The head of the US Transportation Department said on Wednesday that he wants to speed certification of new airplanes from Boeing and other manufacturers, citing competition concerns from China.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday he does not currently see any safety concern stemming from a software ‌issue involving the Boeing 737 MAX fleet.

Ethiopian ‌Airlines will later on Wednesday sign a deal with Boeing for 10 freighter aircraft, a banner at the venue of a signing ⁠ceremony showed.

RTX said on Tuesday that its aerospace and defense systems unit, Collins Aerospace, will expand its aircraft engine components facility in ‌West Des Moines, Iowa, by 14,000 square feet to increase manufacturing capacity.

Alaska Air Group is making its biggest push yet into premium travel, adding lie-flat seats, premium-economy cabins ‌and new airport lounges to earn more from travelers willing to pay for comfort while high jet fuel prices squeeze its profits.

Airbus launched the maiden flight of its delayed A350F freighter on Tuesday, expanding its portfolio in a bid to break rival Boeing's grip on ‌a vital part of global trade.

The Pentagon awarded RTX's Raytheon business a provisional multiyear contract worth $20.7 billion to accelerate production of ‌AMRAAM missiles, as the military pushes to replenish stockpiles depleted by conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Airbus is bracing for slower than expected deliveries in ‌September after the recent discovery of a glitch affecting its best-selling A321neo jets, two industry ⁠sources said.

China and the United States said they will pursue tariff cuts on $60 billion worth ‌of goods imported from each other, including products from US corn to cosmetics, and from Chinese toys to household appliances, with some notable omissions on each side.

Airbus and Italy's Leonardo are investigating a glitch at a privately held coatings firm ‌that triggered a quality alert affecting 500 of the planemaker's best-selling A321neo jets, people familiar with the matter said.

Rare earth shortages are pushing some suppliers of aerospace companies to revisit decades-old turbine coating formulas ‌once considered obsolete, after US-China tensions disrupted supplies from the world's dominant producer of critical minerals.