Boeing will once again pause deliveries of its 787 widebody jets while it co-ordinates with the US Federal Aviation Administration on how best to inspect that aircraft type for safety issues resulting from manufacturing errors. This marks the latest setback for the Chicago-based airframer as it seeks to prepare for an eventual recovery of air travel demand by increasing aircraft production and deliveries to airlines. Boeing paused deliveries of 787s between November 2020 and March 2021 due to concerns about fuselage safety on some of those jets. The airframer had proposed an algorithm that would have eliminated the need to inspect components individually. The FAA says it has not yet approved a method for Boeing to inspect 787s for other such errors. "The FAA is waiting for additional data from Boeing before determining whether the company’s solution meets safety regulations," the agency says. "Since the FAA has not approved Boeing’s proposal, Boeing chose to temporarily stop deliveries to its customers." There are around 866 jets in the 787 aircraft family in service worldwide, along with 139 in storage. Two FAA airworthiness directives published in May related to 787 fuselage safety state that "shimming requirements were not met during the assembly of certain structural joints, which can result in reduced fatigue thresholds and cracking of the affected structural joints". Both Congress and US regulators have increased scrutiny of the safety of 787 and 737 family aircraft manufacturing. The FAA on 27 May announced that Boeing will pay a fine of $17 million to address manufacturing problems with both 737NG and Max aircraft. The agency also plans to co-ordinate with Boeing to determine if it is safe to increase production 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. Regulators in the USA and other nations have allowed Max aircraft to return to service following a 20-month grounding that the FAA ended in November, yet Boeing faces eroding confidence in both Max and 787 jets after repeated delivery delays and safety issues. Boeing in its most recent report in April logged orders for 25 aircraft, including 20 Max jets and five 777s. This was nearly offset by 17 cancellations of Max jet orders, reflecting the financial difficulties of airline customers, along with a lack of confidence or patience for Max jets. Its top competitor Airbus also seeks to increase production and deliveries as airlines gear up for a recovery of air travel demand. Airbus during April logged 48 new orders and delivered 45 jets to its customers, including three A220s, 34 A320 family aircraft, two A330neos and six A350s. Cowen analyst Cai von Rumohr on 1 June upgraded the firm's rating on Boeing stock from "hold" to "buy", optimistic about a renewal of air travel and the likelihood that China will eventually approve Max aircraft to return to service.

Austrian Airlines on 31 May confirmed the retirement its De Havilland Dash 8-Q400 fleet. The flag carrier says it carried out the last passenger flight with its Dash 8 turboprop aircraft (registration OE-LGI) between Vienna and Innsbruck. The future fleet of Austrian Airlines will consist entirely of aircraft from Airbus, Boeing and Embraer, the airline notes. “Austrian Airlines is well prepared for the phasing out of the Dash. With the comfortable, efficient Embraer and Airbus aircraft, we will continue to offer our passengers a good feeder offer with Vienna as our hub,” the carrier’s chief commercial officer Michael Trestl states. “Dash has had an impressive career in our company, it is and will remain part of our history. We will not forget that," Austrian Airlines’ chief operating officer Francesco Sciortino says. "I would like to thank everyone who has looked after the Dash aircraft over the past few decades, the cabin and cockpit crews, the technical team and many more."

Banks are still open for aviation finance business, despite a small number exiting the space amid the Covid-19 pandemic, according to an industry panelist. “You see the traditional aviation finance banks: they are still open for business. Yes, maybe there is more interest in new deliveries with a strong credit, but they are still there,” says Kenneth Loo, senior vice-president at Novus Aviation Capital, during the Avstonish conference in Hong Kong on 31 May. “Yes, there are a very, very small handful of aviation banks shutting their aviation desks... but there is still quite a lot of liquidity out there supporting the market.” In May, private equity firm Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners and fund manager Bellinger Asset Management joined forces to acquire a $1.1 billion aircraft loan portfolio from National Australia Bank (NAB), as part of plans to launch a joint aviation platform. Summer Li, general manager, aviation, at Haitong UT Leasing HK, takes a more conservative view on Western banks than fellow panellist Loo. “Aviation has not been the flavour of the month still, so they are limiting their exposure [to] aviation in a general sense,” she says, referring to Western banks. “On the Chinese banking side we see they are still supporting, especially state-owned companies like Chinese airlines and Chinese-owned lessors like us.” For lessors, Yoo says opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region are fewer than in the West and competition on RFPs is fierce. “I get quite envious of my colleagues during the weekly team calls. Europe and the Americas seem to have a healthy pipeline of transactions coming back, whereas here in APAC — HK has been doing very well lately, whereas in the neighbouring regions they have more to battle with the latest waves of Covid-19,” he says. On 29 May, a Hong Kong government pandemic advisor Yuen Kwok-yung declared the city’s fourth wave of Covid-19 over, though warned the city to brace for a potential fifth wave, according to a same-day article in local newspaper The South China Morning Post. Loo adds: “From what I see now, lease rates and SLB opportunities, or in general, airlines do have a choice when they come to financing. There’s still a lot of liquidity, a lot of interested parties bidding for a handful of deals. It’s still very much an airline’s world when they need to choose the new delivery financing.”