The FAA ordered a 90-minute ground stop—preventing flights from heading to LaGuardia Airport and delaying some of its scheduled take-offs—citing a “slight increase in sick leave” at 2 of the country’s largest air-traffic control facilities in the Washington area and Jacksonville, Florida. Six of the 13 controllers assigned to coordinate flights for a specific region at the Washington-area centre failed to show up for work Friday morning and other employees couldn’t fill in, according to a person familiar with the details. It was unclear how many controllers were absent at the Jacksonville facility. However, it is not as integral as the Washington centre—which is responsible for nearly one-fifth of all US commercial air travel, including some of the nation’s biggest airports. <br/>
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The European Parliament is pushing to relax aviation ownership rules that threaten the flying rights of airline groups, in the event of a no-deal Brexit. MEPs leading negotiations on the contingency plans to cope with a hard Brexit are also attempting to scrap the automatic cap on flights between the UK and EU, which was proposed by the EC. The changes are contained in a draft report setting out amendments that the parliament’s transport committee is demanding to an EU law that will allow “limited” air traffic to continue with the UK, even if it leaves the bloc without a deal March 29. The parliament has yet to approve these amendments and they could be removed in further stages of negotiation. But they are a striking divergence from the commission’s stricter positions. <br/>
Embraer Thursday signed an agreement for the sale of its commercial division to Boeing — and set the date for a shareholders meeting to approve the tie-up at Feb 26. Despite initial reservations, Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro already gave the deal — which will create a joint entity valued at US$5.2b — his approval earlier this month. Embraer was privatised in 1994, but Brazil’s govt retained a “golden share” that gave it veto power over strategic decisions. On top of getting shareholders on board, the agreement must also be approved by regulators, among other things. If all progresses without delay, the companies expect to conclude negotiations by the end of 2019. Boeing would take 80% control of Embraer’s civilian business, putting it in a position to offer commercial planes with up to 150 seats. <br/>
Pilots and other cabin crew can no longer smoke in the cockpits of domestic flights in China. The Civil Aviation Administration of China issued a notice last week to enforce the ban on in-flight smoking with immediate effect, the China Daily reported Friday. First-time violators, including those who smoke electronic cigarettes, will be suspended for 12 months and repeat offenders will be barred for 36 months. Airlines must carry out routine inspections, the regulator said. China’s govt had outlawed in-flight smoking in October 2017, but individual airlines were given 2 more years before the cockpit ban was to take effect. The latest order, which scraps the extra time the carriers got, follows recent incidents that have triggered safety concerns. <br/>