Qatar Airways has agreed to release detailed financial statements, the US government said Tuesday, as part of a response to accusations by US airlines that the carrier had been illegally subsidized by its government. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Qatar and the US had opened a “strategic dialogue” to address domestic airlines’ concerns that the three major Gulf carriers had been unfairly propped up by their governments, putting US carriers at a competitive disadvantage. “The outcome we achieve will ensure a level playing field in the global aviation market,” Tillerson said at a briefing in Washington, alongside Qatari officials. Qatar Airways was not immediately available for comment. Qatar is expected to begin publishing annual financial statements, audited by an outside party, with the first one due over the next year, the US State Department said. Within two years, Qatar is expected to also disclose significant new transactions with other state-owned enterprises and “take steps to ensure that such transactions are based on commercial terms.” Both sides of the debate hailed the move as a win, but Tuesday’s announcement does little to substantially change the state of play in the international flight industry.<br/>
oneworld
Federal investigators said Tuesday that communication problems that left flight attendants unable to talk to the pilots in the moments after an American Airlines plane caught fire on the runway in Chicago in 2016 put evacuating passengers at more risk of serious injury. At a hearing, the NTSB said flight attendants did not know how to use the intercom system to speak with pilots before they directed passengers to use an emergency exit behind an engine that was still running. One passenger was hurt after being knocked down by a blast from the engine after evacuating the plane as he was directed to do by a flight attendant. It was the only serious injury during the incident at O'Hare International Airport. The NTSB also said the investigation concluded the explosion was caused when a turbine disc failed in a way that had never been seen before and shattered. One 57-pound chunk of the disc pierced a fuel line with such force that it was later found more than a half-mile away. The board concluded that the flaw in the disc was not something that was likely to have been seen during an inspection but additional study is needed to determine if ultrasonic inspection methods should be required both during manufacturing and subsequent inspections.<br/>NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt seemed to anticipate fear the public might have as result of learning of the cause of the fire. "The fact is, this is a very, very rare failure," he said. Still, the fact that an engine exploded into flames as a jet was rolling toward takeoff and the problems with communication in the immediately aftermath of the explosion, Sumwalt suggested that it was very fortunate that only one of the 161 passengers and nine crew members was seriously injured. Story has more details.<br/>
Even after a go-around, American Airlines couldn’t clear the relatively low threshold to copyright its logo adopted in 2013, the US Copyright Office’s review board has ruled. “A mere simplistic arrangement of non-protectable elements does not demonstrate the level of creativity necessary to warrant protection,” Catherine Zaller Rowland, senior adviser to the register of copyrights, said in a five-page explanation called “the final decision in this matter.” The airline already has the image trademarked, to prevent another US carrier or tourism entity from using the image in its marketing. But a copyright would have offered longer and broader protection internationally, if it were approved. "We have reviewed the copyright office’s decision and are working to determine our next steps,” airline spokesman Matt Miller said. The logo looks like a white eagle’s head poking through a diagonal swoosh with blue on top and red on the bottom. The carrier adopted the image after combining with US Airways to become the world’s largest airline. <br/>