Tag: Commercial Aviation

Eviation Alice Performs First Flight

The AP reports that Eviation’s prototype electric aircraft took its first flight Tuesday. Aviation Week reports that the Alice prototype made its first flight from Moses Lake, Washington, “marking a major milestone on the road towards the fielding of a new generation of sustainable air vehicles.”
Full Story (Associated Press)
More Info (Aviation Week)

American Airlines CEO Believes Airline Can Become Much Larger

The Dallas Morning News reports that American Airlines CEO Robert Isom believes the carrier can become “much bigger.” Isom said, “We actually have the assets in place to fly a much larger airline. […] We’d like to get the regional fleet back up as much as we can. We talked about having about 150 planes on the ground in the second quarter, and our goal is to get those flying as soon as we can.” American “and other airlines are struggling with exactly how fast they can rebuild their networks after severe job cuts, furloughs and expense-tightening in 2020 and early 2021. Meanwhile, ticket prices have soared past 2019 levels and airlines are pocketing record revenues despite operating fewer flights.”
Full Story (Dallas Morning News)

Supply Disruptions Threaten Second Half for Aerospace Companies

Reuters reports that major aerospace companies “are sounding the alarm on their supply chains as shortages ranging from raw materials to castings or semiconductor chips pressure earnings and crimp the industry’s ability to capitalize on roaring travel demand.” Airbus “cut its full-year jet delivery forecast by 3% and slowed a planned increase in factory production, noting pressure on the engine sector.” The Boeing Company “cut estimates for 737 MAX deliveries this year and warned that supply-chain constraints had capped its ability to ramp up production despite ‘significant’ demand.”
Full Story (Reuters)

Aerospace Industry Looks Towards Low-Emission Future

BBC News reports that the aerospace industry is looking into electrified engines as a low-emissions option. Start-up Faradair “is planning to develop and sell a hybrid-electric passenger plane, aimed at the regional aviation market. It would have up to 19 seats and would be propelled by a fan driven by an electric motor. The necessary electricity would be provided by a small gas turbine.” Wright Electric’s the e-Genius and Eviation’s Alice are other similar aircraft.
Full Story (BBC News)

Lufthansa Group CEO Sees Healthier Airline Industry Long-Term

Aviation International News reports that the “post-pandemic demand for air travel demand and a shortage of new aircraft as manufacturers struggle with program delays and supply chains disruptions is creating operational hiccups for Lufthansa in the short-term, but it will lead to a much healthier airline industry in the mid- and longer-term.” CEO Carsten Spohr said, “From a strategic point of view, this industry has had traditionally one major fault: too much supply. During Covid many aircraft were taking out of service and the OEMs are much slower in putting new aircraft out there but demand is coming back to pre-Covid levels much faster than we anticipated. I think we have some good years for the industry ahead when this healthy demand hits on reduced capacity.” To meet with the current demand “the airline plans to reactivate ‘at least five’ more A340-600s from long-term storage for the summer of 2023 to narrow a capacity shortfall.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)