Summer air travel is expected to soar in the United States. The TSA screened a high of 2.99m individuals on Sunday, June 23 — exceeding a record set just weeks earlier on May 24 — and the TSA is forecasting a record-setting July 4 holiday period. TSA expects to screen more than 32m travelers in all between Friday, June 28, and Monday, July 8, a 5.4% year-over-year increase in travel for the holiday. The record-breaking air traveler numbers come amid airline challenges, from supply chain delays to intense regulation, the Boeing safety crises limiting new planes coming to market, air traffic controller “fatigue,” extreme weather delays, and rising costs which have hit the carriers’ bottom line and compressed margins. Airports weren’t wholly ready for the initial summer rush. Over 6,000 flights were delayed by the evening of Friday, May 24, on the East Coast alone. While there may be enough flights to meet demand, the record travel still pose challenges to airports, airlines, and travelers. For now, the airlines are expressing confidence. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” this week that its performance levels are excelling, with the “best first quarter reliability [Delta has] ever seen.” (Delta has the best on-time record in the U.S.) But there will also be the need for coordination. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom told “Squawk Box” the company is making sure to “run the most reliable airline possible,” but factors affecting on-time flights vary from weather to air traffic control issues. The FAA has found a shortage of up to 3,000 needed air traffic controllers. Last summer, a record-breaking summer for airports, there were air traffic jams and near collisions amid challenges in flight coordination. Based on air traffic patterns and airport density, New York City and Florida are subject to the highest risk of backups. Story has more. <br/>
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British police said on Friday they had arrested 27 climate activists accused of planning to disrupt airports over the upcoming summer holidays. The suspects, part of the Just Stop Oil protest group which has staged numerous high-profile actions, were arrested in raids across the country under a law which makes it illegal to plot to disrupt national infrastructure. "We know Just Stop Oil are planning to disrupt airports across the country this summer which is why we have taken swift and robust action now," said Chief Superintendent Ian Howells who led the operation. "Our stance is very clear that anyone who compromises the safety and security of airports in London can expect a strong response from officers or security staff." Four were arrested at London's Gatwick airport on Tuesday and six others at a community centre in east London as part of an event which was promoting airport disruption, police said. The rest were detained at their homes around Britain. Those arrested included several high-profile members of the organisation, police added.<br/>
India’s civil aviation minister indicates that the government is set to check airports throughout the country after the fatal collapse of a terminal roof at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi international airport – the second airport structural incident in the space of two days. Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu says the 28 June accident involved a section of Delhi’s Terminal 1 roof canopy and resulted from “heavy rain” overnight. At least one fatality has been confirmed, and several people suffered injuries. “Right now the situation is under control. The whole rest of the terminal is closed off,” says Kinjarapu. “This is taken as a very serious incident, not just in this airport, but across the country any airport that [have] similar structures, we’ll have to go through them all again.” While Terminal 1 has recently undergone a modernisation, Kinjarapu says the section affected by the collapse – which occurred around 05:00 – is the older departures forecourt which was built in 2009. Delhi airport’s operator says all Terminal 1 flights have been shifted to Terminal 2 and 3.<br/>
The Justice Department plans to allow Boeing to avoid a criminal trial if it agrees to plead guilty to a fraud charge stemming from two fatal crashes of its 737 Max more than five years ago, according to two lawyers for families of the crash victims. Federal officials shared details of the offer on a call with the families on Sunday afternoon before bringing the deal to Boeing, according to the lawyers, Paul G. Cassell and Mark Lindquist. The terms include a nearly $244m fine, a new investment in safety improvements, three years of scrutiny from an external monitor, and a meeting between Boeing’s board and the victims’ families, said Cassell, a University of Utah law professor. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Boeing declined to comment. Cassell, who represents more than a dozen of the families, said that he and the families found the deal to be “outrageous” and that it fell far short of what they had sought. He described the offer as a “sweetheart plea deal” because it would not force Boeing to admit fault in the deaths of the 346 people who died in the crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in late 2018 and early 2019. “The families will strenuously object to this plea deal,” Cassell said in a statement. “The memory of 346 innocents killed by Boeing demands more justice than this.” The Justice Department said it had planned to notify Boeing of its offer after the call, Cassell said. The terms reportedly being offered to Boeing would update a 2021 settlement that resolved the criminal charge accusing the aerospace giant of a conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration. The new agreement would require Boeing to plead guilty to that charge, according to the lawyers. The 2021 criminal charge centered on two employees who were accused of withholding information from the F.A.A. about changes made to software known as MCAS, which was later implicated in the crashes.<br/>
Boeing Co. agreed Sunday to purchase Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. for $37.25 per share in an all-stock deal that values the company at $4.7b, according to people with knowledge of the transaction. The US planemaker also plans to assume about $3.5b of Spirit’s debt as part of the deal, which may be announced as soon as Monday, said the people, who asked not to be identified before the transaction is made public. Reuters reported the per-share price earlier Sunday. Representatives for the companies declined to comment. Boeing plans to take control of the Spirit’s manufacturing that supports its commercial jet line-up, including building frames for its cash-cow 737 Max, two of the people said. It will also gain control over a portion of Spirit’s defense contract work, they said. Boeing arch-rival Airbus is also expected to announce that it’s taking control over some of the Spirit factories that manufacture structures and components for its commercial aircraft. Terms for that transaction weren’t immediately available. Boeing is seeking to reintegrate Spirit after an accident in January on board a 737 Max-9 airliner revealed quality and manufacturing shortcomings at both Boeing and its most important supplier and led to a rethinking of their relationship. Spirit has faced growing financial pressure and scrutiny alongside Boeing after the door-shaped panel on a 737 Max 9 model blew out minutes after takeoff. Shipments of 737 fuselages have plummeted as Boeing steps up its inspections in Kansas and back at home near Seattle, and declined to accept aircraft structures with missing components or incomplete work. For Boeing, the deal brings a key supplier for the 737, 787 Dreamliner and other commercial jets back in-house at a time when the company is feeling the financial strain from the slowed-down output. Boeing lost about $4b in cash in the first quarter and is set to lose a similar amount in the current three months of the year. The company’s credit rating is hovering one level above speculative grade, and management is keen to avoid slipping into junk territory.<br/>
Criminal charges against a corporation, like the ones the Justice Department is considering bringing against Boeing, would be a serious blow, worsening the company’s already precarious financial situation and further damaging its battered reputation. But it wouldn’t necessarily result in past or current executives facing prison time. While criminal charges against corporations are fairly common, the overwhelming majority are against small, closely-held companies. They aren’t brought nearly as often against publicly-traded companies, let alone those in the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s index of the nation’s 30 most important companies. And despite the fact that almost all illegal actions on behalf of a company are committed by individuals, not the company itself, it’s rare for top executives - especially at larger companies - to face personal punishment. “You don’t have to convict that person,” said Jennifer Arlen, law professor and director of the program on corporate compliance and enforcement at New York University. “Sometimes you don’t need to name them.” At a smaller, closely held company where the owner is the only employee who would face criminal charges, the owner might be more willing to have the company take the hit. That’s even if it means going out of business due to an unaffordable fine, rather than to charges themselves, Arlen said. But at a major public company with thousands of employees, those top executives making decisions might agree to a settlement that leads to criminal charges for lower level individuals. But they’re unlikely to reach a settlement in which they face criminal prosecution themselves.<br/>