Boeing has reported a doubling over the past year in the number of engagements between its in-house flight-operations experts and airline customers' pilots to improve safety and the efficiency of its aircraft. The US airframer highlights this growth trend within its latest annual safety report, which the company has been publishing since 2022. The new report, Boeing notes, includes changes made in response to an expert panel the US Federal Aviation Administration initiated with US Congress authorisation to review safety measures at the airframer. Boeing's flight-operations representatives include pilots and other experts whose job it is to advise air crews at customer airlines on how to increase safety and efficiency within their operations. More than 170 international airlines are involved in the effort, Boeing says. It adds that five additional airlines have opted for its competency-based training and assessment programmes, which combine technical knowledge with teamwork, communications and workload management skills. Including the additional airlines, nine airlines have subscribed to the programme. As part of efforts to improve safety and quality in its own operations, Boeing says it established a business unit named "safety management system boards" to identify, track and mitigate risks across the company. The manufacturer has "expanded use of external safety data sources" and worked with the FAA "to develop machine-leaning algorithms to identify hazards and safety trends", it says. A "pathfinding effort to share additional operational data with engineering teams on how Boeing products are operating in the field" has been initiated. This, Boeing says, will enable its design engineers to "validate that designs are working as intended". Since the mid-air door-plug blowout on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 in January, Boeing says it has redoubled its efforts to encourage employees to raise concerns about safety, quality and compliance. This has led to a more than sixfold increase in submissions via the company's "Speak Up" confidential reporting channels in early 2024 compared with the same period last year, Boeing says. It notes the introduction in 2023 of "Just Culture Guiding Principles" aimed at creating an "environment where employees feel safe and empowered to report errors". The principles followed the implementation in 2021 of leadership training named "Just Culture Essentials". Boeing chief aerospace safety officer Mike Delaney states that the company's aim is to "ensure safety, compliance and conformance of our products and services, without compromise". "Our commitment is to never forget our responsibility to make sure every action and decision bring lasting improvements to the safety and quality of our products and services."

India's largest low cost carrier IndiGo will launch a business class product before the end of the year. Speaking during a 23 May earnings call, chief executive Pieter Elbers says the move is about meeting the "evolving needs and aspirations of our Indian customers" and is the "next step in the evolution of IndiGo". "We will be launching a tailor-made business product on the busiest routes and business routes of the country before the end of this year," he adds. "There is an ever-growing need for premium travel in India and by launching this new product we will create a desired option for many who are aiming to travel business, and perhaps for some of them, for the first time in their lives." Elbers says that more details on the routes and launch dates will be announced in August.It appears likely that the new business class will feature on its 30 Airbus A321XLRs, which fleets data shows are scheduled to start delivering from early 2025. The airline has previously flagged that it intends to use the additional range of those narrowbodies to continue the expansion of its international network. IndiGo's current fleet of 82 A321neos are configured in a single-class layout of 232 economy seats, while its 192 A320s are configured with 180 or 186 seats. The announcement of business class comes weeks after IndiGo placed an order for 30 Airbus A350-900s and options for 70 more that will allow it to launch long haul services once deliveries commence in 2027. At the time the airline noted that it has not settled on a configuration for the widebody jets, but it was likely to include business class seating.

Airbus, Boeing, Dassault Aviation, GE Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, Safran are among 13 aerospace companies which have formed a work group to assess the impact of 100% sustainable aviation fuel on aircraft systems. Boeing will lead the group dubbed WG 13, with Airbus acting as deputy lead. The team's objective is to co-ordinate fuel tests and support standards organisation ASTM International in its efforts to develop new specifications for 100% SAF, the International Aerospace Environmental Group (IAEG) says. It adds that WG 13 will engage infrastructure stakeholders, including fuel producers, airports and airlines, to determine required steps for a transition to SAF. "This collaboration will help prepare the broader aviation ecosystem for 100% SAF capabilities, as part of the aviation industry goal of achieving net zero CO2 emissions by 2050," Boeing vice-president of environmental sustainability and IAEG board member Ryan Faucett states. "We will share our findings from our SAF compatibility and ground-breaking jet reference fluids research and continue to collaborate with this work group to support a more sustainable aviation future, together."