After a five-month hiatus, Boeing has resumed 787 deliveries, handing a 787-9 to United Airlines on 26 March. The delivery marks a major step forward for the 787 programme, which has for nearly half a year been overshadowed by fuselage concerns that led Boeing to halt deliveries after October 2020. “We have resumed 787 deliveries following several months of engineering analysis and inspection work,” Being said on 26 March. Boeing has described the fuselage concern as a “skin-flatness” issue affecting the aft section of the jets’, where fuselage sections join. The company has been inspecting the jets to ensure fuselages meet required tolerances, a process that necessitated partial disassembly, in some cases, of the jets’ interiors. “Our commitment to safety and compliance led us to thoroughly examine many aspects of the programme to ensure we continue to deliver airplanes that meet all regulatory requirements and Boeing’s highest quality standards,” Boeing says. The 787 delivery halt hit amid the pandemic and also as Boeing progressed with transferring all 787 production work to Charleston, South Carolina. The company this year will stop making 787s at its other, formerly primary 787 manufacturing facility in Everett, Washington. The delivery pause caused Boeing to accumulate a stockpile of undelivered 787s, adding to a massive 400-plus stockpile of undelivered 737 Max jets. Boeing’s current inventory of undelivered 787s stands at more than 80. The company resumed 737 Max deliveries in December 2020. Earlier this month, the US Federal Aviation Administration said it was tightening oversight of the 787 programme by assuming responsibility for issuing airworthiness certificates for four specific jets.

Airbus is exploring how superconductors and liquid-hydrogen cooling technology could help manage high electricity loads on electrically powered aircraft at lower weight and voltage than would be possible with conventional technology. Under a newly launched three-year project named "Advanced Superconducting and Cryogenic Experimental Powertrain Demonstrator", the airframer will build and test at its "E-Aircraft System House" in Munich a 500kW superconducting distribution system and motor, which will be cooled with liquid hydrogen. Hydrogen turns into liquid when it is cooled to a temperature below -253°C (20K). The cryogenic system should maintain the demonstrator at temperatures between -243°C and -153°C, Airbus says. Like other aerospace manufacturers, Airbus has been exploring system architectures for full- or hybrid-electric aircraft. But the effects of high voltage to achieve required energy levels for electric propulsion and consequent need for heavy cable insulation have posed a challenge. Under its former E-Fan X project, Airbus was planning to install a 3,000V electrical system onboard a BAE Systems Avro RJ100 flight-test aircraft. One of the regional jet's four turbofans was to be replaced with a 2MW electric fan, powered by a 2.5MW generator which in turn was to be driven by a gas turbine in the aircraft's fuselage and 2t of lithium-ion batteries. But the joint demonstrator project with Rolls-Royce was cancelled amid the pandemic in 2020. Airbus predicts that employment of superconductors in combination with liquid-hydrogen cooling could "at least" halve component weight and electrical losses versus conventional architectures as system voltage could be kept below 500V. The Advanced Superconducting and Cryogenic Experimental Powertrain Demonstrator "will assess electric architectures from several hundred kilowatts to multi-megawatt applications with and without liquid hydrogen on board", the airframer says. Noting that the technology could be adapted to different aircraft-engine configurations, Airbus says the tests will "support [its] making-process for the type of propulsion system architecture required for future aircraft." It adds that the demonstrator "is also expected to support performance improvements on existing and future propulsion systems across the entire Airbus portfolio, including helicopters [and] eVTOLs, as well as regional and single-aisle aircraft". The demonstrator tests will be conducted by the airframer's UpNext subsidiary, which is tasked with exploration of "new products and services that encompass radical technological breakthroughs".

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has recommended aircrew wait 48-72h before flying after receiving a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. In a 25 March safety bulletin, EASA says operators and crew should consider waiting 48h after each dose of the Covid-19 vaccine before undertaking any flight-related tasks. The wait period increases to 72h for single-pilot operations. Should side effects persist for more than 48h, then crews should consult their aeromedical examiner and extend the waiting time before undertaking flight-related tasks until the effects disappear, EASA recommends in the bulletin. “Due to their increased exposure, it is highly recommended for aircrew members to receive the Covid-19 vaccine as soon as they become available in accordance with the national Covid-19 vaccine rollout plan," the agency adds. It notes that while the vast majority of the side effects are mild and common to any type of vaccine – such as headaches, dizziness and mild fever – "they may be further enhanced by in-flight conditions while at cruise level, such as lower air pressure and mild hypoxic environment". EASA says documentation provided by the European Medicines Agency shows these side effects are more frequent between 12h and 48h following vaccination and can occur more frequently following the second dose. No evidence is available regarding the impact of in-flight conditions on the severity of the side effects, nor on the resulting impact on the performance of the crew members during their safety-related tasks, says EASA. However, it stresses that the side effects do not "in any way" call into question the safety of the vaccines. EASA's recommendations are aimed at national competent authorities (NCAs), aircraft operators, aero-medical centres (AeMCs), aero-medical examiners (AMEs) and aircrew members. Some countries globally have prioritised aircrew in their vaccination programmes, such as Singapore, while the UAE's Emirates and Etihad are among airlines to have launched vaccination drives for crew.