ICAO’s Council is to carry out a fact-finding investigation into the diversion of a Ryanair Boeing 737-800 over Belarus, to understand whether any member state broke international aviation law. The Council, a governing body which comprises 36 member states, convened for an urgent session on 27 May, four days after the 737 was diverted to Minsk while operating an Athens-Vilnius flight. Authorities detained an opposition activist before releasing the aircraft. ICAO says the Council expressed “strong concern” at the “apparent forced diversion” of the aircraft. Members stressed the importance of establishing the facts of the occurrence and understanding whether there had been “any breach by any ICAO member state” of international aviation law – including the Chicago Convention. Belarus is a member of ICAO – although not a member of the Council – and acceded to the Chicago Convention in 1993. It is also bound by a number of other aviation law instruments relating to safety of civil aircraft. Under the Convention, the Council is entitled to investigate situations which “may appear to present avoidable obstacles” to international air navigation development. “The Council has therefore decided that all relevant facts should be officially established through an ICAO investigation,” says Council president Salvatore Sciacchitano. It has requested the preparation of an interim report to the Council for a subsequent meeting, presenting the available facts and relevant legal instruments. ICAO secretary general Fang Liu has assured that the ICAO Secretariat will offer full support and co-operation.

AirAsia Philippines has backed the Department of Tourism’s recent proposal to create a travel "green lane" to allow entry to vaccinated travellers, in line with government efforts to reopen the economy. “We must keep pace with our neighbours and the rest of the world in slowly reopening our tourist destinations. We must be ready for visitors when the whole world is ready to safely travel again," Tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said in a 21 May statement on the proposed green lane. The low-cost carrier says it is currently looking at providing incentives for fully vaccinated individuals to revive demand for safe air travel and encourage everyone to be vaccinated, according to its 26 May press release. AirAsia Philippines spokesperson Steve Dailisan states: “AirAsia believes that the 'green lane' will encourage leisure travellers who have previously expressed concerns on varying requirements per destination. This will be further reinforced by the implementation of uniform travel requirements through a digital travel pass. If the execution becomes effective for domestic travel, then we can slowly welcome foreign tourists again.” “While we strongly believe that easing of restrictions among fully vaccinated individuals is key to rebooting tourism, there must be no room for complacency. Industry partners and all stakeholders must proactively monitor and observe established health and safety protocols.” The carrier highlights a Euromonitor International study that predicts inbound tourist arrivals to the Philippines will reach 9.9 million by 2023, based on government measures such as the vaccination roll-out, easing or lifting of travel restrictions and travel arrangements such as green lanes. This data, the carrier says, corroborates its projection of a full recovery by 2023. The airline plans on gradually achieving recovery later this year with the resumption of international flights in August. “Since the onset of the pandemic, AirAsia has implemented a robust multi-layered approach to passenger safety from check-in to inflight. Numerous digital and contactless solutions have also been put in place to ensure a safe, affordable and comfortable guest experience,” Dailisan adds. The airline also notes that Spain, France, Nepal and Thailand's Phuket have established similar green lane travel arrangements to allow entry to fully vaccinated travellers.

The US Federal Aviation Administration on 27 May announced that Boeing will pay a fine of $17 million to address manufacturing problems with both 737NG and Max aircraft, adding that the airframer and the agency will determine if it is safe to increase production of Max aircraft. The FAA settlement addresses production errors between 2015 and 2019. Boeing installed equipment on 759 of its Max and NG aircraft that contained sensors that were not approved by the FAA, the agency reports. In another production error, Boeing submitted 178 Max aircraft for FAA certification that potentially had slat tracks installed that were both nonconforming and improperly marked. "The FAA will hold Boeing and the aviation industry accountable to keep our skies safe,” FAA administrator Steve Dickson states. Boeing will face up to $10 million in additional fines if it does not fulfill corrective actions. These include but are not limited to improving oversight of parts suppliers and strengthening procedures to avoid installing on aircraft "any parts that fail to conform to their approved design", the FAA says. The airframer must also review its safety processes to determine "whether its supply-chain oversight processes are appropriate" and whether Boeing is ready to pursue its goal of safely increasing 737 production. Its production procedures must also enable the FAA to observe production rate readiness assessments and the data Boeing uses for internal assessments. The agency settlement and forthcoming review of 737 production safety is not related to the automated flight controls that contributed to fatal crashes of Max aircraft. Lawmakers in the US House seek records to begin a new investigation into how the FAA certificated Boeing's Max and 787 aircraft, while the US Department of Transportation is conducting its third review into Max certification. When asked about federal inquiries into manufacturing safety, the Chicago-based airframer has said “we continue to work closely with the FAA and across Boeing to continuously improve safety and quality in our processes". The safety review of Boeing's production further complicates the airframer's goal of increasing the rate of production and deliveries to airlines as the industry prepares for an eventual recovery of air travel demand. The airframer in April paused deliveries of Max jets due to manufacturing errors that affected 106 Max 8 and Max 9 jets in the fleets of around 20 airlines including Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines. Those US carriers grounded the jets after Boeing disclosed the manufacturing errors that could affect Max electrical systems including standby power control units and instrument panels. The airframer in April paused deliveries of Max jets due to manufacturing errors that affected the electrical systems of 106 Max 8 and Max 9 jets in the fleets of around 20 airlines. The FAA during the week of 12 May approved Boeing's proposed fixes for the 106 Max jets. The airframer advised "we have issued service bulletins for the affected fleet". Concerns about the fuselage on 787 aircraft also prompted Boeing to pause deliveries of those widebody jets from November to March. Critics of Boeing have said that the airframer during recent years shifted its focus from engineering to marketing against Airbus, increasing the risk that it would miss potential errors. Family members of some victims who died in the fatal crash of a Max aircraft owned by Ethiopian Airlines in 2019 disagree with Boeing's decision to maintain David Calhoun as chief executive. Calhoun served as a member of the Boeing board of directors since 2009, during the development and certification process of Max jets. The families of Max crash victims have called for a new chief executive besides Calhoun to refocus Boeing onto engineering and manufacturing safety.