Category Archives: Air transport

Air traffic controllers receive $0 paychecks as government shutdown stretches

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Nearly 11,000 air traffic controllers, deemed essential workers, did not receive wages for two weeks of work

Air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration employees have missed their first paycheck as the federal government shutdown rolls through its fourth week. They remain required to work.

Nearly 11,000 air traffic controllers, who are deemed essential workers, received a $0 paycheck on Tuesday, equating to two weeks of unpaid work. Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary, warned at a Tuesday press conference that another missed paycheck could be financially catastrophic for employees.

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UK’s Eastern Airways suspends operations with all flights cancelled

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Customers urged not to go to domestic airline’s airports as customers and staff offered train travel on suitable routes

The UK domestic airline Eastern Airways has suspended operations and all of its flights have been cancelled.

Customers of the airline, which operated regional services from airports across the UK, are urged not to go to the airport as flights will not be operating, the UK Civil Aviation Authority said.

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US airports report over 20 air traffic controller shortage incidents in one day

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Transportation secretary says figure is ‘one of the highest we’ve seen’ since 1 October as shutdown drags on

US airports have reported more than 20 incidents of air traffic controller shortages on Saturday, said Sean Duffy, transportation secretary, in the latest sign of the government shutdown’s impact.

A ground stop was issued by the agency at Los Angeles international airport due to the air traffic controller staffing shortages at around 11.30am ET (15.30 GMT). The restriction covered most of the southern California region and delays are likely when flights resume.

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Lithuania shuts airports and Belarus border after weather balloon incursion

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Vilnius and Kaunas airports closed down after balloons drift into country’s airspace for third time this month

Lithuania closed its two biggest airports on Friday and shut crossings on its border with Belarus after helium weather balloons drifted into its territory, the third such occurrence in the Baltic state this month.

European aviation has repeatedly been thrown into chaos in recent weeks by drone sightings and other air incursions, including at airports in Copenhagen, Munich and the Baltic region.

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UK’s biggest weapons firm BAE grounds ‘lifeline’ aircraft delivering food aid

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Exclusive: In the year they announced record profits, Britain’s arms maker has revoked licence to fly for planes taking supplies of food to starving people in South Sudan, Somalia and DRC

Britain’s biggest weapons manufacturer, BAE Systems, has quietly scrapped support for a fleet of aircraft providing “life-saving” humanitarian aid to some of the world’s poorest countries.

The decision further reduces the distribution of vital aid to countries facing serious humanitarian crises, including South Sudan, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

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Hong Kong: two killed after cargo plane veers off runway into sea while landing

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Authorities say Emirates plane collided with patrol vehicle, taking it with it as it ditched in sea

Two people were killed in Hong Kong on Monday after a cargo plane hit a ground vehicle while trying to land and skidded off the runway into the sea.

The Emirates airlines plane had flown in to Hong Kong international airport from Dubai at about 4am, when it veered off the runway and crashed through a fence, according to airport officials. It then collided with the security patrol car, taking the vehicle with it as it ditched into the sea.

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No air traffic control crew at busy LA airport amid government shutdown staffing crunch

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Air traffic to the Hollywood Burbank Airport would be remotely managed for six hours on Monday night causing delays for travellers

Hollywood Burbank Airport in Los Angeles will have no air traffic control staff for nearly six hours on Monday evening, as the effects of the US government shutdown rippled across the country.

From 4.15pm until 10pm the Federal Aviation Administration anticipates there will be no air traffic controllers in their tower, although the FAA has said it is trying to bring in staffing sooner than that, according to ABC News.

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Munich airport reopens after halting flights because of drone sightings

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Travel was disrupted for thousands on eve of national holiday in latest drone incident to hit European aviation

Munich airport has reopened after drone sightings over the facility on Thursday evening forced air traffic control to suspend operations, leading to the cancellation of 17 flights and disrupting travel for nearly 3,000 passengers in the German city on the eve of a national holiday.

Another 15 arriving flights were diverted to Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Vienna and Frankfurt, the airport said in a statement, marking the latest drone disruption to European aviation after sightings temporarily shut airports in Denmark and Norway last week.

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Denmark airport closes due to drones, two days after incursions in Copenhagen and Oslo

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Police say the drones over Aalborg airport followed a similar pattern to the ones that had halted flights at Copenhagen airport a few days earlier

Denmark’s Aalborg airport was closed due to drones in its airspace, local police said early on Thursday, two days after the country’s main Copenhagen airport was shut over drone sightings that rattled European aviation.

Danish national police said the drones followed a similar pattern to the ones that had halted flights at Copenhagen airport for four hours a few days earlier. The country’s armed forces were also affected, as Aalborg airport is used as a military base, they added.

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Danish PM: airport drone incursion a ‘serious attack’ on critical infrastructure

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Russia denies involvement after Copenhagen and Oslo airports forced to close after drone sightings

The Danish prime minister has said the country was subjected to the “most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date” after a drone incursion shut Copenhagen airport for several hours.

Mette Frederiksen said authorities were still investigating who was behind the suspected hybrid attack, but she said she could not rule out Russia.

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Ted Cruz urges Trump to back older retirement age for pilots

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Worker groups oppose move, citing studies finding health risks and decline in cognitive skills with increase in age

Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who heads the US Senate’s commerce committee, has urged Donald Trump to support international efforts by an airline trade group to raise the mandatory pilot retirement age to 67 – despite opposition from a pilots association, which says such a move could increase travel risks.

In a letter first reported by Reuters on Sunday, Cruz asked Trump to support efforts the upcoming opening of a United Nations aviation meeting in Montreal.

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Disruption continues at Heathrow, Brussels and Berlin airports after cyber-attack

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Zaventem asks airlines to cancel half of Monday departures, while most of Heathrow flights expected to operate

Hundreds of thousands of passengers at Heathrow and Berlin airports faced flight delays on Sunday after a cyber-attack hit check-in desk software, while cancellations at Brussels airport suggested that disruption of Europe’s air travel would continue into Monday.

Airlines were forced to revert to slower manual check-ins from Friday night after the attack hit Collins Aerospace, which provides check-in desk technology to various airlines.

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Heathrow flights delayed and cancelled as cyber-attack hits European airports

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Attack raises questions over security as Brussels and Berlin airports’ check-in and boarding systems also affected

Flights have been delayed and cancelled at three leading European airports – including London’s largest, Heathrow – after the company behind the software used for check-in and boarding said it was hit by a cyber-attack.

Airports in Brussels and Berlin are also experiencing delays and disruption as a result of the problem affecting Collins Aerospace, which works for several airlines at airports across the world.

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Almost all German pilots admit to napping during flights in union survey

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Pilots’ union says the issue has become a ‘worrying reality’ as a result of staff shortages and operation pressure

A German pilots’ union has said that napping during flights has become a “worrying reality” for its members, as it sounded the alarm over “increasing fatigue” in the sector.

The Vereinigung Cockpit union said it had carried out a survey of more than 900 pilots in recent weeks, which found that 93% of them admitted to napping during a flight in the past few months.

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Couple tell of ordeal when kittens went missing after being left in plane hold

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British newlyweds feared worst when transportation of rescue cats from Greece to Paris went awry

A newlywed couple who married in Greece have said they feared the worst when three kittens they rescued from Crete went missing after being left in the hold of an aeroplane.

They first travelled to the island in September 2023 and found the mother cat, who “had a very distinctive bulging eye that needed to be removed”, Bethany Mulcahy-Stephenson, a veterinary nurse, said.

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Ex-pilot who tried to cut engines on flight after taking mushrooms pleads guilty

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Joseph Emerson, formerly of Alaska Airlines, must do 664 hours of community service and pay $60,569

A former Alaska Airlines pilot accused of trying to cut the engines of a passenger flight in 2023 while riding off-duty in the cockpit pleaded guilty or no contest to all charges against him Friday, saying in court that he regretted endangering those on board as well as the damage he caused to his former profession.

Joseph Emerson reached the plea agreements because he wants to take responsibility for his actions and hopes to avoid further time behind bars, said his attorney, Noah Horst.

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Italy considers hiding state flight paths after jamming of von der Leyen plane

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EU member states debate how to make leaders’ flights more secure as Russia blamed for GPS loss

Italy is considering keeping state flights secret after the satellite signal of the aircraft carrying the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, was allegedly jammed by Russia, Italian defence ministry sources said.

Von der Leyen, a fierce critic of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and Moscow’s war in Ukraine, was flying to Bulgaria on Sunday when her charter plane lost satellite navigation aids, delaying its arrival in Plovdiv, and reportedly forcing it to circle an airport for an hour.

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Proposals for commercial planes to operate with one pilot shelved after critical EU report

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Regulator Easa concludes there is not enough evidence it is as safe as flying with two pilots as currently required

Proposals for commercial aeroplanes to operate with just one pilot in the cockpit have been put on ice after a report for the European regulator suggested it would make flying more dangerous.

A three-year research project into “extended minimum crew operations” commissioned by the EU Aviation Safety Agency (Easa) found that despite advances in technology there was not sufficient evidence that flying with a single pilot could be as safe as with the two currently required.

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Couple who died in Isle of Wight helicopter crash named

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Justyna Czoska, a horse riding instructor, and her partner, Wojtek Kowalkowski, died along with a third person

A couple who died in a helicopter crash during the bank holiday on the Isle of Wight have been named by relatives.

Justyna Czoska, 52, a horse riding instructor, and her partner, Wojtek Kowalkowski, 49, from Bloxham, Oxfordshire, died after the aircraft crash-landed at about 9.24am on Monday between Shanklin and Whiteley Bank. The helicopter had taken off from Sandown airport 20 minutes earlier.

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Woman sexually assaulted on flight challenges UK rules on compensation

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Woman who was attacked on flight from Qatar to London was denied payout because plane was not registered in UK

A woman who was sexually assaulted while sleeping on a flight to London is challenging UK government rules that disqualify her from a compensation scheme because the plane was not registered in Britain.

She was attacked on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha, Qatar, to Gatwick in September last year.

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