A man was shot outside of a Chicago O’Hare International Airport terminal early Wednesday following an altercation among multiple people, police said. The 25-year-old suffered two gunshot wounds to the lower body, a Chicago Police Department news release said. He was taken to a hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. Another person was being interviewed, police said. The shooting happened on a street outside of Terminal 2, the news release said. Local television reports showed what appeared to be a shattered window near the baggage claim area. Arrival lanes at all terminals were fully open by 5:15 a.m., O’Hare said in a statement. Airlines that use Terminal 2 include JetBlue, Air Canada and Alaska Airlines.<br/>
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Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford is the leading candidate to be nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as the next head of the Federal Aviation Administration, sources told Reuters. The White House, Bedford and Republic did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Bedford interviewed for the position that requires Senate confirmation in recent weeks, the sources added. Bedford, a pilot and industry veteran of more than 30 years, previously headed two other carriers and oversaw a significant expansion of Republic Airways. Indiana-based Republic is one of the biggest regional airlines in North America, operating a fleet of more than 200 Embraer aircraft with 900 daily flights in the United States and Canada. The flights operate under airline partner brands American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express. The FAA position has been vacant since January 20, when FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker stepped down a little more than one year into a five-year term when Trump took office. The FAA has been run on an interim basis by Deputy Administrator Chris Rocheleau. On January 29, a mid-air collision between an American Airlines regional jet and Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington Reagan National Airport killed 67 people, raising serious questions about aviation safety. Other recent incidents include fatal crashes of small planes in Alaska and Philadelphia, the crash of a regional Delta jet that flipped upside down upon landing in Toronto and a near miss at Chicago Midway involving a Southwest Airlines jet. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday he plans to ask Congress for tens of billions of dollars to overhaul the nation's aging air traffic control system and has taken steps to boost staffing. The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels and in many places controllers are working six days a week with mandatory overtime.<br/>
Right on the U.S.-Canadian border, Corey Fram's tourism marketing job has gotten a lot harder of late. Fram is director of the 1000 Islands International Tourism Council, which promotes a nature destination with castles, cruises, hikes and fishing enjoyed by Canadians and Americans. But he says U.S. President Donald Trump's continuous disparagement of Canada is taking a toll. "We have had to switch gears a bit," Fram said from his office near the 1,800 tiny scenic islands that dot the St. Lawrence River framed by New York State and Ontario province. Seeing Canadian and American flags often flying side by side, travelers didn't care what side of the border they were on. Now, with Trump's recent rhetoric, Fram has had to adjust his message. "We've been very careful not to broadcast and demonstrate U.S. assets to Canadian audiences and Canadian assets to U.S. audiences because when we have, we found that has drawn out a lot of negative sentiment," Fram said. Canadians have been stung by Trump's actions and words since he returned to the White House, both around tariffs and suggestions that Canada should be annexed by the United States. The American anthem has been booed at hockey games and some stores are removing U.S. products from their shelves, even before Trump's latest salvo on Tuesday, when he increased tariffs on imported Canadian steel and aluminum to 50%. Travelers are responding with their wallets. New bookings to the United States from Canada have declined about 20% since February 1 compared with the year-ago period, according to Forward Keys, a flight ticketing data firm. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said on Tuesday the company has adjusted its capacity due to a big drop in incoming traffic from Canada.<br/>
Newly-published European Commission legislation set to come into force this month lays down regulations for ground-handling operations for the first time. The safety regulations – compliance with which must be achieved in three years’ time – bring the sectors under the regulatory framework of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. EASA says ground-handling is vital to safe flight, but the sector has been largely self-regulating through collections of bilateral arrangements with operators, placing safety responsibility on carriers. The new rules will apply from March 2028, covering such aspects of training and management for all ramp activities during aircraft preparation – including passenger and cargo loading and offloading, co-ordination of turnaround, de-icing, refuelling, pushback and towing. They comprise two sections: requirements for organisations and requirements for agencies tasked with safety oversight. There are also updates to current regulations governing air operations, airports and cybersecurity. “With the new authority oversight, ground-handlers become formally responsible for the safe provision of services, relieving air operators of this obligation,” says EASA flight standards director Jesper Rasmussen. He says EASA will support the industry in making necessary changes during the transition and “build further on the mature standards” which are used within the sector. EASA has developed the new ground-handling regulations, supported by handling services, aircraft and airport operators, and a personnel federation.<br/>
A pan-African payments infrastructure provider designed to facilitate trade on the continent is piloting an African currency market platform to boost commerce across borders in the region, its CE said. The Pan-African Payments and Settlement System (PAPSS), backed by 15 central banks on the continent, expects to add the platform later this year to complement its payments infrastructure that it says is currently integrated with 150 commercial banks. "The rates will be market driven, and our system is able to do a matching based on the rates offered by the different participants in our ecosystem," Mike Ogbalu, the CEO of PAPSS, told Reuters in an interview from Cairo. Africa's foreign exchange markets are often shallow and liquidity is limited, with South Africa and Nigeria dominating geographically and much of the wider trading centred around local and hard currency pairs. Those seeking other African currencies must typically secure dollars first. However, the region has also seen some major currency reforms with countries such as Nigeria, Egypt and Ethiopia pushing ahead with efforts to move to more market-based regimes. The Africa Currency Marketplace, as the platform will be known, will allow parties to exchange local currencies directly, Ogbalu said. He cited the example of an Ethiopian airline selling naira-denominated tickets in Nigeria, which could then exchange its naira revenue with a Nigerian company trading in Ethiopia using the birr.<br/>
The Thai Pilots Association plans to file a lawsuit against the Labour Ministry with the Administrative Court on Friday, seeking a temporary injunction to prohibit foreign pilots from flying domestic flights. The move is regarded as a last-ditch effort after the cabinet allowed foreign pilots to temporarily operate domestic flights via wet lease agreements in December last year. The permission was to help airlines ease an aircraft shortage. Teerawat Angkasakulkiat, president of the Thai Pilots Association, said the approval of foreign pilots affects Thai pilots and violates two laws: the 2017 Foreigners Working Management Emergency Decree and the 1954 Air Navigation Act. Section 7 of the Labour Ministry's decree states foreigners are prohibited from operating domestic flights, he said. Teerawat said even though Section 14 allows exceptions under three circumstances -- national security, economic security, and the prevention of public disasters -- the government's argument that it supports the tourism industry is not an exception, as this reason is not related to economic security. The Air Navigation Act indicates pilots on duty must be Thais, according to Section 44, unless there is approval by the director-general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT). Teerawat said because wet lease agreements consider pilots as officers on duty, and there was no exception announced by CAAT, the Labour Ministry and the cabinet have no authority to grant such permission and it violates the law. "In the longer term, this will impact the aviation industry if wet lease agreements become a normal practice," he said. Teerawat said many local pilots are still unemployed, even though they are ready to start working. Allowing foreign pilots to operate domestic flights has reduced employment opportunities for local pilots, he said.<br/>
Queenstown Airport is the first in Australasia to install a safety system designed to stop aircraft from skidding off the runway. The engineered materials arresting system (EMAS) has been added to each end of the runway and is similar to a gravel trap on a motorway. The energy absorbing blocks are designed to crush under the weight of an aircraft, slowing it to a stop. Queenstown Airport CEO Glen Sowry had previously likened it to a “crème brulée”. Costing $23m, the airport said the work was “on schedule and within budget”. In total, 4870 EMAS blocks were installed covering the equivalent of 20 tennis courts on each end of the runway. They range in height from 10cm to 50cm, with the heaviest weighing 250kg. It was quite a logistical feat to get the blocks to Queenstown. First the airport had to undertake a “really big piece of work” to prepare each end of the runway. The blocks were designed and built on the east coast of the US and shipped to NZ through the Panama Canal and into Dunedin, and then trucked across to Queenstown. Queenstown Airport chair Simon Flood said the contractors were dealing with a system that was the “first of its kind in New Zealand”, and there were “a number of challenges”, “but the team responded with a combination of thoughtfulness and tenacity that ensured the issues, when encountered, were dealt with efficiently and the project's momentum was able to be maintained to a successful conclusion”. Queenstown Airport project manager Lydia Hartshorne said 100 people worked on the project, clocking up more than 100 night shifts.<br/>
The price of a Boeing 787 plane could increase by $40m in a worst case tariff scenario, AerCap CEO Aengus Kelly said. “In an absolute worst case scenario, say, a 25% increase across the board on tariffs, a tit-for-tat from both sides — a Boeing 787, the price will go up by $40m,” Kelly said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “No one’s going to want to pay that.” In that kind of scenario, Kelly said most airlines would instead likely turn to Airbus, which could give that company an opportunity to take 75% to 80% of the global market. AerCap, the world’s largest aircraft leasing company, bought 150 aircraft, helicopters and spare engines last year from Boeing, Kelly added. Though it’s too early to determine exact impacts of rising tariff tensions, the global economy has been reacting to President Donald Trump’s plans, with the latest addition of 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports coming into effect Wednesday, resulting in swift counter-measures from the European Union. Despite a chaotic year of troubles for Boeing, Kelly said Aercap, which is the biggest buyer of aviation assets in the world, has seen a recent improvement in the quality, reliability and safety of products out of Boeing. Looking to 2025 for Boeing, Kelly emphasized that what the manufacturer really needs is cash to deliver aircraft reliably. Despite a rocky year for the plane maker, Kelly said he has “never had a hesitation” about getting on a Boeing aircraft and that the company’s manufacturing process has improved considerably. “Boeing has made tremendous steps in terms of quality, safety and reliability over the last year,” Kelly said. “We see it because we’re on the shop floor buying airplanes every day.” Kelly also said despite worries of an air travel recession and weaker demand from Delta Air Lines earnings, he remains bullish, with the company continuing to see strong demand overall. The current “soft patch,” he said, has been driven by labor costs.<br/>
GE Aerospace said on Wednesday it would invest nearly $1b in its US factories and supply chain in 2025, as it works to strengthen its manufacturing and increase the adoption of new technology and parts. The aerospace giant's latest investment, which is almost double from last year, comes amid a strong travel environment that has led to robust demand for its engines and spare parts. "Investing in manufacturing and innovation is more critical than ever for the future of our industry and the communities where we operate," CEO Larry Culp said. GE also plans to hire 5,000 U.S. workers this year, including adding roles in manufacturing and engineering operations. The company will spend $500m from the total investment to bolster its engine manufacturing capacity and expand several key sites, especially those that support the making of its narrowbody CFM LEAP engine. CFM International, GE's joint venture with France's Safran, is an engine supplier for Boeing's 737 MAX jetliners and competes with RTX's Pratt & Whitney to power Airbus' 320neo jets. GE Aerospace will also invest more than $100m to support its external suppliers, aiming to help them upgrade their tools, reduce defects in the parts they produce, and alleviate supply-chain constraints.<br/>
U.S. aircraft leasing firm Jackson Square Aviation has placed its first direct order with Airbus for 50 A320neo Family aircraft, it said in a statement on Wednesday. The deal is the lessor's first direct order with Airbus, making it a new costumer of the European group.<br/>