressure over factory controls since Jan. 5, when a door plug in mid-flight tore off a jet of its best-selling 737 MAX series in an incident blamed on missing bolts. Scherer rejected claims that Airbus could raise its own jet prices as a result of Boeing's problems, adding that pricing was guiding purely by demand outstripping supply and that it was difficult to predict how things would pan out in the future. "I dare say that an ailing competitor can behave in a relatively unpredictable manner. If a company has dozens of planes in stock involuntarily, it could start a major sell-off."<br/>

Electric aircraft startup Zunum Aero convinced a federal jury in Seattle on Thursday that Boeing owes $72m for stealing its trade secrets to power competing hybrid-electric planes. Jurors agreed with Zunum that Boeing copied Zunum's technology and drove it out of the emerging short-haul electric aircraft market after investing in the company. The jury awarded Zunum about $81.2m total on the trade secrets misappropriation claims and an additional $11.6m for tortious interference. The jury also found that Zunum failed to mitigate about $20.8m in damages, however, reducing the total award to about $72m. At least part of the award could be tripled under trade secrets law. "Boeing respectfully disagrees with the jury's verdict, which is not supported by the law or the facts," the company said in a statement. Boeing said it plans to challenge the judgment. A federal judge earlier this month sided with Boeing on its counterclaims that Zunum breached a contract by failing to repay Boeing $9m in loans plus interest. Scott Danner of Holwell Shuster & Goldberg, lead counsel for Zunum, said they are pleased with the jury verdict. Seattle area startup Zunum was founded in 2013 to make small electric commuter aircraft that can travel up to 1,500 miles. Boeing's venture capital arm invested $5m in Zunum in 2017.<br/>