Thai Airways has reported its worst-ever full-year net loss – dragged down by significant one-time costs – as it faces possible delisting from the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) because of negative equity. For the year ended 31 December, Thai, which is in the middle of debt restructuring, posted a net loss of Bt141 billion ($4.69 billion), widening the Bt12 billion net loss it reported in 2019. The embattled carrier took more than Bt92 billion in one-time charges during the year – including racking up aircraft impairment costs to the tune of more than Bt82 billion. At the operational level, Thai was Bt48 billion in the red. This compares with the Bt12.4 billion operational loss it reported in 2019. Revenue plummeted 73.8% year on year to Bt48.3 billion, led mainly by a collapse in passenger revenue amid pandemic-driven travel restrictions globally. Expenses fell 51% to Bt96 billion, despite reduced flying activity, as the carrier saw net finance costs – including interest from operating lease agreements – nearly double year on year. In 2020, Thai carried just 5.9 million passengers, a 76% drop year on year. Full-year traffic plunged 79%, and capacity fell 74%. Thai’s shareholder equity fell to negative Bt127 billion, which prompted the SET to warn that the flag carrier could be delisted. The SET is expected to come to a decision in seven business days, or by 7 March. In its outlook, Thai notes that vaccines will go some way towards helping the industry recover, though it notes that its financial performance for the first half of 2021 will continue to remain “negative”. Thai’s staggering losses come less than a week before the carrier was due to submit its business rehabilitation plan to Thailand’s Central Bankruptcy Court. In late-January, the court allowed a final submission deadline extension to 2 March. Thai said then that it needed an extension – the second to be granted – because it needed “to put together the comments and suggestions from several groups of creditors on the principle of the draft rehabilitation plan, in order to prepare a complete and comprehensive rehabilitation plan to ensure that the rehabilitation plan will receive the approval of the creditors’ meeting”.

The Federal Aviation Administration has fined Boeing $6.6 million in penalties to settle three enforcement cases, including those related to its Organisation Designation Authorization (ODA) programme. The amount includes a $5.4 million penalty for Boeing’s alleged failure to fulfill obligations set out in a 2015 settlement that the company made with the FAA, the FAA says on 25 February. That settlement did not involve the 737 Max but did relate to Boeing’s ODA – its internal division authorised by the FAA to perform aspects of aircraft certification. The 2015 settlement stemmed from 13 FAA enforcement reports citing production, delegation and certification violations, according to government documents. “The FAA assessed $5.4 million in deferred penalties under the terms of the 2015 agreement because Boeing missed some of its improvement targets, and because some company managers did not sufficiently prioritise compliance with FAA regulations,” the agency says. “Boeing failed to meet all of its obligations under the settlement agreement, and the FAA is holding Boeing accountable by imposing additional penalties,” FAA administrator Steve Dickson says. “I have reiterated to Boeing’s leadership time and again that the company must prioritise safety and regulatory compliance, and that the FAA will always put safety first in all its decisions.” Boeing had previously settled the 2015 case by paying $12 million in penalties. “Boeing believes that the announcement today fairly resolves previously-announced civil penalty actions while accounting for ongoing safety, quality and compliance process improvements,” the company says in a statement. “We look forward to ongoing engagement with, and direction from, the FAA as we continuously improve safety and quality in our processes.” The Chicago airframer will also pay $1.2 million to settle two previously-disclosed enforcement cases, also involving the company’s ODA. In August 2020, the FAA had proposed settling those cases for $1.25 million. “The FAA alleges that Boeing managers exerted undue pressure or interfered with the work of FAA designees at the company’s plant in South Carolina,” the agency said in August 2020. Boeing’s statement adds that the company is “strengthening our work processes and operations to ensure we hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards of safety and quality”.

The European Commission has outlined its Clean Aviation research programme, intended to replace the EU's two previous Clean Sky joint undertakings and facilitate technology development toward achieving climate-neutrality by 2050.
Formally named the European Partnership for Clean Aviation, the programme sits alongside similar joint activities between the EU, member states and industry across multiple business sectors, under the bloc's Horizon Europe research and innovation framework. The EU says it will provide nearly €10 billion ($12 billion) of funding for the overall programme, which "partners will match with at least an equivalent amount of investment". Additional initiatives at national, regional or private level are set to support the EU programme. Scheduled to run from this year until 2031, Clean Sky says that the new aviation programme will "accelerate the development of disruptive technologies through simulations and integrated demonstrations of novel aircraft and propulsion configurations and systems at the aircraft platform level". Activities will be focused on three areas: hybrid- and fullt electric concepts, ultra-efficient aircraft architectures, and technologies for hydrogen-powered aircraft. The objective is to develop a "new breed" of regional, short- and medium-haul airliners, which "will be offered to the market by 2030 for an entry into service by 2035", Clean Sky says. Earlier this month, several European aviation industry players and bodies disclosed a roadmap, Destination 2050, toward climate-neutrality through improvements to aircraft and engine technology, air traffic management, sustainable aviation fuels, and emissions trading and offsetting. Clean Sky 2 executive director Axel Krein states: "The time has come for a radical change. We need faster, more disruptive innovations and a rapid influx and integration of key emerging technologies, including promising solutions from other sectors, to secure climate-neutral aviation. "Faced with the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, we must take this opportunity to reimagine the aviation industry – in a sustainable and green way."