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Pete Buttigieg Warns of Flight Delays as 5G Deadline Looms

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Published: Monday, 24 July 2023 11:24

Airlines have until July 1 to update equipment or face restrictions on landing in poor visibility conditions

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is warning of the potential for air-travel disruption ahead of a deadline for airlines to retrofit equipment to avoid potential interference from 5G wireless signals.

Aircraft that haven’t gone through the necessary equipment changes won’t be cleared to land in certain weather conditions when visibility is low starting July 1, when U.S. wireless companies plan to boost their 5G service to higher power levels.

“There’s a real risk of delays or cancellations,” Buttigieg said in an interview. “This represents one of the biggest—probably the biggest—foreseeable problem affecting performance this summer.”

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Airbus Sells 500 Jets to India’s IndiGo in Record Aircraft Deal

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Published: Monday, 10 July 2023 11:23

The $50 billion agreement, at list prices, opens the Paris Air Show as demand for air travel surges IndiGo’s Airbus deal surpasses in size an agreement reached by Air India earlier this year. 

LE BOURGET, France—Indian discount airline IndiGo agreed to buy 500 Airbus increase; green up pointing triangle jets, marking the largest commercial jet deal in civil-aviation history as travel rebounds after the height of the pandemic.

The firm order for the A320 family of narrow-body aircraft is valued at $50 billion at the most recently available list prices before customary discounts that can top 50%.

Global airline traffic is fast approaching prepandemic levels. With plane makers Airbus and Boeing struggling to keep up, carriers are ordering planes for delivery as many as 12 years out, far longer than during previous booms.

IndiGo’s firm order came on Monday during the first day of the Paris Air Show, an annual aviation-industry trade show typically punctuated with deals touted by Airbus and Boeing.

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This Flying Taxi at the Paris Air Show Is Quiet. Too Quiet.

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Published: Thursday, 06 July 2023 15:22

Debut of Volocopter’s electric-powered air cab is drowned out by roaring jets and helicopters at air-industry bazaar

Air-taxi startup Volocopter announced that it hopes to carry passengers with its VoloCity aircraft during the Paris Olympics. But will the company get its aircraft certified in time? WSJ’s George Downs explores. Photo Illustration: Derryl Barnes

LE BOURGET, France—One of the hottest new aircraft is having a muted debut at the world’s premier aviation showcase.

Turns out, it’s too quiet.

Executives at Volocopter, the German developer of a flying taxi it hopes will ferry visitors around the City of Light at next year’s Summer Olympics, showcased a prototype of the aircraft here at this year’s Paris Air Show.

But this is a thunderously loud trade fair, where screeching jet fighters, thumping attack helicopters and roaring airliners turn heads and interrupt conversations.

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Russia’s Aircraft Need Maintenance They Can No Longer Get

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Published: Monday, 15 May 2023 15:14

Sanctions cut off access to parts and technology for key upkeep, raising concerns over safety.

Russia has limited access to parts, software and technical skills needed to carry out critical maintenance due on hundreds of commercial jets, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis, raising safety concerns among industry executives and regulators.

In the days after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, many Western countries closed airspace to Russian jets. The U.S. and Europe also slapped the country with a series of sanctions and export controls that have blocked parts, services and other technology from being provided to the country’s fleet of commercial airliners.

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Western officials said they specifically targeted the sector—a key pillar of Russia’s economy that is profoundly dependent on Western assistance. But Russian airlines have kept flying, carrying some 95 million passengers last year amid buoyant demand for domestic flights.

Boeing Co. BA 1.64%increase; green up pointing triangle and Airbus SE planes comprise about 77% of Russia’s fleet of 696 in-service aircraft. In December, Russia’s central bank said Western aircraft carry 97% of all Russian passenger traffic.

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