President Joe Biden on Tuesday harshly criticized U.S. airlines saying they were charging families unfair fees and vowing to implement new consumer protections. "We’ll prohibit airlines from charging $50 round trip for families just to be able sit together," Biden said at his State of the Union address. "Baggage fees are bad enough – airlines can’t treat your child like a piece of baggage." Airlines for America (A4A) said Tuesday its member carriers do not charge fees to sit together. A spokeswoman said airlines "make every effort to accommodate customers traveling together — especially those traveling with children." Biden touted regulations the Transportation Department is drafting to make "airlines show you the full ticket price upfront and refund your money if your flight is canceled or delayed." Refunds would only apply if passengers opted not to take flights. Airlines face growing calls in Congress to boost consumer protections after a series of disruptions including a holiday meltdown at Southwest that resulted in the cancellation of more than 16,000 flights. Last week, the airlines shot back at the White House and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg saying administration proposals on aviation competition were "short-sighted" and will "drive-up costs and reduce choices" for consumers. Biden in September touted his administration's "cracking down" on US airlines to improve treatment of passengers after they updated customer service plans. <br/>
general
US aviation authorities are years behind on updating the critical-alert system that failed spectacularly last month, causing thousands of flight disruptions. Critics say the delay is a threat to passenger safety. House lawmakers are scheduled to hold a hearing Tuesday on aviation safety at which they're likely to raise questions about the Jan. 11 meltdown of the Federal Aviation Administration's Notice to Air Missions system, or Notam. While the FAA has taken steps to ensure that the platform won't fail in the same way again, its problems go far deeper after years of neglect, including issues that contributed to one of the worst near-disasters in US aviation history six years ago. Notam produces bulletins for pilots flying in the US about any safety issues along a route. They could include anything from broken airport lights to an emergency closing of airspace, such as when the FAA temporarily suspended flights along the US East Coast on Feb. 4 during the military mission to destroy a Chinese surveillance balloon. Pilots are required to check them before departing. But according to government records, industry groups and dozens of pilot reports, the system is packed with unnecessary information that's difficult to sort, and its antiquated language makes the bulletins hard to comprehend. The FAA acknowledges the shortcomings and plans improvements, but acting Administrator Billy Nolen notified House lawmakers Jan. 27 that fixes wouldn't be fully completed until 2030. Congress first ordered the agency to begin upgrading the Notam system in 2012. <br/>
Traffic at European airports almost doubled year-on-year in 2022 but remained below pre-COVID levels, Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe) said on Tuesday. Last year's traffic jumped 98% compared with 2021 to 1.94bi passengers but was still 21% below the levels seen in 2019, before the pandemic, with just 27% of the continent's airports having fully recovered, the trade association which represents over 500 airports in 55 countries, added. "This is not yet a full recovery. Europe's airports were still short 500m passengers in 2022 compared to where they stood before the pandemic hit," Olivier Jankovec, ACI's Director General, said. He added that despite this year's uncertainty over the war in Ukraine and supply pressures from airlines' capacity reductions during the pandemic, the traffic outlook is getting better, with demand headwinds "easing somewhat" with China's reopening, subsiding recession fears in Europe and softening inflation. Among the five busiest airports in Europe - the majors, with traffic rising 114% but falling 22.6% short of 2019 levels - the association cites Istanbul, London Heathrow, Paris Charles De Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol and Madrid, marking a change from 2021 when the top five was dominated by Turkey and Russia. Among those having fully recovered their 2019 volumes, 90% were smaller and regional airports, ACI said, thanks to leisure demand, low-cost carriers driving performance and limited or no exposure to Asia, whereas the airports in Kazakhstan and Armenia benefited from an influx of traffic from Russia.<br/>
Creditors of Frankfurt-Hahn airport in Germany have agreed to refer to the government a decision on whether a Russian billionaire named on a 2018 US list of oligarchs can buy the airport, a source familiar with the proceedings told Reuters on Tuesday. The insolvency administrator for Frankfurt-Hahn airport, in western Germany, said the investor and seller had decided to submit a purchase contract to the economy ministry, which has the power to block some takeovers by foreign players. He declined to name the investor for confidentiality reasons. A source close to the proceedings confirmed local media reports that the successful, and highest, offer came from NR Holding, which belongs to Russian billionaire Viktor Kharitonin. He already owns the Nuerburgring racing track. No one was available at NR Holding to comment. The US Treasury Department included Kharitonin on a 2018 list of heads of Russian state-owned companies and so-called oligarchs close to President Vladimir Putin and the prospect of the investment has raised concern from some German politicians. Kharitonin has not been targeted by European Union sanctions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The federal economy ministry can block takeovers of critical infrastructure by firms outside the European Union. Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Monday that his ministry had launched a routine screening of the process. Insolvency administrator Jan Markus Plathner said at the weekend that creditors had received two possible purchase contracts.<br/>
Plane maker Boeing plans to cut about 2,000 jobs in finance and human resources this year, as it focuses on engineering and manufacturing. The move comes as the company puts more of its resources into "products, services and technology development". It will outsource some of the roles to Tata Consulting Services, a unit of one of India's largest conglomerates. Boeing has faced a number of issues in recent years, including the grounding of its 737 Max after two fatal crashes. "We have and will continue to communicate transparently with our teams that we expect lower staffing within some corporate support functions," the company told the BBC. "As always, we will support affected teammates and provide assistance and resources to support their transition," it added. Around a third of the jobs will be outsourced to Tata Consulting Services, which is based in Bangalore (also known as Bengaluru). However, Boeing also said that it will continue to increase its headcount "with a focus on engineering and manufacturing". On top of the 15,000 people it hired in 2022, the company said it aims to recruit another 10,000 this year.<br/>
Airbus has recorded net orders for 36 aircraft – all single-aisle models – for the first month of the year. The airframer listed orders for a dozen A320neo-family jets from Uzbekistan Airways and a dozen A220-300s for Delta Air Lines. It also revealed an agreement for 12 aircraft – six A321neos and six A320neos – from an undisclosed customer. Airbus rounded off its January orders with a single A320neo for Middle Eastern lessor DAE Capital. It did not list any firm agreements for long-haul aircraft types. Airbus delivered 20 aircraft over the month, comprising 18 single-aisle jets plus an A350-900 for Starlux Airlines and an A330-900 for Virgin Atlantic. Both of the widebodies have been delivered via US lessor Air Lease.<br/>
Advanced powertrain developer ZeroAvia is promising to launch commercial passenger flights of a hydrogen fuel cell-powered aircraft from Rotterdam The Hague airport in the Netherlands by 2025. To be advanced through an agreement signed today with fuel supplier Shell and the operator of Rotterdam’s airport, the services will be preceded by demonstration flights by the end of 2024, ZeroAvia says. In addition, the parties, which also includes an associated Rotterdam airport innovation hub, will collaborate to develop a concept of operations for the use of gaseous hydrogen in airports, including the ground fueling infrastructure required to support the flights. ZeroAvia foresees the demonstration flights from Rotterdam serving European destinations within a 250nm (460km) radius. It has not released details of which aircraft will be used for the effort, saying only that “the project targets supporting aircraft operations using gaseous hydrogen to fuel ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric, zero-emission ZA600 engines”. To date, the ZA600 system has only been demonstrated as part of a hybrid conversion of a Dornier 228, with the twin-turbprop’s right-hand thermal engine remaining in place. First flight of the ZA600 took place in January in the UK. ZeroAvia hopes to line up an airline to perform the demonstration and subsequent commercial flights. Shell has previously supplied ZeroAvia with hydrogen fuel to support test flights in California and last year also invested in the powertrain developer. The latest pact builds on a co-operation agreement signed by the parties last year to launch a hydrogen fuel cell-powered commercial flight.<br/>