general

IATA CE Willie Walsh believes US president-elect Donald Trump’s previous support of the airline industry during Covid and likely lighter regulatory touch mean US airline leaders are generally “net positive” about the incoming administration. Asked about the possible impact on the sector of a Trump administration during a press conference at the IATA Wings of Change Europe conference in Rome, Walsh said he had had the opportunity to speak to a number of US airline leaders last week. ”I think the mood there is they see it, generally, as a net positive – for a couple of reasons,” he says. ”I think they are reminded of the support they got from the Trump Administration first time around during Covid,” he says, citing the US CARES Act package of measures, which helped keep airlines flying during the pandemic. ”I think they see that as a recognition by president Trump of the importance of the industry in the United States, so that’s a positive. I think they also see a change in the way the administration will regulate the industry. There have certainly been moves in recent times under [transport] secretary [Pete] Buttigieg to impose additional regulation on the industry and they believe that a Trump administration will reverse those decisions and move to a lighter touch regulation on the industry. Again they see that as a positive.” While Walsh acknowledges that it remains unknown what the wider political impact on the industry may be – Dragonfly chief intelligence officer Henry Wilkinson had earlier in the conference flagged potential shifts in the European-US relationship from a Trump administration approach on trade and funding support of NATO – he shared support for a lighter approach on regulation for the industry.<br/>

A bipartisan group of five U.S. senators including incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune urged President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday to back international efforts to raise the mandatory pilot retirement age. Last year, Congress rejected a push to raise the mandatory airline pilot retirement age to 67 from 65. International rules prevent airline pilots older than 65 from flying in most countries outside the United States. The group of senators is led by Marsha Blackburn and includes her fellow Republicans Thune and Lindsey Graham as well as Democrat Mark Kelly and independent Joe Manchin. They urged U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to advocate at the International Civil Aviation Organization, an agency of the United Nations, for hiking the retirement age. They did not suggest a specific age. "The American public deserves the most qualified and experienced pilots when traveling," the senators wrote in the letter first reported by Reuters. The State Department, Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Line Pilots Association did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A group representing major airlines declined to comment. The senators urged the U.S. mission to ICAO to "not spend this debate sitting on the sidelines. If the United States cedes our leadership role in this space on the international stage, we know that China - who is presently and actively joining our partners to advocate for raising the pilot retirement age - will gladly fill that void." The FAA in February asked Congress to give it time to conduct additional research before raising the retirement age. The U.S. House of Representatives had voted 351-69 in July 2023 to approve a sweeping aviation bill that would also raise the mandatory pilot retirement age to 67. But the provision was dropped from the final legislation passed by Congress.<br/>

The US FAA Wednesday modified a ban on U.S. airlines operating in the Caribbean nation of Haiti, issuing a notice which permits flights over northern parts of the country, including the city of Cap-Haitien. The FAA had barred flights over the entire Haitian territory last week after three commercial jetliners were struck by gunfire as armed gangs ramp up attacks in and around the capital Port-au-Prince.<br/>

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday postponed a vote on a major boost to wages for hotel and airport workers, voicing concerns that the pay hike could damage the city's tourism industry. The council's decision to put off the vote until Dec. 11 came as hotel owners were threatening to pull out of a deal to provide tens of thousands of rooms during the 2028 Olympic Games if the pay increase is approved, saying it would decimate their bottom line. The council had been scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to finalize changes to an existing city ordinance that would raise the minimum hourly wage for workers at large hotels and Los Angeles International Airport from the current $20.32 to $25 on Feb. 1. The minimum pay would then climb incrementally each year to reach $30 an hour by July 1, 2028, as the Olympics are set to open. During a heated discussion of the proposed wage boosts, several council members questioned whether an analysis of the economic impact of the wage hike that was commissioned by the city had been thorough enough.<br/>

Israel’s war against Hamas has sparked boycotts against its authors, cut cooperation with its scientists and raised possible arrest warrants against its officials. But nothing has made Israelis feel more isolated than the massive drop-off in flights to and from the country. Direct routes to dozens of major cities — Washington D.C., San Francisco, Toronto, Hong Kong, New Delhi — have been suspended, reducing face-to-face business meetings as well as cargo reliant on passenger flights. Of the 20 airlines that dominated the market before the war, Israeli companies are nearly the only ones remaining. The number of planes and passengers into Ben Gurion Airport fell by 40% in the first nine months of 2024, according to the airport authority. The biggest impact is from the loss of North American airlines — Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines and Air Canada. Although Ben Gurion hasn’t had a missile land on it, the companies say they fear for the safety of their passengers as rockets are fired from various directions, and crews are unwilling to spend the night in Tel Aviv. With the war in its 14th month and no end in sight, Israel’s high-tech leaders, faced with declining investors and business activity, are seeking solutions. One, scheduled to begin in January, is called Airtech, and aims to establish charter flights three times a week to and from the US. “Our project is simple,” said Ori Hedomi, former CE of Mazor Robotics and veteran entrepreneur, who’s helping create the plan. “We will lease planes to travel from Israel to the US and back, including all logistics. To do business you need to meet partners face to face. You must cultivate relationships.”<br/>

Boeing issued lay off notices to 692 workers in Missouri, home to the company's Defense, Space & Security division, according to a federally-required filing posted on Wednesday, as part of the debt-heavy U.S. planemaker's plan to cut 17,000 jobs, or 10% of its global workforce. Including these layoffs, the company has issued 60-day notices to at least 3,100 U.S. workers in Washington, Oregon, South Carolina and Missouri, according to filings. Nearly 2,200 layoff notices went to workers in Washington and another 220 in South Carolina, the two states where Boeing builds commercial airliners.<br/>

Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer is positioning itself to sell more jets to Chinese buyers and work closer with Chinese suppliers, moves coming as Brazil’s government tightens ties with China – and US-China relations seem set to further sour. But whether the Brazilian aircraft maker will actually land significant new sales of E-Jet E2 regional jets remains unclear, especially considering previous efforts to tap Chinese demand have had limited results. During an investor day on 18 November in New York City, Embraer Commercial Aviation CE Arjan Meijer stressed the importance of China’s aviation market to the Brazilian company, describing the market as ripe with opportunity. Notably, Meijer says Embraer’s E-Jet E2s are well suited size-wise to be operated by Chinese airlines alongside those carriers’ homegrown China-made jets. Specifically, Meijer says E190-E2s and E195-E2s can fill a market niche not directly addressed by Chinese manufacturer Comac’s 80-100-seat C909 (recently renamed from the ARJ21) and Comac’s 160-190 seat C919. E190-E2s carry 97-114 passengers, while E195-E2s can seat 120-146 people. “I think the benefit of the E2 family is that it is truly complementary to the Chinese product,” Meijer says. “The 190- and 195-E2 are two aircraft that fit nicely in the middle.” He also calls the E190-E2 “a great aircraft for hot and high performance in China – so, for the connection of the Tibetan Plateau”.<br/>