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☆ Southwest to testify at U.S. Senate hearing after meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson will testify on Feb. 9 before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee after a holiday meltdown forced the budget carrier to cancel thousands of flights. The hearing titled "Strengthening Airline Operations and Consumer Protections" will also include Southwest Airlines Pilots Association President Captain Casey Murray, Sharon Pinkerton, a senior official with Airlines for America, an industry group, and Paul Hudson, who heads Flyers' Rights, a passenger advocacy organization. The hearing will review causes and impacts of recent air travel disruptions including the Southwest December holiday operational woes that resulted in more than 16,000 flight cancellations. Southwest Chief Executive Bob Jordan has repeatedly apologized for the mass cancellations and said the carrier is looking at all options to prevent a repeat. The U.S. Transportation Department (USDOT) is investigating whether Southwest engaged in "unrealistic scheduling of flights" in December.

☆ U.S. House committee to hold aviation safety hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - A Federal Aviation Administration safety official, National Transportation Safety Board chair and head of the largest pilots union are among those who will testify on Feb. 7 before Congress. Associate FAA Administrator for Aviation Safety David Boulter, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, Air Line Pilots Association President Jason Ambrosi, National Business Aviation Association CEO Ed Bolen and General Aviation Manufacturers Association CEO Pete Bunce are among the witnesses, the committee said Wednesday. Billy Nolen, the head of aviation safety, has been acting FAA administrator since April 1 when Steve Dickson left halfway through his five-year term. The Senate Commerce Committee has yet to schedule a hearing on President Joe Biden's FAA nominee who has drawn fire from Republicans. Last month, the FAA named two dozen experts to review Boeing’s safety management processes and safety culture.

☆ Intel stock tumbles over 10% after brutal results
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Pat Gelsinger, CEO, of Intel Corporation, testifies during the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on semiconductors titled Developing Next Generation Technology for Innovation, in Russell Senate Office Building on Wednesday, March 23, 2022. Intel shares continued to slide on Friday, falling 10% in premarket trading, after the company reported dismal quarterly and full-year results. The chipmaker's tepid quarterly numbers, with a 32% year-over-year revenue decline and a net loss of $664 million for the fourth quarter of 2022, took both analysts and investors by surprise. Analysts did not mince words, cutting price targets almost across the board. Rosenblatt maintained its sell rating for Intel and lowered its price target from $20 to $17.

☆ House Republican opposes Biden pick to run FAA
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Republicans have said Biden's nominee Phil Washington needs a waiver because he does not qualify as a civilian under the law. You can only run on autopilot so long before you run out of gas, you wake up and your over Utah," said Representative Sam Graves, a Republican who heads the committee overseeing the FAA. Graves said the FAA needs to fill key leadership positions and said Washington does not have enough aviation experience to serve as FAA administrator. Before being named to run the Denver Airport in 2021 did not have any significant aviation experience, Republicans complain. Congress plans to take up the issue and whether the FAA needs more money to modernize various computer systems this year.

☆ Intel shares drop on weak quarterly results and expectations for another quarter of losses
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Here's how the company did:Earnings: 10 cents per share, adjusted, vs. 20 cents per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. 10 cents per share, adjusted, vs. 20 cents per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. Revenue: $14.04 billion, vs. $14.45 billion as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. Intel's revenue declined 32% year over year in the quarter that ended Dec. 31, according to a statement. Intel called for adjusted net loss of 15 cents per share on $10.5 billion to $11.5 billion in revenue.

☆ Boeing pleads not guilty to fraud charge in 737 Max arraignment
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Family members hold photographs of Boeing 737 MAX crash victims lost in two deadly 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people as they arrive for Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg's testimony before a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on “aviation safety” and the grounded 737 MAX on Capitol Hill in Washington, October 29, 2019. Boeing pleaded not guilty on Thursday to a 737 Max fraud conspiracy charge felony charge after families objected to a 2021 Justice Department agreement to resolve the investigation into the plane's flawed design. U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor last week ordered Boeing to appear to be arraigned after he ruled that people killed in the two Boeing 737 Max crashes are legally considered "crime victims." The Justice Department in 2021 agreed to seek dismissal of the charge after the three-year agreement if Boeing complies with all terms. Lawyers for the victims said Boeing admitted under the agreement "that the 737 Max had an unsafe condition, and that it will not attempt to blame anyone else" for the crash.

A cyber criminal took hundreds of thousands of dollars from Sen. Jerry Moran's campaign coffers last year, according to a form filed with the Federal Election Commission by the Kansas Republican's campaign. In the filing, the treasurer at Moran For Kansas said post-election reporting revealed the senator's campaign was the victim of a “third-party cyber-criminal” that included a pair of fraudulent transactions. “Cybercriminals targeted the accounting firm employed by Moran For Kansas and money was wired to fraudulent bank accounts,” Moran for Kansas spokesperson Tom Brandt told NBC News. The campaign also consulted with the FEC on how to transparently report the unauthorized expenditures.”The campaign told the FEC in the December filing that $168,184 of the lost funds had been recovered. He also sits on a Senate Commerce subcommittee that deals with data security, along with other committees.

☆ U.S. FAA says 'unintentionally deleted files' prompted computer outage
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Thursday a preliminary review found that contract personnel "unintentionally deleted files" disrupting a key computer system and prompting a nationwide groundstop on Jan. 11 that disrupted more than 11,000 flights. The FAA said the issue occurred while personnel were working "to correct synchronization between the live primary database and a backup database." The NOTAM system provides pilots, flight crews and other users of U.S. airspace with critical safety notices. The system outage occurred on Jan. 10, but the FAA groundstop was not issued until the following morning. Last week, a group of more than 120 U.S. lawmakers told the FAA that the computer outage was "completely unacceptable" and demanded the agency explain how it will avoid future incidents.

☆ U.S. lawmakers call FAA outage 'unacceptable,' demand a fix
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Jim Vondruska/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - A group of more than 120 U.S. lawmakers told the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) its computer outage on Wednesday that disrupted 11,000 flights was "completely unacceptable" and demanded the agency explain how it will avoid future incidents. On Thursday, the FAA said its preliminary analysis showed the computer outage was caused by a procedural error related to a corrupted data file. The Senate committee email also said it appears the groundstop actually lasted from 7:21 a.m. Buttigieg tweeted at approximately 8:50am that the groundstop had been lifted, was the NOTAM system full operational at that point?" The Senate email asked "what additional resources does FAA need to expeditiously update the NOTAM system?"

☆ Delta CEO urges Washington to increase FAA funding after 'unacceptable' outage
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian called on Washington to increase funding for the Federal Aviation Administration after an outage of a pilot-alert system that grounded thousands of flights across the U.S. this week. "Over the past 36 hours, the FAA has been conducting a preliminary analysis into the NOTAM system interruption," the FAA said late Thursday. In an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Friday, Delta's Bastian called the incident "unacceptable." "I don't recall us ever shutting down the national air space due to a similar type of technology outage for several hours." The flight delays and cancellations were the second major air travel disruption in less than a month after bad weather derailed holiday travel late last year.

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO, Jan 12 (Reuters) - U.S. airline operations returned to normal on Thursday even as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) continues to investigate pinpoint the cause of a computer outage that grounded flights nationally and to prevent it from happening again. "FAA operations are back to normal, and we are seeing no unusual delays or cancellations this morning," the FAA said in a tweet. More than 11,300 flights were delayed or canceled on Wednesday in the first national grounding of domestic traffic in about two decades. As of noon Thursday, 1,400 U.S. flights were delayed and 117 were canceled, according to FlightAware, a typical aviation day given current weather issues. Major carriers Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), United Airlines (UAL.O), American Airlines Group Inc (AAL.O) and Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) all were reporting normal operations on Thursday.

[1/2] Passengers wait for the resumption of flights at O’Hare International Airport after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had ordered airlines to pause all domestic departures due to a system outage, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., January 11, 2023. REUTERS/Jim VondruskaWASHINGTON/CHICAGO, Jan 12 (Reuters) - U.S. airlines said they expect operations to return to normal on Thursday as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) scrambles to pinpoint the cause of a computer outage that grounded flights nationally and to prevent it from happening again. More than 11,300 U.S. flights were delayed or cancelled on Wednesday, according to FlightAware, in the first national grounding of domestic traffic in about two decades. Major carriers such as Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), United Airlines (UAL.O) and Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) said they expected normal operations on Thursday. "The health of that agency and its ability to deliver on its mission really is important," he said in an interview.

Passengers stuck at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago greeted the latest air travel disruption with a collective shrug. And our nation’s economy depends on a best-in-class air travel system. "We call on federal policymakers to modernize our vital air travel infrastructure to ensure our systems are able to meet demand safely and efficiently," he said. "An FAA system outage is causing ground stops at AUS and other airports across the country," the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport said in a tweet. Air France said all of its U.S.-bound flights were operating as planned and were not affected by the FAA computer outage.

☆ U.S. Congress to investigate FAA computer outage that snarled flights
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The public needs a resilient air transportation system." House Transportation Committee Chair Sam Graves, a Republican, said the ground stop "highlights a huge vulnerability in our air transportation system." The administration needs to explain to Congress what happened, and Congress should enact reforms in this year’s FAA reauthorization legislation." Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said "the FAA needs to get to root causes so this doesn’t happen again." The FAA authorization is due to expire on Sept. 30 and the outage may put pressure on Congress to complete action.

FAA officials said a preliminary review traced the outage to a damaged database file, but added there was no evidence of a cyberattack and the investigation was continuing. FAA officials said they were working to "further pinpoint the causes" so the problem can be avoided in the future. One issue airlines are facing is trying to get planes in and out of crowded gates, which is causing further delays. He described confusion as airline employees and many passengers were initially unaware of the FAA's moves and flight delays. The U.S. Travel Association, which represents the travel industry including airlines, called the FAA system failure "catastrophic."

☆ FAA system outage disrupts thousands of flights across U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The FAA's outage was the second major air travel disruption in less than a month and drew bipartisan criticism. Later Wednesday, Canada's air navigation agency said its similar notification system experienced a brief outage, but said no flights were delayed as a result. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards FAA system failure created mass cancellations across the U.S. on Jan. 11th, 2023. FlightawareWednesday's FAA issue added to concern from Washington from both Republicans and Democrats, particularly about technology that the complex U.S. air system, the world's busiest, relies on. More than a third of Delta's and United's mainline flights were delayed, while about 50% of American's were running late.

☆ U.S. Senate Commerce chair plans hearings after Southwest Airlines meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell on Wednesday said the panel intended to hold hearings after Southwest Airlines' (LUV.N) recent meltdown that led to nearly 16,000 flight cancellations in the week ending Dec. 29. The FAA's operations must be reauthorized by Sept. 30 and the measure has traditionally been used to advance aviation reforms. The Southwest flight cancellations have been cited by some lawmakers as evidence that Congress needs to strengthen protections for air travelers. Buttigieg has repeatedly vowed to hold Southwest "accountable" if it fails to fulfill commitments to customers for "controllable delays and cancellations." That one would require airlines to provide non-expiring vouchers when passengers are unable to fly for certain pandemic-related reasons.

☆ Frustrated Southwest pilot and union rep says the airline's flight meltdown was caused by outdated scheduling software
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Southwest Airlines has canceled nearly 2,600 flights so far on Tuesday after canceling over 2,900 on Monday. For example, he explained one flight had two pilots and three flight attendants assigned to a flight but needed one more flight attendant for the plane to legally fly. There were several deadheading flight attendants onboard, meaning they were being flown to another city for an assignment but were "ready, willing, and able to work" that flight as well. "Even though we had a crew available, [scheduling] had no idea those flight attendants were in the back of the airplane." The latter's systems failed to keep up because flight attendants use a system largely reliant on phone lines, Montgomery told KHOU.

☆ Privacy and crypto will likely lead tech policy under split Congress as hope for passing ambitious antitrust reforms dwindles
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

After what started as a hopeful year for tech policy, the 117th Congress is about to close out its term with many key efforts tabled. That's the case with privacy legislation, where a bill proposed this year gained bipartisan support, passing out of a House committee with a near-unanimous vote. The pair blamed the bills' failure to advance on intense lobbying efforts by the tech industry against them. One prominent bipartisan bill in the Senate would put the CFTC in charge. "But the importance of tech policy issues will still be strong."

☆ U.S. lawmakers back key Boeing 737 MAX certification deadline waiver
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Congressional leaders attached thewaiver to a bill to fund U.S. government operations and to require new safety enhancements for existing MAX aircraft proposed by U.S. Cantwell's language requires retrofitting existing MAX planes with a synthetic enhanced angle-of-attack (AOA) system and the ability to shut off stall warning and overspeed alerts. It gives airline operators three years from the time the 737 MAX 10 is certified to retrofit existing MAX planes and says Boeing must bear those costs. Faulty data from a single sensor erroneously activated a software function called MCAS and played critical roles in both fatal 737 MAX crashes, investigations found. Boeing declined to comment on Monday, but Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Stan Deal said last week the planemaker supported Cantwell's safety retrofit proposal.

☆ U.S. lawmakers include Boeing 737 MAX extension in spending bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) early on Tuesday won backing from Congress for an extension of a looming deadline imposing a new safety standard for modern cockpit alerts for two new versions of the U.S. plane maker's best-selling 737 MAX aircraft. The company has been heavily lobbying for months to convince lawmakers to waive the Dec. 27 deadline that affects its MAX 7 and MAX 10 airplanes which was imposed by Congress in 2020 after two fatal 737 MAX crashes killed 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Congressional leaders attached the extension to a bill to fund U.S. government operations and to require new safety enhancements for existing MAX aircraft proposed by U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, according to the text made public early on Tuesday. Reporting by David Shepardson, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. lawmakers back key Boeing 737 MAX deadline waiver
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The company had been heavily lobbying for months to convince lawmakers to waive the Dec. 27 deadline that affects its MAX 7 and MAX 10 airplanes which was imposed by Congress in 2020 after two fatal 737 MAX crashes killed 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Congressional leaders attached thewaiver to a bill to fund U.S. government operations and to require new safety enhancements for existing MAX aircraft proposed by U.S. Cantwell's bill requires retrofitting existing MAX planes with a synthetic enhanced angle-of-attack system and the ability to shut off stall warning and overspeed alerts. It gives airline operators three years from the time the 737 MAX 10 is certified to retrofit existing MAX planes and says Boeing must bear those costs. Boeing declined to comment on Monday, but Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Stan Deal said last week the planemaker supported Cantwell's safety retrofit proposal.

☆ Exclusive: U.S. lawmakers set to back Boeing 737 MAX certification extension
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Congressional leaders have agreed to attach the extension to a bill to fund U.S. government operations and to require new safety enhancements for existing MAX aircraft proposed by U.S. Cantwell proposed requiring retrofitting existing MAX airplanes with an "enhanced angle of attack (AOA) and a means to shut off stall warnings and overspeed alerts, for all MAX aircraft," Reuters reported on Nov. 30. Faulty data from a single sensor that erroneously triggered a software function called MCAS to repeatedly activate played critical roles in the fatal 737 MAX crashes. Boeing declined to comment, but Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Stan Deal said last week the planemaker supported Cantwell's safety retrofit proposal. Boeing said in October it expects the 737 MAX 7 to be certified this year or in 2023 and last week Boeing's Deal said he thinks the MAX 10 could receive certification in late 2023 or early 2024.

☆ Exclusive: U.S. Congress set to include Boeing 737 MAX alerting extension in spending bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers are set to add to a government spending bill an extension of a looming deadline imposing a new safety standard for modern cockpit alerts for two new versions of Boeing's (BA.N) best-selling 737 MAX aircraft, sources told Reuters. The U.S. planemaker has been lobbying for months to convince lawmakers to waive the Dec. 27 deadline that affects its MAX 7 and MAX 10 airplanes that was imposed by Congress in 2020 after two fatal 737 MAX crashes killed 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Lawmakers are also expected to require new safety enhancements for existing MAX aircraft proposed by Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell. Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. lawmakers decline to add Boeing 737 MAX exemption in defense bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers late on Tuesday declined to add an extension to an annual defense bill of a looming deadline that would impose a new safety standard for modern cockpit alerts for two new versions of Boeing's (BA.N) best-selling 737 MAX aircraft. The U.S. planemaker has been lobbying for months to convince lawmakers to waive the deadline that affects its MAX 7 and MAX 10 airplanes and was imposed by Congress in 2020 after two fatal 737 MAX crashes killed 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia. That would be a significant setback for Boeing, which did not immediately comment but has argued previously it is better to have a common alerting system for all versions of the 737 MAX. The requirements for modern cockpit alerts were adopted by Congress as part of certification reform passed after two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 that led to the plane's 20-month grounding. Nadia Milleron, whose daughter Samya Rose Stumo died in the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash, praised lawmakers for not including the extension in the defense.

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