Global airlines have issued their bluntest warning yet that efforts to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 are sliding off course, as the head of their main trade body accused oil firms and the rest of the aviation sector of dragging their feet. Airlines agreed in 2021 to target net-zero emissions in 2050 based mainly on a gradual switch to Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). But cracks have appeared as airlines clash with airports, manufacturers, air traffic control agencies and energy companies. Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association, told Reuters in an interview that airline bosses are increasingly alarmed at the unbalanced burden of the target.<br/>"We don't see others playing their part. In fact, they're behind where they should be and moving in the wrong direction," he said. "They're all committed, so long as we pay the bill. And that's just unacceptable." The outspoken former British Airways boss doubled down on recent comments, reported by Aviation Week, in which he predicted increasing pressure to reassess the target. That marks a shift in tone from an IATA gathering just 10 months ago when Walsh described the target as "existential not optional" and hailed a "fundamental consensus" in aviation. "We're going to have to reevaluate the commitment to net zero in 2050, because we're just not getting the support that the airlines require," he said. "What I'm seeing now is more and more concern being expressed by airline CEOs that more is expected of the industry, which is going to cost even more than the eye-watering estimates that we've had." The next test could be IATA's annual meeting in New Delhi in June. "It's not our intention to formally revisit (the target)," he said. "But it would not surprise me if we get calls from member airlines to look again at that commitment, because (it) was made on the basis that everybody would play their part."<br/>
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Air traffic controllers at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport will be offered crisis counseling and additional supervision after a fight in the tower and another alarming near miss two months after a midair collision between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter killed 67 people. The FAA said Wednesday it is also evaluating whether the current arrival rate at Reagan is too high. The agency said it would extend extra support to the controllers who direct flights around the busy airport while Congress and the National Transportation Safety Board continue investigating the deadly January crash. Sen. Ted Cruz, the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, said that troubling missteps since the crash “underscore the precarious situation in the nation's airspace.” Expressing frustration with the Army's refusal to turn over a memo detailing its flight rules, Cruz said during a Wednesday hearing that any deaths resulting from another collision near Reagan “will be on the Army's hands.” The FAA's decision to bring in crisis counselors followed the Thursday arrest of a 39-year-old employee from Maryland on suspicion of assault and battery after the control tower fight, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority confirmed in a statement. No details were released about the altercation. The FAA said the employee was put on administrative leave while the fight is investigated. The next day, a Delta passenger jet had to take evasive action as it took off from Reagan because of the proximity of a flight of four Air Force jets involved in a flyover at Arlington National Cemetery. The incident continued a pattern of close calls that the NTSB has said went on for years around the airport as commercial flights repeatedly got dangerously close to helicopters and other aircraft.<br/>
Airlines warned Heathrow airport about concerns over the resilience of its electricity supply days before a power outage caused the closure of the UK’s busiest airport and hundreds of cancelled flights, MPs have heard. Heathrow closed on March 21 after a massive fire at a nearby electricity substation caused a power cut at the airport, leading to the cancellation of more than 1,300 flights. The airport did not fully reopen for more than 24 hours. “I’d actually warned Heathrow of concerns we had with regard to the substations, my concern was resilience,” Nigel Wicking, chief executive of Heathrow AOC, which represents airlines that use the airport, told the Transport select committee on Wednesday. Wicking told MPs he had first raised his concerns on March 15, following “a couple of incidents of theft of wire and cable around some of the power supply that on one occasion took out a runway for a period of time”. Heathrow said the incident “had no relation” to the later outage that led to its closure and did not involve the main power supplies coming into the airport from three substations. “This issue related to a Woldbye insisted the airport had no choice but to close on safety grounds, but said the airport would review whether it could have reopened some terminals more quickly. “I am absolutely committed to making sure we learn from this,” he added. Wicking said he believed Terminal 5, home of British Airways at Heathrow, could have opened more quickly.minor substation, of which there are 250 at the airport. We were well aware of that incident before Mr Wicking raised it. Our contingencies were stood up and the incident was resolved quickly,” the airport said. Thomas Woldbye, chief executive of Heathrow, apologised for the disruption to airlines and passengers. “The situation was unprecedented and we recognise the considerable concern and inconvenience it caused,” he said.<br/>
Enforcement of a 32m a year limit on passengers at Dublin Airport was suspended by the High Court on Wednesday pending the outcome of a legal challenge that has been referred to Europe. State regulator, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) had indicated that it would take the passenger cap, which is a planning condition, into account when allocating take-off and landing slots to airlines at Dublin. On Wednesday, Mr Justice Barry O’Donnell halted the authority from doing so, pending the outcome of a High Court challenge taken last year by Irish airlines, Ryanair and Aer Lingus, and Airlines for America, which represents US and Canadian carriers. His order followed a hearing on Friday during which the airlines argued that the court should halt the IAA from taking the cap into account when allocating slots until the case is resolved. Wednesday’s ruling effectively suspends implementation of the cap until the court finally deals with the challenge that the airlines began last year, although the planning condition itself remains. During Friday’s hearing, the IAA told the court that it was likely to follow previous decisions and take the restriction into account when allocating airline slots at Dublin Airport, which it does twice a year in advance of each summer and winter.<br/>
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg told senators on Wednesday that he’s happy with the company’s progress improving manufacturing and safety practices following several accidents, including a near catastrophe last year. Ortberg faced questioning from the Senate Commerce Committee about how the company will ensure that it doesn’t repeat past accidents or manufacturing defects, in his first hearing since he became CEO last August, tasked with turning the manufacturer around. Sen. Ted Cruz, R.-Texas, the committee’s chairman, said he wants Boeing to succeed and invited company managers and factory workers to report to him their opinions on its turnaround plan. “Consider my door open,” he said. Ortberg acknowledged the company still has more to do. “Boeing has made serious missteps in recent years — and it is unacceptable. In response, we have made sweeping changes to the people, processes, and overall structure of our company,” Ortberg said in his testimony. “While there is still work ahead of us, these profound changes are underpinned by the deep commitment from all of us to the safety of our products and services.” Boeing executives have worked for years to put the lasting impact of two fatal crashes of its best-selling Max plane behind it. Ortberg said Boeing is in discussions with the Justice Department for a revised plea agreement stemming from a federal fraud charge in the development of Boeing’s best-selling 737 Maxes. The previous plea deal, reached last July, was later rejected by a federal judge, who last month set a trial date for June 23 if a new deal isn’t reached. Boeing had agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government, pay up to $487.2m and install a corporate monitor at the company for three years. “We’re in the process right now of going back with the DOJ and coming up with an alternate agreement,” Ortberg said during the hearing. “I want this resolved as fast as anybody. We’re still in discussions and hopefully we’ll have a new agreement here soon.” Asked by Sen. Maria Cantwell, the ranking Democrat on the committee, whether he had an issue with having a corporate monitor, Ortberg replied: “I don’t personally have a problem, no.”<br/>
Brazilian planemaker Embraer said on Wednesday it delivered 30 aircraft in the first quarter of 2025, a 20% increase from a year earlier. The deliveries in the quarter include seven commercial jets, in line with the first quarter of 2024, and 23 executive jets, up 28% from a year earlier, Embraer said in a securities filing. This year, the Brazilian company expects to deliver between 77 and 85 commercial planes and between 145 and 155 executive jets.<br/>