Last month, with officials in Washington unable to agree on a budget to avert the stalemate called “sequester,” 149 contract towers across the country were told to shut down. But when lawsuits arose from all corners, the plan was put on hold. Another plan to force all of the nation’s air traffic controllers to cut back their hours produced nationwide backups and howls of dismay that quickly drove Congress to pass a new law in just a week, allowing the FAA to maintain full ATC staffing by raiding the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. The rest of the FAA appears to still be affected, so delays are expected for … everything else. A new budget year starts on September 30, along with the hope that it will, at least temporarily, restore operations to normal.
Boeing’s 787 fleet was grounded in January after the lithium-ion batteries malfunctioned on two airplanes, but late in April the FAA approved a fix and the company was moving quickly to complete the modifications. Fifty of the aircraft are in service. A return to flight status was expected to take several weeks of testing and approvals. The revised systems use new chargers along with new containment and venting measures that are specifically designed to prevent or contain lithium-ion battery fires.
