The head of the US National Transportation Safety Board criticized US aviation regulators for “downplaying the urgency” of addressing a possible rudder malfunction on some Boeing Co. 737 aircraft in an unusually public rebuke. Faulty parts that could cause the 737’s rudder control system to jam may be in use by at least 40 non-US carriers, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said in a letter to the US Federal Aviation Administration’s top official on Monday. Information provided by Boeing in August suggests that 271 suspect components may be in use on aircraft operated by those overseas airlines, while 16 may still be in use in the US, Homendy said. Dozens more haven’t yet been installed. In the letter to FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker, Homendy said she is concerned that the FAA “did not take this issue more seriously until we issued our urgent safety recommendation report.” The unusual public criticism comes after the NTSB last week warned that faulty parts supplied by Collins Aerospace, a unit of RTX Corp., for some 737 Max and 737 NG aircraft could lead to the rudder system jamming. The NTSB issued urgent recommendations to the FAA and Boeing on the issue. The FAA’s oversight of Boeing has been criticized since a door-sized panel blew off a 737 Max during a January flight. The agency has also faced scrutiny in the wake of two 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. The FAA on Monday said that it is taking the matter seriously and moving quickly to contact aviation authorities in other countries to “ensure they have the information they need from the FAA including any recommended actions.” The regulator is also planning additional simulator testing in October, it said. The NTSB’s recommendations stem from an investigation into a Feb. 6 incident in which rudder pedals on a 737 Max 8 operated by United Airlines Holdings Inc. got stuck during landing at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. The safety board said about 350 parts were affected by the issue. Last week, the FAA said United is the only US airline that had the affected parts and that the regulator’s “understanding” is the parts are no longer in service. <br/>
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The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board on Monday said more than 40 foreign operators of Boeing 737 airplanes may be using planes with rudder components that may pose safety risks. The NTSB last week issued urgent safety recommendations about the potential for a jammed rudder control system on some Boeing 737 airplanes after a February incident involving a United Airlines flight. The NTSB also disclosed Monday that it has learned two foreign operators suffered similar incidents in 2019 involving rollout guidance actuators. "We are concerned of the possibility that other airlines are unaware of the presence of these actuators on their 737 airplanes," NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said Monday in a letter to FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker.<br/>
Boeing's two-week-old strike has forced aerospace supplier Pathfinder Manufacturing to furlough 14 out of the company's 54 employees, and CEO Dave Trader fears he may need to send more home if the stoppage grinds on.<br/>Pathfinder runs a project to attract new recruits to the aerospace industry, and trains them alongside skilled workers at its facility yards away from Boeing's Everett jet factory outside Seattle, the largest manufacturing building in the world. Besides the 14 workers, the strike has sent high school students training for aerospace careers at Pathfinder back to their regular classrooms, in a double blow to a sector struggling for skilled labor. "We want to keep them on, so we’re trying to help them the best that we can, but at the same time I’m trying to keep this company afloat," said Trader, 60, who has led Pathfinder through most of its 33-year existence. Some 30,000 machinists downed tools in Boeing's West Coast factories on Sept. 13, halting production of the best-selling 737 MAX and older 767 and 777 wide-body programs. The company's supply chain is now fretting about how to retain thousands of workers set to be furloughed in the coming weeks during the planemaker's first strike in 16 years. Of nine suppliers contacted by Reuters, five said they had begun placing workers on furlough or holding off on investments. A separate strike at aerospace group Textron highlights broader labor market pressures in the aerospace industry.<br/>
If you want to fly out of the Belgian capital on Tuesday, you better have a backup plan. Both Brussels Zaventem and Brussels South Charleroi airports will be massively disrupted by a nationwide strike by security, cleaning and catering staff. Last Friday, Brussels Airport announced the cancellation of all departing flights for Tuesday. In its latest update issued Monday and shared with POLITICO, the airport said that “around 42,000 passengers (32,000 departing and 10,000 arriving) are affected by the strike” and that it expects “14,000 arriving passengers tomorrow (instead of the 24,000 initially planned).” Cargo operations, on the other hand, should be relatively unaffected by the strike, the airport assured. About 200 flights have been canceled by Brussels Airlines alone — the Belgian subsidiary of Lufthansa Group — which said in an emailed statement that it had 21,000 passengers booked for Oct. 1. Arriving flights are “still possible,” the airline added. “Arriving passenger flights may operate, but cancellations are likely,” Brussels Airport said on its website.<br/>
Outside Beirut airport, smoke can be seen rising from the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, which have been the target of intense Israeli bombardment over the past week. Some people look on in terror, while capturing the aftermath on their phones. The road leading to the airport is quieter than usual. Soldiers are stationed at the entry gates and inside, most shops and cafes are closed. All airlines except the national carrier, Middle East Airlines, have suspended flights to and from Lebanon because of security concerns. "The road to the airport was clear, but once I arrived, the situation changed," Antoine Madi told The National on Sunday, while waiting in one of the long lines at the check-in desks for a flight to Frankfurt. "I’ve been in the queue for over an hour now, and I’ll probably be standing here even longer. I had a very hard time securing a flight ticket, and the price has tripled – for some routes, it's even more." Israel has launched dozens of strikes on Beirut over the past week as hostilities with Hezbollah have escalated after nearly a year of low-level clashes over the war in Gaza. An Israeli air strike hit an apartment block near the Cola Bridge in Lebanon's capital early on Monday and a strike killed the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday. Most airlines have cancelled flights to Lebanon while many countries have called on their nationals to leave. The UK Foreign Office told British citizens still in Lebanon to “leave now”, while on Saturday the European Commission and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued conflict zone information bulletins (CZIBs) recommending that airlines avoid operating within the airspaces of Lebanon and Israel “at all flight levels”.<br/>
More robust air travel demand in Africa will drive a massive surge in aircraft orders, with Boeing forecasting that 82% of new purchases will be for expansion, not replacement. Africa’s aviation industry is set to take off, with rising demand for travel on the continent driving the need for new aircraft at unprecedented rates. Boeing forecasts that 82% of new aircraft purchases on the continent will be for expansion rather than replacement, marking the highest growth rate of any region globally. In its 2024 Commercial Market Outlook (CMO), the giant plane maker notes that African demand will mark the highest growth rate of any region globally. The continent’s booming air travel market is fuelled by a young and rapidly growing population eager to explore new opportunities in Africa and abroad. Boeing anticipates that Africa’s commercial fleet will double by 2043, with over 800 new single-aisle jets expected to be delivered to meet rising demand. Air traffic across the region is also projected to grow at an annual rate of 6.4%, more than tripling over the next two decades. “As demand for air travel rises, African airlines will need more single-aisle aeroplanes to efficiently serve many routes in the continent’s largest aviation markets, including Europe, the Middle East, and within Africa,” said Shahab Matin, Boeing’s managing director of Commercial Marketing for the Middle East and Africa.<br/>
Billionaire Gautam Adani’s proposal to run Kenya’s main airport has sparked protests, Senate hearings and lawsuits against the group controlled by Asia’s second-richest man, even as it bags a deal to construct high-voltage power transmission lines in the East African nation. A court has already frozen Adani’s unsolicited bid to expand Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, while strikes at the facility and criticism from opposition lawmakers has forced the government to defend the opaque circumstances surrounding the deal. It comes amid allegations that Adani’s $203b empire is under a Swiss probe for money laundering, which the group denies. “From the very beginning, there has been a general pattern by the government to hide from the public what is contained in the Adani deal,” Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o, leader of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement, wrote in Kenya’s The Star newspaper this week. “Past similar projects that circumvented transparent dealings and formal institutional mechanisms litter our history as major scandals.” Adani is perceived as a close ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose activities are seen as part of India’s efforts to counter the reach of its rival China in resource-rich Africa. The Kenyan government last week submitted a written explanation to lawmakers of why the proposal was above board. Adani Group said its proposals followed procedures. “While no contract has been awarded, both our proposals — related to the airport and transmission projects — were submitted in accordance with the government of Kenya’s Public Private Partnership Act of 2021, in the normal course of business,” a spokesperson told Bloomberg News. “As a law-abiding company, Adani is committed to full compliance with all relevant laws, policies and regulations in every jurisdiction where we operate.”<br/>
The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) has warned that “persistent” supply chain issues continue to pose operational challenges for the region’s carriers, against a backdrop of strong passenger traffic growth. In comments made alongside its August traffic results, AAPA director general Subhas Menon says: “Delays in aircraft deliveries, shortages of spare parts and lack of skilled labour have heightened operational pressures, contributing to flight disruptions, further increasing costs.” He appears to refer to recent high-profile operational woes faced by member airlines, including Malaysia Airlines, whose parent company had to cancel 20% of capacity through the end of the year to stabilise its operations. Malaysia Aviation Group was faced with aircraft delivery delays, compounded by reliability and technical issues on its older jets. Another AAPA member carrier, Cathay Pacific, also briefly cancelled several flights recently, after finding a defective fuel system component in several Airbus A350s. A damaged fuel line led to an in-flight engine fire on one A350-1000, forcing the aircraft to return to Hong Kong. “Faced with such external pressures, airlines are carefully managing flight frequencies and schedules, without compromising the industry’s excellent safety standards,” states Menon. His comments come as August passenger traffic inched closer to pre-pandemic levels.<br/>