A Brazilian government-backed credit line for struggling airlines should be ready by early 2025, helping the industry ride out a bumpy stretch for big carriers, Ports and Airports Minister Silvio Costa Filho told Reuters. Gol Linhas Aereas, which is negotiating its exit from bankruptcy protection, and Azul , which recently renegotiated debts to raise fresh capital, are both in talks with the government about the credit, Costa Filho said. "Our expectation is to have these operations no later than in the first three or four months," the minister said, adding that the final details of the program may clear the lower house of Congress as soon as next week. The aid package, currently set at 4b reais ($690m), would use resources from the National Civil Aviation Fund, for loans issued by state development bank BNDES. Azul confirmed it is in talks with the government about the credit line. Gol did not immediately comment. Gol reached a restructuring agreement this month that will likely get the company out of Chapter 11 next year. Azul struck a deal with creditors to raise as much as $500m, making it the only major Brazilian carrier to avoid Chapter 11 since the coronavirus pandemic. Costa Filho said the government support has been needed since the pandemic. "Unlike other countries, Brazil did not immediately help the airlines."<br/>
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Two of Latin America's top airlines - Chilean carrier LATAM and Mexico's Aeromexico - are considering alternatives to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which remains in short supply in the region, as a means to cut carbon emissions. Aviation is a heavily polluting industry due to the jet fuel used to power planes. The sector agrees that the transition to using SAFs is a priority to reach net-zero carbon emissions commitments, and some countries have rolled out incentive programs or regulations setting minimum percentage targets for SAF use. However, fuel feedstocks made from waste products such as used cooking oils and crop residues remain in short supply and are much costlier than traditional fuel.<br/>Aeromexico has been piggybacking off U.S. carrier Delta's tie-ups for SAF supply, an Aeromexico executive told journalists, capitalizing on a years-long partnership. Aeromexico also makes use of so-called "book-and-claim" deals, said Karen Farias, the carrier's head of environmental, social, and governance matters. This allows airlines to offset emissions by purchasing credits originating from the use of SAF by other carriers. Sugarcane is in plentiful supply and could be an option for producing SAF in Mexico and Paraguay, LATAM Airlines' Mexico head Diana Olivares said at an event hosted by ProChile. Construction is currently under way on an SAF plant in Paraguay that will use cooking oils and soybean oil. And both LATAM and Aeromexico are rolling out artificial-intelligence programs to monitor and make fuel usage more efficient, the airlines' executives said.<br/>
A man was shot and killed on Friday afternoon at Sao Paulo's international airport, Brazil's busiest, authorities said, with local media reporting the murder was likely linked to organized crime. Sao Paulo state's security secretary said in a statement the murder, and its cause, were still under investigation. Three other people, a woman and two men, were wounded in the shooting and the two men were taken to a nearby hospital, police said without giving any further details. The airport operator said police and medical teams had been called to the scene. Videos on social media showed the shooting took place in the arrival area of Terminal 2, but police did not confirm that information.<br/>
A bomb scare at LaGuardia Airport in Queens led to the temporary evacuation of Terminal B and the suspension of flights early Saturday, officials said. A suspicious duffel bag found at the terminal’s TSA screening area at 5:35 a.m. sparked an evacuation of the terminal where all Jet Blue, American Airlines and United Airlines flights take off and land, according to source with knowledge with the case. The bag tested positive for an organic material that is used in bomb making, while several 18-volt batteries used for power tools were found in the bag, the source said. Flights going in and out from Terminal B were suspended as Port Authority police investigated. Scores of people were left standing around outside as screenings were temporarily halted while Port Authority police investigated. “Only passengers who had not already gone through airport security at the time of the investigation had been asked to wait outside,” a Port Authority spokesman said. The NYPD Bomb Squad was called in to check on the package, which was determined to not be an explosive. “Passengers who were asked to leave during the investigation were allowed to return to the terminal by 8:10 a.m.,” the spokesman said. “No flights were affected during the investigation.”<br/>
Aviation authorities temporarily closed Domodedovo, Zhukovsky and Sheremetyevo international airports in the Moscow region on Sunday due to potential risks of drone attacks. "In order to ensure the safety of civil aircraft flights, temporary restrictions have been introduced for the operation of Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports starting from 08:03 Moscow time, November 10. The airports are temporarily not accepting or sending flights," the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency said in a statement. Sheremetyevo International Airport was later shut down, too.<br/>Aircraft crews, air traffic controllers, and airport services are taking all necessary measures to ensure flight safety is a top priority, reports Xinhua news agency, quoting the statement.<br/>
South Korea’s military said North Korea disrupted GPS signals from border areas for the second-straight day on Saturday, affecting an unspecified number of flights and vessel operations. Tensions between the rival Koreas have escalated as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un flaunts his advancing nuclear and missile program and engages in electronic and psychological warfare, such as flying thousands of balloons to drop trash and anti-South Korean propaganda leaflets in the South. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korean operations to manipulate GPS signals were detected from around the western border city of Kaesong and the nearby city of Haeju on Friday and Saturday, and said the activities disrupted dozens of civilian aircraft and several vessels. While warning aircraft and vessels near western border areas, South Korea’s military did not specify how North Korea was interfering with GPS signals or detail the extent of disruptions. “We urge North Korea to stop GPS interference provocations immediately and strongly warn that it will be held fully accountable for any resulting consequences,” the South’s joint chiefs said in a statement.<br/>
Norazman Sapiie's family was worried when he started working as cabin crew on budget carrier Jetstar Asia 20 years ago. After all, budget airlines had just burst onto the scene then, and floating around was a general misconception that they didn't have the same safety standards as a full-service carrier. Norazman, now 56, in fact went through training that included firefighting, emergency procedures and first aid – the same skills a crew member with a full-service carrier would be expected to have. Indeed, it was a common misperception that low cost equalled poor safety, said Scoot associate management pilot Keagan Pang. The 42-year-old began flying with Tiger Airways in 2013, before its rebranding as Tigerair and subsequent merger with Scoot. Today, fewer questions are being asked of safety standards as more people have become accustomed to budget travel, both Norazman and Pang said. “Think of it as a plate of Michelin-starred chicken rice,” said Pang. “One is served in a restaurant versus one in a food court. “You get the same ... but the price point is different, simply because the setting is slightly different.” Since Singapore's first locally-operated budget flight took off from Changi Airport in 2004, the low-cost carrier industry has seen several ups and downs on its way to becoming a household name. Story has more.<br/>
Spirit AeroSystems and Boeing are close to reaching a funding agreement that would give a cash lifeline to the struggling Boeing supplier, an industry source familiar with the matter said. A deal could be announced in the next few days, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity about the private talks, although he cautioned that it has not yet closed. Spirit Aero is juggling financial and production challenges, having issued a liquidity warning on Tuesday after four years of losses. It expects to burn around $450m to $500m in cash over the last three months of 2024 and first half of 2025, according to filings. Boeing, which plans to buy its one-time subsidiary, is trying to revive its battered supply chain and jet production after a weeks-long strike halted most of its output. Spirit could not be immediately reached. Boeing declined to comment. Spirit said this week it is seeking ways to raise liquidity including possible customer advances. The supplier has previously disclosed it has drawn down a $350m bridge loan set up when Boeing agreed to acquire the supplier, and previous advances from both the U.S. planemaker and rival Airbus that Spirit has not repaid. The Wichita, Kansas-based aerostructures company is a key supplier to the world's two major commercial planemakers. Spirit had been weighing furloughs of workers on its 737 MAX fuselage program after it ran short on storage space and cash, a second source close to the matter said.<br/>In late October, Reuters first revealed a decision by the supplier to temporarily furlough 700 employees, who produce parts for Boeing's 767 and 777 jets, due to space constraints.<br/>
Brazilian planemaker Embraer's raised its projected adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margin for 2024 to between 9% and 10%, from 6.5%-7.5% before, it said on Friday in a securities filing, while it also saw a jump in third-quarter results. In its updated guidance, world's third-largest planemaker behind Airbus and Boeing also bumped up its free cash flow guidance for this year to $300m or higher, from at least $220m previously expected. The company lowered its guidance for this year's commercial aircraft deliveries to between 70 to 73, from 72 to 80 previously estimated."We expect a positive reaction to the new guidance due to the increase in profitability and FCF," JPMorgan analysts said in a report to clients. Embraer said in a separate securities filing on Friday that its third-quarter adjusted net profit in dollars jumped to $221m, up from $32.9m a year earlier. The result was also much higher than the $74.8m net profit expected by analysts polled by LSEG. Embraer said the much higher than expected adjusted net profit excluded extraordinary effects such as $50.8m spent in deferred taxes and a $8.6m loss in its unit Eve's results.<br/>