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United Airlines Evaluates Boeing 777-300ER, CFO Says
John Rainey, chief financial officer of United Airlines, said the Boeing 777-300ER could make sense for the carrier. "One thing that you could see is that we could consolidate all of the 747 flying in one area, and that would have a cascading effect with the 777-300ER in other markets and the 787 somewhere else," Rainey said...Read More
Boeing Awards Contract For 777X Remote Electronic Units
The Boeing Company has selected BAE Systems to provide the Remote Electronic Units (REU) for both variants of the 777X aircraft. An REU is an electronic unit that manages the aircraft's flight control surface actuators and interfaces with the Integrated Flight Control Electronics (IFCE), which BAE Systems was selected to provide in 2014. "The latest development contract for the 777X reflects BAE Systems' expertise in high integrity controls and builds...Read More
Column: Boeing 787 Is A Major Part Of American Strategy
Columnist Alexander MacLennan examines American Airlines' strategy in adding the 787 to its fleet. "[T]he Boeing 787 is set to play a big role in American Airlines' strategy to reduce its exposure to volatile fuel prices and capture more passengers by offering a better experience," he writes...Read More
1969: The Concorde's Hopeful First Flight
On March 2, 1969, Aviation Week's Donald Fink was on hand to witness first flight of the supersonic Anglo-French Concorde in Toulouse, France. Fink provides us with a classic Aviation Week description of the first flight - including very specific details down to headings and bank angles. Read the coverage and see the photos from the March 17, 1969 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology...Read More
ANA Selects Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 Engines For New Aircraft
Rolls-Royce has been selected by All Nippon Airways (ANA) to provide Trent 1000 engines, worth $130 million, to power three additional Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. ANA has previously selected the engine three times, to power a total of 80 787 Dreamliners. The Trent 1000 powered the very first 787 Dreamliner into service with ANA in 2011. Since then the engine has completed more than 650,000 in-service flying hours with an engine dispatch...Read More
Viking Completes Global Aerospace Logistics Contract
Viking Air Limited of Victoria, British Columbia, has now officially handed over the final Twin Otter Series 400 aircraft on order for Global Aerospace Logistics (GAL), of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, completing the multiaircraft purchase contract. The final aircraft will join the eight Viking Twin Otter Series 400 already delivered to GAL since 2013, being utilized by the UAE Government under a multi-year service contract. The specially equipped Series 400 Twin Otters...Read More
F-22 Raptor Demonstration Schedule Set
The U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command F-22 Raptor demonstration has released their 2015 air show schedule, with the first performance set for the Melbourne, FL Air & Space show held at Melbourne International Airport March 21-22. The performance will kick off a season that will have the F-22 flying or on display at air shows and open houses coast-to-coast, as well as two international appearances. The Air Combat Command F-22 Demonstration Team, based at Langley Air Force Base near Norfolk...Read More
Bombardier CSeries 300 reached 41,000 ft. during first flight
The larger version of Bombardier's CSeries aircraft, the CS300, reached an altitude of 41,000 ft. (12,500 m.) and a speed of 255 knots (470 km/h) during its first flight. The CS300 flight test vehicle (FTV) followed four CS100 FTVs-which have totaled more than 1,000 flight hours-in the CSeries flight test program with a Feb. 27 maiden flight from Mirabel, Québec. The flight lasted just under five hours...Read More
Analyst Praises American's Smooth Integration Process
American Airlines Group plans to raise $500 million "for general corporate purposes" through a sale of unsecured senior notes. Meanwhile, analysts praised the carrier for its smooth progress on integration. "American Airlines Group has made impressive progress since its landmark merger with US Airways, under US Airways management, with strong revenue and profit growth even as it executes arguably the most comprehensively complex airline merger in history...Read More
United Pilots Receive Warning Memos
United Airlines pilots have gotten what is described as a "stern warning" from the airline after a review of flight operations data revealed mistakes in the cockpit which could have jeopardized the safety of passengers. The safety memo was sent to pilots January 9, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. It said there were four specific "safety events and near misses" in the weeks leading up to the memo, including one in which a pilot had to execute an...Read More
Southwest Flying Planes Previously Grounded Due To Missed Inspections
The clock is ticking on 128 Boeing 737 airliners flown by Southwest after it was revealed that they had missed inspections required by the FAA. The planes had initially been grounded. Southwest said in a Tweet that "A select number of aircraft have been removed from service for maintenance checks, resulting in minimal delays."The airline on Wednesday posted a statement on its website said that the FAA had approved a plan to complete...Read More
Pratt & Whitney Expands Connecticut Engine Center
Pratt & Whitney officially unveiled its new state-of-the-art Middletown, Connecticut, production facility to support production of the PurePower PW1100G-JM engine for the Airbus A320neo and the F135 engine for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter in a ceremony held Wednesday. Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, UTC President and CEO Gregory Hayes, Pratt & Whitney President Paul Adams, company leaders...Read More
Flyers Rights Takes On Airline Change Fees
Last Wednesday, FlyersRights.org filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Transportation demanding a cap on fees that the airlines charge for changing a flight. In a post on the organization's blog, the airline consumer watchdog group said that "changing a flight can be downright exploitation, especially if you're flying internationally." FlyersRights is arguing that the fees go way too far, and the DOT needs to change the rules. An 18-page petition has been...Read More
Gone West: Col. Charles L. 'Chip' Collins
There is a changing of the guard. Those brave men and women - yes women WASPs were critical in the war effort delivering airplanes where they were needed and served valiantly in the medical corps - fought and survived WWII, are leaving us at an alarming rate. One aviator whose passing should not go unnoticed is Colonel Charles L. "Chip" Collins, who died last month at the age of 95. Chip was a self-made legend, born and raised in Pewee Valley, Kentucky, an extremely small town just northeast...Read More
USAF To 'Re-Energize' Debate On Future Of CAS
Few procurement issues-with the exception of the unsuccessful fight to continue F-22 production-spark the kind of impassioned pleas among U.S. Air Force officers as the unsuccessful struggle to retire the A-10 and make way for the Lockheed Martin F-35. Generally, when the service wants to retire an aircraft, there is a disappointed cadre of officers loathe to let it go. But there is usually a direct replacement being delivered, giving those officers...Read More
American To Phase Out MD-80s Completely By End Of 2017
American Airlines filed information on financing it plans for new aircraft, and the info includes a time line for eliminating the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 from its fleet.The 140-seat aircraft, long the most numerous in the AA fleet, was finally passed by the Boeing 737-800 in 2012. The final 34 MD-80s will leave the fleet in 2017, according to the disclosures...Read More
Airbus Plans A320 Production Rate Increase To 50 Per Month
Airbus has decided to further increase the production rate for its very successful A320 Family to 50 aircraft per month from Q1 2017, matching market demand. Additionally, Airbus is adjusting the A330 production rate to six a month from Q1 2016 as it transitions towards the A330neo. "As an aircraft manufacturer, it is our role, for our employees, partners, customers and investors to anticipate market demands whilst delivering on orders and managing revenues...Read More
F-16 Pilots Survive Midair Collision
It is uncommon for everyone to survive during a midair collision with major damage to the airplanes involved. But that is exactly what happened during a failed F-16 training mission that was conducted on October 20 last year. Unable to maintain visual contact with its lead airplane during...Read More
Gulfstream Bizjet Completes Round-The-World Flight With Only One Stop For Fuel
Gulfstream Aerospace recently set a record for round-the-world flight with its G650 ER. The ultra-long-range business jet took off from White Plains, N.Y., flying 6,939 nautical miles to Beijing, in 13 hours and 20 minutes, where it stopped for fuel. The jet then made a 12-hour, 6,572-nautical-mile flight to Savannah, Ga...Read More
50th F-35 Aircraft Set For USMC Is Completed In Lancashire
Known as BF050, the milestone aircraft set is destined to join a fleet of 420 aircraft, 353 Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variants and 67 Carrier Variants (CV) for the U.S. Marine Corps. BF050 is a STOVL jet, the same variant which the UK has ordered. The F-35 programme is set to deliver over 3000 aircraft to customers across the world. Since production of the rear aft and tails for each aircraft started in Lancashire in 2004, almost 200...Read More
Navy Investigating WWII Bomber Accident In Central Florida
The U.S. Navy has sent a team of historians and archaeologists along with a cadaver dog to Osteen, FL to investigate what appears to be an accident involving an SBD-5 bomber in the 1940s. The team is in the area between Interstates 4 and 95 west of the Canaveral National Seashore because for the past three years, local resident Randy Thomas has been finding and collecting parts from an SBD-5 outside his home. The parts were apparently overlooked when the accident was cleaned up 70 years ago...Read More
Navy Pilot Reunites With Missing Airplane After 57 Years
If you, like many pilots, build relationships with the airplanes you fly, this story may tug at your heartstrings. Retired Navy pilot Robert Jones was recently reunited with an airplane he was forced to eject out of 57 years ago. As a 22-year-old Navy pilot, Jones was forced to eject...Read More
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