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Jet maker may be reviving plans for a new aircraft to serve medium-haul flights, but the story of the Boeing 757 shows that timing can be everything
Boeing’s ambitions for a midrange plane may be the right idea at the wrong time—again. Last year, the Chicago-based manufacturer started conversations with customers about building such a jet with a single-aisle cabin. Then, during the fourth-quarter earnings presentation in late January, Chief Executive David Calhoun all but confirmed that the company’s next jet would indeed address the “middle of the market” between long international flights and short-haul domestic ones.
This appears to end speculation that Boeing could prioritize a replacement for the troubled 737 MAX, which is now flying again. It is a good call not to undermine MAX sales with talk of a substitute.
Last week, the buzz increased after trade journal Aviation Week reported that the new jet could instead be a two-aisle model, reviving the so-called New Midsize Airplane project that Boeing abandoned when Mr. Calhoun took over last year. This time, though, the program wouldn’t just have two variants seating 225 and 275 people, but also a third, smaller one.
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Beijing says it lodged complaints about questioning of arriving workers about Communist Party membership
HONG KONG—China accused American officials of harassing Chinese airline and shipping crews that arrive in the U.S. in attempts to single out Communist Party members, and warned that Beijing may retaliate against Washington for what it considers to be provocative behavior.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said U.S. law-enforcement personnel have recently conducted surprise raids on sailors aboard arriving Chinese ships and questioned arriving Chinese airline crews to ascertain whether they are members of the Communist Party. She didn’t offer details.
Ms. Hua, speaking at a routine briefing on Monday, denounced such enforcement actions as a severe political provocation designed to “provoke ideological confrontation.”
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Airport screenings were elevated this weekend, and some chose to drive rather than fly
Many would-be fliers opted to remain at home or drive. Travelers at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on Sunday.
The weekend after Thanksgiving met expectations that it would be the busiest travel period in the U.S. since the coronavirus pandemic began, aided by clement weather and lower gas prices that encouraged some to drive rather than fly.
Almost 50 million people were expected to have made a journey during the Thanksgiving holidays, said AAA, despite tightening local clampdowns and warnings from federal health officials. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Nov. 19 recommended people not travel over Thanksgiving.
The number of travelers from Nov. 25 through Nov. 29 was down more than 10% from a record set last year, according to AAA, which includes flights and road trips of more than 50 miles. Airlines, which boosted capacity earlier in the month only to trim flying when cancellations started to climb in recent weeks, said traveler numbers were in line with their revised expectations.
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Carriers are positioning doses for quick distribution if vaccines are approved by regulators
The flights are one link in a vast global supply chain being assembled to tackle the logistical challenge of distributing Covid-19 vaccines.
United Airlines Holdings Inc. UAL -0.55% on Friday began operating charter flights to position doses of Pfizer Inc.’s PFE 2.90% Covid-19 vaccine for quick distribution if the shots are approved by regulators, according to people familiar with the matter.
The initial flights are one link in a global supply chain being assembled to tackle the logistical challenge of distributing Covid-19 vaccines. Pfizer has been laying the groundwork to move quickly if it gets approval from the Food and Drug Administration and other regulators world-wide.
Pfizer’s distribution plan also includes refrigerated storage sites at the drugmaker’s final-assembly centers in Kalamazoo, Mich., and Puurs, Belgium, and expanding storage capacity at distribution sites in Pleasant Prairie, Wis., and in Karlsruhe, Germany, in addition to dozens of cargo flights and hundreds of truck trips each day.
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