With its first A400M in the air, Airbus Military is embarking on an intensive flight trials campaign, with the aim of clearing the baseline common standard aircraft (CSA) configuration for service in 2012. As political controversy surrounded the airplane, with Airbus threatening to stop funding, the flight test team made good progress. By the end of the...
moreBrazil’s Embraer has given itself until the middle of this year to reach an agreement with its Chinese partners on adapting its assembly line in Harbin to produce 70- to 110-seat E-Jets. Projecting 50-seat ERJ145 production to completely wind down in the first half of next year, Embraer needs to know within a few months whether or not to launch preparations...
moreThe pair of CRJ1000s participating in the program’s flight-test program remained grounded last month as Bombardier engineers continued to work on a solution to the software “glitch” that led to a halt in flight testing last September. “The Bombardier CRJ1000 team is entirely focused on the software glitch and additional testing of the rudder CBW (command by...
moreLion Air subsidiary Wings Air last month introduced the first three ATR 72-500s to the Indonesian market. Wings Air celebrated the milestone with a ceremony in Manado attended by Indonesian Transportation minister Freddy Numberi and North Sulawesi governor SH Sarundajang. Plans call for Wings Air to fly the 72-seat turboprops on routes now served by its...
moreECC Leasing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Embraer, has leased four used ERJ135s to South African Airlink to replace some of the airline’s oldest Jetstream 41 turboprops in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament. Configured in a 37-seat layout and scheduled for placement at South African Airlink’s base in Johannesburg by the end of last month,...
moreHorizon Air on December 30 became the first scheduled-service passenger carrier to operate a flight using wide area augmentation system (Waas) technology. Equipped with dual Universal Avionics UNS-1Ew flight management systems, Horizon’s only Waas-capable 76-seat Bombardier Q400 carried out the trailblazing mission on a flight from Portland to Seattle.Using...
moreMesa Air Group rang in the new year with a resolution of sorts, as it started the process of restructuring its operations by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 5. The move came some six weeks after United Airlines filed a court complaint to block Mesa’s efforts to replace some of the 50-seat CRJ200s scheduled for removal from the United...
moreUnited Airlines has turned the proverbial tables on Mesa Air Group with an effort to block a plan by Mesa to replace some of the 50-seat CRJ200s scheduled for removal from the United system on April 30 with ten 70-seat CRJ700s. Mesa notified United of its intention to introduce the CRJ700s between October 15 and December 15 of this year; however, United...
moreThe union that represents the pilots of US Airways has asked the Justice Department’s antitrust division to investigate the potential for anti-competitive effects of a proposed slot, gate and facility transaction between US Airways and Delta Air Lines at New York La Guardia and Washington Reagan National airports. According to the US Airline Pilots...
moreJim Ream, the CEO of Houston-based ExpressJet Airlines, has accepted a position with American Airlines as senior vice president of maintenance and engineering, effective January 1. ExpressJet board member Patrick Kelly has assumed Ream’s position in the interim while the board considers candidates to fill the position of CEO for the long term. Ream succeeds...
moreAustrian low-fare airline Niki in late November converted purchase rights into firm orders for another two Embraer E190s, deliveries of which the companies have scheduled for the first half of next year. A firm order for five airplanes announced during the Farnborough Airshow in July 2008 included purchase rights on another five jets–either E190s or E195s....
moreBombardier’s CRJ1000 program now appears unlikely to receive Canadian and EASA certification before the second half of next year–a delay of at least another three months–after a second software “glitch” grounded all test flying in September, Bombardier Aerospace COO Guy Hachey said today during the company’s third-quarter earnings call. Hachey said...
moreFAA Administrator Randy Babbitt called on members of the Regional Airline Association (RAA) to participate in voluntary safety information programs such as FOQA (flight operational quality assurance) and ASAP (aviation safety action program) during the group’s fall meeting last month in Washington.
“If you are unfamiliar with those acronyms, that’s a sign...
moreAvCraft Support Services and Colombia’s Indaer Industrial Aeronautica last month announced the formation of a joint venture to provide heavy maintenance on ATR 42s and 72s at AvCraft’s Myrtle Beach, S.C. facilities.
AvCraft, a heavy maintenance provider for the Dornier 328Jet and 328 turboprop and a former type certificate holder for 328 manufacture in...
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