Airlines in the United States are now required to give passengers cash refunds if their flight is significantly delayed or canceled, even if that person does not explicitly ask for a refund. The Department of Transportation says the final federal rule requiring that airlines dole out refunds — not vouchers — went into effect Monday. The major change is being implemented only a month before the start of what is likely to be a huge holiday travel season. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made the announcement on X after he first presented the proposed rule back in April. “Today, our automatic refund rule goes into full effect,” Buttigieg posted. “Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them—without headaches or haggling.” The new rule mandates that refunds are automatically processed by an airline if a passenger’s flight is “canceled or significantly changed, and they do not accept the significantly changed flight, rebooking on an alternative flight, or alternative compensation.” The Department of Transportation says airlines must then refund a passenger within seven business days if they bought a ticket on a credit card and within 20 calendar days if they used another form of payment. The move has faced pushback from the airline industry. In July, Buttigieg told airlines that they must make clear to passengers when they are entitled to a refund.<br/>
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Wide-ranging reforms are needed if Canada’s aviation industry is to reach its full potential, according to a position paper co-authored by two former WestJet executives. In a sign of consumers voting with their wallets, millions of Canadians each year cross the border in their vehicles to take advantage of cheaper fares at U.S. airports. In the several years before the pandemic, for example, the number of such flights made by Canadians at U.S. airports averaged roughly 5m annually. “It should be a source of great frustration for all Canadians that the aviation industry framework drives such a competitive disadvantage,” said Richard Bartrem and Bob Cummings. Bartrem formerly worked as vice-president of communications, brand and community investment at Calgary-based WestJet. Cummings is a former executive vice-president at WestJet. In his latest role before he left the airline, he served as president of the company’s Swoop operations, the ultra-low-cost carrier that was integrated into the mainline in October 2023. With three-quarters of Canada’s population living within 160 kilometres of the Canada-U.S. border, the lure of cheaper U.S. fares lingers. Within Canada, the airline industry faces an array of challenges, including having to operate under a governance system for major airports that has resulted in ground rent charges by the Canadian government since 1992. Ground rent is paid by not-for-profit, community-based authorities and other groups. The Montreal Economic Institute noted that from 2013 to 2023, members of the National Airports System paid more than $3b in ground rent to the Canadian government. <br/>
Latin American and Caribbean airline leaders have arrived in the Bahamas for their annual meeting, hoping to use the 20th edition of the ALTA AGM and Leaders’ Forum to highlight the industry’s needs in a region that promises massive growth potential. At ALTA’s opening press conference on 28 October, the industry organisation’s leaders acknowledged that progress towards a more stable and prosperous aviation industry has been made on numerous fronts. But, they say, with aviation as such an essential requirement for connectivity across the region, goverments still need work harder to create the conditions for the industry not just to survive, but to thrive. “This kind of event like the ALTA leaders forum aims to bring us together once a year, to bring the people together, to show that we are walking the talk, and how can we manage the challenges that we have in our region,” says ALTA CE Jose Ricardo Botelho. Those perennial challenges include a patchwork of rule frameworks, over-regulation and high taxation, which in some countries threatens to choke the growth of air travel. Connectivity both between the numerous Caribbean island nations as well between those states and the South American mainland is also top of mind for leaders – some of whom had to take circuitous journeys to get to Nassau arrive for the event.<br/>
London’s Heathrow Airport has declared “unlimited hug time” for passengers and their loved ones after Dunedin Airport’s three-minute hug rule went viral. In September, Dunedin Airport erected signs telling travellers: “max hug time 3 minutes”. Those who want “fonder farewells” were instructed to use the carpark. The news was initially picked up by national outlets but then gained global attention, prompting outlets such as CNN, the New York Post and the Guardian to report on the rule. It also featured on television, with one Canadian news presenter gaining attention for mispronouncing one crucial word. Heathrow Airport subsequently announced an “unlimited” hug time. Signs around the departure terminal state: “Max hug time, unlimited. Fond farewells in Departures encouraged.” The airport reportedly wants to encourage travellers to “take as much time as they need in Departures” when saying goodbye, according to the Independent. However, the farewell isn’t free. Travellers may only have three minutes to hug goodbye right outside the Dunedin Airport drop-off zone but they don’t have to pay for the privilege. Those dropping someone off at Heathrow Airport must pay £5 ($10.85). This is typically called a “kiss and fly” charge and is common in the UK, although Heathrow Airport is unique in not adding a time restriction.<br/>
Thailand is set to roll out a new biometric identification system across its six major airports, aiming to provide passengers with a more efficient and convenient travel experience, the Airport of Thailand (AOT) said on Monday. Starting from November, domestic passengers can enroll in the automated biometric identification system, which uses facial recognition technology to verify passenger identity, while the system will be fully operational for international travelers from December, said AOT President Kirati Kitmanawat. The biometric system will help passengers bypass traditional document checks at various touchpoints throughout the airport, including baggage drop-off, security checkpoints and boarding gates, significantly reducing waiting times and streamlining the overall travel process, Kirati said in a statement. According to the AOT, the Southeast Asian country's largest airport operator, over 119.29m passengers were served across its six international gateways, including Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang Airports, during the fiscal year 2024 ending in September, representing a 19.22% rise compared to the previous year. <br/>
Once the third runway at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport goes into full operation, the number of flights landing and taking off should rise by 16% this year. Deputy Transport Minister Manaporn Charoensri made this comment on Monday (Oct 28) after she checked out the operations and preparations made by the Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Co Ltd (AeroThai) to use the new runway. AeroThai has been gradually shifting flights to the new runway from October 3 so pilots can start getting familiar with it before it is used to its full capacity. Manaporn said the new runway allows Suvarnabhumi to handle 94 flights per hour compared to 68 flights when there were just two runways. She said AeroThai expects Thailand to see 836,513 flights this year, which would mark a 16% increase compared to last year. Suvarnabhumi Airport alone should see some 348,980 flights this year or an average of 950 flights per day.<br/>
Boeing on Monday began to raise roughly $19b by selling stock, an attempt to shore up its finances as a costly and disruptive worker strike weighs on the plane maker’s balance sheet. The sale comes shortly after the aerospace giant reported a $6.1b loss in the last quarter and said it was cutting about 17,000 jobs. A weekslong strike by Boeing machinists is costing the company tens of millions of dollars each day, according to analyst estimates, adding to the financial strain created by long-running production and quality issues. The fund-raising aims to stave off a potential credit rating downgrade, which could make it more expensive for the company to borrow money. Boeing has about $58b in debt. S&P Global Ratings said this month that it was considering lowering Boeing’s credit rating to “junk” status, depending on how long the strike continues. Boeing’s shares fell about 1% Monday morning. The company’s stock has fallen more than 40% this year. Last week, Boeing’s largest union, which represents about 33,000 workers, rejected a tentative labor contract, extending a strike that began last month and has halted airplane production at crucial plants in the Seattle area. The proposed agreement did not address a frozen pension plan that workers were seeking to restore. Boeing indicated in regulatory filings this month that it planned to raise as much as $25b by selling stock or debt over the next three years, and the company entered into a $10b credit agreement with a group of banks. It described the plans as “two prudent steps to support the company’s access to liquidity.” The plane maker hasn’t reported an annual profit since 2018. Before the machinists’ strike started to weigh on the company, two fatal crashes of Boeing’s 737 Max in 2018 and 2019 cost it billions of dollars and severely damaged its reputation. Concerns about the safety of Boeing’s commercial planes resurfaced in January, when a door panel on a 737 Max 9 jet blew open during an Alaska Airlines flight.<br/>
Boeing workers' efforts to restore the traditional pension plans it ditched a decade ago feels to many like a long shot, as reinstating such a structure could exacerbate the planemaker's shaky financial situation. Bringing back the defined-benefit plans - where the pension liability is primarily borne by the employer - will require a major concession from the company, particularly as most corporations have drifted away from this model. Boeing has resisted attempts to restore the plan. Jon Holden, the negotiator for the 33,000 Boeing workers on strike, hinted after the union rejected the company's offer that workers might be satisfied with an alternative. "It does come down to potentially exploring other defined-benefit options, which we are willing to do," he said on Oct. 24 at a press conference. The dispute highlights the delicate balancing act facing new CEO Kelly Ortberg, who is tasked with bringing a quick end to the crippling strike while avoiding overpromises. Alternatives are more likely to look like defined-contribution plans - which are an expense for a company but do not add to its liabilities. The United Auto Workers, in its strike against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis last year, managed to secure a generous increase in employer contributions to 401(k) plans without requiring workers to provide to them first. "What the UAW ended up doing got them more of this non-elective contribution without it being linked to contributions from the employee," said Craig Copeland, director of wealth benefits research at the non-profit Employee Benefit Research Institute in Washington.<br/>
General Electric Co. said more than a dozen suppliers are involved in the disruptions that have slowed delivery of its jet engines and resulted in renewed headaches for planemakers and airlines. “The shortages that cause us to be late on deliveries really come from about 15 different suppliers across our supply chain,” Larry Culp, CEO of the manufacturer known as GE Aerospace, said in an exclusive interview on Monday. “We have 550 engineers going in to work with those suppliers to identify bottlenecks, identify constraints and really solve those problems.” “Really for us it is all about making sure we’re the best possible partner, the best possible collaborator with our suppliers,” he said. Globally, airlines’ near-term expansion has been thrown off course as the world’s two key planemakers — Boeing Co. and Airbus SE — struggle to keep pace with record demand for new jets. One of the main reasons the duo can’t raise output has to do with component shortfalls. Staffing is also an issue, particularly for Boeing, whose ongoing labor strike in the US means it can’t produce its cash-cow 737 Max. Culp, speaking to Bloomberg TV from Singapore, wouldn’t be drawn on the time required to fix supply chain issues, noting that “not many people appreciate that what we do is not only manufacture engines, but we support those engines for 20, sometimes 30 years over their entire life cycle.” “So the services, the parts, the repairs that we provide in the after-market are a critical part of what we do for the airlines. And we all need to make sure that there are no counterfeit parts in that supply chain,” he said, adding that tackling the scourge of fake parts was a “high priority.”<br/>