Reuters reports, “President Joe Biden signed on Thursday sweeping aviation legislation that will boost U.S. air traffic controller staffing, increase funding to avert runway close-call incidents and speed up refunds for canceled flights. The $105 billion, five-year measure reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration. It prohibits airlines from charging fees for families to sit together, requires airplanes to be equipped with 25-hour cockpit recording devices, raises maximum civil penalties for airline consumer violations from $25,000 per violation to $75,000 and boosts aircraft production scrutiny.”Full Story (Reuters)
Tag: Commercial Aviation
Wilbur Air to Partner with Electra for 100 Aircraft
FlightGlobal reports, “Newly launched Australian start-up Wilbur Air has ambitious plans for electric aviation operations on the continent using an envisioned system of “mini-airports.” The fledgling operator is a subsidiary of Australian air taxi infrastructure developer Skyportz. Wilbur Air’s first publicly disclosed partner is Virginia-based Electra.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal – Subscription Publication)
China’s Three Major Airlines End 2023 with Losses
Aviation Week reports, “Despite the reopening and relaxing of China’s borders in January 2023, the country’s three state-owned airlines—Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines—all ended 2023 with losses, although these deficits have narrowed.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Airbus Wins Most of Japan JAL’s Order for 42 New Planes
Reuters reports that Japan Airlines will buy 42 planes from Airbus and Boeing, it said on Thursday, in a breakthrough for European planemaker Airbus, which will provide single-aisle jets to the long-time Boeing customer for the first time. South Korea’s largest carrier, Korean Airalso said it would order 33 Airbus A350s in a deal valued at $13.7 billion that is its first purchase of that aircraft family.
Full Story (Reuters)
American Airlines Boosts Its Fleet Plan with Order of 260 Narrowbody and Regional Jets
FlightGlobal reports, “American Airlines has placed orders for 260 new aircraft, including those produced by Airbus, Boeing and Embraer, with deliveries expected to begin later this decade.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal – Subscription Publication)
Airline Industry Has One of Its Safest Years In 2023
FlightGlobal reports, “While the airline industry might have had an inauspicious start to 2024 in safety terms, it can still point to a recent safety record that is both historically impressive and broadly moving in the right direction.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal – Subscription Publication)
Boeing Announces ‘Landmark’ 787 Deal with Thai Airways
Aviation International News reports that “Boeing on Tuesday revealed a pair of orders from Asian carriers for 49 of its 787 Dreamliner widebodies in the biggest deal of the Singapore Airshow’s first day.” Thai Airways is expected to purchase “up to 45 aircraft, while Royal Brunei Airlines has committed to adding four of the intercontinental model to its fleet.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Surf Air Reserves Early Delivery of 90 Electra eSTOL Aircraft
AirInsight reports that “SurfAir Mobility, Inc. has secured early delivery positions for 90 Electra eSTOL aircraft for its airlines, including Southern Airways Express and Mokulele Airlines.”
Full Story (AirInsight)
SAS, Airbus to Cooperate on Hydrogen Infrastructure at Nordic Airports
FlightGlobal reports that Scandinavian operator SAS “is to co-operate with Airbus and local partners to explore the feasibility of hydrogen infrastructure at Nordic airports.” The companies “aim to gain improved understanding of hydrogen aircraft operations, supply, and refueling requirements to develop the hydrogen ecosystem in Sweden and Norway.” It will also “look at selection procedures for determining which candidate airports could be chosen for initial hydrogen-aircraft operations.” The study, “in which Swedish and Norwegian airport operators Swedavia and Avinor will participate, will consider over 50 sites.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal – Subscription Publication)
Embraer Posts Strong Delivery Growth for 2023
FlightGlobal reports that Brazilian airframer Embraer “boosted deliveries in 2023 to 181 aircraft, a 13% improvement on the previous year’s figure.” The increase “hinged on a fourth-quarter surge during which 75 aircraft were handed over, according to Embraer.” Still, shipments “in the last three months of the year fell against the same period of 2022 when the Brazilian airframer managed to deliver 80 aircraft.” Fourth-quarter deliveries “comprised 49 business jets, 25 commercial aircraft, and one C-390 tactical transport.” Despite growth in 2023, Embraer “has yet to surpass its 2019 shipment total of 198 aircraft.” The company “says that supply chain delays continued to be a challenge in 2023, affecting deliveries.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal – Subscription Publication)