general

Plans have been revealed to modernise the UK’s outdated airspace in the hope to cut emissions and speed up routes. The Department for Transport (DfT) said it has launched a consultation on a proposal to establish a UK Airspace Design Service, which would consist of aviation experts working with airports to improve the routes flown by planes. The plans are in place to create a system that’s ‘fit for the future’ while creating quicker routes, easing delays and reducing harmful emissions.<br/>The new body would start by reviewing London’s airspace, which is the busiest in the UK. Much of how the UK’s airspace is used dates back to the 1950s, when there were fewer flights and aircraft navigated using ground-based beacons. DfT officials believe enabling planes to use modern navigation technologies will boost efficiency, such as by reducing the need for aircraft to enter holding patterns before receiving permission to land at busy airports. Aviation minister Mike Kane said: “UK airspace is one of the nation’s biggest invisible assets, but it’s been stuck in the past – a 1950s pilot would find that little has changed. “Our once-in-a-generation creation of a UK Airspace Design Service will not only drive forward airspace modernisation and create a system that’s fit for the future, but it will help create quicker routes, ease delays and reduce harmful emissions – making air travel a better experience for all.”<br/>

Russia’s government intends to create a single certification system for components that would enable approved spares for foreign aircraft to be produced by domestic companies. As part of the plan senators have submitted a bill to the lower house of parliament, the Duma, which would give federal air transport regulator Rosaviatsia the authority to select an agency which would handle the various aspects of certification. The proposed amendment to the Air Code is effectively a parts manufacturer approval for components necessary to repair foreign aircraft during maintenance visits, given the international sanctions which prevent direct sale. “Considering that the shortage of foreign-made spares… it can be concluded that the alternative spares market will actively develop in [Russia],” says the proposal, cautioning that a “grey market” of unauthentic components could otherwise emerge. According to the official Russian parliamentary gazette, the country’s dependence on aviation imports – particularly since sanctions emerged a decade ago – “remains rather painful”.<br/>

The mystery surrounding a crashed cargo plane in Sudan purportedly downed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces deepened Tuesday as authorities insisted the aircraft had been de-registered in Kyrgyzstan. Just who was flying the Ilyushin Il-76 at night over war-torn Darfur remains in question. The aircraft previously was linked to an effort by the United Arab Emirates to arm the paramilitary force known as the RSF, something the UAE has strenuously denied despite evidence to the contrary. But the plane’s crash early Monday highlights the chaos gripping Sudan since April 2023, when the RSF and Sudan’s military went to war. Their conflict has killed over 24,000 people, forced millions to flee their homes and has left some families eating grass in a desperate attempt to survive as famine sweeps parts of the country. Mobile phone footage posted online showed RSF fighters among the plane’s burning wreckage, claiming they shot it down with a surface-to-air missile. Identity documents shown included a Russian passport and an ID that linked to a UAE-based company, whose phone number was disconnected. The Russian Embassy in Sudan since Monday has been investigating. A crumpled safety card, also purportedly from the aircraft, identified the plane as flown by New Way Cargo of Kyrgyzstan. However, Zuurakan Kadyrova of New Way Cargo told The Associated Press on Tuesday that her firm’s lease of the aircraft expired at the end of 2023. “Since that time, we have no records regarding the aircraft,” she said. “We are saddened by the news of the incident that occurred in Sudan and express our condolences to the crew and their families.”<br/>

The days of airplane cabins hazy with cigarette smoke are long gone, but a reminder of that era is still visible inside commercial jets. Smoking has been banned on commercial flights in the United States for decades, but the Federal Aviation Administration is only just updating an outdated rule to reflect that reality. Starting on Tuesday, the illuminated overhead “No Smoking” sign no longer requires an off switch. That obsolete requirement had become “time-consuming and burdensome” for airlines and airplane manufacturers to comply with, the F.A.A. said in a rule enacting the change. In February, for example, United Airlines was briefly unable to use a handful of new Airbus planes because the “No Smoking” signs on board couldn’t be shut off, causing the airline to delay a few flights. The issue was resolved after the F.A.A. granted United an exemption. Dozens of such exemptions have allowed that requirement to live on while the agency focused on more pressing matters. But the long life of the mandate also reflects how entangled smoking once was with commercial flights, which began in the 1910s. “The rise of aviation literally parallels the rise of the cigarette,” said Alan Blum, the director of the University of Alabama’s Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society. Pipes, cigars and chewing tobacco were once more popular than cigarettes, but that began to change in the early 20th century, according to Dr. Blum. During World War I, cigarettes were added to rations for American soldiers fighting abroad. Cigarette companies also used the glamour of the blossoming airline industry to sell their products by featuring pilots and flight attendants in ads. Amelia Earhart, the famous aviator whose disappearance captivated the public, endorsed Lucky Strike cigarettes. Smoking soon proliferated on the ground and in the air, said Shea Oakley, an aviation historian: “They even had smoking on board the Hindenburg,” he said, referring to the airship that incinerated spectacularly in 1937 over New Jersey.<br/>

Boeing has already braced investors for a rough quarterly report. Now, new CEO Kelly Ortberg has the chance to share his vision for the troubled manufacturer, from a potential strike-ending labor agreement to a slimmed-down future. When he takes the mic for his first earnings call as Boeing’s CEO on Wednesday, more than 32,000 striking machinists will start voting on a new, sweetened contract proposal. Results of the labor vote are expected Wednesday night. Analysts are cautiously optimistic that the new proposal, which requires a simple majority of the vote, could pass, putting an end to the more than five-week work stoppage that has halted most of the company’s production of airplanes and added to its cash burn of about $8b in the first half of the year. Boeing last posted an annual profit in 2018. “I think it’s going to be a tight vote,” Jon Holden, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751, told CNBC on Tuesday. During Boeing’s earnings call, investors, analysts and the public could get clues from Ortberg about what Boeing will look like in the coming years as well as clearer estimates on the company’s production targets for the next year. Executives at key Boeing suppliers GE Aerospace and RTX told investors on Tuesday that they are looking toward the work stoppage ending with a new agreement. RTX CFO Neil Mitchill said on an earnings call that in the company’s Collins unit, commercial aircraft component sales to manufacturers will be flat this year, down from mid-single-digit growth it previously forecast. “This outlook assumes that we’re able to restart some level of shipments to Boeing in the fourth quarter, and we see no change to the long-term structural demand” for products to plane makers, he said.<br/>

Federal regulators gave a strong push to electric-powered air taxis Tuesday by issuing a final rule for operating the aircraft and how pilots will be trained to fly them. The head of the FAA, Mike Whitaker, said the rule recognizes air taxis as an entirely new type of aircraft that will soon join airplanes and helicopters in the sky. These aircraft take off and land vertically, like helicopters, but fly like fixed-wing planes. Many companies are working to get them on the market, but they have been held back by the lack of clarity over regulations to govern their use. Whitaker said the FAA is stressing safety as it works to fold the new aircraft into the nation's airspace. He said “powered-lift aircraft” are the first new category of aircraft in nearly 80 years, since the dawn of helicopters, and the rule will allow for their widespread operation. Air taxi supporters call them a cleaner alternative to passenger planes that burn jet fuel. So far, however, current technology limits their size and likely means that they will be used most often in urban areas. Companies envision carrying people and cargo. One of the companies in the new field, California-based Joby Aviation, praised the FAA regulation. CEO JoeBen Bevirt said the rules “will ensure the U.S. continues to play a global leadership role in the development and adoption of clean flight.” Airlines see air taxis as a way to deliver passengers to airports. Delta Air Lines said in 2022 it would invest $60m in Joby, and this month Toyota announced a $500m investment. United Airlines is backing another California-based company, Archer Aviation, with an order for 200 aircraft that Archer said could be worth $1b with an option for $500m more.<br/>