American Airlines board member Greg Smith will succeed the carrier's former chief executive Doug Parker as board chair upon Parker's retirement on 30 April. Parker stepped down as chief executive after eight years leading the US major on 31 March 2022, and was replaced by the carrier's president Robert Isom. He remained as board chair at that time. "Our CEO transition has been flawless thanks to the great work of Robert Isom, his team and our board," Parker states. "Now is the right time for our chairman transition and we are fortunate to have Greg Smith in place to assume that role. Greg has made outstanding contributions since joining American’s board, and his strong knowledge of the aviation industry and his decades of leadership experience will be invaluable going forward." Smith, a 30-year employee of Boeing who retired from the manufacturer in July 2021, joined American's board in January 2022. Additionally, Ray Robinson and Jim Albaugh are retiring from American’s board at the end of the current term. Robinson and Albaugh have served on American’s board since 2005 and 2013, respectively.

United Airlines has established an investment fund through which businesses and individual consumers can support start-ups that are furthering sustainable aviation fuel technology and development. The Chicago-based carrier, along with inaugural partners Air Canada, Boeing, GE Aerospace, JP Morgan and Honeywell, kicked off the United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund with an investment of $100 million. Additional businesses and airline customers will be able to invest in the fund, which will support SAF technology and production start-ups identified by United. Any airline customer who buys a ticket on United's website or through its app now has the option to supplement United's investment in the fund, the US major says. "Solving climate change is doable but it requires hard work and real leadership," United's chief executive Scott Kirby states. "This fund is unique. It's not about offsets or things that are just greenwashing. Instead, we're creating a system that drives investment to build a new industry around sustainable aviation fuel, essentially from scratch. That's the only way we can actually decarbonise aviation." United in late January together with energy infrastructure firm Tallgrass and biorefining company Green Plains formed the Blue Blade Energy joint venture, which will develop sustainable aviation fuel technology that uses ethanol as its feedstock. In 2022, United agreed to buy 300 million gallons of SAF over a 20-year timespan from US-based Dimensional Energy, and 52.5 million gallons of SAF over the next three years from Finnish renewable fuels producer Neste.

The Hong Kong government will “enhance” its preferential tax regime for the aircraft leasing sector and strive “to establish Hong Kong as an aircraft leasing and services hub”, according to the city’s financial secretary Paul Chan. “The government has conducted a trade consultation on the proposed enhancement measures, which include allowing tax deduction for the acquisition cost of aircraft and expanding the scope of leases and aircraft leasing activities,” Chan said in his 2023-24 budget speech on 22 February, a transcript of which was published to a government website. He adds: “This has been welcomed by the trade. These enhancement measures will further attract more aircraft leasing companies to establish a presence in Hong Kong.” The government will introduce a bill into Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, the city’s unicameral legislature, in the fourth quarter of 2023, Chan notes. Last year, the government announced it was proposing changes to its aircraft leasing regulatory regime in response to international tax reforms spearheaded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Since 2017, qualifying aircraft lessors and managers doing business in Hong Kong have enjoyed a concessional tax rate of 8.25% on corporate profits, plus a 20% tax-base concession introduced to compensate for the lack of depreciation allowance. However, the introduction of a global minimum tax rate of 15% as part of the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) 2.0 proposals would render Hong Kong’s regime “less competitive” than other jurisdictions, according to Hong Kong’s Transport and Logistics Bureau, which oversees regulation of Hong Kong’s leasing sector.