The FAA has moved closer to mandating that aircraft black boxes record 25 hours of data, as opposed to the current maximum of two hours.

Although it wasn’t enough, this extension of recording time was a positive development. When the NTSB and the FAA began an investigation after an incident in January, the current restrictions on cockpit voice recorders came up. As we witnessed at the time, an American Airlines 777 landed on the incorrect runway at JFK after taxying to it and crossing it, which forced the crew of a leaving Delta Air Lines 737 to abort takeoff with great speed.

How does a Black Box Work ? its importance in an Aircraft.(Opens in a new browser tab)

The FAA announced on Thursday that it will also create an Aviation Rulemaking Committee to examine ways to make better use of the data collected by aircraft and their systems, including enhanced flight data monitoring. According to a statement from the agency, “We welcome any tools or resources Congress wants to provide to assist us to achieve this quickly.”

The FAA requests a 25-hour recording time for cockpit voice recorders. The adjustment would match the two “black boxes,” which currently collect parameters for 25 hours on flight data recorders (FDRs). With this information, investigators will be able to observe (well, hear) what pilots were doing and identify any distractions that would have prevented them from hearing or understanding an ATC call.

The NTSB has advocated for extending CVRs’ recording times for a number of years. It will be interesting to watch if the FAA’s request for longer-running CVRs is met with any opposition. For instance, on the grounds of privacy, pilots have resisted proposals for cameras in the cockpit.

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Chinese airlines that use Russian airspace may face a ban from the Transportation Department of the United States of America. Three Biden administration officials told that the US is considering imposing a ban on Chinese airlines and other rivals who use Russian airspace to bring passengers to the country.

The choice was made in the midst of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. In an effort to protect the safety of the passengers, a number of Ukrainian bloc allies opted to stop using Russian airspace once the conflict began in February of last year. Over a variety of topics, relations between China and the US are strained. The National Security team and others apparently received a directive on Monday. Chinese enterprises were forced by the ruling to adhere to the same limitations that apply to US airline companies.

Russia prohibits its pilots from working for foreign airlines.(Opens in a new browser tab)

The New York Times claims that these limitations have significantly impacted the operations of US airlines. A US official claimed last month that foreign airlines that use Russian airspace on flights to and from the US are acquiring a sizable economic advantage over US carriers in key markets, including China and India. They continued, “This situation is directly to the benefit of foreign airlines and at the price of the United States as a whole, with less links to critical markets, fewer high-paying airline employment, and a dent in the economy overall.”

The US airlines’ lobbying, in the opinion of the industry trade group Airlines for America, is what led to this perception of the US government. According to the trade association, US airlines are losing up to $2 billion in market share to foreign rivals every year as a result of Russia’s liberalization of business travel. In order to prevent foreign airlines flying through Russia from landing at US airports, the group has urged the Biden administration to take action.

While maintaining vacant seats, US airlines must operate long-distance flights. To make the jet light enough to fly without refueling frequently, the seats are kept vacant. As a result, all of these regulations have a significant impact on the airline industry. Even if US airlines wanted to fly over Russian airspace, they couldn’t since Moscow last March barred US airlines from using its airspace in retaliation for Washington’s sanctions. As a result, US airlines’ business has been significantly impacted by the geopolitical dynamics between the US and Russia.

About a year after China Eastern Airlines (600115.SS) Flight MU5735 crashed, killing all 132 aboard, the country’s aviation regulator said on Monday that investigators were still examining the cause of the accident.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) released remarks stating that the authority “conducted an in-depth inquiry into the accident” with “meticulous and rigorous technical investigative work.” The CAAC also stated that it collaborated with appropriate departments.

The Chinese indigenous AC352 mid-size helicopter passes the certification test(Opens in a new browser tab)

The technical investigation team “has conducted detailed examinations of the plane wreckage over the past year to determine the possible working status of key control components of the plane prior to the crash, conducted experiments on more than 100 significant pieces of wreckage, and analyzed the causes of damage,” the CAAC added.

According to Shao Quan, a professor at the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, providing the public with updates on the status of an inquiry at the one-year mark is a standard procedure and necessity in the worldwide civil aviation business.

Also, who explains why the probe is still ongoing, investigations into large aircraft disasters typically take longer than a year due to the technical complications and uncertainties that they must overcome.

Only 25% of civil aviation aircraft accident investigations worldwide over the past 30 years have produced final results in under a year, Shao continued. According to the regulator, the investigation team will continue to carry out cause analysis and experimental verification work and immediately provide an evaluation in accordance with the inquiry’s progress.

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Boeing today released the 2023 Commercial Aircraft Finance Market Outlook (CAFMO) showing another year of recovery and increased demand from aircraft financiers and investors.

Boeing to shift 150 finance and IT jobs to India from the US(Opens in a new browser tab)

The 2023 CAFMO is Boeing’s annual review of aircraft financing trends and assesses near-term market dynamics and financing sources for new commercial airplane deliveries.

An introductory video, presentation and regional financing data is available at www.boeing.com/CAFMO. Select highlights include:

• In 2022, the majority of Boeing airplanes were funded with cash due to strong operational performance and de-leveraging efforts by customers.
• While cash funding will continue to play a significant part in delivery financing, the use of capital markets, bank debt and export credit is expected to expand.
• 2022 capital markets activity was lower compared to its heightened activity recorded in 2021.
• Export credit agencies supported nearly 5% of Boeing deliveries in 2022.
• Lessor-supported deliveries will remain stable but may face competition from other financing sources.

The Boeing 2022 Commercial Market Outlook, a separate annual 20-year forecast addressing the market for commercial airplanes and services, reflects that the global market is recovering as Boeing projected in 2020. Demand for domestic air travel has made a strong recovery across a number of regions, with international traffic gaining momentum as restrictions ease, tracking to return to pre-pandemic levels by 2023 to 2024.

Timing and conditions of 737 MAX or other airplane model regulatory approvals, lower-than-planned production rates and/or delivery rates, and increased considerations to customers and suppliers; economic and geopolitical conditions in the United States and globally; general market and industry conditions as they may impact us or our customers; reliance on commercial customers, U.S. government customers and suppliers; the overall health of aircraft production system, as well as the other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in The Boeing Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The distinctive livery of the world’s largest international airline, Emirates, has undergone a refresh. Eagle-eyed plane spotters and fans will immediately notice changes to the tailfin and wingtips.  In this latest design, the UAE flag on the Emirates tailfin is much more dynamic and flowing with a 3D effect artwork, and the wingtips have been painted red with the Emirates logo in Arabic calligraphy “popping” out in reverse white. Passengers onboard with a window view will see the UAE flag colours painted on the wingtips facing the fuselage.

Emirates reintroduce direct A380 services to Auckland and Kuala Lumpur from December(Opens in a new browser tab)

The signature gold “Emirates” lettering across the main body in English and Arabic is also bolder, and 32.5% larger. On the aircraft belly, Emirates has retained its iconic red branding which it introduced in 2005.  The website URL “Emirates.com” has been dropped from the design.

This is the 3^rd iteration of Emirates’ official aircraft brand colours. The original livery unveiled with the airline’s launch in 1985 had its first refresh 14 years later, with the delivery of Emirates’ first Boeing 777-300 at the 1999 Dubai Airshow.

The first aircraft to sport Emirates’ newest livery is A6-EOE, an Airbus A380, which has rolled out of Emirates Engineering this week after its makeover. Its first deployment will be to Munich on 17 March as flight EK51.

The new livery will be gradually applied across the rest of the existing Emirates fleet with 24 aircraft, including 17 Boeing 777s, expected to sport the refreshed livery by the end of 2023.  All new Emirates aircraft, from the first Airbus A350 entering the fleet in August 2024 will be delivered in this new livery.

Emirates’ original livery in 1985 was designed by the UK design company Negus & Negus. All of the airline’s subsequent aircraft colours were created by its in-house design team. Over the years, Emirates’ numerous colourful and eye-catching aircraft livery have included bespoke designs to drive sponsorship brand association, and for special occasions such as the UAE’s 50^th Jubilee livery, and Expo 2020 Dubai.

Spirit Airlines, a gate employee was caught on camera “maliciously” dumping items from a passenger’s luggage into the trash, and the company has now apologized for the embarrassing incident.

The employee, who works under a vendor contract, was captured on camera at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport looking through the luggage before pocketing a few items and throwing the rest away.

Wild weather leaves passengers on American Airlines flight vomiting(Opens in a new browser tab)

Keyonne Brooks told CBS News that he said that before leaving, he had a minor argument with the individual gate agent on fate. He requested a manager, but he had to board his flight before one could arrive. On February 19, when traveling back to Los Angeles after attending a funeral, he inadvertently unintentionally forgot his carry-on bag at the box office.

The briefcase never materialized, so Brooks ultimately filed a lost claim, according to the source. Then, consider submitting a public documents request to the airport to obtain footage from the gate security cameras. The gate employee can be seen placing Brooks’ bag behind the desk and keeping it there until the boarding process is complete in the video. Brooks claims that the gate agent was the same one with whom he had a disagreement before to boarding.

Alaska Airlines Pilots Refused to Fly Together and Turned the Plane Around to the Gate After Argument(Opens in a new browser tab)

She rummaged through his bag, which included jewels and life-saving medications, while everyone had passed the exit gate. Another observed was her stuffing something into her pocket.

Her subsequent movement towards the garbage receptacle, where her employees joined in, is captured on camera. According to CBS News, woman can be seen tossing the pills into the trash. The incident was being captured on phones while her coworkers were laughing. After that, the gate agent throws everything—including the bag itself—into the trash can.

Spirit Airlines said the contract workers in the video have been suspended by the firm for which they work pending an inquiry, and that they are working to expedite reimbursement for the passenger’s items.

Etihad Airways has launched reciprocal interline partnerships with three new airline partners – Philippine Airlines (PAL), Austrian Airlines (OS) and Airlink South Africa (4Z), while re-launching interline links with Biman Bangladesh and codeshares with Air Seychelles (HM) and ITA Airways (AZ).

The deal means customers of all airlines involved will enjoy enhanced connectivity to destinations across each other’s networks, can book on a single ticket and only have to check in once at the start of their flight, with their baggage checked through to their end destination.

Etihad Airways adds flights to Shanghai to its route network(Opens in a new browser tab)

Arik De, Etihad’s Chief Revenue Officer, said: “Broadening our network reach, and allowing more guests to come visit Abu Dhabi has always guided our purpose. These six interline/code agreements make life easier for guests of all the airlines involved. With Austrian Airlines, this tie-in gives our guests access up to 58 European destinations via Vienna, operated by Etihad daily during the summer, and joins the other four members of the Lufthansa Group with whom we already have interline or codeshare agreements.

A deal with Airlink South Africa gives connecting guests via our Johannesburg flight seamless access to 16 domestic destinations in South Africa, and 25 regional African destinations, and it complements existing options with South African Airways.

Emirates and Philippine Airlines announce interline partnership(Opens in a new browser tab)

“And teaming up with Philippine Airlines provides easy access to 19 domestic Filipino destinations including Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Davao and Kalibo, to and from Etihad’s double daily Manila service, for the large Filipino diaspora living in the UAE.

“Etihad’s successful partnership with ITA Airways over Rome Fiumicino to Italy, Europe and beyond has also been restored following ITA’s own Amadeus Altea migration in February.” The expanded interline and codeshare offerings will be progressively rolled out across Etihad sales channels, including Etihad.com and travel agents, over the coming weeks.