Iran has invited Boeing to Tehran to discuss purchasing aircraft aimed at updating its commercial fleet hit by decades of sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic, state TV reported. In February, Iran's deputy transport minister Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan said the country was ready to buy at least 100 jets from Boeing. Boeing said it was assessing the steps needed to deal with Iran. "After the authorisation from the American administration to Boeing, we have invited the company to begin talks on developing the country's air fleet," state TV quoted Iran's road and transport minister Abbas Akhoundi as saying. It gave no details on the date of the visit. The United States gave Boeing a license last month to hold talks with airlines in Iran, but said it would need additional approval to make sales as Iran remains subject to number of US restrictions. Airbus agreed in January to sell Iran 118 planes worth about US$27b at list prices after sanctions against Iran were lifted in return for Tehran curbing its nuclear programme under a deal reached in 2015.<br/>
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Mid-sized and regional airlines in the US are suffering from a pilot shortage that could threaten the health of the broader US aviation industry. The labour shortfall has led to cancelled flights at carriers like Mesa Airlines and Silver Airways. That has hit smaller airports, such as in Redding, California, or Erie, Pennsylvania, according to figures from the Air Line Pilots Association. The staffing crunch could also constrain traffic for larger companies like United and Delta that depend on the mid-sized companies to serve rural consumers and feed customers into their networks. "It's becoming a crisis at some carriers, resulting in the cancellation of flights and other serious disruptions," said Patrick Smith, a pilot who runs "Ask the Pilot," an aviation blog. Republic Airways, which operates flights for Delta, United and American Airlines, filed for bankruptcy protection last month, citing the labor crunch. Aviation industry insiders cite a number of factors for the drop-off in pilots: longer working hours, contentious relations with management, fewer job protections and industry turnover with the expected retirement of some 18,000 pilots through 2022. But the biggest factor is compensation. Regional carriers pay pilots an average of $27,350 per year, according to Paul Ryder, a captain at ExpressJet Airlines who is active with the ALPA. That compares with an annual salary of $103,390 at large airlines, according to US Labor Department data.<br/>
A woman barred from airports around the United States for trying to evade security and board flights without a ticket was sentenced to six months in a mental health facility, after she pleaded guilty to trespassing at a Chicago airport. A Cook County Circuit judge ordered Marilyn Hartman, 64, to spend six months in treatment at a mental health facility and two years of probation, after she tried to board an airport bus at O'Hare Airport last month. Hartman, described by police as a habitual trespasser and stowaway, was arrested in February at the bus shuttle area outside a terminal, an airport spokesman said. The retired legal secretary was arrested at least four times last year at two different Chicago airports for loitering near security checkpoints, trespassing and in one case causing a disturbance on a plane after boarding with a valid ticket.<br/>
The trade body representing European regional carriers has appealed to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to take a stance on legal verdicts it says could pit commercial interests against safety considerations. The European Regions Airline Association (ERA), which represents some 50 carriers, is concerned that recent cases in Europe’s courts are creating a dilemma for airlines. A recent example of this was a case in a UK lower court where the judge declared that a lightning strike on an aircraft was not an unforeseeable or extraordinary occurrence, the only acceptable excuse a European airline can put forward for denying compensation to delayed passengers under European Union consumer legislation. The case arose after a lightning strike on an aircraft required it to be checked for damage at its next stop, a requirement that delayed the flight and rendered the airline liable for compensation payments of several hundred euros for each passenger. Small European airlines have warned that the financial impact of the consumer legislation, known as EC261, could have a catastrophic effect. Increasingly, the only acceptable reason for not paying compensation in the event of a delay is weather-related. However, despite this, the judge in the UK lightning case appears to have taken the view that severe weather is not an extraordinary occurrence and that the airline is liable for compensation.<br/>