US aerospace companies and govt officials are pushing to develop new cockpit-equipment standards that eventually would allow aircraft to fully utilise local satellite-navigation systems across Europe, China, Russia and other areas. Efforts to draft such common technical benchmarks, discussed at an industry meeting in Washington DC, last week, aim to enhance safety by permitting airliners and other planes to supplement signals from US-operated Global Positioning Satellites with those broadcast by separate regional or national space constellations or even ground-based technology. The ultimate goal is more precise and redundant location information worldwide—regardless of airline or aircraft type. The concept has been discussed in principle for years. <br/>
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At the recent Singapore air show in February, Bombardier showed up with 2 business jets, a turboprop and its brand new C Series airliners, which the company is desperately trying to sell. But despite record orders for other aircraft makers from fast-growing airlines in Asia, there has so far been no interest from Asian buyers in Bombardier’s sleek new jet. At the Singapore air show, the only real bit of good news for Bombardier came from back home, where Air Canada said it could buy up to 75 C Series jets. The past decade has seen huge growth in Asian air travel, with a lot of the recent surge coming from discount airlines. But because a key operating principle of LCCs is to use mainly one model of aircraft, much of this growth has only really benefited Boeing and Airbus. <br/>
French aviation authorities asked airlines to cancel more Paris and Marseille flights as a 2-day strike by air-traffic controllers disrupts services for passengers across France and in other European cities. Orly airport was particularly hard hit by labour disruptions, the Direction Generale de l’Aviation Civile said Sunday. Even before the latest request for cancellations through Monday, as many as 180 flights had been called off across France, it said. The strike caused delays of more than an hour on average at airports around the capital and in regions like Toulouse and Bordeaux, and of 2 hours in Marseille. DGAC didn’t estimate the number of flights that would be cancelled through Monday. It did say that services at Paris Charles de Gaulle were unlikely to be affected. <br/>
Indian carriers are in talks with ATR, Bombardier and Embraer to buy smaller planes to fly to the country's second and third tier cities ahead of a govt drive to get more of the country connected by air. Air India plans to add 40 new aircraft to its domestic fleet by the end of 2017, of which 13 will be smaller turboprop planes for regional connections. Chairman Ashwani Lohani said the airline would launch "a major foray" in to flying to smaller cities this year. SpiceJet is also talking to small aircraft makers to add to its fleet of 14 Bombardier Q400s, as it expands the number of shorter routes it flies. India's govt in October outlined plans to boost regional aviation connectivity by forcing airlines to fly to smaller cities and reopening many of the country's 350 disused airstrips as "no-frills" airports. <br/>
Airbus has committed to build a US$40m aircrew and MRO training facility at Delhi, India to start operations in 2018. The centre will be fully owned by Airbus Group India and will feature 4 A320 full-flight simulators. Airbus EVP-strategy and marketing Kiran Rao said the new centre would equip tomorrow’s pilots and engineers with the skills to “operate and maintain contemporary and next-generation Airbus aircraft” that have been ordered by India-based carriers. Airbus, which has orders for 500 new aircraft in India from airlines has forecast a need of more than 1,600 passenger and cargo aircraft for India by 2034. Rao said the Delhi centre would “accelerate the pace of training to help match A320neo deliveries to India” and said it had a planned capacity for training some 8,000 pilots and 2,000 maintenance engineers up to 2028. <br/>
China hopes soon to start exporting 2 new jetliners, part of its goal of securing a bigger place in global aviation and competing with giants such as Boeing and Bombardier. Looming over its plan is the turboprop that was supposed to be a steppingstone into foreign markets, the MA60, seating up to 60. A Wall Street Journal examination of the MA60, the first Chinese-built airliner with sizable overseas sales, found a pattern of safety problems involving landing-gear malfunctions, braking failures and steering loss, and a track record of multiple other mishaps. Some caused injuries; one killed 25. Fewer than half the MA60s exported since 2005 appear to be still flying abroad, according to an examination of accident reports and databases, airline and govt statements, media accounts, and interviews with regulators and operators <br/>
The largest strike in the public sector's 2 year industrial battle is set to disrupt the Easter travel plans of thousands of travellers across Australia. The first round of industrial action will begin Monday when staff at Medicare, Centrelink, the Tax Office, Defence, the Bureau of Meteorology, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Bureau of Statistics, will strike for 24 hours. Immigration, Border Protection and Agriculture workers will then walk off the job at international airports for 24-hours March 24. A campaign of rolling airport stoppages for several weeks over the Easter school holidays and beyond will escalate the action. The strikes aim to pressure prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and employment minister Michaelia Cash to end the wage dispute with much of the 152,000 public servants. <br/>