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."

Global passenger demand is deteriorating through the first half of 2021, IATA has warned while significantly downgrading its traffic estimates for the year. The airline association now expects traffic as measured by revenue passenger-kilometres to reach just 33-38% of 2019's levels in 2021, down from an estimate of 51% in December. It cites data showing a decline in domestic ticket sales since the end of 2020 while international bookings remain just a fraction of pre-pandemic levels. Speaking during IATA's regular press briefing, chief economist Brian Pearce said the estimates raised questions over airlines' "survivability" as they were unlikely to be profitable until 2022: "We are concerned now it's going to take much longer for the industry to stop burning through cash." Whereas previously IATA expected airlines to be generating profits by the final quarter of 2021, it now believes they could burn through $95 billion this year. The excess debt taken on by airlines will result in a "challenging environment", hindering their ability to invest in fleets and meet other spending commitments, adds Pearce. IATA attributes the deterioration in trading conditions to more stringent travel restrictions owing to the spread of new variants of Covid-19. The change in estimates represents a rapid adjustment of IATA's expectations. On a 3 February press call, it floated the prospect of RPKs declining to 38% of 2019's levels in 2021, but cautioned this was not a scenario but "an introduction of what may happen". Three weeks later it has not only made a recovery to 38% its "optimistic scenario", but introduced a further, lower potential pathway of a return to 33% of pre-pandemic levels. "With governments having tightening border restrictions, 2021 is shaping up to be a much tougher year than previously expected," says IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac. "Our best-case scenario sees airlines burning through $75 billion in cash this year. And it could be as bad as $95 billion. More emergency relief from governments will be needed." He adds: "A functioning airline industry can eventually energise the economic recovery from Covid-19. But that won't happen if there are massive failures before the crisis ends. If governments are unable to open their borders, we will need them to open their wallets with financial relief to keep airlines viable."