Latest News
-
US airlines cancel 1,330 flights due to shutdown
U.S. Airlines canceled 1,330 flights in the United States on Saturday as part of the government-mandated flight cutbacks. The industry is bracing for further cancellations if the shutdown continues. Federal Aviation Administration has instructed airlines to reduce 4% of their daily flights at 40 major airports starting Friday due to safety concerns regarding air traffic control. Air traffic controllers are in short supply because they haven't been paid for several weeks. On Tuesday, the reductions will reach 6% before reaching 10% on November 14. Flights Delayd in at Least 12 Major Cities The FAA reported on Saturday that there were staffing problems at 25 airports, and other centers. This caused delays in flights at least in 12 major U.S. Cities, including Atlanta, Newark and Chicago. The FAA implemented ground delay programs on Saturday at several airports, with average delays of 337 minutes at Atlanta, the busiest U.S. Airport. On Saturday, 5,450 flights were cancelled and 7,000 delayed after Friday's 7,000 delays. Friday morning, at 6 a.m. ET (1100 GMT), the cuts began. About 700 flights were affected by the cuts on Friday morning (1100 GMT). These include flights operated by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines (Southwest Airlines), United Airlines and Southwest Airlines. On Saturday, these airlines cancelled roughly the same number flights. In an interview earlier this week, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford stated that 20% to 40% controllers had not shown up for work in the last few days. During a U.S. Senate discussion on Friday, Ted Cruz blamed air traffic control issues on the shutdown. Cruz, a Texas Republican and chair of the Senate Commerce Committee said that since the start of the shutdown, more than 500 pilots had filed voluntary safety reports regarding mistakes made by air-traffic controllers due to fatigue. The record-breaking 39-day shutdown of the government has forced 13,000 air traffic control operators and 50,000 security screening workers to work without pay. This has led to an increase in absenteeism. On Thursday, many air traffic controllers learned that they wouldn't be paid for the second consecutive pay period in the coming week. Sean Duffy, the U.S. Transportation secretary, said he might require a 20% reduction in air traffic if controllers don't show up to work. Duffy said, "I evaluate the data." We're going make decisions based upon what we see on the airspace. Trump's administration has cited problems with air traffic control as Republicans attempt to pressure Senate Democrats into supporting what they refer to as a "clean" funding bill for the government without any strings attached. Democrats blame Republicans for refusing to negotiate on health insurance subsidies which will expire by the end of the year. (Reporting and editing by Thomas Derpinghaus, Rod Nickel, and David Shepardson)
-
Minister: Hungary's exemption from US sanctions against Russia energy is permanent
Hungary claimed on Saturday that it had received an indefinite waiver of U.S. sanctions for the use of Russian oil and natural gas. However, a White House representative reaffirmed that this exemption was only valid for one year. Last month, U.S. president Donald Trump imposed sanctions related to Ukraine on Russian oil firms Lukoil & Rosneft. These sanctions carried the threat of additional sanctions against entities who buy oil from these firms. Viktor Orban met Trump, a Trump ally for many years, at the White House last Friday in order to push for a reprieve. Hungary heavily relies on Russian energy, and Orban faces an election in close proximity next year. The prime minister was very clear. Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian foreign minister, said on Facebook that he had agreed with President Obama to obtain an exemption from sanctions for all time. There are no sanctions indefinitely on the oil and gas exports to Hungary. In an email sent on Saturday, a White House official reiterated that the exemption was for a year. HUNGARY IS EXPECTED BUY U.S. LNG Officials added that Hungary will also diversify their energy purchases, and have committed to buy U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas with contracts worth around $600 million. Hungary's continued reliance on Russian Energy since the start of the conflict with Ukraine in 2022 has prompted criticism from several European Union allies and NATO members. Orban said that Hungary has received a permanent exemption from energy imports through the TurkStream pipeline and Druzhba pipeline. Orban said that there are no sanctions in place to restrict or increase the cost of supply for Hungary through these routes. Orban stated that this exemption was general and had no time limit. According to figures from the International Monetary Fund, Hungary purchased 74% of gas and 86% oil in 2024 from Russia. The IMF warns that a cutoff of Russian gas across all of Europe could cost Hungary over 4% of GDP. Orban stated that without the agreement energy costs would have soared, hitting the economy as a whole, increasing unemployment, and causing "unbearable price increases" for both households and businesses.
-
Delhi Airport operator confirms that all flight operations are back to normal following glitch
Delhi International Airport announced on Saturday that all flight operations are running as usual at the airport, following a technical problem which caused hundreds of delays over the last two days. Delays were caused by a malfunction in the software used to create flight plans. India's airports authorities had announced late Friday night that the system is "up and working" following a technical error. In a press release, the Indian government stated that the system, called Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS), was back in automatic mode on Saturday afternoon. The government reported that Ram Mohan Naidu, minister of civil aviation, has instructed officials to prepare for system upgrades including the addition of additional servers or fallbacks to improve air traffic operations.
-
Minister: Hungary's exemption from US sanctions against Russia energy is permanent
Hungary announced on Saturday that it has been granted an indefinite exemption from U.S. sanction for its use of Russian oil and natural gas. This is contrary to a White House official, who claimed it was only granted a year-long exemption. Last month, U.S. president Donald Trump imposed sanctions related to Ukraine on Russian oil firms Lukoil & Rosneft. These sanctions carried the threat of additional sanctions against entities who buy oil from these firms. Viktor Orban met with Trump, a longtime ally of Trump, at the White House last Friday in order to push for a reprieve. Hungary heavily relies on Russian energy, and Orban faces a tight election in 2019. The prime minister was very clear. Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian foreign minister, said on Facebook that he had agreed with President Obama to obtain an exemption from sanctions for indefinite time. There are no sanctions indefinitely on the oil and gas exports to Hungary. The White House official noted that in addition to the exemption from sanctions, Hungary had also committed to buy U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas with contracts worth around $600 million. Hungary's continued reliance on Russian Energy since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine 2022 has prompted criticism from several European Union allies and NATO members. Orban said that Hungary has received an exemption indefinitely for energy imports via TurkStream and Druzhba pipelines. Orban said that there are no sanctions in place to restrict or increase the cost of supply for Hungary through these routes. Orban stated that this exemption was general and had no time limit. According to figures from the International Monetary Fund, Hungary purchased 74% of gas and 86% oil in 2024 from Russia. The IMF warns that a cutoff of Russian gas across all of Europe could cost Hungary over 4% of GDP. Orban stated that without the agreement energy costs would have soared, affecting the economy as a whole, increasing unemployment, and causing "unbearable price increases" for both households and businesses.
-
Trump calls on lawmakers to give healthcare funds 'directly' to the people
The President Donald Trump floated on Saturday a possible compromise amid the impasse surrounding the U.S. Government shutdown. He urged Republicans to redirect federal funds that are currently going to health insurance companies in accordance with the Affordable Care Act to give them to individuals. Trump said in a post on social media that he recommended to Senate Republicans to send the hundreds of billions of dollars currently going to Insurance Companies to save the poor Healthcare provided by ObamaCare directly to the people so they can purchase their own, much better, healthcare and still have money leftover. He added that the "worst healthcare anywhere in the world, ObamaCare, is the one provided by the BAD, BIG Insurance Companies. Take it from them and give it to people. Trump's remarks on Truth Social were made just hours before the U.S. Senate reconvened at noon (1700 GMT), after rejecting legislation that would have reinstated pay for hundreds of thousands federal workers who had been without pay during the longest U.S. shutdown in history. The two sides are still at odds on how to reopen government. Democrats want to include in a funding measure the healthcare subsidies for 24 million Americans that will expire at the end of this year. Republicans, however, say Congress should first pass a bill with no strings attached to allow government reopening. White House representatives did not respond immediately to a comment request on Trump's tweet. The representatives of U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Senate majority leader John Thune did not respond immediately to a comment request. (Reporting and editing by Alistair Bell, Sergio Non, and Jonathan Landay)
-
Tornado in southern Brazil kills six, injures hundreds
The state government reported that a tornado, accompanied by high winds and heavy rainfall, struck Parana in the south of Brazil, killing six. Rio Bonito do Iguacu, the town that was hardest hit, suffered multiple structural failures and roof collapses. The state's civil defence agency reported that more than half of the city area had been affected. The power lines and roads were damaged. The authorities reported that 437 people received treatment for injuries, and approximately 1,000 were forced to relocate. Guarapuava, a nearby city, was also affected. According to the Parana Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring System the winds of the tornado reached speeds between 180 km/h (111mph) and 250 km/h (155mph). Gleisi-Hoffman, the Institutional Relations Minister, said that she will travel to the affected area with Adriano Massuda, acting Minister of Health and other federal officials on Saturday to assist in relief and reconstruction efforts. "We will continue our assistance to the people of Parana, and provide any help that is needed," wrote President Luiz inacio da Silva on X. He also expressed condolences to families of the victims. (Reporting and editing by Alistair Bell; Marcela Ayres)
-
US cuts flights for a second day as the shutdown continues
U.S. Airlines and travelers endured a second day on Saturday of flight cancellations across the nation as the shutdown is expected to cause more cancellations over the next few days. Due to the shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration has instructed airlines to reduce 4% of flights at 40 major airports on Saturday. The cut will increase to 6% by Tuesday, and to 10% on November 14. These cuts began at 6 am. About 700 flights were affected by the cuts on Friday morning, 1100 GMT, from American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines. Due to a lower volume of flights, airlines will cancel fewer flights Saturday than they did on Friday. United Airlines will cancel 168 flights on Saturday, down from Friday's 184, and Southwest will cancel a little under 100 flights. The record-breaking 39-day shutdown of the government has forced 13,000 air traffic control operators and 50,000 security screening workers to work without pay. This has led to an increase in absenteeism. On Thursday, many air traffic controllers learned that they wouldn't be paid for the second pay period in the next week. The Trump administration is increasing pressure on Congressional Democrats in order to get them to accept a Republican-led plan to fund federal government and reopen it. One such attempt is to raise the specter dramatic disruptions in air travel. Democrats claim Republicans are responsible for the shutdown, because they refused to negotiate on extending health insurance subsides. Sean Duffy, the U.S. Transportation secretary, said that he might require a 20% cut in air traffic if conditions worsen and more controllers fail to show up. Duffy stated, "I evaluate the data." We're going make decisions based upon what we observe in the airspace. In addition to the cancellations, the FAA was forced by the absence of air traffic control on Friday to delay hundreds flights in 10 airports, including Atlanta, San Francisco Houston, Phoenix, Washington D.C. and Newark. Over 5,600 flights were canceled or delayed on Friday. In a statement earlier this week, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford stated that 20% to 40% controllers did not show up to work on any particular day.
-
UPS grounds its MD-11 fleet after Louisville crash
UPS announced on Friday that it had grounded its fleet McDonnell Douglas MD-11s. This is the type of aircraft involved in the crash of Tuesday in Louisville, Kentucky which resulted in at least 13 deaths. UPS spokesperson stated in an email that "out of an abundance caution and for the sake of safety, we've made the decision to ground temporarily our MD-11 fleet". The spokesperson said that MD-11s make up about 9% the fleet of the company. The grounding takes effect immediately. NBC News was the first to report on this news. On Tuesday evening, a UPS cargo flight bound for Honolulu took off. crashed just after takeoff at Louisville International Airport. U.S. safety inspectors reported that three UPS pilots tried to control the cargo plane as the bell rang in the cockpit on Friday. Todd Inman, National Transportation Safety Board Member, says that UPS flight 2976 began without incident, but a repeated bell could be heard in the cockpit voice recorder 37 seconds after the crew had called for the takeoff thrust. Tell reporters. FedEx and Boeing, who own the MD-11 program following their 1997 merger, both operate MD-11 cargo planes, but did not respond immediately to comments. Reporting by Rishabh J. Jaiswal in Bengaluru and Dheeraj K. Kumar; Editing by William Mallard, Thomas Derpinghaus
Aerospace giants go back to Farnborough hobbled by factory problems
A humbled aerospace market holds its yearly celebration next week struggling to meet demand because of a crisis inside its plants.
For years a venue for planemakers led by Airplane and Boeing to boast about billions of dollars of orders, the July 22-26 Farnborough Airshow is likely to be overshadowed by growing airline company aggravation over plane lacks and delays.
Carriers like Japan Airlines are said to be close to firming up recent tentative orders, and Qatar Airways, Korean Air and Turkish Airline companies have all said they are buying jets.
However, regardless of some offers, issues about supply chains and factory efficiency are set to eclipse the typical triumphalism.
The whole market has suffered supply chain problems, Saleh Eid, vice-president of fleet management at Saudia Airlines, informed inside a factory in Germany that is due to help develop 105 newly purchased Airplane jets for the Gulf carrier.
Boeing in particular is anticipated to embrace a muted tone as it battles with a corporate crisis following the mid-air blowout in January of a door plug blamed on missing out on bolts.
Outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun will not attend for a 2nd year and industry bible Air travel Week bemoaned what it called a. management vacuum, though divisional leaders will all be. present. Nor is the company displaying its own aircrafts this time.
A Boeing spokesperson referred to an earlier statement that. it had actually customized its presence to concentrate on safety and quality.
Airplane will thin its presence to cut expenses, delegates stated.
After widespread quality snags such as improperly tightened. bolts, some state the hunger is for more torque and less talk.
It's not the very best time to present great deals of orders; it is. about enhancing things in the factory, one delegate stated.
Air travel was hit hard by the pandemic which saw air travel. collapse only to get better sharply. That has actually left many firms. scrambling to deal with labour and parts lacks. By the time. they recuperate, the juiciest part of business cycle might be. running out, said Firm Partners analyst Nick Cunningham.
In the previous the problem has always been one of demand, about. the length of time is the cycle going to last. Now the concern is about. getting packages out of the door.
Critics state the industry has itself to blame after squeezing. suppliers.
They are understanding that securing a big chunk of the supply. chain and providing it the resources it requires is a precursor to. doing the ramp-up, Aerodynamic Advisory Handling Director. Richard Aboulafia said.
Planemakers do have something to commemorate, with Boeing's. delayed 777X starting accreditation test flights and Jet. winning approval for its A321XLR.
However competitors like China's Comac, Brazil's Embraer and the. futuristic curved Jet No are alert for chances.
FIGHTER PREPARES
The biennial event in southern England, which rotates. with the Paris Airshow, is also expected to provide contrasting. photos of worldwide affairs.
Air travel is growing as societies and individuals connect and do. company, with a record five billion journeys anticipate this year.
However rising geopolitical stress are stoking demand for. weapons and fuelling trade tensions that can harm air travel.
There is still some ecstasy post-COVID, however it is somewhat. detached from the geopolitical situation, stated market. advisor Bertrand Grabowski.
The vulnerability of airline companies to problems was underscored on. Friday when a worldwide cyber interruption triggered airport chaos and. numerous flight cancellations, on top of scarce jet capacity.
The defence side of the program will focus on Ukraine, possible. hold-ups to America's future F-22 fighter replacement, code-named. NGAD, and a defence review by Britain's brand-new Labour federal government.
The new (UK) ministerial group will be lobbied by all the. defence business to make sure their equipment is leading of the. concepts pile, stated Alex Walmsley, associate fellow of UK. think-tank RUSI.
That may not cut much ice with the head of the Royal Air. Force.
It ought to be a focus on speed, efficiency and imagination. that we prioritise, not those who lobby loudest, Air Chief. Marshal Richard Knighton told a conference on Thursday.
The value of cheap and effective drones has been proven in. Ukraine, and they will stay part of future planning, he stated.
But the re-emergence of big-power competitions has focused. attention on the most sophisticated systems including NGAD's. principle for fighters partnered with swarms of drones.
That will likewise be on the minds of top brass at the world's. largest military air show: the July 19-21 Royal International. Air Tattoo, where fighter aces come once a year to display air. power and shatter the rural calm of England's Cotswolds.
Amongst the VIPs will be U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank. Kendall. In an interview with Air travel Week in June, he appeared. to cast doubt on the future of NGAD over costs.
Weeks later, he informed Defense News that NGAD's. family-of-systems concept was alive and well though could be. less expensive.
Britain remains in one of 2 groups checking out comparable. crewed-uncrewed systems, designed to toss lethal mass at. adversaries.
BAE Systems is co-operating with partners in Italy. and Japan to develop a system called GCAP, while France, Germany. and Spain are pushing a similar Future Battle Air System, also. known by the French initials SCAF.
I think (the UK review) is favorable for GCAP since the. new federal government has actually explained that global co-operation on. security is among its essential concerns, Walmsley stated.
Others speculated any NGAD delays would offer Europeans an. reason to re-examine their options and test political assistance.
Europe is following the tail lights of NGAD and the brakes. are beginning, stated a European defence industry source.
(source: Reuters)