August 12, 2020 - No. 060 In This Issue New COVID-19 Security Guidance for Airports Sikorsky secures five-year support deal for Australian MH-60Rs Aerospace Technology Institute Launches One-Year Study of Zero Emission Commercial Aircraft Oxford University Looks To Power Aircraft With Ammonia. Bringing Non-Cooperative Drone Traffic into UTM Solutions Honeywell Promotes Efficiencies of Blockchain JetBlue is the First U.S. Airline to Commit to and Achieve Carbon Neutrality for All Domestic Flying Innovating for a New Normal Across the Global Airport Industry Boeing 747s still get critical updates via floppy disks How Ground Handling has Adapted During the Pandemic SpaceX plans to build luxury spaceport resort in a tiny Texas town New COVID-19 Security Guidance for Airports The new Aviation Smart Security Playbook has been developed in collaboration with Deloitte and is designed to assist airports in providing a safe, secure, and hygienic experience for passengers, staff, and the public amid the COVID-19 pandemic. ACI World worked closely with Deloitte to present the guidance in a clear and concise manner that is straightforward for users to follow. The guidance is aligned with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) recommendations which lays out a global roadmap for the restart and recovery of air travel. It provides airports with practical and ready-to-implement solutions to ensure operational readiness as they prepare for gradual increase in passenger traffic. The guidance focuses on: pre-security measures security and control measures primary security considerations passenger expectations, and creating a decision framework for control measures. "As airports around the world restart operations, providing important connectivity and essential operations, their primary focus is on protecting the health and welfare of passengers and staff, as well as to minimize the opportunities for dissemination of disease," ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira said. "The entire aviation ecosystem is adjusting to the complexities of the 'new normal' and responding to the needs and expectations of passengers is crucial in rebuilding confidence that air travel is safe. "Aviation will be a key engine driving the long term global economic recovery from the effects of COVID-19 and these guidelines are intended to assist airports during the initial phases of business restart as well as the longer-term recovery process. "Our collaboration with Deloitte on this guidance is an example of the collaborative approach which will be key to this sustainable recovery." Deloitte welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with ACI. "We are delighted to be cooperating with ACI on bringing this guidance material to their airport members. As aviation operations continue to recover, we hope it serves as a useful information source to airports and their stakeholders as they safely and securely adjust their services to accommodate COVID-19 control measures," Martin Bowman, aviation technology director at Deloitte, added. In making use of the guidance, airports should assess the local conditions and requirements - and the security or passenger needs on the ground - and should consider the long-term benefits of any new measure. https://ftnnews.com/aviation/40062-new-covid-19-security-guidance-for-airports Back to Top Sikorsky secures five-year support deal for Australian MH-60Rs Sikorsky has secured a $200 million sustainment contract for the Royal Australian Navy's fleet of 24 MH-60R maritime helicopters. The five-year contract will see the Lockheed Martin unit support the fleet at the Albatross Aviation Technology Park in the town of Nowra, where the helicopters as based, says Sikorsky. "Sikorsky Australia has a proven track record as a sustainment partner to the Royal Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm and is an exemplar of Australian industry capability," says Lockheed Martin Australia chief executive Joe North. "As the world's most advanced maritime helicopter, the MH-60R is a critical capability for the Royal Australian Navy to defend Australia's national interests and Sikorsky Australia engineers are proud to work alongside our service personnel to ensure the fleet's operational availability is maximised." Cirium fleets data indicates that that there are 304 MH-60Rs in service globally. The largest operator is the US Navy, with 278 in its inventory. In addition to Australia, other operators include Denmark and Saudi Arabia. In addition, the Indian navy has 24 examples on order. https://www.flightglobal.com/helicopters/sikorsky-secures-five-year-support-deal-for-australian-mh-60rs/139742.article Back to Top Aerospace Technology Institute Launches One-Year Study of Zero Emission Commercial Aircraft The UK's Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) will lead a one-year project to study design challenges and potential for a zero-emission commercial aircraft, a part of the Jet Zero Council launched by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in July to tackle climate change and establish national leadership on carbon neutral long-haul air travel. Executives from ATI, speaking during a webinar about the project, described it as an effort to holistically explore the potential to realize a zero-carbon emission commercial aircraft, with 80 seats or more, by the end of the decade, with potential for a follow-on phase to include a major demonstrator project. "The prime minister spoke about his ambition to achieve some bold carbon reduction ... he's completely bought into it, and they see FlyZero as forming a key component of that mission," said Gary Elliot, CEO of ATI. "This is a transformative project that has the potential to have a follow-on moonshot phase if we get it right." Working with partners across the UK's aerospace sector, ATI intends to bring up to 110 people into its organization as "secondees," where they will work for the FlyZero project full-time with salaries and expenses paid by ATI. Most will be engineers, but smaller teams will also be stood up to examine markets, commercial viability, production, lifecycle and supply chain issues. The project will begin with an initial study phase, collecting and structuring known information on air vehicle concepts, energy sources and conversion, and future air transport markets, according to Simon Weeks, ATI's chief technology officer. "Then, we'll down-select ideas that we think are most appropriate and carry out a concept trade study, starting to pull those views of aircraft and aircraft systems ... how they might perform, how sustainable they might be, what operational issues there might be, and whether we have a view at that stage on what the commercial and operational viability might be," Weeks said during the broadcast. In the final project phase, one or more designs will be chosen through a further down-select for a preliminary design phase, where Weeks said the intent is to develop concepts into much more fleshed-out models and understand their performance and technological challenges in greater detail. "We're looking to see what is the most likely commercial zero net carbon aircraft in the 2030s and what addition does the UK need to do to be ready for that? What demonstrator projects do we need to do downstream from this study?" Weeks said. "[This project will] take one or more designs to a reasonable level of detail, and once you get into a level of detail, only then you start to tease out some of the key technical issues." In addition to potential follow-on projects, the results of the one-year FlyZero program will be disseminated back into the UK aerospace community to further encourage progress toward zero emissions aircraft. ATI officials said the initial FlyZero project will only include UK partners, as part of its goal is to create a UK consortium and bolster national competitiveness in pursuit of zero-carbon aviation solutions, but later follow-on projects may look to include international collaboration. "If you take the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] scenarios in order to achieve 1.5 or even 2 degrees [Celsius] warming by the end of the century, and overlay the trajectory for aviation in terms of CO2 output, the sector is on track by 2050 to become a major, if not the major, contributor to CO2 emissions," said James McMicking, chief strategy officer for ATI. "Today, it's only two percent, but other sectors will find it easier than aerospace to reduce their carbon emissions." https://www.aviationtoday.com/2020/08/13/aerospace-technology-institute-launches-one-year-study-zero-emission-commercial-aircraft/ Back to Top Oxford University Looks To Power Aircraft With Ammonia On Sunday, it was revealed that, after a breakthrough at Oxford University, we could be close to seeing commercial airliners powered by ammonia instead of kerosene. The British technology would result in zero-emission aircraft, and airlines would be able to adapt their existing fleets rather than having to buy redesigned planes. Eco-friendly aircraft on the horizon The Telegraph reported on Sunday that greener aircraft engine technology being developed in Oxford could mean emission-free air travel within a matter of years. Reaction Engines is working on systems to adapt existing planes to run with zero emissions using ammonia as fuel instead of kerosene. Ammonia is harder to burn, making it safer than kerosene, and when it does burn, it doesn't produce CO2. The chemical has benefits over hydrogen and battery power options - it is cheaper and can be stored in the wings, as conventional fuel is at the moment. Without having to create different fuel storage solutions, existing aircraft fleets could be adapted instead of redesigning jets. This also means that fares wouldn't need to rise significantly. Reaction Engines is working on the project at Oxford University's Harwell Campus with funding from the government's Science and Technology Facilities Council. James Barth, who has been working on the project, said, "There's no reason why, without the right funding, we couldn't have a small-scale demonstrator ready to test within a matter of years." Ammonia aircraft power To power the engines, ammonia would need to be split into hydrogen and nitrogen using a heat exchanger and a catalyst. The chemical mix would then be ignited in the combustion chamber to create power. The only emissions would be harmless water vapor, nitrogen, and possibly nitrogen oxides, which can be removed using more ammonia. Mr Barth says, "The fuel could actually scrub its own emissions." Ammonia is currently a similar price to kerosene, although producing completely green ammonia would be more expensive. However, the higher production costs could be offset by low carbon taxes. One of the few disadvantages of ammonia over conventional fuel is its lower energy density, which would mean aircraft would have a slightly shorter range. Governments insist on lower carbon emissions With the world's airlines grounded by the coronavirus pandemic, we have seen cleaner and clearer skies, bringing the realization that air travel needs to be more eco-friendly. As many governments have been forced to bail out their national carriers to keep them afloat in the wake of the crisis, they have linked the loans to emissions targets. The UK government pledged last year to have net zero emissions by 2050. Several trials of battery-powered aircraft have been conducted, and companies like Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Siemens are looking into the new technology. Chief executive of Reaction Engines, Mark Thomas said, "The pandemic could help in the push towards green travel. We've been living under clean skies for the past few months." He added, "It is becoming clear that there is going to be a real technology drive." It could be possible that the cloud of COVID-19 will bring the silver lining of much cleaner air travel. https://simpleflying.com/ammonia-powered-aircraft/ Back to Top Bringing Non-Cooperative Drone Traffic into UTM Solutions The drone industry and regulators agree that remote identification, once implemented, will be a key enabler of greater airspace integration - but not the full solution. In addition to terrain, localized weather information and other datasets, providers of unmanned traffic management (UTM) services are working to seamlessly include non-cooperative drone traffic in their airspace awareness picture. To accomplish that, UTM providers are increasingly working with a variety of partners to leverage radars, radio-frequency (RF) sensors and other technologies that add pieces to the puzzle. Monitoring non-cooperative drone traffic is much more difficult than tracking cooperative drones, and a challenge that military, airport and other critical infrastructure customers have yet to determine best practices for. Hundreds of drone security solutions are on the market or in development, relying primarily on RF and/or radar as well as acoustic and electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors to discover drones. Most are far more effective in a deserted environment than crowded, signal-dense cities; similar to safe drone operations. This is the most difficult challenge. "Let's say you're in a crowded party and somebody shouts toward to you and does everything in their power to make you hear him - he faces you, you can hear him and read his lips. This is a cooperative drone situation," Nir Raz, CEO and co-founder of Israeli drone monitoring startup Vorpal, told Avionics International. "To detect non-cooperative drone traffic, you need to pick up on every whisper in the corner of the room, quietly to the person next to him with his back to you. And you need to do this with no false alarms." To make matters worse, reading the contents of signals transmitted between drones and their operators - not to mention nearby RF-enabled devices, such as cell phones and other Bluetooth/Wi-Fi devices, which would also be picked up - is illegal in most localities. Decoding a signal to extract GPS coordinates violates federal wiretapping laws in the United States, and just about all drones nowadays encrypt signal transmissions. Vorpal accomplishes this by using passive RF sensors and multilateration - where multiple sensors pick up on differences in signals' time of arrival to pinpoint the location of its origin - to pick up and localize drone activity based solely on the physical waveform of signals transmitted. Highly-advanced algorithms then compare detected signals to a library of known drone transmissions, picking out drone activity (and often without reporting thousands of other RF signals in the targeted space. Raz, who holds a PhD in physics from Tel Aviv University, told Avionics his company's VigilAir solution is able to provide locational accuracy of drones - and often their operators - at close to GPS accuracy with nearly zero false positives. That's a claim made by many drone security companies, but Vorpal's system is currently deployed in major cities on both sides of the Atlantic and has been used by police to track down dozens of unlawful drone operators during major events. "The benefits of this approach is that they don't need to transmit, reducing complexity, cost and regulation hurdles," one expert in drone sensing technologies told Avionics. "But there are downsides, including emplacement challenges. With something like radar, you are trying to cover you blind spots with additional sensors. With this technology, you need many sensors to see each spot to have 'coverage.'" There are two additional vulnerabilities to Vorpal's approach. Drones that operate fully autonomously, without any communication, won't be detected; and the system may not identify the RF signals of a drone not yet in its database. Raz estimates the company's library has more than 90 percent of commercially-operated drones in its database and is continually adding new information. Hidden Level, a data-as-a-service company which recently joined Uber Elevate's ecosystem as an airspace awareness partner, told Avionics its solution also complies with privacy laws and does not record or read personal information. Many other passive RF-based drone security companies contacted by Avionics International did not respond to specific inquiries about their technology's viability in RF-dense environments and privacy compatibility. A representative for Hidden Level said the company is currently working with customers in metropolitan areas on both the east and west coasts of the United States, with public announcements slated for later this year. Utah-based Fortem Technologies told Avionics that radar is the superior technology for detecting non-cooperative drones aircraft in dense civilian populations, as is it relatively cheap and easy to turn a drone "RF-dark" and render RF sensors powerless. Fortem's radars similarly employs algorithms, along with neural networks trained on large datasets, to reduce false positives and improve their monitoring capabilities, but radar faces a problem RF detection doesn't: distinguishing drones from birds. Drone security ultimately requires a multi-layered approach, combining RF and radar along with cameras, acoustics and other secondary sensors to detect and track all possible types of non-cooperative aircraft. Mitigation that avoids collateral damage is an even more complex challenge, with currently just four federal agencies authorized to carry out counter-drone activities - jamming or otherwise - as drones are considered aircraft by federal law. In turn, for the airspace awareness picture provided by a UTM company to enable drone delivery or air taxis in a crowded environment, it will need to incorporate real-time data on both cooperative and non-cooperative drone traffic - and quickly and accurately distinguish between the two. AirMap, a leading provider of UTM services and member of the Federal Aviation Administration's remote ID cohort, is working with Vorpal to solve the challenges involved in building a common operating picture. "We are working together to develop a common operating picture of low-altitude airspace that will enable authorities to monitor cooperative and non-cooperative drones and accelerate BVLOS flights," a representative for AirMap told Avionics. For enabling drone operations beyond visual line of sight, however, many see manned aviation as a greater safety concern than non-cooperative drones. "For the most part, concerning the safety case for our advanced BVLOS applications, the hurdle is more about detecting other manned aircraft," said Ted Lester, chief technologist at GE's AiRXOS. "You don't really need to have a huge knowledge of non-cooperative drones when you're doing complex drone operations." By the time UTM is online at scale, Lester is confident that communication networks will be reliable enough that strategic deconfliction and tactical vehicle-to-vehicle deconfliction, using onboard detect-and-avoid and cooperative mechanisms, will be sufficient in almost all circumstances. "If you really need to go down to the third level, and both of those systems have broken down ... an onboard camera may suffice, or you may be able to meet that level of safety without three levels," Lester added. In Lester's view, it may be more important to ensure data is flowing the other direction - from the UTM system to a drone surveillance or counter-UAS system - to ensure cooperative drones are not targeted. "I do think there's a role for a UTM system to play in making sure that those counter-UAS systems know the legitimate systems," Lester said. "We're going to have package delivery drones, and drones doing [various kinds of inspections], you don't want these counter-UAS systems being triggered all the time by legitimate systems. So I think UTM plays a huge role in making sure that all the legitimate vehicles are known and trusted." For that, the industry ends up back where we started: waiting for the implementation of remote ID to distinguish between cooperative/known and non-cooperative/unknown drones. "Current solutions are more than capable to integrate non-cooperative traffic from a technical point of view," a representative for Unifly told Avionics. "Further development of the legislation and the practical means for authorities to intervene are standing in the way for the full-scale roll out of drone traffic." "The first step is remote ID defined by international standards as ASTM and ASD-STAN; to know exactly who is flying, and the UTM system; to know if they are supposed to be there." https://www.aviationtoday.com/2020/08/11/bringing-non-cooperative-drone-traffic-into-utm-solutions/ Back to Top Honeywell Promotes Efficiencies of Blockchain Honeywell, which initially implemented blockchain technology through its GoDirect Trade aircraft parts marketplace in 2018, has seen the use of that technology take root with more than 2,700 companies and 7,000 users on the platform and more than $8 million transactions processed. GoDirect Trade is an online platform for buying and selling parts, now hosting more than 80 storefronts. Honeywell's "digital blockchain ledger" has served as a key enabler of the platform, providing customers an easy way to access scattered data with speed and efficiency not previously available. Noting that customers have struggled with cumbersome parts documentation processes for decades, Honeywell's blockchain technology pulls together information through the use of a secured, decentralized database that is crowd-sourced by authorized users. The database provides real-time information and can reconstruct records, enabling customers to better track parts history. The ledger is not intended to replace documentation requirements but supplement them and make them more efficient, Honeywell added. "Honeywell's offering is like a search engine, but it works for anything and everything related to aircraft parts and service," said Lisa Butters, general manager for Honeywell's GoDirect Trade and applications owner for blockchain technologies. "Honeywell manufactures and repairs thousands of aerospace parts each day, and now all of those events, including the generated airworthiness certificates, go on-chain. In aerospace, this is a game-changing technology that will simplify and transform recordkeeping for aircraft owners and airlines around the world." Honeywell notes that the technology creates trust between all parties by providing digital transparency. The company is hoping to expand its use through collaboration with other aerospace technologies. "Blockchain is unique because it's a team sport," said Butters. "This isn't just about Honeywell data. In fact, this is not just about aerospace data. Whether you are in aerospace, automotive, electronics, or consumer products, I envision all manufacturing OEMs and repair shops pushing quality documentation and part provenance data to the blockchain, so customers have easy access." https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2020-08-11/honeywell-promotes-efficiencies-blockchain Back to Top JetBlue is the First U.S. Airline to Commit to and Achieve Carbon Neutrality for All Domestic Flying NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--JetBlue (Nasdaq: JBLU) today announced it has followed through on its commitment to go carbon neutral on all domestic flights. Earlier this year, JetBlue became the first major U.S. airline to commit to this critical and measurable step toward reducing its contribution to global warming, and is now the first U.S. airline to achieve carbon neutrality on all domestic flying. On July 1, the airline began offsetting its carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) from jet fuel for all domestic JetBlue-operated flights. JetBlue views carbon offsetting as a bridge to other industry-wide environmental improvements like fuel with lower emissions. Therefore, JetBlue is also investing in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and to start, the airline is fueling flights from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) with SAF. Carbon neutrality is just one way JetBlue is preparing for a changing climate and ensuring a more sustainable business for its crewmembers, customers, shareholders and communities. JetBlue's carbon reduction strategy focuses on reducing emissions in the first place. This includes investments to shrink its impact through fuel-saving technologies and aircraft, and advocating for a more fuel-efficient air traffic control system. JetBlue has achieved reductions in emissions on an intensity basis since 2015, and most recently improved 2.2 percent per available seat mile (ASM) from 2018 to 2019. Offsetting all remaining emissions from domestic flights and investing in SAF will help JetBlue move toward the lower-carbon economy for which aviation and all sectors must plan. "The global pandemic reinforces the need to mitigate risks that threaten the health of our business. Our commitment to sustainability has only become more important as we prepare our business for a new climate reality," said Joanna Geraghty, president and chief operating officer, JetBlue. "Even with a long recovery ahead following the COVID-19 pandemic, JetBlue remains focused on short- and long-term environmental opportunities, particularly lessening our largest impact - carbon emissions - and more fuel efficient flying." Offsetting emissions from all domestic flights Since 2008, JetBlue has been offsetting CO2 emissions from jet fuel with programs to balance customer flying, including a month of carbon neutral flying network-wide in 2015 and again in 2019. Offsetting all domestic flying expands those efforts in a bigger and more impactful way. Prior to this announcement, JetBlue had already offset more than 2.6 billion pounds of CO2 emissions in partnership with CarbonFund.org Foundation-a leading U.S. based nonprofit carbon reduction and climate solutions organization. JetBlue's new carbon offsetting partners include two experts in climate solutions and carbon offsetting - South Pole and EcoAct, in addition to Carbonfund.org. JetBlue will offset all emissions from jet fuel for domestic routes and expects to ramp up to offset 15-17 billion pounds (7 to 8 million metric tons) of CO2 emissions each year - the annual equivalent of removing more than 1.5 million passenger vehicles from the road. As part of its offsetting program, JetBlue selects projects around the globe that will balance the emissions from its jet fuel. Many projects operate in developed countries where a bigger community impact can be made. Emissions reduction projects reduce the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere in at least one of three ways - avoiding greenhouse gas emissions in favor of renewable sources, removing emissions from the atmosphere, and destroying emissions when possible. JetBlue's sustainable aviation fuel program begins on flights from San Francisco JetBlue has started purchasing and flying on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from Neste, the world's third most sustainable company and the largest producer of renewable diesel and SAF made from waste and residue materials, starting in July 2020 for flights from San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Neste's SAF will contribute to JetBlue's efforts to reach its climate goals, providing an immediate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from any aircraft using the fuel. "Neste is proud to be supplying and working with JetBlue, an airline with a strong track record of sustainability leadership," says Chris Cooper, Vice President for Renewable Aviation at Neste North America. "We are bringing additional SAF production capacity online and stand ready to provide JetBlue with even more of this low-emission, high-quality fuel to help them achieve carbon neutral growth. Our work with JetBlue is sending a clear signal to anyone wondering what the future of air travel is - it will be lower-emission, it will be more sustainable, and it will be increasingly powered by SAF." Neste is now successfully delivering SAF to SFO via pipeline, a milestone the airport has called a "climate quantum leap". Once Neste's SAF enters SFO's fuel consortium storage, it is available to the commercial, cargo or business aviation entities that operate at the airport. JetBlue was a first mover in adopting Neste's SAF at SFO, recently taking delivery of the fuel at the airport. With agreements like this, JetBlue is helping to kick-start the SAF market by improving the economics and increasing the use of these lower carbon fuels. Neste's SAF is produced from 100 percent renewable and sustainably sourced waste and residue materials. Over the lifecycle and in neat form, it has up to 80 percent smaller carbon footprint compared to fossil jet fuel whilst also emitting less particulate matter, SOX, and other pollutants. The fuel is shipped via the fuel pipeline, and is fully compatible with the existing jet engine technology and fuel distribution infrastructure when blended with fossil jet fuel. Safety is JetBlue's number one priority, and the fuel is used alongside regular fuel without any changes in safety or impact. How carbon offsetting works - When projects that reduce CO2 emissions are developed, every ton of emissions reduced results in the creation of one carbon offset or carbon credit. A carbon credit is a tradeable certificate that represents the avoidance or removal of one ton of carbon dioxide emissions. Buying carbon credits means investing in emission reduction projects that require carbon offsets financing in order to take place (a.). JetBlue will support carbon offsets projects focused on but not limited to: Landfill Gas Capture (LFG): Landfill gas is a natural byproduct of the decomposition of organic material in landfills. Instead of escaping into the air, LFG can be captured, converted and used as a renewable energy resource. LFG energy projects generate revenue and create jobs in the local community and beyond. Solar/Wind: These projects develop expansive solar and wind farms, generating power that otherwise would have been supplied by fossil fuels like coal, diesel and furnace oil. These projects also create jobs and revenues for local communities. Forestry: Forest conservation projects prevent deforestation by helping voluntarily forego plans that would have converted forests for other purposes, while having additional co-benefits for communities and local wildlife. All of JetBlue's purchased carbon offsets are audited, verified and retired on the airline's behalf. These projects are audited to confirm the carbon reductions are permanent and ongoing. The sale of carbon offsets help to finance the projects. (b.) JetBlue's focus on climate leadership - JetBlue's environmental social governance (ESG) strategy focuses on issues that have the potential to impact its business and the industry in the long-term. Customers, crewmembers and community, as well as stakeholders, are key to JetBlue's climate and sustainability strategy. Demand from these groups for responsible service is one of the motivations to further reduce the airline's environmental impact. Shareholders, including many crewmembers, have demanded that JetBlue's ESG strategy benefit stakeholders and the airline's financial position. Tying ESG to its treasury function, including cash investments and a sustainability-linked loan with some terms dependent on the airline's ESG scores, further demonstrates JetBlue's commitment to combat climate change. Carbon offsetting is just one example of how JetBlue is mitigating its contribution to climate change in response to public and market demand. JetBlue's 2019 Environmental Social Governance (ESG) Report identifies key sustainability factors that affect the airline's business and financial performance. For more information, visit jetblue.com/sustainability. About JetBlue JetBlue is New York's Hometown AirlineĀ®, and a leading carrier in Boston, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Los Angeles, Orlando, and San Juan. JetBlue carries customers across the U.S., Caribbean, and Latin America. For more information, visit jetblue.com. About Neste: Neste (NESTE, Nasdaq Helsinki) creates sustainable solutions for transport, business, and consumer needs. Our wide range of renewable products enable our customers to reduce climate emissions. We are the world's largest producer of renewable diesel refined from waste and residues, introducing renewable solutions also to the aviation and plastics industries. We are also a technologically advanced refiner of high-quality oil products. We want to be a reliable partner with widely valued expertise, research, and sustainable operations. In 2019, Neste's revenue stood at EUR 15.8 billion. In 2020, Neste placed 3rd on the Global 100 list of the most sustainable companies in the world. Learn more about Neste and its mission to fight climate change at Neste.com. Follow Neste on twitter: @Neste_NA and on LinkedIn. (a.) Sourced with permission from www.southpole.com/carbon-offsets-explained (b.) Carbon Offsets Project Certification - JetBlue has purchased high-quality carbon credits that adhere to a strict set of standards. Projects are registered with a third-party internationally recognized verification standard, including the Gold Standard, Verra's Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), Social Carbon and Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards (CCBS), or standards verified by the UNFCCC. These standards also help highlight different benefits while ensuring that the project is real, verified, permanent and additional. Projects certified under each standard means that they have been developed following the rules and requirements of the particular standard; have been independently audited and verified; follow defined GHG emission reduction quantification methodology; and carbon credits are assigned serial numbers and are issued, transferred and permanently retired in publicly accessible emission registries. JetBlue follows the below principles when selecting projects: Real: All GHG emission reductions must be proven to have occurred. Measurable: All GHG emission reductions must be able to be quantified. Permanent: Steps must be in place to ensure a minimal risk of reversing the project emissions reductions, and if reversal takes place, a plan to rebalance the expected reduction. Additional: All GHG emission reductions must be in addition to what would have happened if the project were not developed. Independently Audited: An accredited verification entity experienced in the relevant sector and location has assured all stated emissions reductions have occurred. Unique: No double counting of carbon credits has occurred, with each assigned a unique serial number. Transparent: All GHG-related information must be disclosed. Conservative: Approaches and assumptions are conservative to avoid over-estimation. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200813005548/en/JetBlue-U.S.-Airline-Commit-Achieve-Carbon-Neutrality Back to Top Innovating for a New Normal Across the Global Airport Industry How long will it take for the commercial airline and airport industry to recover from the impact of the global pandemic? What technologies will be required to ensure passenger health and safety and boost confidence in airline travel? Industry experts from ACI World, Heathrow Airport, Istanbul Airport, and Collins Aerospace came together during a virtual webinar with Flight Global to discuss the timeline of recovery and to discuss what the post-coronavirus airport may evolve. A recent report from ACI World noted that airports are expected to "lose 4.6 billion passengers and nearly $100 billion in revenue" this year alone. The economic prediction highlights the struggle that the airport industry is facing and why it is critical to develop a recovery plan where passengers feel safe and confident to travel. Ersin Inankul, Chief Digital and Commercial Officer of the Istanbul Airport, spoke of the high hopes his newly built airport had after opening in April 2018. The state-of-the-art airport facility had its sights set on reaching a milestone of 20 million passengers by 2020, before COVID-19 brought the industry to a halt. Although Heathrow Airport remained opened throughout the pandemic, Chris Garton, Chief Solutions Officer of the airport, said that despite being the largest port in the UK, passenger numbers are down. "The last time we saw passenger numbers at this level it was 1971." To boost passenger confidence and bring travelers back into airports, panelists agreed that major changes need to occur. The first was coordination with government agencies to implement COVID-19 testing and monitoring. The second was to implement technology solutions to create a touch-free experience for passengers. Tony Chapman, Senior Director, Product Management and Strategy, Global Airports at Collins Aerospace, said that, "The future journey to and through the airport requires that the industry make the processes as touchless as possible." This contactless journey can be enabled by biometrics and similar to other technologies throughout the airport, biometrics is being repurposed to prepare airports for recovery. "The technology that we are accelerating because of COVID will soon be required by passengers in a post-pandemic airport," Chapman predicted. Inankul agreed that technology will play a vital role to recovery. The process starts before the passenger leaves their home. Reaching them through mobile apps before they ever enter the facility. When the passenger arrives at the airport, "We meet them with thermal cameras, a hygiene team of 97 people who are [enforcing] regulations and wearing smart helmets and can monitor the temperature of people 10-20 at one time," Inankul explained. In addition, crowd management systems are in place with heat maps to enable more social distancing. Inankul also said that the labs within the airport allows for passengers to get COVID-19 testing results in two to three hours. The airport has 50 booths where passengers can elect to be tested as they arrive or depart from the airport with hourly testing capacity reported at 2,000 tests. At Heathrow, technology enables a "Click and Collect" program throughout the facility and the traveler moves throughout the terminal to purchase goods and services. Garton noted that passengers can browse from a mobile phone or smart device, which allows for a more touchless environment. Garton mentioned that for airport staff, this method helps to keep them safe. "Often technology is not the challenge," said Antoine Rostworowski, Deputy Director General, Programs and Services of ACI World. He said that it's more about the regulations and understanding where the responsibility of screening and testing lies. According to Rostworowski, ACI World believes it firmly lies with the government. "When it comes to funding, technology investment needs to be considered by segment. If it is a technology that addresses a health measure, it should be funded with guidance from the government." Similarly, he noted that many airport technologies designed to improve efficiencies have already been funded by airports and he expects that investment to continue. "Airports can't get into medical testing. It's not our area of expertise, but we are here to facilitate and help as we can working with states," Garton added. Together, it will take collaboration between government and aviation industry stakeholders to enable the innovation required to help airports recover across the global. https://connectedaviationtoday.com/innovating-new-normal-across-global-airport-industry/#.XzV7CWjYrrc Back to Top Boeing 747s still get critical updates via floppy disks Boeing's 747-400 aircraft, first introduced in 1988, is still receiving critical software updates through 3.5-inch floppy disks. The Register reports that security researchers at Pen Test Partners recently got access to a British Airways 747, after the airline decided to retire its fleet following a plummet in travel during the coronavirus pandemic. The team was able to inspect the full avionics bay beneath the passenger deck, with its data center-like racks of modular black boxes that perform different functions for the plane. Pen Test Partners discovered a 3.5-inch floppy disk drive in the cockpit, which is used to load important navigation databases. It's a database that has to be updated every 28 days, and an engineer visits each month with the latest updates. While it might sound surprising that 3.5-inch floppy disks are still in use on airplanes today, many of Boeing's 737s have also been using floppy disks to load avionics software for years. The databases housed on these floppy discs are increasingly getting bigger, according to a 2015 report from Aviation Today. Some airlines have been moving away from the use of floppy discs, but others are stuck with engineers visiting each month to sit and load eight floppies with updates to airports, flight paths, runways, and more. The 10-minute video tour of the 747 (above) is a fascinating insight into the parts of the plane you never get to see, particularly on a decades-old airliner. The tour is part of this year's virtual Def Con conference, the US' largest hacker conference. As modern planes rely upon ever more sophisticated technology, security researchers are increasingly interested in how planes prevent passengers from interfering with flights. Security is particularly relevant when it comes to in-flight entertainment systems. A cybersecurity professor discovered a buffer overflow exploit onboard a British Airways flight last year. The professor was able to use a USB mouse to input long strings of text into an in-flight chat app, crashing the entire in-flight entertainment system for his seat. Security researchers are still hunting for vulnerabilities that would allow them to communicate with flight systems from publicly accessible parts of planes. A focus on security is even more important on the latest aircraft. Modern planes like Boeing's 777X and 787 use fiber networks, where all the avionics plug into this network and are controlled by a pair of computers that run flight critical software. It's more of a traditional network like you'd find inside an office building, and some of the latest airliners even receive software updates over the air. The software that powers modern aircraft isn't always reliable, though. Boeing only just resumed production of its troubled 737 Max airplane after software glitches led to two fatal crashes that killed a total of 346 passengers and crew members. Despite modern technology being available, it hasn't stopped floppy disks from persisting in other industries. The US Defense Department only ended the use of 8-inch floppy disks for coordinating the country's nuclear forces in October, and the International Space Station is full of floppy disks. https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/11/21363122/boeing-747s-floppy-disc-updates-critical-software Back to Top How Ground Handling has Adapted During the Pandemic COVID-19 has significantly impacted the aircraft ground handling industry. Ground service providers have had to adapt to a new reality and come up with solutions to continue to safeguard the safety and well-being of employees and passengers. The threat of COVID-19 in Australia and New Zealand has been overall comparatively low. "The proactive measures taken by our governments and our relative isolation to the rest of the world has seen the total number of cases remain relatively low and our health care system has been able to manage the more serious cases effectively," says Alisha Gardner, safety and standards specialist at Swissport Australia. "We have been very fortunate that the fatalities in our country have been very low compared to the rest of the world. Some of our state borders remain closed in an effort to reduce some small clusters and mitigate a second wave of infections." Safety Programs In order to address the risk of infection from COVID-19 in the ramp environment, each of Swissport's operating stations has a comprehensive COVID-19 safe workplace plan. "The plan was developed to provide our staff and visitors to our workplaces with controls, aligned to government and health department directives. We want our workforce to feel they can go to work and feel protected," says Gardner. Dirk Goovaerts, dnata's regional chief executive officer for Asia Pacific, affirms that the company's expert teams have worked around the clock to develop and implement a comprehensive health and safety program, enhancing services, processes and training across the operations. "dnata has run disinfection programs, introduced new personal protective measures and further improved our cleaning services to safeguard our staff and deliver world-class safety for our airline partners and their passengers," he says. "In addition to the disinfection of our equipment and facilities, we have supplied our employees with personal protective equipment (PPE), including face masks and hand sanitizers. Detailed guidelines on wearing and the safe disposal of PPE have been provided to staff in various roles. Regular safety inspections are conducted by a dedicated team, with team briefings held daily to ensure that all guidelines are understood and followed." Derek O'Reilly, general manager of Universal Aviation Australia observes that the threat of spread in Australia was detected early and government authorities were proactive in placing procedures in place for airline operations. "Most Australian airports of entry employ the same measures when clearing inbound/outbound flights to keep ramp activity for business aviation a sterile environment," he says. "Most clearances, with the exception of medical flights, are cleared through the main terminals where infrastructure has been put in place to detect potential carriers. This infrastructure does extend to the ramp itself where flights are always met by officials from the Department of Health." This procedure has been effective, and it has also shown a strong sense of continuity between all ports where there had been differences before the pandemic, according to O'Reilly. "In Sydney, specifically, our office is located on the general aviation ramp, operating out of a third-party handler's facility. As per government regulations, social distancing (1.5m rule) has been employed, hand sanitization and also reduction of staff is in daily effect. The level of customer service remains the same, with differences only in the use of the FBO facilities as they have reduced the passing of passengers and crew through the lounge where possible," he says. Managing Risk in the Ramp Environment Based on Swissport's risk review and by taking government advice, it appears that the likelihood of transmission is decreased in an open-air environment, particularly when physical distancing and good hygiene practices are observed. "For the instances when one of the controls is unable to be met, for example: the exchange of verbal communication between workers, the risk remains low due to the relatively short close contact time as well as the open-air environment," says Gardner. "Our approach is to try to maintain physical distancing as much as possible and we can still achieve this for the majority of the time when operating in the body aircraft. During the loading or unloading when physical distancing cannot be maintained, again the relatively short time is an advantage, and we have also made other PPE available." For ground handling companies, it is a sound practice not to differentiate between indoors or outdoors in order not to create a false sense of security whereby people become complacent. "Inside and outside, we need to be very COVID-19 conscious when entering, touching and protecting ourselves from possible contamination," says James Nainggolan, Asia Pacific regional safety manager at Universal Aviation. "Whether they operate in the open air or indoors, we provide the same support to our employees to ensure the highest possible level of safety," adds Goovaerts. "In addition to supplying our staff with PPE, we regularly disinfect our ground support equipment, use the latest technology and engage our service providers to minimize touchpoints. We also support our airline customers in adapting their operations to the new normal by delivering innovative services for them." Plans for Ground Handlers In Australasia, domestic business has increased slightly with the easing of border restrictions and some sense of normality is beginning. However, it appears it will be some time before business is back to "normal." The exemption for international crew from quarantine restrictions has also allowed some traffic to operate, according to O'Reilly. "Papua New Guinea (PNG), one of the ports we coordinate, has had a much stricter stance on flights with only tech-stops permitted and with multiple layers of government approvals required. This was due to a state of emergency being declared earlier in the year which has not appeared to have eased," he says. "While technical stops were always a strong part of traffic through PNG, it certainly has reduced business traffic and the multiple layers of approvals do slow down the processes when arranging services." dnata has been closely monitoring the pandemic since the outbreak and company officials have been continuously adapting and updating internal measures and business continuity plans as the situation evolves. "At each location, we work closely with our partners and authorities to ensure the highest safety standards for customers and employees across the operations. dnata Australia has a 'Pandemic Taskforce' in place that meets regularly, supported by internal 'pandemic coordinators' at various business units to ensure the dissemination of information and enforcement of protective measures," explains Goovaerts. Indeed, it is important that ground handlers stay informed and keep the workforce educated, accordingly. "Locally, operations have been able to identify and separate skill sets to minimize the risk of an infection creating a skills shortage," says Gardner. "There are resourcing plans in place that allow flexibility, so should restrictions change in any location, we are able to adjust to the requirements. The COVID-19 safe workplace plans continue to be followed and will be updated as information and guidance from the government, health departments and our workplace legislative bodies." According to Nainggolan, until there is a vaccine the industry must continue to follow COVID-19 restrictions such as social distancing and hand washing. "This is the new norm and, until we have a cure, we need to take every precaution to keep ourselves safe and keep our clients safe as well. So, the plan is not to let our guard down," he says. "The restrictions and procedures that have been put in place have not changed a lot since first introduced. For Australia, we continue to take the threat of spread seriously and these procedures were introduced for the long term. For general aviation, almost every flight will have a different and possibly new challenging component. For ground handlers in this sector, it is always important to be flexible and proactive in making the delivery to clients as seamless as possible." The benefit for those who are in the general aviation (GA) sector is that GA does provide an upper hand when having to work outside of the box. "While the shocking decline in traffic was certainly difficult, it is simply another way we need to meet the customers' needs, from a new angle," says Nainggolan. "Ground handlers need to continue to be flexible and inventive in this challenging time and those that may arise in the future." Looking to the Future While it has been in many ways dramatic, the COVID-19 shock has generated a learning experience and it has served as a reminder that we are tightly coupled. "Things can affect us even if they happen on the other side of the world. By adhering to safety standards and recommendations, we can protect ourselves and the industry from future similar events," says Nainggolan. "Our most important assets are our team members. By teaching, educating and providing them with a good road map (guidance, standards and procedures) we can be prepared to face similar shocks in the future. In fact, we are prepared already with what we have done so far since the outbreak of the pandemic." Indeed, good learning has been accomplished in the area of the education of the risk controls for communicable diseases and their impacts. "For example, simple practices of good hygiene and social distancing can substantially reduce the infection rate. The other key learning has been the speed of the changes. In the future, similar outbreaks will attract a much faster proactive response from governments and health authorities," says Gardner. Ground handling service providers need to step up and look at reinventing the business in preparation for the new "normal." "The opportunity lies in timely identifying the new requirements and seeing where we can either adapt or enhance existing services or introducing new services that are complementary," says Goovaerts. "We have been focused on upskilling our staff during this downtime, with a strong emphasis on e-learning to help us stay agile and build a workforce that can be redeployed internally on a wider scale. The current situation has also enabled the acceleration of technology, where we investigate and implement new procedures supported by automation." https://www.aviationpros.com/ground-handling/ground-handlers-service-providers/article/21146496/how-ground-handling-has-adapted-during-the-pandemic Back to Top SpaceX plans to build luxury spaceport resort in a tiny Texas town SpaceX, the American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company, is currently building its new passenger and cargo aircraft, Starship. According to the website, the aircraft will offer 'service to Earth orbit, Moon, Mars and beyond.' The company has plans to chauffeur passengers to Mars in the near future, and part of this endeavor will include a luxury resort stay. The SpaceX site, in Boca Chica, Texas, is seeking a "Resort Development Manager" with the hopes that the city will become a "21st century Spaceport." Boca Chica is one of Texas tiniest towns-- so small, it could probably be considered a tiny village. Once a quiet beach town, it is now occupied by spaceships. The job posting, spotted by CNBC's Michael Sheetz, stated that SpaceX is looking for a talented Resort Development Manager to oversee the development of SpaceX's first resort from inception to completion." The company is looking for candidates with experience in "high end brand luxury development." According to Tech Crunch, SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk shared his intent to build floating spaceports for both interstellar and point-to-point Earth travel back in June, when the company announced it was seeking Offshore Operations Engineers, also to be located in Brownsville. The aerospace company is preparing its own vehicles for plans to offer oribtal return flights for paying customers using 'Dragon.' Tech Crunch also reported that Dragon is now closer than ever to human flight certification thanks to having completed a return trip to Earth with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on board. Private interstellar travelers could be on their way as early as next year. Now, I'm all for luxurious trips, but I can't say I'm too sold on astronomical travel just yet-- especially if it's spearheaded by Elon Musk. https://www.chron.com/news/space/article/SpaceX-announces-new-venture-for-Texas-spaceport-15474919.php Curt Lewis