The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed fines totalling $3.14 million against Boeing for safety violations between September 2023 and February 2024, including those related to the 5 January 2024 door-plug blowout. The regulator said on 12 September that these include "interference with safety officials' independence". "The FAA utilised its maximum statutory civil penalty authority consistent with law," it says. The agency explains that it identified hundreds of quality-system violations at Boeing's 737 factory in Renton, Washington, and Boeing subcontractor Spirit AeroSystems' 737 factory in Wichita, Kansas. It also says Boeing presented two unairworthy aircraft to the FAA for airworthiness certificates and failed to follow its quality system. Furthermore, the FAA found that "a non-ODA Boeing employee pressured a Boeing ODA unit member to sign off on a Boeing 737 Max airplane so Boeing could meet its delivery schedule, even though the ODA member determined the aircraft did not comply with applicable standards". The FAA's Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) office, established in 2019, oversees and ensures consistency of the regulator's oversight program for companies that issue certificates and conduct certain inspections on its behalf. Boeing has 30 days after receiving the FAA's penalty letters to respond. "We regret the January 2024 door-plug accident and continue to work on strengthening our safety culture and improving first-time quality and accountability across our operations," Boeing says. "Last year, under the oversight of the FAA, we instituted a safety and quality plan with key performance indicators to enhance safety management and quality assurance in airplane production. Our team continues to implement these improvements, such as investing in workforce training, strengthening production system compliance and encouraging employees to speak up."

Lufthansa Group is awaiting Russian government approval to sell its entire 49% stake in catering company Aeromar, having finished negotiations with the prospective buyer. The German group advised that although the sale process is ongoing, it "only requires" approval from the Russian authorities to conclude. Russian news agency Interfax identifies flag carrier Aeroflot, which already holds 51% of Aeromar, as the buyer of Lufthansa's stake. Lufthansa declined to confirm the buyer's identity. Aeroflot lists Aeromar as a joint-stock Aeroflot Group company. Lufthansa started the sale process for its stake in 2022. In the group's annual report for that year, it wrote down the value of its investment in Aeromar by €17 million. The unit, it said, would "no longer have any value due to the economic restrictions in connection with the Russia-Ukraine conflict". Aeromar describes itself as Russia's largest airline-food production company, also providing services for cleaning and equipping aircraft, as well as airborne and ground sales.

Air Niugini has taken delivery of its first Airbus A220-300 which it is leasing from Azorra. The aircraft, bearing MSN 55388, departed from Airbus's Mirabel facility on 11 September on a ferry flight to Port Moresby with stops scheduled in Vancouver, Honolulu and Nadi. It features a special livery to mark the 50th anniversary of Papua New Guinea's independence from Australia. "The delivery represents a significant milestone in Air Niugini’s fleet modernisation programme, with eight A220-100s on direct order with Airbus and three A220-300s being leased from Azorra," Airbus states. The A220s will replace Air Niugini's ageing fleet of five Fokker 100s and four F70s which operate on domestic and some Pacific Islands services.

Fleets data shows that only three F70s and two F100s are in service, alongside three Boeing 737-800s, two 767-300ERs and one De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400. The fleet renewal is being complicated by a dispute between the carrier and the country's National Airports Corporation over how many airports in Papua New Guinea the A220s will be able to operate to. That led last month to chief executive Gary Seddon being suspended last month as the board awaits further information on the aircraft.