US transportation secretary Sean Duffy on 1 May announced more actions to "further supercharge" the country's air traffic controller workforce. To retain existing experienced controllers, the Federal Aviation Administration will offer a "limited-time incentive package" to keep experienced controllers from retiring, the agency said in a 1 May press release. To "supercharge the hiring pipeline", the FAA will provide "new opportunities for veteran military controllers, including an expanded list of qualified facilities", as well as provide financial incentives to graduates and new hires for completing initial training milestones. The FAA will also reward academy graduates who are assigned to "hard-to-staff facilities". Further, the agency will "ensure the best and brightest candidates aren't waiting for a year or more for routine medical and security clearances". It will also expand the number of instructors and establish a "Learning Center" at the Air Traffic Controller Academy in Oklahoma City. The FAA notes it is "on track" to hire at least 2,000 controllers this year following a March "supercharged hiring campaign". This campaign increased the starting salary for Academy trainees by 30%. "Secretary Duffy streamlined hiring by changing the old eight-step hiring process at the FAA to a five-step process. This has already shaved five months off the old hiring process, enabling the FAA to refer more than 8,320 candidates to take the aptitude exam, known as the Air Traffic Skills Assessment (ATSA)," the FAA said in the 1 May press release. It adds that "thousands" of candidates have already taken the ATSA and moved into the next stage of the hiring process. It is giving priority for the Academy to those candidates from March who scored the highest on that exam.

Russia's United Aircraft Corporation has completed a first flight with a Yakovlev MC-21 test aircraft fitted with domestically developed onboard systems to replace Western-supplied equipment. UAC parent Rostec says "some foreign systems" were replaced on the test aircraft, citing the examples of navigation equipment, communication radios, lights, environmental control systems and the auxiliary power unit. It adds that domestic components have been included in the power supply systems, hydraulics and landing gear. The narrowbody is one of two MC-21 flight test aircraft that previously, featuring Western equipment, were involved in certification trials and have since been modified under Russia's import substitution programme. A "completely Russian" MC-21 with PD-14 engines is in final assembly and is scheduled to fly by the end of June, Rostec indicates. Fleets data lists six MC-21 in service, three of them powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1400G engines and the others by PD-14s. The first flight of the modified MC-21 test aircraft with Russian systems was operated from airframer's facility in Irkutsk on 29 April and lasted 1h 15min, reaching an altitude of 9,800ft and speeds of 313kt. Rostec says the flight's mission was fully completed and that "all aircraft systems, including new domestic ones, worked without remarks". It notes that the first flight marks the beginning of factory development tests. "Our aircraft manufacturers have done a great job, replacing about 80 foreign systems and assemblies in order not to depend on sanctions and suppliers from other countries," states Rostec executive director Oleg Yevtushenko. "Today's flight brings us one step closer to certification and the start of deliveries to the market of the import-substituted MC-21." On 23 April, UAC completed a first flight of a Superjet test aircraft fitted entirely with Russian systems in place of previous Western-supplied ones, and powered with PD-8 engines.

LATAM Airlines has reported an operating profit of $558 million for the first quarter of 2025, a 27% rise compared with the $441 million profit made during the same period in 2024. The Chile-based airline group generated $3.41 billion in first quarter operating revenue, up from $3.32 billion in 2024's first quarter. Expenses, at $2.85 billion, were down from $2.88 billion in last year's first quarter. LATAM raised its first-quarter capacity by 7.3%, "primarily driven by a 10.7% increase in international operations", it says. The group ended the first quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $2.15 billion, total gross debt of $7.1 billion, and net debt of $4.9 billion. LATAM has improved its guidance for full-year 2025, and now expects an adjusted operating margin of 13-15%, up from 12-13.5% in the previous guidance issued on 3 December 2024. The raising of its guidance reflects LATAM's "strong financial performance", the South American carrier's chief executive Roberto Alvo said on 29 April during an earnings call. "This update is supported by the group's operation flexibility and cost-containment abilities, as well as continued demand strengths that serve across the group's domestic and international markets." Alvo notes that, so far, LATAM's business has not been adversely affected by recently imposed US government tariffs and related worsening travel demand being reported by US carriers. "We have not seen, to date, in our bookings or in our cargo revenues, any relevant impact from all the announcements and the news that we have seen from tariffs," Alvo says. He adds: "Our markets are not following necessarily the dynamics that you see in the US."