Swiss and compatriot regional carrier Helvetic Airways have announced plans to "extend and deepen" their wet-lease agreement for a further five years. Helvetic will continue to operate Embraer 190 and 195 aircraft, including E2s, on Swiss's behalf across its European network. Swiss's commercial chief Heike Birlenbach states that Helvetic "fully and consistently meets all our high safety standards and all our premium aspirations, and is well liked by our customers", adding: "I'm delighted that we can now extend our successful partnership. Our collaboration not only enables us to cover our operating peaks: with Helvetic's smaller aircraft, we can also serve destinations for which our own Swiss aircraft would be too big." Helvetic chief Tobias Pogorevc notes that the partnership dates back to 2007 and declares that its extension "confirms to us that we consistently meet Swiss's high quality and reliability standards, and that our advanced regional twinjets ideally supplement the Swiss aircraft fleet". Lufthansa Group subsidiary Swiss says Helvetic will operate up to nine aircraft on its behalf during the coming winter season, increasing to fifteen in summer 2025. Seventeen E190/195s are operated for Swiss,

A British Airways A350-1000 damaged in a low-speed ground collision at London Heathrow in April has returned to service following repairs. The widebody (registration: G-XWBC) had sustained damage to its right-hand horizontal stabiliser when the left-hand wing-tip of a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 (G-VDIA) impacted the BA jet during pushback from its stand at Heathrow's Terminal 3 on 6 April. Repairing the A350 required a new pair of horizontal stabilisers, which were delivered by Airbus to Heathrow on 9 September on board a specially chartered BelugaXL. Flight-tracking data shows that the five-year-old A350-1000 was flown from Heathrow to Toulouse on 24 September, concluding a 171-day period of being parked at the London hub.
G-XWBC was returned to revenue service on 28 September, operating flight BA7 to Tokyo Haneda.

The National Transportation Safety Board on 26 September issued "urgent safety recommendations" to Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration "in response to the potential for a jammed or restricted rudder control system on some 737 airplanes". The NTSB says it is investigating a 6 February 2024 incident in which the rudder pedals on a United Airlines 737 Max 8 were "stuck" in their neutral position during the landing rollout at Newark Liberty International airport. "The captain used the nosewheel steering tiller to control the airplane's direction after touching down. There was no damage to the airplane or injuries to the 155 passengers and six crew members. A preliminary report detailing the circumstances of the event was published on March 12," the NTSB says. It adds that NTSB investigators tested one of the rudder control components from the incident airplane, a rollout guidance actuator, at the component's manufacturer, Collins Aerospace. When the incident actuator and an identical unit from another airplane were tested in a cold environment, the actuators' function was "significantly compromised". Investigators, the NTSB says, found evidence of moisture in both actuators, which failed testing. Collins Aerospace subsequently determined that a sealed bearing was incorrectly assembled during production of the actuators, leaving the unsealed side more susceptible to moisture that can freeze and limit rudder system movement, the NTSB adds. It says that Collins notified Boeing that more than 353 actuators that Collins had delivered to Boeing since February 2017 were affected by this condition. The NTSB explains that the rudder rollout guidance actuator, which is installed in the tail of some 737NG and Max jets, is designed to control the rudder's movement during category IIIB approach, landing and rollout operations. Although it is not used in non-precision landings, the actuator remains mechanically engaged with the rudder system, it says. According to the NTSB, Boeing's 737 flight manual instructs pilots confronted with a jammed or restricted rudder to "overpower the jammed or restricted system [using] maximum force, including a combined effort of both pilots". The NTSB expressed concern that this amount of force applied during landing or rollout could "result in a large input to the rudder pedals and a sudden, large, and undesired rudder deflection that could unintentionally cause loss of control or departure from a runway". The NTSB says it has recommended that Boeing "determine appropriate flight crew responses besides applying maximum pedal force" for such situations in flight or during landing. The NTSB also recommended that Boeing notify flight crews operating 737s with affected actuators that the rudder control system can jam due to moisture that has accumulated inside the actuators and frozen. Additionally, the NTSB recommended that the FAA determine if actuators with incorrectly assembled bearings should be removed from airplanes, and if so, to direct US operators to do so until replacements are available. The NTSB also recommended that, if the FAA determines the affected actuators should be removed, it should notify aviation regulators in other countries that oversee operators of 737 aircraft and encourage them to require removal of the affected actuators until replacements are available. Boeing says: "We thank the NTSB for their ongoing investigation and are reviewing their recommendations. In August, we informed affected 737 operators of a potential condition with the rudder rollout guidance actuator, which is part of an optional autoland system. "The autoland system includes layers of redundancy and we are working with our supplier to develop additional guidance to address the potential condition. We will keep our regulator informed of our progress. We will also ensure flight crews have the appropriate operating procedures." The NTSB notes that the investigation is ongoing and additional updates may be issued "as circumstances warrant".