London Heathrow will cap the number of departing passengers at 100,000 between July and September, and is asking airlines to "stop selling summer tickets", in an attempt to minimise congestion as the UK airport grapples with strong demand and staff shortages. In an open letter to passengers published on 12 July, Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye says new employees are "not yet up to full speed" and the airport is "still significantly under-resourced" in certain critical areas, particularly ground handling. This has led to "periods when service drops to a level that is not acceptable", writes Holland-Kaye. In a bid to reduce queues, delays and last-minute cancellations, Heathrow will introduce a capacity cap of 100,000 departing passengers a day from 12 July until 11 September – 4,000 fewer than the forecast daily average over the summer. Heathrow says it waited to make the decision until the effects of the UK government's airport slots "amnesty" became clear. But while "some airlines have taken significant action…others have not", says Holland-Kaye, meaning "further action is needed now to ensure passengers have a safe and reliable journey". He adds: "Our assessment is that the maximum number of daily departing passengers that airlines, airline ground handlers and the airport can collectively serve over the summer is no more than 100,000. The latest forecasts indicate that even despite the amnesty, daily departing seats over the summer will average 104,000 – giving a daily excess of 40,000 seats." Of these 4,000 seats, Heathrow estimates that only 1,500 have so far been sold, and is asking airlines "to stop selling summer tickets to limit the impact on passengers". By making the intervention, Heathrow aims to "protect flights for the vast majority of passengers" and "give confidence" to those who do travel that their journey will be smooth and they will arrive at their destination "with their bags". Heathrow's largest carrier British Airways has already wiped an additional 10,300 flights from its summer schedule, on top of 16,000 service cuts announced earlier this year. It is unclear whether BA will need to cut any more flights in light of Heathrow's new cap.

Boeing delivered 43 737 Max aircraft in June and booked 50 new aircraft orders. The US airframer also delivered seven widebodies last month. These included three 767 freighters and three 777 freighters. Of the 50 new orders, 49 were for Max aircraft – one from American Airlines while the remaining 48 from unidentified customers. Boeing also received an order from FedEx for a 777F. The airframer recorded 35 order cancellations, including 28 Max jets for Norwegian and one for Aerolineas Argentinas. Norwegian last month finalised a new order for 50 Max 8s. June's cancellations also included six 787-9s: three for WestJet, two for Avianca, and one for Norwegian. Boeing says it "continues to make progress" towards stabilising 737 production at 31 aircraft a month while "balancing the need to increase the production rate to position us to meet demand over the longer term". In the second quarter, Boeing delivered 121 commercial aircraft, up from 79 in the same period last year. This year's total comprised 103 737s, two 747s, seven 767s and nine 777s.

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) has filed formal opposition against two separate applications by Republic Airways and SkyWest Airlines before the US Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration to diminish pilot training qualification and experience requirements. Both efforts are attempts to skirt the nation's first-officer qualification rules and will leave the flying public at increased risk, the pilots' union states. In April, Indianapolis-based regional carrier Republic requested an exemption from pilot training qualification and experience requirements for aspiring aviators enrolled in its private flight academy, arguing that its training programme is equal to that of the US military and trainees should be able to operate airline aircraft after 750 flight hours of experience.
A law enacted in 2010 requires US commercial airline pilots to have 1,500 flight hours. That law allows commercial airline requirements for flight hours to be reduced to 750h for current or former military pilots. Additionally, Utah-based regional carrier SkyWest is seeking permission from the DOT to shift some of its current scheduled operations to an "alter ego" charter airline with lesser-experienced, lesser-qualified first officers on the flight deck. ALPA president Joe DePete states: "Republic and SkyWest are now conceding that, despite receiving substantial federal support, they still can't figure out how to competently manage an airline without cutting corners on safety."