India's government has established a high-level committee to investigate the cause of the fatal crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8 on 12 June, and ordered urgent inspections of all 33 of the carrier's 787-8 and 787-9 aircraft. The committee – which is being led by India's home secretary and includes officials from the country's ministry of civil aviation, the Gujarat state government, the Indian air force and the directorate of forensic sciences – had its first meeting scheduled for 16 June. It plans to publish an initial report within three months. The committee's probe will run alongside the investigation that is being conducted by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. The AAIB investigation will examine the technical aspects behind the crash, while the high-level committee will provide a "holistic, policy-oriented roadmap for future safeguards", says the ministry of civil aviation. Addressing journalists at a filmed press conference on 14 June, civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said: "The composition of the high-level committee involves people from various backgrounds and the people we feel can bring in a lot of expertise and value to the committee, which is going to investigate the incident in a holistic way. "We have put a time limit of three months for them to sit down, talk to various stakeholders, and involve and discuss with any other important expert that is necessary as per their investigation." The Indian government has also ordered an "extended surveillance" of all Boeing 787-series aircraft in India's fleet. Cirium fleets data shows that Air India has 26 remaining 787-8s as well as seven 787-9s. All 33 widebodies are powered by GE Aerospace GEnx engines. Inspections on eight of Air India's 787s have already been carried out, says the government, and the remaining aircraft are being checked "on an urgent basis". The civil aviation ministry says it has also "intensified ongoing surveillance of maintenance protocols and airworthiness procedures for all widebody aircraft operating in India". Air India flight 171 crashed on 12 June within one minute of take-off from Ahmedabad airport, bound for London Gatwick. It was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. Indian authorities are in the process of matching DNA to determine the total number of people killed, including those on board and those on the ground. Media reports have indicated that all but one of those on board died as well as at least 30 people on the ground. Both the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) have been recovered, the BBC and others are reporting.

Airbus is considering the possibility of adopting the A321XLR's wing for standard A321neo variants to improve the single-aisle's performance. The A321XLR's wing generates lower drag and has better high-lift efficiency than the standard A321neo wing, said the European airframer's A320-family chief engineer, Marc Guinot, during a media briefing in Toulouse on 11 June. Airbus introduced a single-slotted inboard landing-flap on the A321XLR – previous A321 variants had a double-slotted design – and a revised flap operation with additional, intermediate settings for the high-lift system. This was part of a number of changes designed to increase the single-aisle's range, notably by introducing a rear centre fuel tank (RCT) in the A321XLR's lower fuselage and reinforced landing gear to accommodate a higher maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 101t, from 97t. Studies shows that adopting the A321XLR's wing may deliver a 1% fuel saving for other A321neo variants, Guinot says, noting that the efficiency gains will need to be verified in flight tests. Beyond fuel savings, he foresees production efficiencies by adopting a single A321neo wing configuration and increased commonality for pilots. The double-slotted flap design was introduced on the original A321 during the early 1990s. All shorter A320-family jets are equipped with single-slotted flaps. The current A321neo family spans a baseline model, a long-range variant using optional fuel tanks that can be installed in the forward cargo bay, and the A321XLR. Guinot notes there is no plan to adopt the A321XLR's strengthened landing gear on other variants. He says that Airbus is considering an MTOW increase for the A321XLR as part of measures to meet the aircraft's original range specification. During the A321XLR's certification, Airbus had to add around 300kg to the aircraft to meet certification requirements for the RCT, which reduced range by 50-70nm. Guinot says the planned measures include a quicker landing-gear retraction cycle, to improve climb performance after take-off. The measures are designed to recover the range-loss but not to reduce the additional weight required for the final RCT configuration.

North America will have the lowest air passenger traffic growth rate of any region over the next 20 years but the highest share of sub-150-seat jet deliveries, according to Embraer's latest market outlook report. The Brazilian airframer forecasts worldwide demand for 10,500 jet and turboprop aircraft with up to 150 seats between 2025 and 2044 – a figure it says is "almost unchanged" from its previous estimate for the next two decades. This includes 8,720 jets and 1,780 turboprops. It puts the value of these new orders at $680 million. Replacement of older aircraft will account for 52% of all new deliveries, Embraer believes, while 48% will be used to grow markets. Global passenger traffic, measured in revenue passenger-kilometres (RPKs), is expected to grow by 3.9% a year through to 2044, says Embraer, with the fastest growth (5.7%) expected in China and the slowest (2.4%) in North America. The second-fastest growth rate will be in Latin America, followed by Africa, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and then Europe & CIS. Embraer says it has detailed China's figures separately for the first time because of that country's "growing prominence in commercial aviation". By the end of 2044, predicts Embraer, the Asia-Pacific region will account for 39% of global RPKs while Europe and North America combined will account for 37%. North America will take delivery of the largest proportion of jet aircraft in this category over the next 20 years, with 2,680 jets set to be delivered. This represents a 30.7% share. Europe & CIS follows, at 22.8%, with China taking the third largest share, at 17.2%. Asia-Pacific will account for the largest share of turboprop deliveries (36%), followed by Europe & CIS. "Five years after the onset of the pandemic, many of the structural changes it triggered have proven to be quite long lasting," says Arjan Meijer, chief executive of Embraer's commercial aviation division. "In our first post-pandemic market outlook, we highlighted the transition from globalisation to a more polarised geopolitical outlook. Today, as countries and regions pursue greater strategic autonomy, the demand for regional access will continue to grow." Meijer adds that mixed fleets combining small and large narrowbody aircraft are "essential for that long-term growth". Embraer notes in its report that strategic autonomy is the most significant structural change to the global economy, because it reflects "how the world is repositioning itself in the face of rapid and profound changes in the geopolitical order". Domestic industries will become "more prevalent", the airframer predicts, and demand for short-distance travel and commerce will increase. "Airlines with predominantly large aircraft in their fleets will be limited in their ability to improve network connectivity as distances shrink in the new environment," says Embraer. "Small narrowbody jets, however, have the ideal capacity and greater operational flexibility to provide more frequencies and serve more destinations, especially in shorter sectors."