Source: Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure The following are opening remarks, as prepared for delivery, from Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation Rick Larsen (D-WA) during today’s hearing titled, “Starships and Stripes Forever – An Examination of the FAA’s Role in the Future of Spaceflight.” Videos of DeFazio and Larsen’s opening statements are here and here. More information on the hearing can be found here. Chair DeFazio: Thank you, Chair Larsen and Ranking Member Graves, for calling today’s hearing to hear from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and stakeholders on the growing commercial space industry and the government’s regulation of that industry, or [...]

Source: ALPA Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA) president Capt. Joe DePete testified today before the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation on the need for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to continue working with industry and labor stakeholders to create a national space integration strategy that will ensure the safety of the national airspace, improve commercial spaceflight efficiency, and reduce emissions. “The FAA forecasts an increase in U.S. launch activities by as much as 100 percent by 2025,” said DePete. “These predictions mean the FAA must build upon—and broaden—a pattern of collaboration by the aviation and aerospace sectors.” Airline pilots face operational issues involving spaceflight, as recently demonstrated by uncontrolled space debris reentry events. DePete [...]

Source: EASA The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) today issued a new version of the Aviation Health Safety Protocol providing clear operational guidance and risk-based recommendations for health-safe air travel to complement the European Union’s initiatives, such as the EU Digital COVID Certificates. The new version of the document takes into account new evidence and information such as the circulation of variants of concern (VOCs) and the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination programmes. The new version  also emphasises  the need to keep non-pharmaceutical measures in place – such as the wearing of medical face masks, hygiene measures and physical distancing. It is intended to provide support to national authorities in [...]

Source: European Commission European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskisand US Trade Representative Katherine Tai reached an understanding relating to large civil aircraft, transforming almost 17 years of disputes into a forward-looking, collaborative platform to address bilateral issues as well as global challenges. Both sides will now seek to overcome long-standing differences in order to avoid future litigation and preserve a level playing field between our aircraft manufacturers and will also work to prevent new differences from arising. The EU and the US also agreed to suspend application of harmful tariffs worth of USD 11.5 billion for a period of five years that hurt companies and people on both sides of the Atlantic. The two sides will  collaborate on jointly analysing and [...]

Source: US DOT   U.S. scheduled passenger airlines reported a first-quarter 2021 after-tax net loss of $4.2 billion and a pre-tax operating loss of $12.7 billion. While these first-quarter losses are the fifth consecutive quarterly losses, the extent of the losses is narrowing. The airlines reduced their losses in the first quarter from the fourth quarter of 2020. The first-quarter after-tax net loss of $4.2 billion was reduced from the fourth-quarter loss of $7.0 billion. The first-quarter pre-tax operating loss of $12.7 billion was increased from the fourth-quarter loss of $9.7 billion. U.S. airline financial reports are filed quarterly with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). See the tables that accompany this release on the BTS website for additional first-quarter [...]

Source: European Commission Today, the Presidents of the three EU institutions, the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission attended the official signing ceremony for the Regulation on the EU Digital COVID Certificate, marking the end of the legislative process. On this occasion Presidents David Sassoli and Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister António Costa said: “The EU Digital COVID Certificate is a symbol of what Europe stands for. Of a Europe that does not falter when put to the test. A Europe that unites and grows when faced with challenges. Our Union showed again that we work best when we work together. The EU Digital COVID Certificate Regulation was agreed between our institutions in the record [...]

Source: A4E At the annual A4E Aviation Summit today -- held virtually due to continued lack of EU coordination on COVID-19 travel restrictions, CEOs of Europe’s biggest airlines called on governments to restore freedom of movement for citizens and gradually lift all travel restrictions this summer, citing rising vaccination rates and tools such as the EU’s Digital COVID Certificate system, which is expected to be in place across the majority of EU Member States by 01 July. “The science is clear that unrestricted, safe travel is possible for many intra-European flights already – and this will only increase as the vaccine rolls out further. We all have a responsibility, including European governments, to ensure that European travel is accessible and [...]