The FAA expects to begin operating its modernised Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) system in September, capping a priority project aimed at replacing an ageing technology that has been prone to outages. The FAA said on 21 April that CGI Federal, a contractor hired to provide the new NOTAM system, “is currently on an accelerated schedule to deliver the NOTAM Modernization Service by July 2025”. “The FAA is targeting deployment of the operational service by September 2025… much earlier than originally planned,” the agency adds. It is unclear when the FAA had initially planned to roll out the system. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. September 2025 has been the goal for several years. Former acting FAA administration Billy Nolen cited that timeline when testifying before the US Senate in 2023. Similarly, a 2024 FAA document about the NOTAM modernisation effort cites a roll-out goal of September 2025. “The FAA used a streamlined, innovative vendor challenge to cut through red tape to get this critical work done as fast as possible,” the agency says. Indeed, the agency in early 2024 rolled out a “Challenge Based Acquisition” programme aimed at moving the project faster. The FAA had launched the NOTAM replacement effort in 2023. The FAA NOTAM system has long consisted of two platforms: a legacy technology through which the agency officially issues NOTAMs, and a newer but not-official distribution system.<br/>
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A commercial airliner was on final approach to San Francisco’s international airport in November when the crew spotted a drone outside the cockpit window. By then it was too late “to take evasive action,” the pilots reported, and the quadcopter passed by their windshield, not 300 feet away. A month earlier, a jetliner was flying at an altitude of 4,000 feet near Miami’s international airport when its pilots reported a “close encounter” with a drone. In August, a drone came within 50 feet of clipping the left wing of a passenger jet as it departed Newark International Airport. The incidents were all classified as “near midair collisions” — any one of which could have had catastrophic consequences, according to aviation safety experts. They were also not isolated encounters. An Associated Press analysis of an aviation safety database reveals that drones last year accounted for nearly two-thirds of reported near midair collisions involving commercial passenger planes taking off and landing at the country's top 30 busiest airports. That was the highest percentage of such near misses since 2020, when air traffic dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first reports of near misses involving drones were logged in 2014, the AP found. The number of such encounters spiked the following year. Over the last decade, drones accounted for 51% — 122 of 240 — of reported near misses, according to AP's analysis. Passenger jets have long been subject to risks around airports — whether from bird strikes or congested airspace — as was made clear by the January collision between a military helicopter and commercial jet near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people.<br/>
The frozen expanses of the Arctic are fast becoming some of the world’s hotspots. President Donald Trump’s bid for Greenland, and growing Russian and Chinese interest in opening the sea lanes along Siberia’s northern coast, have put these remote regions in the spotlight. But the Arctic’s newfound popularity is not all about geopolitics. Destinations along the Arctic Circle, from Alaska to Lapland, are reporting record visitor numbers as adventurous travelers seek the thrill of exploring the planet’s ultimate frontiers. A Swedish startup called OceanSky Cruises is even planning to run luxury airship journeys to the North Pole, although there’s no launch date in sight. But while the apex of our planet may remain beyond the reach of the average traveler for quite some time, some airlines can fly incredibly close to it. One of the most extreme pieces of land on this planet, as far as latitude is concerned, is actually quite easy to get to. Svalbard Airport, on Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, is the world’s northernmost airport with scheduled commercial flights. Two airlines, SAS and Norwegian, fly year-round between the airport in Longyearbyen, the main settlement on the islands, and the Norwegian mainland, more than 800 kilometers to the south. The airport regularly welcomes charter flights and private jets too, such is the allure of its unique geographical location. The Arctic is one of the world’s most environmentally fragile regions and the team at Svalbard Airport has already had a first taste of the effects of climate change. When Longyearbyen’s 2,300-meter-long runway was built in the early 1970s, no one expected the permafrost layer it was constructed on to start melting. But that is exactly what’s happening now.<br/>
The operator of Delhi International Airport, one of the world's busiest airports, has paused works to upgrade one of its runways after passengers criticised lengthy flight delays, throwing the spotlight on increasing air traffic congestion in major cities in India. Data from Flightradar24 showed about 400 arrivals and 500 departures were delayed on Sunday - about 60% and 76% of total flights, respectively - which Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said was in part due to adverse wind patterns. DIAL, which is majority owned by GMR Airports, had shut one of its runways earlier this month to upgrade a system that helps aircraft land safely in low-visibility conditions. The airport has four runways in total. DIAL will now resume operations on the runway in the first week of May after postponing remaining upgrade activities "for a month or so," it said in a post on X early on Monday. The upgrade works had come ahead of the busy summer travel season in India. Passengers on social media complained of flights being delayed for hours on Sunday, both in the ground and in the air, raising concerns about stress on pilots. India's civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Monday chaired a meeting attended by government, airport and airline officials to address challenges being faced by Delhi International Airport, according to a government statement.<br/>
Airport security officers in Korea may soon add another essential item to their toolkit alongside hand-held metal detectors and inspection gloves: plastic bags. Since last month, passengers are required to carry their batteries in bags during flights to by shield the terminals from contact with other items, as part of measures to prevent potential fires from batteries without short-circuit protection. For those who forget to do so, screeners at security checks will provide passengers with plastic bags, according to guidelines the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport issued recently to airport authorities. This measure followed a blaze aboard an Air Busan flight in January. It is believed a battery stored in an overhead bin ignited just before takeoff at Gimhae International Airport, forcing the emergency evacuation of all 176 passengers and crew. The ministry’s directive quickly drew criticism, with the most pressing question: Are plastic bags truly effective in preventing battery fires? “Handing out plastic bags is completely pointless,” Lee Yong-kang, a professor of aviation security at Hanseo University, told The Korea Times. “Unlike the removable batteries in old cellphones, today’s power banks are sealed units, which makes the risk of fires from external short circuits very low,” he said.<br/>
Boeing has secured new stocks of specialized nuts and bolts that hold together its top-selling commercial jet, two industry sources told Reuters, avoiding for now any slowdown in U.S. plane production due to a fire at a key supplier's factory. Boeing had been running low on specific fasteners used to attach the landing gear on its 737 MAX jets because of the February fire, but secured new supplies in recent weeks, albeit at higher prices, one of the sources said. A Boeing spokesperson said the company is taking steps to address fastener shortages but did not provide specifics. "We don’t expect a near-term impact to commercial production," they said. Running out of the fasteners could shut down Boeing's 737 MAX production line, a key revenue source, said the two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. As dwindling fastener supplies threaten the broader aerospace industry, some producers of the nuts taking on contracts to provide alternate supply are hiking prices to reflect rising costs of materials and labor, a third senior industry source said. The price of some specialized fasteners, which currently cost hundreds of dollars apiece, could rise by double-digit percentages, one executive said. The supply shortfall comes as the aerospace industry faces threats from U.S. President Donald Trump's fluctuating tariff policy, which could affect the price and delivery times of planes and parts. The shortage has also raised industry concerns about a longer-term supply crunch as Boeing seeks to ramp up 737 MAX production, which was crippled last year by quality concerns and a seven-week strike by factory workers. Output of the jet remains under strict scrutiny by federal regulators. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg told analysts this year he wants to exceed a regulatory-capped MAX rate of 38 a month in 2025 to hit 42 by year's end - a target that would roughly double the planemaker's January production. Fasteners are components used to attach plane parts together and can include rivets, nuts, bolts and screws. The fasteners range from bolts half an inch long to screws several inches long.<br/>
Investors in Boeing are braced to learn the full impact of Donald Trump’s trade war, amid fears the US planemaker could be hit harder than first expected after jets intended for a Chinese airline were returned to the US. A Boeing 737 Max 8 plane intended for use by a Chinese airline returned to the US on Monday from Boeing’s China finishing centre, according to flight data cited by Reuters. It followed the arrival in the US on Sunday of another 737 Max painted in the livery of China’s Xiamen Airlines at Boeing’s US production hub in Seattle. Boeing’s share price fell by nearly 3% on Monday, in line with a sell-off across Wall Street. US stock markets have been hit with much higher volatility this month as investors have tried to work out the effects of Trump’s tariffs. The aviation industry has been caught up in the trade war. Trump’s tariffs on goods from almost all countries have caused disruption across the world, but trade in goods between the US and China has been most affected, with levies of 145% on US imports and 125% on goods going the other way. A new 737 Max has a market value of about $55m (£41.4m), according to IBA, an aviation consultancy. That makes a 125% tariff prohibitive without significantly changing the business model of the airline business. The return of the Boeing jets underlines the vulnerability to tariffs of the US’s biggest manufacturing exporter. It adds to Boeing’s problems just as it was trying to recover from a mid-air door panel blowout in January 2024 that prompted the company to replace its CE. Kelly Ortberg, who took over Boeing after the safety crisis, will reveal the company’s first-quarter financial results on Wednesday. Analysts expect a significant improvement in sales compared with a year earlier, with revenues forecast to have risen 20% to $19.8bn, although they still expect losses of $466m for the quarter.<br/>