British Airways is suspending flights at London Gatwick airport as a result of the fresh national lockdown in the UK which took effect today. The Oneworld carrier, which consolidated flights at London Heathrow airport during the first wave of the pandemic earlier this year, says it is reducing flights at Gatwick and will pause operations at the airport until early December. “Following the [UK] government’s announcement of a new national lockdown for England [on 30 October], we have been urgently reviewing our schedule for November,” BA says. As part of new travel restrictions, international air travel from England is restricted except for in limited cases, such as those involving work or education. “Our focus is on keeping crucial air links open – bringing home the thousands of customers currently abroad, transporting vital goods and ensuring people who are permitted to travel in and out of the UK for work, education and other reasons stipulated by the UK Government, can continue to do so,” BA adds. The introduction of fresh travel restrictions has been a further blow to the UK’s hard-hit airlines. Carrier association Airlines UK has written to UK chancellor Rishi Sunak, calling for fresh support for the industry, including the suspension of the air-passenger duty and subsidising of private Covid-19 testing. ”With the travel ban, airlines are now in effect closed businesses, and sadly in a much weaker position to face this period compared to the beginning of this crisis,” the association says. “Airlines are capital-intensive operations with a high cost base beyond their employees, and were not able to meaningfully recover over the summer season. “The next period is now even more critical, and we call once again for a comprehensive support and recovery package for aviation, to see UK airlines through the winter and ensure that there is still a UK airlines sector in place to support a UK recovery into 2021,” the group says.

Source: Cirium

Qatar Airways has begun operating its Boeing 787-9 fleet, putting four of the long-haul twinjets into service. Cirium fleets data shows that the Oneworld member's four active 787-9s (registered A7-BHA/B/C/D) were delivered in December last year, as were another three that remain in storage (A7-BHE/F/G). Doha-based Qatar Airways says the in-service 787-9s are "ferrying cargo" on "several European routes, including Copenhagen, Brussels and Oslo, as well as some Middle East and Asian routes". The Gulf carrier, which has a further 23 787-9s on order, last month took delivery of a trio of Airbus A350-1000s. These were the first long-haul jets the European airframer had handed over to Qatar Airways for eight months. Cirium fleets data shows that 18 A350-1000s are among the 191 aircraft the airline has in service, alongside 75 777s, 34 A350-900s, 30 787-8s, 24 A320ceo-family jets, four A330-200 Freighters and two 747-8Fs, plus the four 787-9s. Qatar Airways' 10 A380s are all in storage, as are another 40 of its aircraft: 21 A330s, 10 A320ceo-family aircraft, three 777s, two 737 Max 8s, one A350, and the three 787-9s.

Source: Cirium

The US House is poised to continue stricter oversight of Boeing and safety reform at the Federal Aviation Administration following the re-election of Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio, the committee chairman overseeing the investigation and response to fatal 737 Max crashes. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman defended his seat against Republican challenger Alek Skarlatos, who waged a multi-million dollar campaign against the Democrat during the US election. The FAA is poised to recertificate 737 Max aircraft to return to service for the first time since March 2019, and DeFazio's re-election is unlikely to affect that timetable, says Teal Group aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia. Boeing says it expects FAA approval on safety fixes for 737 Max aircraft before the end of 2020, leaving airlines to decide whether to return Max fleets into service. "The FAA is in the home stretch," he says. DeFazio's re-election is most significant when it comes to the future of the FAA's aircraft certification process. Absentee and mail-in ballots are still being counted as of 4 November, so depending on how many Senate seats Republicans maintain "they might not agree to the resources needed for greater certification oversight," Aboulafia says. DeFazio for years has been critical of the process that allows the FAA to delegate certain data reports for Boeing and other airframers to complete during the certification process for their own aircraft. He criticised both Boeing and the FAA for not revealing enough safety information about the Max aircraft prior to two fatal crashes during which 346 people died. The House chairman in September introduced legislation that would increase penalties for regulatory violations and extend whistleblower protection to allow employees to report safety concerns without fear of reprisal. The House transportation chairman is also a leader in the push for additional payroll stimulus. Conferencing a stimulus bill with the Senate will remain challenging as Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell also defended his seat against a challenger during the election. Following the expiration of federal payroll support on 1 October, McConnell focused Senate attention on confirming a US Supreme Court justice and refused to stage a vote on stimulus legislation. The Senate is in recess until 9 November. The end of the 2020 campaign could reduce pressure on Republicans to appear fiscally conservative and ease the passage of new legislation to provide $2 trillion to fund salaries and benefits for American workers through March, as DeFazio and other House lawmakers proposed. “House Democrats have now passed multiple relief bills containing desperately needed direct payments to Americans, help for local and state governments to keep law enforcement and health care workers on the job [and] funding for expanded testing and contact tracing," DeFazio said on 2 October supporting House legislation.

Source: Cirium