FAA PAUSES BOEING 737 MAX 9 INSPECTIONS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said that Boeing will revise its instructions to carriers for inspections of its 737 Max 9 aircraft (737-9) after Alaska Airlines and United reported finding some loose hardware, reports Skift. The FAA ordered a temporary grounding of the 737-9 after a door plug on the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines jet blew off mid-air on Friday. The FAA initially greenlighted inspections of the 737-9 on Monday, but inspections can’t continue until new instructions are approved. “Every Boeing 737-9 Max with a plug door will remain grounded until the FAA finds each can safely return to operation,” the FAA said. “To begin this process, Boeing must provide instructions to operators for inspections and maintenance.” Once Boeing provides updated instructions to the FAA, the agency said it will conduct a thorough review of the instructions before any further inspections can go forward. The FAA previously said inspections for each 737-9 should take anywhere from four to eight hours. Airlines had hoped planes would return by at least mid-week, but now it’s unclear when Boeing will provide the FAA with a set of revised instructions and when the FAA will approve them.

AMERICAN AIRLINES ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO AADVANTAGE REWARDS PROGRAM

American Airlines is making changes to its AAdvantage frequent flyer program in 2024, reports Travel Pulse. The newly revealed changes include allowing members to earn miles when they pay with cash to upgrade to a premium cabin, adding a new Loyalty Point Reward level, as well as new opportunities to enhance travel experiences with AAdvantage miles. Beginning "later in January," members will be able to cancel non-refundable Basic Economy fare tickets on the American website and receive a partial trip credit for a fee if the trip is domestic, travel hasn't started yet, and the booking was made through the American website, app, or reservations. Basic Economy tickets booked through a third party cannot be canceled for trip credit. Starting in March, only AAdvantage members will be able to stand by for an earlier flight. To qualify, the flight must depart the same day from and to the same airports as the original flight, have the same number of stops in the same airports as the original flight, and be operated by American or American Eagle carriers. Same-day standby will continue to be available to Oneworld status members, active US military, and Main Cabin Select customers. The carrier also said that more changes will follow later in the year. 

BRAZIL PUSHES BACK VISA WAIVER EXPIRATION TO APRIL

Brazil has delayed the start of visa requirements for visitors from the US, Australia, and Canada to April 10, reports Business Travel News. The requirement was set to begin next week as a visa waiver for those three countries expires, but Brazil has pushed it back while it works to complete implementation of an electronic visa platform and to avoid "interfering with the flow of tourists from these countries to Brazil during the high season," according to the Brazilian Tourist Board. Brazil issued a visa waiver for all three countries in 2019, contingent on a reciprocal waiver agreement from each country, which still has not happened.

DOT: OCTOBER FLIGHT OPERATIONS UP, CANCELLATIONS DOWN

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has released its October Air Travel Consumer Report, which reflects a continued increase in flight operations and decrease in flight cancellations, reports Business Travel News. According to the DOT, US carriers in October operated nearly 633,350 flights representing a 7.3 percent increase year over year and a 6 percent increase month over month. Carriers also reported a 0.3 percent cancellation rate for October, lower than the 1.2 percent rate in September 2023 and the 0.8 percent rate reported in October 2022. The airlines with the lowest rates of canceled flights included Delta Air Lines (0 percent; it canceled 61 flights in October, according to DOT), JetBlue (0.2 percent) and Allegiant Airlines (0.2 percent). The carriers with the highest rates of canceled flights included Hawaiian Airlines (1.7 percent), Spirit Airlines (1.6 percent) and Frontier Airlines (0.7 percent).

US CELEBRATES BUSIEST YEAR EVER FOR AIR TRAVEL IN 2023

The US aviation industry celebrated its busiest year ever for air travel in 2023 with approximately 16.3 million flights and the lowest rate of flight cancellations in at least a decade, reports Airport Technology. The Department of Transportation (DOT) said 2023 saw a cancellation rate for scheduled flights of below 1.2%, almost half of the 2.3% seen in 2022, and only 2016 recording a rate with 1% of 2023. Notably, the Christmas/New Year holiday period saw few delays, with a rate of 0.8%, compared to the high number of delays and cancellations seen in 2022, where cancellations reached 8.2% between December 17 and January 1. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the record numbers reflect a major improvement in the “flexibility and fluidity” of US airspace, stating, “We’ve been pushing the airlines hard, especially after what we saw about a year and a half ago, where even on days where the weather was fine, there were unacceptable levels of cancellations and disruptions. We pressed them on realistic scheduling, we pressed them on staffing, and we made sure that we took steps that were under our own responsibility, especially with things that the FAA could have some control over like improving the routes that aircraft are allowed to fly on.”