Airlines Focus On Innovation For Upgrades
JetBlue Airways' announcement this week that the carrier will install lie-flat seats follows the latest trend in seat upgrades. Jami Counter, senior director of SeatGuru, said airlines are focusing on innovation for airline seats. "Power ports are becoming more ubiquitous, and you've gone to lighter-weight seats that allow airlines to put in additional rows of seats without impacting passenger comfort," she said...Read More
Aeromexico Presents Its First Dreamliner
Aeromexico presented its first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner at its new Maintenance Hangar located at the International Mexico City Airport (AICM) Thursday. This makes Aeromexico the only Mexican airline and one of the first carriers worldwide to offer Dreamliner service....Read More
UT Accepts Responsibility For Dreamliner Fire Extinguisher Faults
The online financial analyst Zacks.com reports that UT found that an assembly error at one of its service centers led to faulty refurbished fire extinguisher bottles being installed in the airplanes. ANA has said it will inspect all of its Dreamliners to be sure there are not problems with any additional airplanes....Read More
Boeing Rolls Out First 787-9
The roll-out was one of few bright spots for Boeing's 787 program, following a four-month global grounding of the Dreamliner fleet earlier this year after a battery fire in January diverted an All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight. After the grounding was lifted, a fire broke out on an Read More
DOJ Requests March Trial Date; Carriers Oppose Unnecessary Delay
The Justice Department said it wants to begin the antitrust trial for the proposed US Airways and American Airlines merger in March. AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, and US Airways requested a Nov. 12 trial date and said a delay would cost the carriers. "Unnecessary delays also prevent American's financial stakeholders, which includes creditors, shareholders and employees...Read More
AMR CEO Reports July Profit, Says New American Poised To Lead Again
AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines, posted a profit of $292 million for July, which set a record for monthly profit at the carrier. "We are building a strong, competitive and profitable new American poised to lead again," wrote CEO Tom Horton in a letter to employees...Read More
AMR Asks Bankruptcy Court To Approve Restructuring
AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines, filed court papers asking a bankruptcy judge to approve its restructuring plan. Despite the Justice Department lawsuit to block the merger with US Airways, AMR said the carrier is ready to move forward...Read More
Xiamen Airlines Firms Boeing 787 Order
Xiamen, China's only airline with an all-Boeing fleet, will begin introducing the new 787s into its fleet next year. The carrier plans on using the aircraft on new long-haul routes to destinations in Europe, North America and Australia...Read More
JetBlue To Debut First-Class Cabin in 2014, CEO Says
JetBlue Airways plans to add a first-class cabin with 16 lie-flat seats to flights between New York and California, said CEO Dave Barger. The section will be added to Airbus A321s in the second quarter of 2014. "We know that there are customers who are very loyal to JetBlue who weren't flying us ... from New York...Read More
Boeing, GE Develop Software Upgrade For Improved Engine Control
Boeing and General Electric are testing a software upgrade for improved engine control on the 747-8. The upgrade is designed to prevent an incident like the one that occurred on Russia's AirBridge Cargo 747-8F last month...Read More
Cessna Flies First Production M2
Cessna took the first production version of its latest Citation, the M2, to the skies from the company's facility in Independence, Kansas, where the twinjet will be produced alongside the Citation Mustang and Cessna's single-engine products. Production test pilots Terry Martindale...Read More
Pratt Reaches Agreement For Sixth Lot Of F-35 Engines
Under the agreement, Pratt & Whitney will produce 38 total F-35 engines. The two sides have not disclosed the contract value yet, though it will likely be similar to the $1 billion agreement reached in May for the fifth low rate initial production (LRIP-5) engine lot...Read More
Club At ATL Offers Airport Lounge For All Travelers
The Club at ATL, an independent airport lounge at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta, offers travelers the chance to unwind for $35 a day. The lounge is open to members of the public, and not just frequent fliers. "It's a democratization of the lounge," said Chris McGinnis, editor of The Ticket blog...Read More
Training System Brings Fight To F-16 Pilots
Groundbreaking advancements to F-16 Fighting Falcon warfare training arrived at Misawa Air Base in Japan during the week of Aug. 12 through 16 in the form of a Joint Deployable Electronic Warfare Range, or JDEWR. The JDEWR is a weapon system that provides tactical-level training to participants in live training events. It's implemented as a threat...Read More
U.S. Airlines Improve Profitability In First Half Of 2013
Alaska, Allegiant, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit, United and US Airways collectively achieved a 2 percent profit margin, according to industry trade organization Airlines for America (A4A), which reported on its member airlines during its quarterly media briefing last week...Read More
Ellsworth B-1 Crashes In Montana, Crew Ejects A B-1 bomber assigned to the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth, S.D., crashed on the morning of Aug. 19 local time near Broadus, Mont., northwest of the base, during a routine training mission, announced the wing. Broadus, about 170 miles southeast of Billings, Mont., is a town within the US military's Powder River Training Complex where Ellsworth's B-1s train...Read More
Bolt Of Savings The F-35 program-including aircraft, engines, fuel, spare parts, military construction, training, etc.-will cost 22 percent less than previously forecast, according to press reports. The new cost estimate comes in at $857 million, down from the $1.1 trillion estimate that is now two years old, but which still represents the official Pentagon estimate, reported Bloomberg on Aug 21...Read More Feeling Wright At Home F-16s from the Ohio Air National Guard's 180 Fighter Wing in Toledo are temporarily operating from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, while workers repair the runway at their home station, according to a release...Read More Selva Praises Tinker's Guard-Reserve Tanker Team Gen. Paul Selva, head of Air Mobility Command, praised the efforts of the Oklahoma Air National Guard's 137th Air Refueling Wing and Air Force Reserve Command's 507th ARW during a visit to Tinker AFB, Okla. The two wings operate KC-135 tankers under one of the Air Force's two Air Guard-Reserve Total Force associations...Read More Boeing Delivers Indian Air Force's 3rd C-17 Globemaster III
The third Boeing C-17 Globemaster III airlifter for the Indian Air Force (IAF) departed for India Aug. 20 from the company's Long Beach facility. It joins the first and second India C-17 airlifters, which arrived in June and July, respectively. Boeing is on track to deliver two more C-17s to the IAF this year and five in 2014...Read More Gulfstream G650 Added To Jet Aviation Flight Services Charter Fleet A Gulfstream G650 has been added to Jet Aviation Flight Services' U.S. Part 135 air carrier certificate. The new aircraft is available for charter and will be managed by the Jet Aviation Van Nuys office...Read More Avantair Is Ordered To Liquidate Assets By Judge A judge ordered the bankrupt fractional ownership firm Avantair to liquidate its assets after it failed to meet a deadline to contest Chapter 7 action. The Clearwater, Fla.-based company is now in the hands of a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee...Read More New Plan Outlines Air Force's Nuclear Future The Air Force released a flight plan detailing how the service intends to advance and monitor the overall health of its nuclear enterprise, supporting infrastructure, and processes. Signed by Acting Air Force Secretary Eric Fanning, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh, and approved by the four-star-level Nuclear Oversight Board...Read More |