Boeing is now producing four of its 787s per month and plans to reach five per month by the end of this year, the company confirms. A Reuters article published on 30 May cited Lane Ballard, Boeing's vice-president and general manager for the 787 programme, as saying that the Arlington, Virginia headquartered company had increased production of its 787 from three to four aircraft per month. "As we have said, our plan is for 787 production to reach five airplanes per month by the end of this year," Boeing says. "We are currently producing four 787s per month." In April, Boeing said it was producing three 787s per month and planned to increase this to five in late 2023 and 10 in 2025/26. Boeing's rate increase is backed by improved regulatory certainty from the US Federal Aviation Administration, which on 13 March cleared the airframer to resume deliveries of 787s. The FAA must still issue airworthiness certificates for each 787 prior to shipment, as it has done since Boeing resumed deliveries of the type in 2022 after a 10-month hiatus due to production issues.

Upcoming military exercises scheduled to take place in Germany are “causing considerable aviation concern” given their potential impact on slots and schedules, according to IATA. The Air Defender exercises that are due to take place on 12-22 June will “very likely” require take-off and landing slots to be retimed as the exercises require the closure of sections of airspace, the association said in a report at its AGM taking place in Istanbul. Carriers have been working with the European Commission and network managers to develop mitigation plans for the exercises and are seeking “flexibility” from regulators. “Unfortunately, in some instances, this flexibility may not be enough, or not be granted at all,” IATA says. Part of this is the request for extended airport operating hours, especially at curfew airports. IATA is also asking the European Commission to call on national authorities to “align their approaches” over whether the delays will constitute an “extraordinary circumstance”, which would mean that passengers are eligible to claim compensation for delays under EU 261. “We do not want different authorities to take decisions and enforce penalties for delays resulting from this exercise. And it’s vital we avoid the precedent that airspace closures are not considered an extraordinary event,” it states.

IATA director general Willie Walsh is confident that airports and airlines around the world have largely completed their efforts to staff up from the pandemic and should not represent a capacity crunch point this summer. Walsh told the association's AGM in Istanbul that few airlines now complained that they lacked staff, a view shared by airports. "Speaking to airline chief executives, I have to say there are very few expressing any concern about the levels of resources they have available," he says. This stands in stark contrast to 2022, when a shortage of staff caused massive disruption to the industry that had "underestimated the pace of recovery". Earlier this year, several industry figures identified a wave of strikes hitting airlines and airports as threatening disruption this summer, but so far this appears not to have materialised. "The system continues to function," Walsh declares. He is far more concerned about air traffic control constraints, particularly in France, where industrial action has routinely impacted services to and from the country and across the wider European airspace. Airlines should "prepare for the disruption being forced upon them" by these capacity issues, adds Walsh. "I don't think its fair to be critical of airports and airlines this year when the cause of their problems they encounter is completely outside their control."