House Report Condemns Boeing and F.A.A. in 737 Max Disasters

A committee’s Democrats say two fatal crashes were a “horrific culmination” of engineering flaws, mismanagement and oversight lapses. (www.nytimes.com) More...

ATR 72-600F Makes Its Maiden Flight

Regional turboprop manufacturer ATR announced Wednesday that it had completed the first successful flight of its new ATR 72-600F – the freighter variant of its ATR 72-600 passenger aircraft. (simpleflying.com) More...

Spirit To Fly First International Flight In Months To Colombia

On Saturday, September 19th, Spirit Airlines will be the first international arrival in Colombia as the country reopens its international borders. The American low-cost carrier will be flying from Fort Lauderdale to Cartagena, with more Colombian destinations to follow. (simpleflying.com) More...

Police Escort For Tennessee Takeoff

It’s not every day a pilot gets a police escort for takeoff but a Cessna 172 owned by the East Tennessee Pilots Club had motorcycles and cars with lights blazing for its short hop to Island Home Airport near Knoxville on Wednesday morning. (www.avweb.com) More...

Southwest says half of grounded Boeing 737-800 planes back in service

Southwest Airlines Co <LUV.N> said on Thursday it has now returned to service about half the 115 Boeing <BA.N> 737-800 aircraft it temporarily grounded after it discovered discrepancies in aircraft weight data. The Dallas-based airline said in a statement late Wednesday that "out of an abundance of caution, we have temporarily ceased flying the respective aircraft to enter the correct weights of the aircraft in question into the system and reset the program." (www.yahoo.com) More...

Southwest bolsters the Southwest Promise by keeping middle seats open for fall travel

Southwest Airlines today renewed its ongoing commitment to supporting the well-being and comfort of its Customers and Employees by announcing that the carrier will continue limiting the amount of seats sold on every flight to allow middle seats to remain open through Nov. 30, 2020. Additionally, as part of The Southwest Promise, the airline requires face masks to be worn at all times, has implemented physical distancing measures in airports and onboard aircraft, and maintains a stringent… (worldairlinenews.com) More...

Sixth generation fighter prototype secretly fielded for USAF

“Air Force reveals it secretly built and flew new fighter jet.” (thehill.com) More...

Return of the MAX 8

Tests for the recertification of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 are underway around the world. In Europe, officials from several countries are meeting to discuss Boeing's plans to train crews. If successful, the aircraft will be deemed airworthy and allowed to fly again after more than a year of being grounded. However, Boeing may have a hard time selling the aircraft due to customer concerns, lack of demand, and newfound issues with 787. (theexplorerblog.com) More...

Airbus displaces Boeing as aerospace’s biggest company

Seattle’s tumultuous 2019 has seen it slip behind its European rival in our latest annual Top 100 rankings Airbus has ousted Boeing as aerospace’s biggest business after a year in which the 737 Max crisis led to the US manufacturer’s revenues plunging by a quarter. (www.flightglobal.com) More...

El Al’s new owner: Eli Rozenberg, a 27-year-old yeshiva student from New York

Eli Rozenberg, a 27-year-old New York-born yeshiva student who lives in Jerusalem, became the owner of Israel’s embattled national carrier El Al on Wednesday after he placed the only bid at a share offering at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Rozenberg’s Kanfei Nesharim company bought a controlling 42.85% stake in the airline with a $150 million offering. The state, which had committed to buying any unwanted shares as part of a rescue package, bought some $30 million worth of shares for a stake that… (www.timesofisrael.com) More...

Why San Francisco International Airport is turning off the loudspeaker

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought plenty of changes to airports, from sanitizing stations to mandatory mask wearing. But San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has decided that instead of adding something it'll take something away -- specifically, noise. The new "quiet airport" plan aims to reduce noise throughout SFO by 40%. Step one is making announcements about specific flights boarding or being delayed only at the relevant gate instead of the entire terminal. Related (www.cnn.com) More...

Delta Welcomes First New Widebody Planes Since COVID-19 Pandemic

Delta Air Lines (DL) will soon take delivery of two brand-new Airbus A350-900 aircraft from Airbus in Toulouse-Blagnac (TLS), France. The aircraft, N514DN, and N515DN are scheduled to depart TLS on September 16th for Tokyo-Narita and Amsterdam respectively. The two A350s are the first wide-body planes to be delivered to the Atlanta-based carrier since the COVID-19 pandemic erupted at the beginning of the year. (airwaysmag.com) More...

Asia travellers snap up 'flights to nowhere'

Air travel numbers are at a historic low this year, and it's forced carriers to get creative to bring in revenue. One big idea that's caught on in Asia and Australia is a so-called 'journey to nowhere'. These sightseeing trips allow travellers on a plane, fly them over landmarks, and then return to the airport they started out at. This week, Australia's Qantas announced its offer of a seven-hour scenic flight over the Australian Outback and Great Barrier Reef sold out in… (www.yahoo.com) More...

U.S. House probe of 737 MAX finds ‘disturbing pattern’ of Boeing failures and ‘grossly insufficient’ FAA oversight

An intensive investigation by a U.S. House Committee into the causes of the two Boeing 737 MAX crashes reveals new details documenting what a final report calls “a disturbing pattern of technical miscalculations and troubling management misjudgments made by Boeing,” along with “grossly insufficient oversight by the FAA.” (www.seattletimes.com) More...

U.S. Panel Bashes FAA and Boeing for Aircraft Design Flaws

A panel from the U.S. government found both Boeing and the FAA guilty of poor oversight, withholding details, cost cutting, and fails in the design and construction of the 737 MAX 8 amid tests for the re-certification of the grounded aircraft (theexplorerblog.com) More...