general

The FAA on Tuesday extended the restrictions on commercial airlines over Iraq for U.S. flights for another three years citing risks to flights. The agency is extending the prohibition against flying below certain altitudes through October 2027 citing risks from Iranian-aligned militia groups’ activities and third-party military operations. The restrictions also apply to foreign operators operating as code share flights for U.S. carriers. Last month, the U.S. Transportation Department fined Air Canada $250,000 for operating flights in 2022 and 2023 in prohibited Iraqi airspace.<br/>

The FAA said Tuesday it is opening an audit into runway incursion risks at the 45 busiest U.S. airports after a series of troubling near miss incidents. Last week, the National Transportation Safety Board said air-traffic controllers cleared an Alaska Airlines jet last month to take off at Tennessee's Nashville International Airport on the same runway where a Southwest Airlines plane had been cleared to cross. The runway incursion audit will include a risk profile for each airport, along with identifying potential gaps in procedures, equipment, and processes, and recommendations to improve safety and is expected to be concluded in early 2025. The FAA Air Traffic Safety Oversight Service is conducting the review and the agency added it "is committed to identifying and mitigating risk at every level." Over the last two years, a series of near-miss incidents have raised concerns about U.S. aviation safety and the strain on understaffed air-traffic-control operations. FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said last month the number of serious runway-incursion incidents had fallen by over 50%. The FAA said in April it would install new surface-awareness technology at four airports including Nashville's by July. The FAA previously declined to comment on whether the technology was operating. The runway study responds in part to recommendations made in November 2023 by an independent U.S. aviation review team that called for "urgent action" to boost safety after a series of close calls involving passenger jets, the FAA said.<br/>

India's aviation sector will need to pump in more than $170b through 2030 to finance record aircraft orders and boost airport capacity amid an ongoing traffic boom, S&P Global Ratings said in a report. India is one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets and domestic passenger traffic is expected to double to 300m by 2030, according to government data. Traffic on overseas flights could more than double by then, estimates by aviation research group CAPA India show. Airlines in the world's most populous country have placed record orders with Airbus and Boeing, and authorities aim to double the number of airports by 2030 in a bid to build global aviation hubs to rival Singapore, Dubai and Doha. S&P Global Ratings expects Indian carriers will spend $150b to finance outstanding orders of 1,700 aircraft, while $24b will be needed to build new airports and expand existing ones. "The timing is right to support higher borrowing. Rising passenger air traffic, relatively cheaper domestic financing rates, and conducive government policies on foreign ownership should boost funding prospects for the sector," S&P Global analysts said. While borrowings for airlines and airports would rise, an increased reliance on aircraft lessors and domestic banks could help ease the burden, the analysts said.<br/>

It has been serving travellers for 30 years, but now the terminal at Palmerston North Airport is gearing up for a much needed makeover. The $40m project has been seven years in planning and CE David Lanham said he’s “very, very excited” to see work finally begin this week: “It’s a line in the sand and we can now progress with the plan.” Over the next two years, the building will be transformed into a new transport hub for the region. Lanham said the redevelopment has three driving factors - the current building has a poor seismic resilience of just 35% of the national building standard; there needs to be room for any introduction of regional screening of passengers and bags; and it has to be able to cater for an increase in future passengers numbers.<br/>“Pre-Covid we were hitting the capacity of the terminal with just over 700,000 passengers. That’s not a driver right now or in the immediate future but this is obviously an infrastructure project with a 10-to-20 year horizon in terms of what we can get out of the new facility.” Travellers will soon begin to see changes, including the building of a temporary terminal between now and Christmas. A large marquee structure will be erected at the Railway Road end over the valet parking area.<br/>

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Boeing and the US Justice Department to detail the impact of diversity and inclusion policies on the selection of an independent monitor before he decides whether to accept the planemaker’s plea deal. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor held a hearing Friday as he considers whether to approve Boeing’s agreement to plead guilty to conspiring to defraud regulators. The deal would include oversight for three years by an independent monitor. The order is the latest hurdle Boeing faces to avoid a potentially embarrassing trial and plead guilty to misleading the Federal Aviation Administration and violating a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement. O’Connor on Tuesday told DOJ and Boeing to answer questions by Oct. 25 about the DOJ policy of selecting a monitor in keeping with the government’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. A DOJ spokesperson said the government “will comply with the judge’s order and respond before the court’s deadline.” Boeing did not immediately comment. While ordering DOJ and Boeing to respond to a series of questions about the diversity and inclusion policy and how it might affect the selection of an independent monitor, he also pointed out that it was not a disputed facet of the plea agreement. “Critically, Boeing did not voice any objection to this provision,” the judge said in his order. O’Connor also wants the planemaker to detail how its existing diversity, equity and inclusion policies “are used in its current compliance and ethics efforts.” The planemaker agreed to pay up to a $487.2m fine and spend at least $455m on improving safety and compliance practices over three years of court-supervised probation as part of the plea deal.<br/>

Boeing factory workers held a large rally in Seattle on Tuesday to demand a better wage deal, mounting pressure on new CEO Kelly Ortberg to end a bitter strike that has plunged the planemaker further into financial crisis. Hundreds of striking workers packed the main hall at their union's headquarters chanting "Pension! Pension! Pension!" and "One day longer, one day stronger!" Outside, factory workers told Reuters that the recent 17,000 job cuts announced by the company would not deter them from continuing to fight for higher wages and an improved pensions. Top Washington state Congressional Democrats added pressure on Boeing, calling on both sides to reach a mutually beneficial deal "providing workers with the wages and benefits that acknowledge the essential and irreplaceable work they perform for the company." U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell on X published the letter to union and company leaders by her, Senator Patty Murray and Representatives Adam Smith and Rick Larsen. Around 33,000 of Boeing's unionized West Coast workers, most in Washington state, have been on strike since Sept. 13, demanding a 40% wage increase spread over four years and halting production of the planemaker's best-selling 737 MAX and its 767 and 777 widebodies. "We want Boeing management to know that we're strong and united, and their scare tactics aren't going to work," said Matthew Wright, a 52-year-old electrician who works on the 767 jet. "We're not afraid of them."<br/>

Boeing on Tuesday announced steps to improve its financial position as costs mounted and a strike by its largest union entered its second month. In two regulatory filings, the company said that it could raise as much as $25b by selling debt or stock over the next three years and that it had entered into a $10b credit agreement with a group of banks, which it has not yet drawn on. “These are two prudent steps to support the company’s access to liquidity,” Boeing said in a statement. The banks are BofA Securities, Citibank, Goldman Sachs Lending Partners and JPMorgan Chase. The moves come days after the company revealed about $5b in new costs and announced a restructuring that included plans to cut 17,000 jobs, or 10% of its work force. The strike, which began a month ago, is costing Boeing tens of millions of dollars a day, according to various estimates. Most of the workers who walked out are involved in production of commercial airplanes, bringing much of that work to a virtual halt, though one major airplane, the 787 Dreamliner, is manufactured at a nonunion factory in South Carolina. Talks between the company and the union representing 33,000 striking employees, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, broke down last week, with Boeing retracting its latest contract offer and each side blaming the other for intransigence. Julie Su, the acting labor secretary, visited Seattle on Monday to meet with Boeing and the union, the union said in a statement. The strike is very likely costing Boeing about $1.3b in capital a month, according to calculations by Sheila Kahyaoglu, an analyst at Jefferies, the investment bank. Given those costs and its need for more debt, raising $10b by selling new shares would provide the company “considerable flexibility,” Kahyaoglu said in a research note.<br/>

Aircraft nut ban announcements are “unlikely to be effective” and may even give people with nut allergies a false sense of security, experts have said. People with nut allergies should not be worried about the spread of allergens through aeroplane air conditioning systems, academics said. But they should ask to be allowed to board first so they can clean their seat area. Researchers warned that allergenic food is “really sticky” and can be found in seat areas – including seats, tray tables or screens. Therefore passengers with nut allergies, or their carers, should be given extra time to ensure that their seat area is clean to avoid “accidental reactions”. Experts from Imperial College London and Aviation Medical Consultancy said that there is a common perception that peanut or tree nut particles can be transmitted through aircraft ventilation systems. To examine the perception, they conducted an analysis of studies on nut particles travelling through ventilation systems. Their analysis, published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, concludes that research studies, including aircraft simulations, show “no evidence to support airborne transmission of nut allergens as a likely phenomenon”. “Announcements requesting nut bans are not therefore supported, and may instal a false sense of security,” researchers wrote. Airlines should instead give people with allergies “pre-boarding” so they can wipe down their seat area, they added.<br/>