If you’ve flown domestic in the US in the last four years, you’ve likely faced at least one or two flight delays or cancellations—or worse, complete system outages—and found yourself footing the bill, without recourse from the airlines. But there’s potential relief on the horizon: The Biden Administration is working full steam ahead on a proposed rule that would require US airlines to provide compensation to passengers for controllable cancellations or delays of three hours or more. It may be issued as early as January 2025 and is expected to be a game changer for US passengers and the US aviation industry. “This is not radical—we are late to the game on this as a country,” says Michael Negron, special assistant to the President for economic policy at the White House, speaking at an invitation-only meeting in Washington on Sept. 10. This proposed compensation scheme would mean US airlines would have to pay a set cash payment amount to each passenger on a disrupted flight, in addition to compensation for meals and lodging. The exact details and amounts are still being worked out. A similar scheme has been in existence in the European Union for the past 20 years, which is applicable to US airlines when they operate internationally. EU rules require airlines to compensate travelers between $275 to $660 for controllable cancellations and extended delays, depending on the flight distance. “When an airline cancels a flight because of mechanical or staffing issues, the passengers should receive compensation for their troubles,” says Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who serves on the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.<br/>
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U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Tuesday he is confident that a clean fuels tax credit program set to take effect in 2025 will be finalized by end of the Biden administration in January. The program would provide credits for the production of lower-emission transportation fuels, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). "I’m confident that we’re going to get ‘er done," Vilsack said at a summit in Washington, D.C., hosted by the biofuels trade group Growth Energy. An April guidance for a SAF tax credit disappointed ethanol producers for requiring corn farmers to bundle a set of climate-friendly farming practices, meaning little to no ethanol would qualify. The USDA is hoping to make more feedstocks and individual farming practices eligible for the credit and is in conversation with the energy and transportation departments about how to do so, Vilsack said.<br/>"We are acutely aware of the calendar. To the level it can be, it's on a fast-track," Vilsack said.<br/>
France, Germany and the UK said they would further restrict flights to and from Iran, part of a broader push with the US to punish the country over accusations it provided Russia ballistic missiles for the war against Ukraine. The European trio on Tuesday issued a joint statement condemning Iran’s move as a “direct threat to European security” and said they aim to cancel air services agreements with the country, which are necessary for direct flights. The US and the UK said they were coordinating to punish several officials and organizations in Iran and Russia, including state carrier Iran Air. The US and its allies had warned Iran for months against providing ballistic missiles to Russia and had threatened a swift response if it did so. Officials said last week they had confirmed a transfer had taken place. Speaking in London on Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Moscow would likely use the Fath-360 missiles on Ukrainian territory “within weeks.” Iran has denied it sent any weapons to Russia, calling the accusation politically driven and “baseless.” The flight restrictions risk further isolating Iran and its diaspora after many European carriers including Lufthansa AG limited flights to the country. Iran Air operates two flights weekly from London’s Heathrow airport, as well as direct routes to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Rome and Paris. The carrier has faced restrictions for decades as a result of US sanctions that prevent the Islamic Republic from importing civilian aircraft and parts from international companies like Boeing Co. and Airbus SE. Most of the airline’s fleet was banned from the EU over safety concerns from 2010 to 2016. It’s also faced refueling restrictions that have occasionally forced its planes to make additional stops during longer flights.<br/>
The biggest union of Kenya's aviation workers plans to go on strike on Wednesday to protest against a proposed deal for India's Adani Group to lease the country's main airport for 30 years in exchange for expanding it, a union official said on Tuesday. Kenya's government has said the airport is operating above capacity and needs modernising but that it is not for sale and that no decision has been made on whether to proceed with what it calls a proposed public-private partnership to upgrade the site. It said in July that Adani's offer was being reviewed. If a deal is agreed, the government said there would be safeguards to ensure Kenya's national interests are protected. "The strike starts at midnight," Moss Ndiema, secretary general of the Kenya Aviation Workers Union, which represents airport workers, said in a text message to Reuters. On Monday, a Kenyan court temporarily blocked the proposed deal for Adani Group to lease the country's main airport for 30 years in exchange for expanding it. In August, the aviation workers' union said the proposed agreement, first announced in July, would lead to job losses and bring in non-Kenyan workers. The strike would likely affect operations of flights into and out of Nairobi's main Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Kenya television channel Citizen Television reported that the workers had already started a go-slow at the main airport late on Tuesday.<br/>
Boeing said on Tuesday it delivered 40 commercial jets in August, up five from the same month in 2023 when it struggled with a manufacturing defect on its 737 MAX, as the U.S. plane maker eyes higher output under new CEO Kelly Ortberg. Boeing has pledged to boost production of its strongest selling jet, the MAX, to 38 per month by year’s end. But the plane maker faces obstacles such as a possible strike as early as Friday by more than 32,000 Seattle-area and Portland factory workers who vote on a new deal Sept. 12. The U.S. plane maker is operating a slower assembly line since a Jan. 5 in-flight blowout of a door plug on a 737 MAX 9 jet that heightened regulatory scrutiny. Boeing handed over 32 MAX jets to customers last month, including nine deliveries to customers in China, the most since December 2019. Boeing delivered 43 commercial jets in July, including 31 MAX jets. Investors closely watch delivery numbers, as airplane makers receive the majority of payment for an aircraft when it is transferred to a customer. After adjustments to reflect the backlog, Boeing reported adjusted net orders for the month of 24. That brought Boeing’s gross order total so far this year through August 31 to 250. After removing cancellations and conversions, Boeing posted a net total of 207 orders since the start of 2024.<br/>
Boeing bargained in good faith with one of its biggest unions for the new labor contract and "did not hold back with an eye on a second vote", its COO said on Tuesday in a letter to employees seen by Reuters. A tentative deal with The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) has upset many workers who were hoping for higher wage hikes and better pensions, its lead negotiator, Jon Holden, told Reuters on Monday. In the letter, COO Stephanie Pope reiterated "unprecedented commitment" to the terms of the proposed deal, which include a general wage increase of 25% and a commitment to build its next commercial airplane in the Seattle area. Holden said many members wanted to hold out for a 40% pay rise over the contract period and a reinstatement of the defined-benefit pension plan they reluctantly gave up during a round of negotiations a decade ago. If the union workers vote down the deal and decide to strike, it would be a blow to new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who took up his role last month with a mandate to improve safety and ramp up production of the company's best-selling 737 MAX passenger jet.<br/>
Boeing’s quality control monitors must turn solidly green before US aviation safety regulators will be convinced the planemaker can support higher production rates and exit output limits imposed on its 737 Max jetliner. “We have made it very clear that those metrics need to be in the green before the production increases above a certain level,” Mike Whitaker, the US FAA’s top official, said in an interview in Washington on Tuesday. “That’s going to be our focus over the next couple of months to get clarity around that.” The FAA capped output of Boeing’s 737 Max at a rate of 38 per month in the wake of a January near-catastrophe, in which a door cover blew off during flight. The accident triggered a series of revelations of manufacturing lapses inside Boeing’s factories and forced the company to curtail production as it gets its processes back on track.<br/>The action plan that Boeing crafted in response to the crisis gave the FAA access to key performance indicators, monitored on traffic lights, that provide a real-time glimpse into the flow of work in its Renton factory and across the supply chain. The US planemaker has struggled with out-of-sequence manufacturing that leads to quality breakdowns, as it retrains a workforce heavy on new hires and grapples with parts shortages lingering from the Covid pandemic. Boeing is eager to raise output again because the 737 Max represents its biggest cash cow. The company delivered 32 of the single-aisle aircraft in August, bringing handovers of the plane this year to 201 units, down from 271 through the same period a year ago.<br/>
The head of European planemaker Airbus said novel open-rotor technology being tested by engine maker CFM International offers promising efficiencies and reductions in emissions but the "jury is out" on whether it will be commercially viable. CE Guillaume Faury also told reporters on the sidelines of the Global Aerospace Summit, hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, that deliveries of the current generation of LEAP engines built by CFM International continue to be late. "They are late in their deliveries," he said. CFM had no immediate comment. In July, the world's largest planemaker issued a profit warning and lowered its target for airplane deliveries by 30 units to 770 aircraft, blaming supply chain problems with items including engines and cabin interiors and notably LEAP delays. Co-owned by GE Aerospace and France's Safran, CFM is the world's largest jet engine maker by volume of engines sold. Its LEAP engines power all Boeing 737 MAX jets and about half of the rival A320neos built by Airbus, where they compete for airline contracts with Pratt & Whitney. CFM, which this month celebrates its 50th anniversary, is testing a collection of technologies that could result in an open rotor engine whose main fan would be larger and more visible in order to grab more air and burn 20% less fuel.<br/>
Air-taxi maker Joby Aviation said on Tuesday it had applied for a certificate that will allow it to operate commercial air transport in the United Arab Emirates. U.S.-based Joby will develop air taxi operating manuals, undergo inspections of its UAE-based facilities, and complete observation of pilot and aircraft mechanic training as well as flight operations by UAE's civil aviation authority as part of the process.<br/>