This Month in Aviation
Six aviation stories from the past four weeks, roughly mid-August to mid-September 2026. A long strike hit Barcelona. Istanbul took Europe’s busiest-airport title from Heathrow. And in Montreal, a fatal accident showed again how dangerous it is to work around aircraft on the ground. Each brief links to our full article, so you can read more about the stories that interest you.
Ground staff strike hits Barcelona Passengers at Barcelona’s El Prat Airport have faced cancelled flights and long queues since 4 August. On that day all 1,179 ground staff at the handling company Groundforce walked out. Airlines cancelled 20 flights on the first day and 18 more the next. Spain’s Ministry of Transport says the strike could affect about two million passengers if it lasts until the end of September. Spanish law keeps a minimum service running, so not every flight stops. But with fewer staff on duty, check-in and baggage take longer.
Istanbul overtakes Heathrow Istanbul Airport is now the busiest in Europe. It handled 8.15 million passengers in July, nearly 300,000 more than London Heathrow. The Turkish hub is also preparing to bring a fourth runway into service later this year. Heathrow still has only two. More runway capacity means more slots — the permitted take-off and landing times a busy airport can offer. Heathrow has spent years asking for permission to build a third runway. Even if it gets approval, the work will probably take about ten years.
American Airlines brings back seatback screens American Airlines said on 18 August that it will put a screen on the back of every seat on its narrowbody jets. These are the single-aisle aircraft it uses on shorter flights. A few years ago the airline removed many screens and asked passengers to watch films on their own phones instead. Customers did not like it. New Boeing and Airbus aircraft will arrive with screens from 2028. American will also retrofit its older jets. That means fitting the new screens into aircraft it already flies, and the work will run into the early 2030s.
A ground worker dies during a pushback in Montreal A ground worker was killed at Montréal–Trudeau Airport on the evening of 24 August. Oscar Robayo, 39, was marshalling an Airbus A350. He used hand signals to guide the aircraft as a tug pushed it back from its gate. He fell in front of the aircraft, was struck, and died later in hospital. Three investigations have now opened. Canada’s transport safety board, its federal Labour Program and a Quebec coroner are all looking into the accident. They will examine how the pushback was planned, and how the ground team and the flight crew talked to each other.
The FAA doubles its drone testing programme Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced on 27 August that the FAA will double BEYOND. The programme started in 2020 to test flights beyond visual line of sight — further than the operator on the ground can see the drone. Up to eight more state, local, tribal and territorial partners will join. They will fly drones for jobs such as inspecting infrastructure, checking farmland and delivering medical supplies. The first phase logged more than 70,000 flights. The aim is permanent rules instead of one-off permissions.
The FAA moves to dismiss two LaGuardia controllers In March a plane landed at LaGuardia Airport in New York and hit a fire truck on the runway. Both pilots died. The FAA now wants to dismiss two air traffic controllers who left the tower about an hour early that night. That left one person to watch both the aircraft in the sky and the vehicles on the ground. The agency says they recorded hours they did not work. It is also checking about twelve controllers across the country. Nobody has said the early departures caused the crash. But many US towers are already short of staff.
Which of these six stories do you think will still matter in a year — and why?
CEFR Level B1 / ICAO Level 4
