Around 4,000 employees of the U.S. Transportation Department have applied to take a new buyout offer that offers pay and benefits through Sept. 30, a department official told Reuters. The figure is not final because it may include employees who are not eligible or some who sent more than one email seeking the buyout, the official said. The offer, made last week, exempts public safety positions such as FAA air traffic controllers and aviation safety inspectors as well as railroad safety inspectors, pipeline and hazardous materials safety inspectors and cybersecurity employees. The Transportation Department has around 57,000 employees, according to a government website. In February, about 75,000 federal employees across the government accepted buyout offers in the first round of the program led by Elon Musk's DOGE team, which has been tasked with cutting the size of the federal workforce. It is not clear how many Transportation Department employees took part in the first offer.<br/>More than a dozen other federal agencies have offered second chances for employees to take the offer in recent weeks. Other positions exempted include U.S. Merchant Marine Academy staff and jobs supporting the maintenance and operations of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway locks, and motor carrier safety specialists.<br/>
general
A bipartisan group of six U.S. lawmakers has questioned the Federal Aviation Administration about recent outages of the "Notice to Airmen" system that provides pilots, flight crews and others with critical safety notices about U.S. airspace. The system failed in February and March. The lawmakers, led by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Shelley Moore Capito, noted in a letter seen by Reuters that Congress passed legislation requiring the FAA to implement a modernized NOTAM system and backup system by September 2024 -- a deadline the agency missed. "Travelers deserve flights that are safe and on time. We urge you to ensure that a modernized NOTAM system is implemented in a timely manner," they wrote in the letter also signed by Republican Senator Jerry Moran, who chairs an aviation subcommittee, and Tammy Duckworth, the top Democrat on the panel. The FAA did not immediately comment. The system most recently failed on March 22 for more than three hours due to a hardware issue. On Feb 1, the system also suffered a failure. "What caused the recent NOTAM outages? What steps is the FAA taking to mitigate future outages?," the lawmakers wrote. Notices from the system could include items such as taxiway lights being out at an airport, nearby parachute activity or a specific runway being closed for construction.<br/>
For years, the U.S. government has warned travelers they will soon need a Real ID to board domestic flights, only to keep postponing the deadline. But “soon” appears to be real this time. As of May 7, a standard driver’s license or state ID will no longer pass muster at airport security checkpoints, the Department of Homeland Security says. Passengers will instead need to present a security-enhanced, star-emblazoned Real ID or another approved form of identification like a passport. The change, nearly 20 years in the making, is meant to enhance security by setting a more consistent standard for state-issued documentation, according to the Department of Homeland Security. A Real ID is a federally compliant state-issued driver’s license, learner’s permit or nondriver ID. Real IDs are marked with a star — generally gold or black — and vary in appearance by state or territory. Any resident of a U.S. state or territory who wishes to use a driver’s license or nondriver ID at a T.S.A. checkpoint must make sure that it is Real ID-compliant. Driver’s licenses that do not have the star are not Real IDs. Some noncompliant IDs will also have the words “Federal limits apply.” The percentage of Americans who have updated their driver’s licenses to be Real ID compliant appears to vary widely by state. For example, in Pennsylvania, where there have been reports of long lines at license offices, it is a little more than 26%, the state’s Transportation Department said. In California, it is just over 55%. The hijackers responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were carrying U.S. driver’s licenses and state IDs. In the aftermath, the government pushed to tighten national standards for state-issued documentation, and in 2005, Congress passed the Real ID Act. The act sets minimum standards for licenses and other types of identification cards. Enforcement of the Real ID Act was initially set to begin in 2008, but it has been repeatedly delayed for numerous reasons, including the Covid-19 pandemic and opposition from states concerned about privacy.<br/>
Two days after a helicopter collided with a passenger jet in Washington in January, killing 67 people, Jo Ellis woke up to a flurry of text messages. Ellis, a 35-year-old helicopter pilot in the Virginia Army National Guard, learned from friends that her name and photos were all over social media. Users were falsely naming her as the pilot who had crashed into a passenger jet on Jan. 29 — a sign, in the eyes of the online mob, that diversity initiatives had played a role in the crash because Ms. Ellis is transgender. She posted a “proof of life” video on Facebook — emphasizing that she was very much alive and well in an attempt to slow the spread, but claims seemed to multiply. “My life was turned upside-down at that point,” Ellis said in an interview, adding that her employer sent armed bodyguards to protect her family and that she started carrying a loaded weapon as a precaution. “Forever on, I’m known as ‘that trans terrorist.’” Ellis filed a defamation lawsuit on Wednesday against Matt Wallace, an influencer on X with more than two million followers. Wallace was one of the more prominent people to spread the falsehood in a series of posts that included photos of Ellis and details about her life. Wallace deleted his posts about Ellis after her Facebook video started spreading online. He posted an “important update” on the afternoon of Jan. 31, writing that Ellis “was not piloting the helicopter that crashed in to the plane and is still alive.”<br/>
Thousands of Greeks gathered in Athens on Wednesday to demand higher wages to cope with rising living costs and a one-day strike left ferries docked at ports, flights grounded and trains at a standstill. Along with air traffic controllers, seafarers and train workers, municipal workers and bus and metro workers in the capital also walked out. Greece has emerged from a 2009-2018 debt crisis which led to rolling cuts in wages and pensions in turn for bailouts worth some E290b. Economic growth, seen at a 2.3% this year, is now outpacing other eurozone economies. The conservative government has increased the monthly minimum wage by a cumulative 35% to 880 euros since 2019. But many households still struggle to make ends meet amid fast-rising food, power and housing costs, Greece's largest labour unions say.<br/>
Guernsey airline Aurigny has moved its call centre to Fiji, it has confirmed. The States-owned carrier said specialist airline call centre company MindPearl had been operating on the airline's behalf since January. It said changing its call response team from in-house to the Fijian company was working to "improve the quality of service" and reduced costs which would "keep air fares lower for islanders". An Aurigny spokesperson added that its in-house call response staff had been moved into other areas of the firm's customer service facilities. Aurigny's acting customer experience head Clive Action said since the call centre had been moved there had been a 90% reduction in call waiting times. He said: "We understand our community values hearing a familiar voice on the end of the line. However, we also know that what matters most in those moments is getting through to someone who can help as quickly as possible. It's a change that allows us to serve islanders here at home better."<br/>
Killing time in the airport is ordinarily such a drag that there’s a whole TikTok trend devoted to people making it through the terminal in as little time as possible. Not so in Singapore Changi, which has just been crowned the World’s Best Airport for the 13th time by air transport rating organization Skytrax. Changi is a destination in itself, where early check-in has been introduced to allow passengers to drop their bags off up to 48 hours before their flight so they can make their time at the airport part of the vacation. Most will hit the mammoth 10-story Jewel shopping mall, with its footfall of 80m people in 2024. Then there are the multiple indoor gardens (including a butterfly center) and the 40-meter high Rain Vortex, the world’s largest indoor waterfall (around 130 feet). There are spas, hotels, art exhibitions, a museum, a cinema; there’s even a dinosaur theme park. Skytrax has also recognized the airport as a gastronomic wonderland. It scooped up the award for World’s Best Airport Dining, as well as those for World’s Best Airport Washrooms and Best Airport in Asia, at the World Airport Awards held in Madrid on April 9. It’s unlikely to be the last accolade earned by this exemplary airport. Changi is investing more than $2b in the next six years on the improvement of services and facilities, CNN Business reported last month. It’s also set to get even bigger. Work is underway on a fifth terminal to add to the existing four, which will open in the 2030s.<br/>
An improved video surveillance and analytics system to detect unmanned aircraft systems, or drones, around Changi Airport is being sought by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS). Parts of the system must be ready when the airport’s third runway starts operations. This is estimated to be in the fourth quarter of 2027. According to tender documents published on government procurement portal GeBiz on March 13, CAAS is planning to roll out a new camera surveillance system to automatically detect, classify and track drones around the airport. This system should be able to track and classify drone movements in detail, provide wide-angle surveillance of the area for situational awareness, as well as offer a 360-degree perspective of scenes for video analysis. The authority is looking for a system that uses electro-optic and infrared sensors. Electro-optic sensors convert visible light into electric signals, while infrared sensors convert heat into electric signals for the detection and tracking of data. This is also the first time that the authorities have set out a specific period for the estimated opening of the airport’s third runway. It was earlier announced that the third runway would be operational in the latter half of the decade. The third runway paves the way for a three-runway system at Changi Airport, and is part of the new Changi East development, which includes the future Terminal 5.<br/>
Airbus delivered 71 jets in March, the planemaker confirmed on Wednesday, bringing first-quarter deliveries to 136, down from 142 a year earlier.<br/>The world’s largest planemaker also booked 280 orders for a net total of 204 after adjusting for cancellations.The delivery total for March confirms a figure previously reported by Reuters. Airbus has warned that first-quarter deliveries would be constrained mainly by a shortage of engines from biggest supplier CFM, jointly owned by GE Aerospace and Safran, which brought forward some supplies to the previous quarter to help Airbus to meet 2024 targets. The European planemaker is targeting 820 deliveries for the whole year. Analysts say the rhythm of plane deliveries, which account for most of the company's revenue, will be under scrutiny in the coming months as aerospace and other industries gear up for possible new trade tariffs that could affect parts and raw materials.<br/>