Boeing shareholders can proceed with legal action against the airframer's board of directors over the two fatal 737 Max accidents that led to the model's grounding in 2019, a US court has ruled. The Court of Chancery in Delaware had deliberated over a claim by shareholders that a majority of Boeing's directors should face liability for the company's losses as a result of the accidents and temporary grounding. Morgan Zurn, the court's vice-chancellor, acknowledges that "it may seem callous" in regard to the accidents' victims and their relatives, but says corporate law recognises Boeing as a business and its shareholders as "another set of victims".
She notes: "The crashes caused the company and its investors to lose billions of dollars in value." Zurn in her 7 September ruling supported the shareholders' claim that Boeing directors "failed them in overseeing mission-critical airplane safety to protect enterprise and stockholder value". The judge accuses the directors in particular of having failed to establish a reporting system for aircraft safety and turning "a blind eye to a red flag representing airplane safety" after the Lion Air Max 8 crash – the first accident – in 2018. "The Lion Air crash was a red flag about [the aircraft's maneuvering characteristics augmentation system] MCAS that the board should have heeded but instead ignored," she says. International regulators grounded Max aircraft after the second accident – in March 2019, involving an Ethiopian Airlines 737-8 – in which the MCAS was again implicated. Max aircraft have resumed service since late 2020 as regulators gradually recertificated the model following modifications. Zurn dismissed other claims by shareholders, including one regarding Boeing's retirement and compensation package for former chief executive Dennis Muilenburg, who stepped down from his position during the Max crisis. Boeing states: "We are disappointed in the court's decision to allow the plaintiffs' case to proceed past this preliminary stage of litigation. We will review the opinion closely over the coming days as we consider next steps."

British Airways is offering travellers the opportunity to buy sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for their flights as part of its new environmental programme, in addition to the offsetting of their carbon emissions. Under the initiative, launched at Heathrow and named BA Better World, the IAG-owned carrier will use SAF for all of its flights between London, Glasgow and Edinburgh for the duration of the COP26 climate conference taking place over the first 12 days of November. BA says the programme will place sustainability "at the heart of its business", and redouble its efforts to reduce emissions and eliminate waste. “With BA Better World we're on our most important journey yet - to a better, more sustainable future and one which will ensure the long-term success of our business," states BA chief executive Sean Doyle. "We're clear that we have a responsibility to reduce our impact on the planet and have a detailed plan to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, including investing in more fuel-efficient aircraft, improving our operational efficiency and investing in the development of sustainable aviation fuel and zero-emissions aircraft." To publicise the launch BA has repainted one of its A320neos in a new colour scheme, as part of a collaboration with manufacturer Airbus.The plan to enable customers to purchase SAF will come into force immediately, it adds, via its not-for-profit organisation Pure Leapfrog. BA will work with energy firm BP to source SAF for the COP26 summit being held in Scotland. This will provide a lifecycle carbon reduction of up to 80% compared with traditional jet fuel. The initiative forms part of BA's long-term commitment to the development and use of SAF. Parent company IAG is investing $400 million over the next 20 years in development of SAF. Meanwhile, BA is forming partnerships with a number of technology and fuel companies to develop SAF plants and purchase the fuel, including with Velocys in the UK and LanzaJet in the USA. IAG has pledged to power 10% of its fuel requirements with SAF by 2030.

Lufthansa has become the first European Airbus A320-family operator to deploy a single-aisle with the airframer's Airspace cabin interior. Airbus says that after the German airline group, in 2018, opted to configure more than 80 new A320-family jets with the updated interior, the first A321neo has now entered service. The Airspace cabin includes slimmer sidewall panels for more shoulder space, better window views through redesigned bezels and integrated window shades, larger overhead bins, full LED lighting and lavatories with touchless controls and antimicrobial surfaces. Lufthansa Group’s head of customer experience Heike Birlenbach states: “With the new Airspace cabin, we are significantly improving the travel experience on short-haul routes and setting a new industry benchmark." In 2016, Lufthansa became launch operator of the A320neo and has since received 30 A320neos and 11 A321neos, data shows. On order are another 51 A320neos and 29 A321neos, spanning both Pratt & Whitney PW1100G- and CFM International Leap-1A-powered aircraft. Lufthansa subsidiary Swiss has received three A320neos and two A321neos, with another 14 and six aircraft on order, respectively. Brussels Airlines, another group subsidiary, has three A320neos on order. Following an initial launch of the Airspace cabin on the A350 and A330neo, Airbus disclosed in 2017 that it would roll out the concept to its single-aisle family from 2020. US carrier JetBlue Airways became the first A320-family operator to introduce the cabin on a A321LR earlier this year.