Oklahoma City is the proud home to the only air traffic controller academy in the nation. And despite decades of warnings about dangerously understaffed control towers, the state’s delegation in Washington says that’s how it should remain. Last year, a U.S. Senate committee approved a bipartisan plan to build a second academy to address the long-standing shortage of air traffic controllers, adding it to a bill to fund the Federal Aviation Administration. But the new academy was later nixed amid opposition from Oklahoma’s members of Congress, who said the money would be better spent bolstering the existing facility. The disappearing academy is just a small piece of a larger mosaic of inaction and delay that has hampered the FAA’s ability to improve air traffic safety at America’s airports. Problems with understaffed towers, difficulty recruiting and training, and outdated electronics systems have been documented for years. The pushback against efforts to create a second air traffic controller academy, whose creation was supported by the FAA, is an example of the conflicting agendas the Trump administration and Congress must navigate as they search for answers to the long-standing problems. The failings of the nation’s air safety system came into tragic focus when an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet collided Jan. 29 over the Potomac River in Washington, killing 67 people. An FAA preliminary report found that staffing in the Reagan National Airport control tower was “not normal” on the evening of the crash. The Washington Post has since reported that close calls, frequent cockpit alerts and internal safety concerns about potential collision “hotspots” have provided the FAA with abundant evidence of risk of collisions.<br/>
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The European Union's latest sanctions against Moscow include a ban on third-country airlines flying to the 27-nation bloc if they carry out domestic flights in Russia, the European Commission said Monday. The EU's 16th sanctions package against Russia includes a ban on primary aluminium imports and the sale of gaming consoles, while also listing a cryptocurrency exchange and dozens of vessels of the so-called shadow fleet used to evade sanctions. Russian authorities are exploring allowing airlines from other countries to operate domestic flights between Russian airports as a way to deal with a shortage of aircraft caused by Western sanctions. "The package extends the flight ban to enable the listing of third-country carriers conducting domestic flights within Russia or supplying aviation goods to Russian airlines or for domestic flight in Russia," the European Commission said. "If listed, these airlines will not be allowed to fly to the EU." Russia's Ministry of Transport declined to comment on the new EU measures. Last October Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit said Moscow was in talks with some Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, for their airlines to run domestic flights in Russia. Russian airlines, which mainly use Western aircraft delivered before the war in Ukraine, are struggling to meet the growing demand for air travel as sanctions hinder access to parts and plans to supply domestically made airliners are being constantly postponed.<br/>
Public sector workers and ground staff at Munich Airport will go on a two-day strike starting Thursday after wage negotiations ended without result, the Verdi union said on Monday. "Significant impacts on traffic operations are to be expected," the airport said in a notice on its website advising travellers to check the status of their flights with airlines. Munich is Germany's second busiest airport after Frankfurt. The strike in the southern German city follows shorter strikes at the airports in Dusseldorf and Cologn/Bonn.<br/>
China's lawmakers will consider a draft revision of the Civil Aviation Law this week to enhance safety in the aviation industry, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Monday. The proposed legislative amendments follow a fatal crash of a China Eastern Airlines passenger jet in March 2022. Investigations are still ongoing into the cause of the crash, which killed all 123 passengers and nine crew members.<br/>The draft revisions, submitted to China's highest legislative body, the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), for its first review, contain "comprehensive amendments and improvements" to the existing Civil Aviation Law, which was first implemented on March 1, 1996, Xinhua reported. Key amendments include measures to enhance the security of civil aviation activities, empower aircraft captains to take necessary actions under exceptional circumstances and prohibit disruptive behaviours. Such behaviours include unauthorised opening of aircraft emergency exits, causing disturbances or instigating trouble within the aircraft and spreading rumours about civil aviation safety. The draft law also requires civil airports to possess the capability to prevent and manage incidents involving unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), reflecting increasing concern over the impact of UAVs on aviation operations. Bills typically require up to three reviews by the NPCSC before they are voted on and passed. The NPCSC convenes approximately every two months.<br/>
A British tourist could face a prison sentence after being arrested at an airport in Thailand. A video was captured on February 18 of the man’s bizarre tantrum which saw him lying on the ground beating his chest several times. Close by was some white powder which allegedly fell out of his pocket. Local police said it tested positive for cocaine. He had flown to Phuket from Shanghai in China. Police Major Akkarapon Akkraphon, immigration checkpoint inspector at the airport, told Viral Press: “We charged the tourist with importing a Category II narcotic into the country and illegally possessing it. He was handed over to the inquiry officer of the Sakhu Police Station for legal action.”<br/>
Air traffic authorities in Australia only discovered Chinese warships were conducting a live-fire exercise in the Tasman Strait 30 minutes after it began thanks to an alert by a Virgin pilot, rather than a warning from government officials. Airservices Australia officials told Senate estimates hearings on Monday night that 49 flights were forced to divert their flight plans because of the exercise on Friday. The incident marked the latest challenge to the government’s efforts to stabilise relations with China, with the federal opposition and national security experts branding it a provocative act that deserves condemnation. The exercises were conducted approximately 640 kilometres off the NSW south coast on Friday, in international waters. Airservices Australia CE Rob Sharp told estimates his organisation only found out the Chinese task group was planning a live firing exercise at 9.58am on Friday, local time. “It was, in fact, Virgin Australia advising that a foreign warship was broadcasting that they were conducting live firing 300 nautical miles east of our coast,” Sharp said. “That was how we first found out about the issue.”<br/>
China’s first home-grown narrowbody aircraft, the C919, has taken another step towards proving its reliability, after handling a surge in flights during the Lunar New Year travel rush. The big three Chinese state-owned airlines used their C919 fleets more intensively than ever before, with each C919 staying in the air for an average of 6.5 hours per day over the 40-day holiday period. Though the airlines deployed their Airbus and Boeing aircraft even more, the holiday still represented a test for the C919, as its utilisation rate soared by 40% compared with the same period last year. “The C919 demonstrated its reliability as a daily-use aircraft, and there are no significant weaknesses when compared with Airbus and Boeing,” said Li Hanming, a civil aviation analyst. The Lunar New Year travel period, which ended on Saturday, brings a dramatic spike in travel demand each year as families across China reunite with their relatives. Demand for air travel reached a record high during this year’s holiday, with the country’s airlines handling 2.25m passenger trips per day on average, up 7.4% compared with the 2024 holiday, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.<br/>