The war of the names between two of the Bay Area’s three major airports has widened now that San Francisco has asked a federal court to block Oakland from using the new name for the East Bay airport. San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport is the new name for the East Bay air travel hub, a move that quickly sparked San Francisco’s ire even before the Port of Oakland approved the name change in May. San Francisco has asked a federal court to block Oakland from continuing to use the new name of the East Bay aviation hub, according to documents on file with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Oakland’s decision to broaden the name of its airport has unleashed a war of names that features a lawsuit by San Francisco against Oakland and a countersuit by Oakland against San Francisco. San Francisco is seeking a preliminary injunction to bar Oakland from continuing to use the new name while the court actions trudge forward. “We are already seeing traveler confusion around the use of Oakland’s new name,” San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said. Oakland Airport has retained its International Air Transport Association code OAK, despite the name change.<br/>
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Boeing and its largest union restarted contract negotiations on Tuesday with the help of federal mediators, days after thousands of workers rejected a previous offer and went on strike. The walkout, which began on Friday, has already drastically slowed the company’s production of commercial airplanes because most of the union’s more than 33,000 members work in manufacturing in the Seattle area. The company makes several airplanes, including the 737 Max, its most popular, in two factories outside the city. If the strike lasts for several weeks, analysts estimate that Boeing, which was already in a financially precarious position before the stoppage began, could lose billions of dollars. Workers last week overwhelmingly rejected a tentative contract that Boeing and union officials had negotiated, saying that it fell well short of what the union had initially sought on raises, retirement benefits and other issues. But in a message to employees on Monday, Boeing’s chief financial officer, Brian West, said that the company was “working in good faith” on a new deal that reflected worker feedback and allowed the company to return to normal operations. Tuesday’s meeting took place in Seattle, where small teams from Boeing and the union convened with representatives from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, a government agency that helps to resolve labor disputes. The agency’s role in such mediations is narrow. It does not make decisions on the content or outcome of talks, but aims to help the parties find an agreeable resolution, Javier Ramirez, the agency’s deputy director of field operations, said in an interview on Monday. “We focus more on the process and helping the parties explore the art of the possible,” said Ramirez, who is in charge of the agency’s 130 mediators.<br/>
The aviation industry still sees so-called “sustainable aviation fuel” (SAF) as the only viable way to meet its decarbonization targets, even as opposition and the potential for higher costs for passengers pose obstacles to the fast-growing sector. A flurry of deals have been struck in recent months, from United Airlines partnering with major supplier Neste to provide SAF at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, to South Korea’s target announced in late August for all departing international flights to use a mix of around 1% SAF from 2027. Within its first month in office this July, the U.K.’s new Labour government set its own mandate for SAF to meet 10% of jet fuel demand by 2030, while pledging to support production through measures which include a revenue certainty mechanism for SAF producers seeking to invest in new plants in the country. SAF is a broad term describing fuel that is burned by an aircraft engine, but instead of using kerosene is derived from more sustainable sources. That can include raw materials such as used cooking oil, feedstock, woody biomass, animal fat, crops or waste. SAF still produces emissions, but proponents argue its greenhouse gas footprint is much lower over the product’s life cycle – by up to 94%, according to one report, though that level is dependent on the source, production and its journey to the aircraft. Airbus announced various SAF commitments at this year’s Farnborough Air Show, one of the biggest dealmaking events in aviation held in the U.K. in July. The planemaker said it is collaborating with producer HIF Global on the development of methanol-based fuels, and investing in alcohol-to-jet fuel producer LanzaJet. Buzz has been building for more than a decade over SAF’s potential to reduce emissions from air travel. That is particularly because it can be blended with conventional fuel and used in existing aircraft engines and pipelines, and so has a relatively low barrier to entry; though regulators have set different levels for the percentage it can be blended.<br/>
Airbus’ focus on sustainability presents a promising avenue for Malaysia to contribute to the future of green aviation as the aircraft manufacturer is set to expand its operations and sourcing in Malaysia, said Malaysia’s Ambassador to France, Datuk Eldeen Husaini Mohd Hashim. He believed there are ample opportunities for local companies to integrate into Airbus’s global supply chain. "I have met the Airbus executive vice-president international Wouter van Wersch recently. We discussed the future business for Airbus, and the focus is on sustainability and decarbonisation, areas where Malaysia is poised to play a crucial role,” he said in an interview with Bernama via instant messaging. Malaysia has established a strong and strategic relationship with Airbus, a European multinational aircraft manufacturer, making it one of the key players in the Asia-Pacific aerospace market. "As the third-ranked market for Airbus in the region after China and India, Malaysia plays a vital role in Airbus’s global supply chain and business operations,” he pointed out. Currently, about 50 Malaysian companies are part of Airbus’s supplier network, providing a wide range of aerospace parts and components, including Composites Technology Research Malaysia (CTRM), Spirit Aerosystems Malaysia Sdn Bhd and SME Aerospace Sdn Bhd. Airbus has a significant presence in Malaysia, with over 280 commercial aircraft currently in service with Malaysian carriers, including both civil and military helicopters and close to 400 on order for future delivery.<br/>