Loading...
Loading...
Please wait
Southwest Airlines files to fly to all Open Skies countries, the TSA explains last year’s New Jersey drone scare, a Lufthansa A321 flew for 10 minutes without a pilot at the controls, sleep and fatigue in military aviation, a new direction for the Boeing criminal charge, and lithium-ion fires onboard airplanes. Also, a resurrected aviation podcast and a brand new one.
Southwest Airlines filed a request with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to fly international routes to all countries with Open Skies agreements. That would include European countries, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. The airline has not confirmed specific new routes yet.
International air travel is governed by bilateral and multilateral agreements between countries, and so airlines need economic authority from the DOT. These Open Skies treaties set the terms for airlines to operate between nations, including route rights, frequency, and capacity.
See: U.S. Air Carriers and International Economic Authority from the DOT.
Economic Authority is authorized by the Office of the Secretary of Transportation in the form of a certificate for interstate or foreign passenger and/or cargo authority.
In December 2024, the President said the “drone” sightings were “nothing nefarious.” Congress received a classified briefing indicating no threat to the public, but the FAA imposed flight restrictions. At the time, TSA presented an internal slideshow (“official use only”) showing four incidents as normal air traffic. That slideshow is now publicly available.
Spanish investigators say the Captain on Lufthansa flight LH1140, an A321, took a toilet break, and then the First Officer in the cockpit suffered a “sudden and severe” incapacitation. The Captain had difficulty getting through the security door and the plane flew for 10 minutes without anyone at the controls.
The report titled Management of Sleep and Fatigue in Military Aviation [PDF] was published by the Congressional Research Service on May 13, 2025, and examines the effects of sleep deprivation and its impact on operational readiness and aviation safety.
The report highlights that military aviators face significant psychological and physiological demands, which can lead to sleep deprivation and fatigue. These conditions are exacerbated by factors such as unpredictable schedules, long-duty days, challenging flight conditions, and disruptions to circadian rhythms due to crossing multiple time zones. Research has shown that sleep d