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The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is permitting Boeing to resume a limited role in issuing airworthiness certificates for selected 737 MAX and 787 models.

This change will see Boeing and the FAA alternating weekly in the certification process, with the latter maintaining oversight throughout.

The FAA stated: “Safety drives everything we do, and the FAA will only allow this step forward because we are confident it can be done safely.

“This decision follows a thorough review of Boeing’s ongoing production quality and will allow our inspectors to focus additional surveillance on the production process.”

The agency will continue direct supervision over Boeing’s production, aiming to allocate inspector resources more efficiently by deploying them to key areas of assembly and trend analysis.

This policy shift leverages the Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) programme, which enables certified organisations to carry out specific regulatory functions on behalf of the FAA.

An “incident” affecting check-in and bag-drop services provided by Collins Aerospace has continued to affect passenger services at three major European airports on Monday. 

The exact nature of the issue, which struck on 20 September, has not been made public. Delays and flight cancellations have been confirmed at London Heathrow, Brussels (Zavantem) Airport, and Berlin. 

Although the systems provider Collins and its parent company RTX have not confirmed exactly what happened to its check-in operations at the airports, it is widely understood that a form of cyberattack has taken some systems, including the MUSE software, offline. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre confirmed it was “working” on what it described as an “incident”. 

The European Union’s cyber security agency ENISA told news agency Reuters it had confirmed a ransomware attack was responsible for the problems. 

“The type of ransomware has been identified. Law enforcement is involved to investigate,” it said. 

Two Xpeng AeroHT eVTOLs collided in mid-air during a rehearsal for the Changchun air show, and one of the vehicles burst into flames on landing.

Xpeng AeroHT, a subsidiary of Xpeng, revealed that the two eVTOLs made contact while flying too close together, and one craft landed safely while the other ignited after touchdown. Authorities cleared the scene and opened an investigation into the cause of the incident.

Video footage shared on social media showed black smoke rising from the damaged eVTOL in a flat grassy area while firetrucks and an ambulance were present.

“No one was hurt,” Xpeng AeroHT said. A company representative told Bloomberg that the pilot of one of the vehicles was taken to the hospital.

Xpeng AeroHT plans to deliver its Land Aircraft Carrier, a passenger vehicle designed to accommodate a detachable eVTOL module, which is available for order in China and slated for mass production in 2026.

Autonomous aviation firm Wisk Aero is joining forces with the City of Fullerton, California, to develop infrastructure for autonomous air taxis at Fullerton Municipal Airport.

This collaboration, formalised through a memorandum of understanding (MoU), aims to establish operational frameworks for Wisk’s all-electric air taxi service in the Los Angeles-Orange County area. 

The MoU outlines several collaborative efforts between Wisk and the City of Fullerton. Key projects include providing technical advice on vertiport requirements and Instrument Flight Rules routes.

The city plans to integrate Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) into its airport’s strategic planning, focusing on infrastructure, electrical grid requirements, and airspace management.

These efforts will also involve developing policies for operations, such as permitting processes and guidelines for community noise levels. 

Wisk and the city will jointly evaluate infrastructure needs and assess opportunities for training and maintenance facilities at the Fullerton airport.  

Archer Aviation (Archer) has announced its intention to participate in the White House’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Programme (eIPP), collaborating with US airlines and various cities in the country.

This initiative is said to represent the first federal effort aimed at promoting electric air taxi operations in the US.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) unveiled a framework that allows cities across the US to engage in the eIPP alongside original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and operators such as Archer.

This framework follows the “Unleashing Drone Dominance” Executive Order issued in June this year and aims to facilitate supervised, pre-certification trial operations of eVTOL aircraft, potentially commencing next year.

Archer is currently assessing opportunities to collaborate with US airlines, including United Airlines, and interested municipalities to plan and implement trial operations of its Midnight aircraft within the eIPP.

The eIPP signifies a significant advancement from development to deployment, generating momentum towards the full-scale commercialisation of electric air taxis in the coming years.