Aviation Daily Roundup: Dec. 20

Spirit AeroSystems, the leading supplier of 737 aerostructures to Boeing, announced early Dec. 20 that it will stop producing new 737 aerostructures and halt deliveries to its OEM customer, effective almost immediately.

U.S. President Donald Trump is poised to sign into law a spending package that will send $17.6 billion to the FAA for fiscal 2020 and reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank for seven years.

United Airlines has removed its Boeing 737 MAXs from schedules through June 4, 2020—a three-month extension that signals a growing lack of confidence that the model’s grounding is close to ending.

Worried that poor profit margins could compromise LCC safety standards, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) told Thai media that it will be ramping up safety inspections on airlines, especially LCCs.

Russia and Uzbekistan have agreed to add five new routes to their bilateral agreement, according to Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency.

Vienna International Airport (VIE) reported a 15% record passenger increase for 2019 but said further growth will impact the airport’s slot situation for the 2020 European summer season.

Spirit Airlines will add fewer new destinations in 2020, as the Florida-based ULCC focuses on using new capacity to “connect the dots” across its existing 75-destination network, company officials told reporters at Spirit’s hangar at Detroit Metro Airport recently