Pilots need to be better able to voice safety concerns freely without fear of punishment to reduce the chances of aviation accidents, the head of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) said. "Learning from accidents is not good enough. We need to learn from the successful operations that happened every day," IFALPA President Amornvaj Mansumitchai said in an interview on Thursday. This should be done through non-punitive reporting systems, robust data collection, and unbiased accident investigations, Mansumitchai said on the sidelines of the federation's annual conference in Seoul. Aviation safety has improved markedly over decades based on open sharing of information, with investigations intended to draw lessons rather than assign blame. IFALPA, which represents around 148,000 pilots in 70 countries, has for several years said many aviation incidents go unreported because those involved are fearful of management or regulatory authority penalties. It is campaigning for what it calls a positive safety culture in aviation that adopts non-punitive safety reporting and data collection. "Without trust, we never get the facts. Nobody wants to say out loud how close they were," Mansumitchai said. Recent deadly crashes in Kazakhstan, South Korea and the United States and the non-fatal flip of a crash-landed jet in Canada have thrust aviation safety into the spotlight. Furthermore, aviation bodies have raised the alarm over the number of delayed or non-existent final reports into accidents globally, identifying judicial interference or a lack of political willingness to disclose certain narratives as key factors. Guidelines from the U.N.'s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) say states should not use safety data or information for disciplinary, civil, administrative or criminal proceedings.<br/>
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Two aviation strikes taking place in Italy and Greece are scheduled to occur during the busy Easter period as many families are set to jet off on holiday during the school break. The strikes are slated to impact two of the most popular holiday destinations among Brits seeking a bit of sun in Europe, Italy and Greece, as trade unions in both countries have called for industrial action during Easter. Easyjet flight attendants in Italy are set to walk out for four hours on 9 April between 10.30am and 2.30pm local time across the country, with some flights to and from Milan and Naples airports expected to be disrupted. The strike is being led by the Italian Federation of Transport Workers (FILT), the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) and the Italian Union of Transport (UIL), the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport said. In a statement, EasyJet told The Independent: “EasyJet has been formally advised of a four-hour air transport workers strike including some Italian-based cabin crew unions on Wednesday 9 April 2025, which is expected to impact some flights to and from Milan and Naples airports.” “We would like to reassure customers that we are doing all possible to minimise any disruption as a result of the strike action and should any flights be impacted we will be contacting customers directly with their options to help rearrange their plans,” the airline added. The strike will come just over a month since easyJet pilots also staged a four-hour strike, with passengers warned by Italian airports that cancellations or delays would impact their flights.<br/>
Luton airport has received UK government approval for a major expansion, overriding a recommendation from planning inspectors to reject the project on environmental grounds. The airport to the north of London had sought planning permission to increase its annual passenger capacity from 18mn to 32mn. The major expansion does not include a new runway, but will involve the construction of new infrastructure, including a new terminal and taxiways and aircraft stands. Transport secretary Heidi Alexander on Thursday announced she had approved the development consent order for the scheme, which will support 4,200 new jobs. “Expansion will deliver huge growth benefits for Luton with thousands of good, new jobs and a cash boost for the local council, which owns the airport,” said a government official. The Planning Inspectorate advised refusing the application because of environmental concerns, including the impact on the “relative tranquillity” of the nearby Chiltern Hills. The expansion will mean planes cross the scenic area every 15 minutes instead of the current 30 minutes. The Labour government has swung behind airport expansion in a bid to boost economic growth, including most controversially a potential third runway at Heathrow, Europe’s biggest airport. Alexander in March also signalled she would approve a second runway at Gatwick if the airport makes changes to its plans, but delayed a final decision until later this year. All of London’s major airports currently have plans to boost their passenger numbers. Stansted and City airports have had their proposals approved in recent months. If all the plans are approved, the expanded London airports could handle 309mn passengers annually — an 85% increase on the 167mn travellers who used the airports in 2023, according to a Financial Times analysis.<br/>
Further delays to upgrading Alderney's runway could mean it does not meet licensing conditions in the near future, politicians have warned. Alderney politicians Alex Snowdon and Edward Hill said delays could result in "more stringent and restrictive operating limitations" or "a long-term closure of the airstrip". The States of Guernsey is preparing to debate the need to rethink plans for the project due to escalating costs. Snowdon and Hill highlighted the issue in several amendments to proposals aimed at ensuring the project moved forward. Their proposal said the risk of closure became clear after discussions with Guernsey Ports and the Office of the Director of Civil Aviation. The BBC has approached both authorities for comment. The Alderney politicians said there was a "very high risk" it would not meet licensing conditions due to "safety factors".<br/>
India's parliament on Thursday passed a landmark aviation bill that will make it easier for global aircraft leasing companies to repossess jets and engines when a carrier defaults on its payments, a big win for international lessors in a key market. India's "Protection of Interests in Aircraft Objects" bill will fully implement the Cape Town Convention and Protocol, an international agreement on asset-based financing. The issue has been in focus since 2023 when lessors like SMBC Aviation couldn't repossess aircraft from India's Go First after it filed for bankruptcy. In that dispute, India's local laws superseded global aircraft leasing rules. But the new bill changes that, bringing relief to lessors in the world's fastest-growing aviation market. Parliament approved the bill on Thursday and India's president will need to sign it into law, which is seen as a formality. "The legislation will improve lessors' confidence in the Indian market and may also make it easier for upcoming airlines to lease aircraft," said Lovejeet Singh, a partner at law firm Chandhiok & Mahajan who specialises in aviation laws. It will bring down the cost of leasing, which may translate into cheaper airfares, he added. In the Go First saga, lessors ran into difficulties in repossessing over 50 Airbus aircraft, calling India a "risky jurisdiction" for aircraft leasing. The country's carriers, led by biggest player IndiGo, have placed orders for over 1,300 Boeing and Airbus aircraft since 2022, aiming to take advantage of a boom in air travel. India's aviation minister this week said the legislation was a "key step in making aircraft leasing cheaper, benefiting airlines and passengers alike". The majority of aircraft operated by Indian carriers are on lease, either under simple leases or sale-and-leaseback agreements.<br/>
Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) will offer free parking at four airports during the Songkran festival, with the number of travellers expected to exceed 3m during the holiday period, a 20% increase from last year. The four airports are Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai and Phuket. Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit on Thursday asked all transport agencies to prepare for a surge in the number of passengers during the Songkran holiday travel period from April 11-17 He emphasised them to ensure convenience and safety for people travelling by land, rail, water and air. Suriya said the number of passengers travelling by air during the period was anticipated to be over 3m. AoT has been asked to integrate efforts with agencies providing services at its airports to ensure efficiency, convenience and safety for passengers<br/>
U.S. regulators should require airlines to inspect, and if necessary, replace latches on Boeing 757 airplane doors, the NTSB said on Thursday, citing a 2023 emergency evacuation of a FedEx flight in Tennessee. The NTSB also urged the FAA to require Boeing 727 and 737 operators that use the same latch design to inspect and replace them if warranted. The agency said defective latches "could lead to delayed evacuation during an emergency should the slide become jammed." It also called on Boeing to issue new service bulletins for operators. Boeing and FedEx did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The FAA said it takes NTSB recommendations seriously and will respond within an appropriate timeframe. The October 2023 FedEx flight -- a 757 built in 1988 -- received an engine indication and crew alerting system message indicating a failure of the left hydraulic system shortly after takeoff from Chattanooga and returned to the airport but was unable to lower the landing gear. After multiple unsuccessful attempts to extend the gear, the crew performed an emergency gear up landing. After landing, a jumpseat occupant attempted to open the left door, which rotated halfway open but would not open fully, and the slide did not deploy. The occupant then attempted to open the right door but it lodged on the slide pack, which prompted the occupant to use force to open the door and the slide deployed normally. There were no injuries to flight crew members or the jumpseat occupant. The NTSB found one door latch that releases the slide pack when the door opened did not conform to the configuration of the release cable assembly. The NTSB said FedEx inspected the doors on the 97 other airplanes in its Boeing 757 fleet after the accident, finding 46 doors -- about 24% -- that were not compliant with airworthiness directives issued in 1986 and 2001.<br/>
Aerospace firms sought to contain a minefield of pressures on Thursday after an Airbus-led body urged the European Union to hit back against U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and one of Europe's biggest airlines warned of higher fares. Aircraft, engines, spare parts and components from landing gear to seats face higher costs and planning for the peak summer travel season could be disrupted as Brussels mulls a response, industry experts warned. "It will be chaos. It creates massive demand uncertainty as airlines plan their network schedules," Rob Morris, global head of consultancy at UK-based Cirium Ascend, said. Trump on Wednesday imposed sweeping tariffs on U.S. imports including 20% on EU goods and 10% on imports from Britain, home to engine maker Rolls-Royce. The move went further than many investors and executives had expected, rattling a $150b-a-year jet industry that is an important contributor to the global economy. Dominant planemakers Airbus, headquartered in France, and its U.S. rival Boeing have been a lightning rod for trade tensions for years, waging a subsidy dispute at the World Trade Organisation led by their governments for 17 years until a five-year truce was declared in 2021. But with supply chains still not fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, insiders say both companies are reluctant to put fragile efforts to rebuild the industry at risk by fuelling a wider trade war. France's aerospace industry has written to the European Commission calling for "proportionate and assertive" countermeasures if the new U.S. tariffs cause significant damage, a person familiar with the matter said.<br/>