February 26, 2010

Koito Industries Seat Fraud Not News to Boeing, Airbus

By Gregory Polek and K.K. Chadha

Boeing discovered from its field representatives in Japan that Yokohama-based Koito Industries had falsified records related to flammability testing of its aircraft passengers seats more than a year ago, but subsequent tests concluded that no safety “issues” existed, a Boeing spokesperson told AIN. “We started working with Koito last January [2009], and we thought this was being taken more

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Fourth Superjet 100 Flies on Borrowed Powerjet Engines

By Gregory Polek

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (SCAC) managed to fly the fourth prototype of the Superjet 100 this month, no thanks to Russian engine maker NPO Saturn, which partners with Snecma in building the Superjet’s Powerjet e more

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Boeing, Airbus Commit to Re-engining Decisions by Year-end

By Gregory Polek

All the speculation and chatter over the prospects of re-engining the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737s families will finally end this year, judging by statements from senior Airbus and Boeing executives this month. In fact, John Leahy, Airbus COO for customers, went so far as to say that his company wo more

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Surprise SIA Results Could Signal Start of Asian Rebound

By Charles Alcock

Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region facing the prospect of a slow return to profitability during 2010 might have taken some encouragement from better-than-expected results for the third quarter of the current financial year announced by Singapore Airlines (SIA) on February 4. The flag carrier’s operating p more

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Colgan Flight 3407 Crash on NTSB’s Most Wanted List

By Gregory Polek

The crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 no doubt left its mark on the “Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements” issued this month by the National Transportation Safety Board, and for good reason. The Board’s first “most wanted” item essentially reiterates a pair of 2005 NTSB recommen more

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