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Victorian man who lost wife and son in Germanwings crash reportedly suing US flight school

An Australian man whose wife and son were among the 150 people killed when Germanwings Flight 9525 was deliberately crashed into the French Alps is reportedly suing the US flight school that trained the individual responsible. Victorian man David Friday is suing Lufthansa’s Airline Training Centre Arizona for failing to detect any problems with Andreas Lubitz, the German co-pilot who caus...

Alaska Air Nears Deal to Acquire Virgin America

It could be a $2 billion deal. Alaska Air has emerged as the likely winner of an auction for Virgin America , The Wall Street Journalreported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter. The offer was set to beat a rival bid by JetBlue Airways 0.99% , the people said, according to theJournal. Alaska Air is expected to pay upwards of $2 billion for Virgin America&nbs...

DARPA's reusable unmanned 'gremlin' planes are a go

Four aerospace and security corporations will attempt to make DARPA's "gremlins program" dream a reality. The Department of Defense division has joined forces with its frequent collaborator Lockheed Martin, Dynetics of Alabama, as well as Composite Engineering and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems of California. Dan Patt, the program manager, said these four contractors are &qu...

Air France stewardesses mutiny over order to wear headscarves

Air France stewardesses, furious at being ordered to wear headscarves in Tehran, say they will refuse to fly to the Iranian capital when the airline resumes the service later this month. Female members of flight crews have been ordered to cover their hair once they disembark in Tehran and unions are demanding that the flights be made voluntary for women. The resumption of a thrice-weekly ser...

India reevaluates why it’s keeping pregnant pilots grounded

A few years ago a passenger on an Indian budget carrier caused an uproar on learning that the captain was a woman. “I don’t want to die. She can’t take care of the house, how will she take care of a plane?” he reportedly yelled. Rightfully, he was deplaned. While his knuckle-dragging tribe may have decreased trivially since then, one wonders what the pas...

China’s Big Three Airlines Weighed Down By $2.5 Billion Currency Hit

China’s Big Three state-owned airlines combined suffered about $2.5 billion in foreign-exchange losses last year after the country unexpectedly devalued the yuan in August, squeezing passenger yields and limiting profit gains from declining oil prices. Net income at China Southern Airlines Co., Asia’s largest carrier by passengers, more than doubled to 3.7 billion yuan ($571.2...

ExecuJet announces new Line Maintenance Station for EASA aircraft in Nigeria

ExecuJet is announcing an extended Line Maintenance capability for EASA registered aircraft at its base in Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Nigeria. In partnership with Maintenance Centre Malta (MCM), ExecuJet now supports a larger fleet of different aircraft types from Bombardier, Dassault and Hawker in the West Africa region. Ettore Poggi, Vice President, ExecuJet Africa, says:...

ANALYSIS: Regulators stepping up in UAV airspace integration

When it comes to unmanned air vehicle airspace integration, a blame game is typically played out between industry, users and regulators on why these operations still come second to manned aviation. While users are largely at the mercy of all other parties, regulators claim the technology is not safe enough to fully open up the airspace, and industry is refraining from investing significant sums...

Bell-Boeing begins designing CMV-22B with $151 million contract

A $151 million contract awarded to V-22 tiltrotor manufacturer Bell-Boeing this week allows engineers to get started designing the US Navy’s future Osprey variant, the CMV-22B, which is replacing the Northrop Grumman C-2 Greyhound twin turboprop in the aircraft carrier logistics role at sea. Based on the US Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey variant, the navy’s “CMV” tiltrotor w...

Bond Offshore Helicopters wins Premier Oil contract

Bond Offshore Helicopters has been awarded a new three-year contract to provide offshore crew transport on behalf of Premier Oil. Bond will service Premier’s offshore platforms in the North Sea, including their new Solan field, which is expected to deliver oil shortly. The contract, which begins this month, will be operated out of Bond’s Aberdeen facility, although the company...

AirSprint takes delivery of Citation CJ3+

Cessna Aircraft has delivered a Canadian registered Citation CJ3+ aircraft to fractional operator AirSprint. Kriya Shortt, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Textron Aviation,  said: “With more than 150 Cessna Citation light jets in the region, the CJ-series has proven to be the light jet of choice for Canadian operators, and we are confident the CJ3+ will be an ideal ad...

Airbus Corporate Jet Centre develops connectivity solutions under Airbus standards

Airbus Corporate Jet Centre (ACJC), the innovative provider of customised nose-to-tail solutions to VIP and airline customers, is developing solutions to provide high level of connectivity aboard, in compliance with Airbus standards. Thanks to its flexibility, agility and its expertise on VIP completion, that enables the company to answer the most exigent customers, ACJC addresses a panel of co...