Transportinfo.org.uk - today's transport news in the uk, hand picked for you each morning

Tuesday, 24 September 2019

BBC News

• Clarity needed over public funds for airport says senior Tory AMA senior civil servant indicated that Cardiff Airport may always require public support.
• Repatriation begins for Scots passengers after Thomas Cook collapseThe first Thomas Cook passengers land at Glasgow airport as a huge repatriation operation gets under way.
• Boeing to pay bereaved 737 families $144,500 eachThe financial assistance fund Boeing set up after the crashes has started accepting claims.

Financial Times

• Frequent flyer: allergies, anxieties and emergencies at 35,000ftDiversions are rare but the likelihood of encountering medical problems is an increasing concern
• Ryanair's clampdown on pilot sick leave draws criticismAirline sends letters threatening disciplinary action over repeated absenteeism
• UK begins 'hugely complex' effort to fly stranded tourists homeDozens of airlines join £100m operation to repatriate 150,000 Thomas Cook customers

The Guardian

• Frequent flyers could face extra tax under plans to cut emissionsMinisters offered a range of options to keep UK on track to hit carbon reduction targetsFlying will have to become more expensive, especially for frequent flyers, to avoid climate chaos and keep the UK within its carbon targets, the government has been warned, while going ahead with a new runway at Heathrow would all but rule out airport expansion in the rest of the country.Ministers are likely to have to choose among options including hikes to air passenger duty, new levies on frequent flyers and changes to air taxation relative to rail and road in order to limit burgeoning demand for cheap f...
• How secret plans saved customers of Thomas Cook from being strandedCivil servants spent millions creating a pop-up airline ready to fly back Brits abroadIn what turned out to be the last week of Thomas Cook's 178-year history, while banks and creditors were still attempting to thrash out a rescue deal, civil servants were placing a multimillion-pound bet of their own. And their money was on the airline collapsing.For the second time in the space of two years, the Civil Aviation Authority was secretly putting together its own pop-up airline, and this was even bigger than the last one, assembled to repatriate stranded Monarch passengers in 2017. Continue readin...

Times Online

• Boeing Max 737 crash in Indonesia ‘caused by pilot error and faulty design’ [subscription]Investigators looking into the Boeing 737 Max crash in Indonesia — the first of two disasters that killed 346 people in total and led to the model being grounded worldwide — have blamed faulty design and lapses by American regulators.
• Reform could have kept Thomas Cook airline open [subscription]Ministers faced criticism over their role in the collapse of Thomas Cook yesterday as it emerged that the bankrupt company’s German sister airline was continuing to fly.
• Frequent flyers should pay tax on emissions [subscription]Frequent flyers should face higher taxes to help reduce aviation emissions, according to the government’s climate change advisers.

Reuters News

• UK should include aviation, shipping in net zero emission goal - advisersThe aviation and shipping sectors should formally be included in Britain's target to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, the government's climate advisers said on Tuesday.

Birmingham Post

• Airport company sees profits soar to £65.4mRigby Group owns or runs seven regional airports including those in Exeter, Bournemouth, Coventry and Norwich

Bolton News

• Manchester Airport evacuation was caused by naked man A FORCED evacuation at Manchester Airport appears to have been caused by a naked man running around the transport interchange.

Bristol Live

• Virgin Atlantic advertises jobs for 'Thomas Cook cabin crew only'Thousands of Thomas Cook staff members are facing uncertain futures

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Virgin Atlantic offers jobs to Thomas Cook cabin crew after company's collapseA recruitment drive has been launched for those who have been left unemployed

London Evening Standard

• Thomas Cook collapses: Boris Johnson attacks travel firm bosses over multi-million-pound payouts as thousands remain strandedBoris Johnson has attacked Thomas Cook bosses for receiving multi-million-pound payouts before the travel firm collapsed, leaving thousands of passengers stranded abroad.

C.N.N.

• Boeing to start paying compensation to families of victims killed in 737 Max crashesBoeing will begin to pay $50 million in financial assistance to the families of more than 300 victims of the two 737 Max crashes, the company announced Monday.

Aviation Industry

• Halve aviation growth plans to tackle climate change, government experts adviseThe Government should reassess its airport capacity strategy in the context of making aviation emissions net zero by 2050, the CCC has told the Transport Minister Grant Shapps in a letter to the Government today. The UK legislated in June …
• UK CAA wet-leases aircraft for Thomas Cook repatriation effortThe UK CAA has wet-leased aircraft from operators around the world to support a massive repatriation of Thomas Cook Airlines passengers stranded by the compulsory liquidation of UK leisure operator Thomas Cook. read more
• Thomas Cook’s Gatwick slots likely to generate interestThe grounding of UK leisure carrier Thomas Cook Airlines is likely to spark interest in the airline’s slot portfolio at London Gatwick Airport, although the slots are highly seasonal. read more
• FAA: Engine Alliance A380 operators face more stringent inspectionsSome operators of Engine Alliance GP7000-series powered Airbus A380s face more stringent engine fan hub assembly inspections after examination of the hub that separated during an uncontained failure two years ago pointed to higher risk of cracks. read more

Other News Sources

• Heathrow launches trial to help improve recycling rates at UK airportsMinisters need to be clear whether Cardiff Airport will always need public funds, a Conservative AM has said. London Heathrow Airport is launching the trial to improve recycling rates across the UK’s busiest facility. In what it claims to be a first for the UK, the airport will bring in new technology that could turn unrecyclable passenger waste into furniture, uniforms and alternative fuels.
• Gatwick Airport campaign to tackle drunk and disruptive passengers results in 51 arrests There were 376 reports of problem passengers during the four-month campaign