Hundreds of passengers were stranded in the French Caribbean island of Martinique on Friday after its airport was briefly forced to close because protesters overran the tarmac and tried to break in, the airport and local authorities said. The overnight shutdown backed up flights, and officials at the airport urged stranded passengers to contact their airlines for information after the facility resumed operations by mid-morning. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said French authorities had regained control of the airport, which demonstrators targeted in the latest protest decrying a high cost of living. Retailleau added that reinforcements were being sent. “We will reestablish order,” he said. But he added: “We also have to take into account” local people’s unhappiness about high prices. “We have to do both,” he said. Since Monday night, Martinique has been gripped by bouts of protests over the high cost of living that turned violent, with at least one person killed as demonstrators set fire to a police station, cars and road barricades and clashed with officers. On Thursday night, protesters overran the tarmac on the airport in the island’s capital, Fort-de-France, and tried to force their way into the main entrance, where hundreds of passengers had taken shelter, according to videos posted on social media. Three planes carrying some 1,000 passengers had to be diverted to nearby island of Guadeloupe on Thursday, Martinique local prefecture said in its statement. Another 500 passengers who were supposed to board those flights were stuck at the Fort-de-France airport, it said. The prefecture said the run on the airport came after “rumors” spread on social media about the imminent arrival of hundreds of French police officers by plane.<br/>
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Fears over long passenger delays have led to a further postponement of the EU's new biometric entry-check system for non-EU citizens. It was due to be introduced on November 10 but Germany, France and the Netherlands – who account for 40 per cent of all inward traffic to the EU – said their border computer systems were not yet ready. The roll-out has now been delayed indefinitely. The Entry/Exit System (EES) is supposed to create a digital record linking a travel document to biometric readings confirming a person's identity, removing the need to manually stamp passports at the EU's external border. It would require non-EU citizens arriving in the Schengen free-travel area to register their fingerprints, provide a facial scan and answer questions about their stay. The technology has been used by some airlines in Abu Dhabi for the past year. Abu Dhabi Airports and Etihad Airways implemented the biometric systems across multiple touchpoints at the new terminal at Zayed International Airport last November and it plans to roll it out across all its operations in 2025. But Germany's interior ministry said it was not ready to implement EES because the “necessary stability and functionality of the EES central system to be provided by the EU agency EU-Lisa is not yet in place”. EU-Lisa is the agency responsible for the implementation of large-scale IT systems in the EU.<br/>
Images showing fireballs and plumes of smoke erupting across Beirut while civilian aircraft fly nearby have become daily fare as Israel pummels areas right next to Lebanon's only airport. For many people in the country, staff with flag carrier Middle East Airlines are national heroes as they persevere despite Israel raining down bombs on the capital. Some Lebanese are incredulous that the airport is still able to operate. “Despite the war, we continue our work. Of course, we hear the bombs and see the smoke – it’s terrifying,” one air-traffic controller, who requested anonymity, told The National. “People working at the airport are risking their lives every day to keep the airport running so Lebanese people can still travel.” However, according to a senior safety adviser at the airline, it is business as usual. “I wouldn't call us heroes but I think we are doing a great job,” said Mohammed Aziz, who served as a pilot with MEA for decades. He is now an adviser to the chairman of the airline and an expert on aviation safety and security. “We don't want heroes, we want people who calculate the risk and take it. Heroes are something not for the commercial side of aviation. We leave the heroes for the army and other people,” he told The National. When Israel and Hezbollah last fought an all-out war in 2006, one of the first things the Israelis did was bomb the airport in Beirut. For now, Beirut-Rafic Hairi International is open and there is constant dialogue between the Israelis and Lebanese aviation authorities. With the main road to Syria regularly bombed and chartering private boats to Cyprus and Turkey expensive, flying remains the most straightforward way to leave the country for those fleeing. The airport is also a crucial staging post for the arrival of international aid.<br/>
Iran has banned pagers and walkie-talkies on all flights, local media reported on Oct 12, weeks after deadly sabotage attacks in Lebanon which were blamed on Israel. “The entry of any electronic communication device, except mobile phones, in flight cabins or... in non-accompanied cargo, has been banned,” Isna news agency reported, citing Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation spokesman Jafar Yazerlo. The decision came over three weeks after sabotage attacks targeting members of the Iran-allied Hezbollah group in Lebanon that saw pagers and walkie-talkies explode, killing at least 39 people. Nearly 3,000 others were wounded in the attack, which Iran and Hezbollah blamed on Israel, including Tehran’s Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani. Earlier in October, Dubai-based airline Emirates banned pagers and walkie-talkies on board its planes.<br/>
Chinese premier Li Qiang could inaugurate operations at a Chinese-funded airport in Pakistan's Balochistan province during his visit to the country in the coming week, information minister Attaullah Tarar told reporters on Sunday. The start of operations at the $200m Gwadar International Airport has been pushed back for a security review after deadly attacks by separatist militants in August in the area, government and aviation sources said. Li, along with ministers and government officials will visit Pakistan from Oct. 14 to 17, Pakistan's foreign affairs ministry said on Sunday. Pakistan is hosting the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which comprises nine full members, including China, India, Iran and Russia, and is scheduled for Oct. 15 and 16 in Islamabad. The new airport will handle domestic and international flights, according to Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority, and will be one of the country's biggest airports. The initial plan was for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to inaugurate the airport on Aug. 14 alongside Chinese officials, but that was called off after an ethnic Baloch rights group started a sit-in protest, the officials said.<br/>
Boeing’s new CE Friday announced plans to reduce its work force by 10%, or about 17,000 jobs, as he seeks to restructure the company in an effort to slash costs and improve production of planes, which has been plagued by numerous delays. Kelly Ortberg, who became CE in August, told employees in a memo that Boeing, which last reported an annual profit in 2018, faced big problems and needed to change how it did business in ways that play to its strengths. The announcement on Friday comes as the company deals with a costly and disruptive strike that began nearly a month ago, when members of its largest union rejected a contract offer and walked off the job. The union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, represents more than 33,000 Boeing employees. Boeing on Friday also reported $5b in new costs associated with several commercial and defense programs. “Our business is in a difficult position, and it is hard to overstate the challenges we face together,” Ortberg said. “Beyond navigating our current environment, restoring our company requires tough decisions and we will have to make structural changes to ensure we can stay competitive and deliver for our customers over the long term.” The cuts, which will include layoffs and not filling positions as employees leave, amount to a 10% reduction of Boeing’s 170,000 employees. Ortberg said that the cuts will take place across the company, affecting executives, managers and production workers. Boeing announced a similarly large percentage cut in April 2020, when air travel fell about 90% as the coronavirus pandemic took hold. At the end of that year, Boeing employed 141,000. Ortberg, a former top executive at Rockwell Collins, a major aerospace supplier, said Boeing would also change its product lineup and adjust its schedule for selling new jets. It will do away with the 767 freighter, an older model, after fulfilling more than two dozen outstanding orders. He also confirmed that the company would deliver its first 777X, a large plane designed for international travel that has been delayed repeatedly, in 2026, a year later than had previously been expected.<br/>
A federal judge in Fort Worth heard arguments Friday but withheld a ruling on whether he would accept a guilty plea by Boeing in connection to the tragic crashes of two 737 Max jets that resulted in the loss of 346 lives. The proposed agreement would have Boeing plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the federal government by deceiving regulators, which is a felony. But in tough questioning, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor pressed officials from the Justice Department, asking why he should accept a deal that would prevent him from imposing penalties beyond those already negotiated. The plea agreement, reached in July between Boeing and the Justice Department, has ignited fierce debate. Boeing has argued that the deal would allow it to have certainty in its future business dealings and would recognize the safety efforts the company has made since the crashes. The Justice Department has defended the decision, saying that it was most likely the best outcome it could get and that it had made adjustments in the agreement to address the concerns of victims’ families. But lawyers representing the families have vehemently opposed the agreement, arguing that it falls short of holding Boeing — and particularly individual company executives — accountable for the tragedies. A Lion Air flight crashed into the Java Sea, killing everyone on board, on Oct. 29, 2018, not long after Boeing’s newly developed 737 Max 8 started to be distributed to airlines. Another crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8, an Ethiopian Airlines flight on March 10, 2019, demonstrated some of the same failures. In addition to the tragic loss of life, the combined accidents proved catastrophic for Boeing, leading to a worldwide grounding of the jets, numerous lawsuits brought by victims’ families and a Justice Department criminal investigation. Under the terms of the proposed agreement, Boeing would admit to conspiring to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration regarding crucial safety information related to the flight control software, called MCAS, implicated in the accidents. The deal entails a potential fine of up to about $487m and mandates that the company invest at least $455m in safety improvements during a three-year probationary period. However, provisions in the agreement could allow Boeing to reduce the fine by half, crediting it for previous payments made in connection with the case.<br/>
Europe's Airbus swung the spotlight on major suppliers after a drop in September deliveries that its planemaking chief called "disappointing" on Friday, but sought to allay concerns over industrial contagion from a strike at rival Boeing. Christian Scherer, CEO of the group's planemaking business, said engine supplies from CFM International continued to play a decisive role in its ability to deliver some airplanes after a drop in supplies earlier this year. "CFM is a bottleneck," he told French journalists, adding it remained on the "critical path" - industry jargon for the decisive factor in hitting production or industrial goals. CFM provides most engines for the best-selling A320neo family. "I regret it, but it is the case," he told the AJPAE aerospace media association. Airbus lowered industrial targets and issued a profit warning in July, citing a shortfall in supplies of engines from engine maker CFM, co-owned by GE Aerospace and France's Safran, as well as shortages of parts from other suppliers. CFM declined comment. GE Aerospace CFO Rahul Ghai told a Jefferies conference last month that third-quarter engine output would be better than in the second quarter, "but still (show) pressure on a year-over-year basis". He expected more improvement in the fourth quarter. Airbus deliveries fell 9% in September to 50 jets, prompting some analysts to question its ability to reach the 11% rise needed to meet a full-year targets of 770.<br/>
Japanese industry is still digesting the country’s ambition to develop a new airliner, with a clear appreciation of the risks involved in a project of such magnitude. The country’s Tier 1 manufacturers were hard hit by the failure of the Mitsubishi SpaceJet regional jet to enter production, according to an industry source familiar with Japan’s airliner ambitions. The failure of the programme, which was finally shut down in 2023 after years of challenges and delays, will greatly influence future decisions. Nonetheless, Japanese industry and Japan’s powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) have started discussing how Japanese technology and know-how can be integrated into a new aircraft. Tokyo is prepared to invest around Y5t ($31b) in the effort. In March, the Japan Aircraft Development Corporation (JADC) laid out a new national aerospace strategy that underlined the lack of exposure by key aerospace firms such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and ShinMaywa to the booming narrowbody segment – the companies are key players on Boeing’s widebody programmes - and laid out the ambition to launch a new airliner in the 2030s. METI, which oversees the JADC, feels that demand for narrowbody aircraft in the developing world will see aerospace industrial work move to new markets at the expense of Japanese industry. It also feels that Japan needs to capitalise on the learnings of the SpaceJet experience. In June, Hiroyuki Koguchi, senior vice-president at MHI, gave a sense of the industry’s wariness, stating that the time is not yet right to commit to a new programme. One challenge, says the source, will be selling the idea of an expensive new airliner to shareholders of listed Japanese firms. MHI reportedly sunk Y1t into SpaceJet, which has previously been branded as the Mitsubishi Regional Jet, or MRJ.<br/>