U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday that he is nominating former Wisconsin Representative and Fox Business News host Sean Duffy to be transportation secretary. If confirmed, Duffy will oversee aviation, automotive, rail, transit and other transportation policies at the department with about a $110b budget as well as significant funding that remains under the Biden administration's 2021 $1t infrastructure law and EV charging stations. "I’m eager to help you usher in a new golden age of transportation," Duffy wrote on social media. Trump has vowed to reverse the Biden administration's vehicle emissions rules. He has said he plans to begin the process of undoing the Biden administration's stringent emissions regulations finalized earlier this year as soon as he takes office. The rules cut tailpipe emissions limits by 50% from 2026 levels by 2032 and prod automakers to build more EVs. Duffy will oversee the continuing enhanced oversight of Boeing. The FAA, which is part of USDOT, capped production at 38 737 MAX planes per month in January after a door panel missing four key bolts flew off an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 in midair that month, exposing serious safety issues at Boeing. He will also decide whether to continue the Biden administration's aviation passenger rights push and whether to approve more airline joint ventures.<br/>
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The civil aviation agencies of Japan and Singapore are teaming up to improve runway safety after a fatal collision at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in January. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) said they are banding together to tap technology to prevent potential runway incursions. They are also beefing up collaboration among parties that have an impact on runway safety, including airlines, airport operators, ground handlers and air navigation service providers, the two agencies said in a statement on Nov 18. This came after CAAS director-general Han Kok Juan and JCAB senior deputy director-general Onuma Toshiyuki helmed the third Singapore-Japan dialogue on aviation collaboration in Kansai, Japan, on Nov 14 and 15. Runway safety was thrust into the spotlight earlier in 2024 when an arriving Japan Airlines (JAL) passenger jet collided with a smaller Japan Coast Guard plane on the runway at Haneda Airport on Jan 2. The captain of the coast guard plane had mistakenly assumed he had permission to enter the runway. The JAL Airbus A350 jet burst into flames upon landing and crashing into the other plane. All 379 passengers and crew aboard the jet escaped the blaze, while five people on the coast guard plane died. “Following the Haneda incident, JCAB reached out to CAAS to study runway safety measures (that) CAAS implemented,” the Singapore authority told The Straits Times.<br/>
Sustainable aviation fuel is getting a huge boost from some of the world’s biggest companies. BlackRock Inc., Block Inc., Samsara Inc. and Ripple are participating in the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance and buying certificates as part of the group’s $200m in clean jet fuel deals. The purchase will add sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to Alaska Air Group Inc. passenger flights while offsetting the companies’ business travel emissions. Aviation accounts for about 2% of global emissions, but it’s one of the hardest sectors to decarbonize. Airlines and startups are making efforts to increase fuel efficiency and scale electric and hydrogen-powered aircraft, but those are far from commercialization and, in the latter case, likely not feasible for long-haul flights. The best bet to cut emissions is SAF, which can be blended with traditional jet fuel without requiring any aircraft retrofits. Clean jet fuel costs two to four times as much as fossil-based jet fuel, according to BloombergNEF. Still, demand far exceeds available supply and airlines are falling behind on their purchasing commitments. To cut costs and spur more production, companies with hard-to-reach net zero goals are purchasing SAF certificates. Buyers are allowed to count the carbon cuts tied to the certificate against their indirect or Scope 3 emissions while airlines gets to put it on their Scope 1 ledger — that is, emissions they’re directly responsible for. It’s difficult for companies to reduce flying-related emissions, because “they’re not going to tell employees to stop traveling to customers or clients,” said Claire Kiely, head of marketplace carbon supply for sustainability platform Watershed, which facilitated the purchase. Instead, by participating in procurement programs like the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance (SABA), companies can influence airlines and fuel producers to make the change.<br/>
Boeing said in a notice filed with Washington’s Employment Security Department on Monday that it has so far laid off 2,199 workers in the state, among job cuts that will eventually total about 17,000 across the company. The aerospace giant announced in October that it planned to cut about 10% of its workforce in the coming months as it struggles to recover from financial and regulatory troubles as well as a strike by its machinists that lasted nearly two months. The planned cuts include workers at Boeing facilities across the country, from Washington to Missouri to Arizona to South Carolina, The Seattle Times reported. They also appeared to impact workers in all three of Boeing’s divisions: commercial airplanes, defense and global services. Before the layoff notices delivered last week, Boeing had 66,000 workers in Washington. Among the layoffs so far are notices that went out last week to more than 400 members of Boeing’s professional aerospace labor union, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, or SPEEA. The workers will remain on the payroll through mid-January.<br/>
Brazilian planemaker Embraer said late on Sunday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indonesia's PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) to expand their collaboration in commercial aviation. Embraer is the world's third-largest planemaker behind Airbus and Boeing. The Indonesian Air Force operates a fleet of Embraer's A-29 Super Tucanos, and the Asian country has a fleet of Embraer executive jets in operation. The agreement was formalized on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, attended by Indonesian authorities. The partnership includes joint studies to evaluate opportunities in areas such as engineering and the supply of aero-structures, according to Embraer. "PTDI has great ambitions for the country," said PTDI President Gita Amperiawan in a statement. Embraer executive Rodrigo Silva e Souza said Indonesia was one of the fastest growing aviation markets globally, adding that Embraer had identified "areas where both parties can leverage their expertise, enhance Indonesia's aerospace capabilities and expand its air connectivity."<br/>
The UK’s Serious Fraud Office closed its investigation into bribery and corruption allegations at Bombardier Inc., deferring to comparable probes in the US and Canada. The SFO opened its investigation into the company’s dealings with PT Garuda Indonesia in 2020. The airline ordered Bombardier CRJ regional jets, with the first delivery in 2012. The overseas authorities are best placed to progress with the case, the prosecutor said in a statement Monday. The UK prosecutor will work with investigators in other countries to “deliver justice globally,” the SFO said. Bombardier said in a statement that it continued to “cooperate with the authorities in Canada and the US.”+<br/>