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United States aviation news

Boeing plans layoffs for airplane engineers

Boeing Co said on Friday that it is considering layoffs of airplane engineers, a plan that it said may cause it to reorganize or consolidate its engineering teams, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. Boeing said in a memo to employees that the company is deciding whether to make voluntary layoffs available to those workers, according to the document. The company also said it does...

Air Force Unveils Design for New Long Range Bomber

Meet the newest plane in the United States Air Force, the B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber. It's so new that it exists only as an artist's rendering; a prototype has yet to be built. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James unveiled the highly anticipated design today at the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida. The plane is designated right now as the &q...

The First Boeing 727 Will Fly Again—For 12 Minutes

Once N7001U takes off from Paine Field in Everett, Washington next Tuesday, the crew won't even retract its landing gear. Makes sense. It'll only be airborne for just over 10 minutes.  The first 727 ever built rolled off the line in 1962 and hasn't flown in 25 years. But it's about to make a trip to Boeing Field (King County Airport), where it will become a permanent exhibi...

Republic Airways Files For Bankruptcy Protection

Regional carrier Republic Airways has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, blaming several quarters of falling revenue after grounding aircraft during a pilot shortage. The short-haul carrier, which feeds flights to American, Delta and United airlines, listed assets of USD$3.6 billion and USD$3.0 billion of liabilities, court documents showed. Republic said the bankruptcy process woul...

Aurora Jet Partners Accepts Milestone 75th Learjet 75

The 75th Bombardier Learjet 75 was delivered yeaterday to Canadian business jet charter, management, sales and fractional provider Aurora Jet Partners during a ceremony at the manufacturer’s plant in Wichita, where the light jets are assembled. This milestone comes some two years after the model—a longer-range version of the Learjet 45 with Garmin G5000 integrated avionics, r...

First Airbus Made in U.S. Rolls Out of the Alabama Final Assembly Line

The Airbus team at the Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Alabama hit an important milestone last week as the first aircraft ever assembled at the site, an A321ceo destined for JetBlue, has rolled out and it is ready to receive its paint job prior to delivery. The Airbus Alabama team posing in front of the first US-built A320 family aircraft. (Photo Credits: Airbus) According to Airbus, this...

Autonomous cloud seeding aircraft successfully tested in Nevada

A team of Nevada scientists and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) engineers have successfully flight tested the first-ever autonomous cloud seeding aircraft platform. Cloud seeding flare tests were deployed from Drone America's DAx8 UAS aircraft flown in Reno in early February. As the first phase in a new industry-academic research partnership between the Desert Research Institute (DRI), D...

Diamond clinches US certification for DA62

Diamond Aircraft has secured US Federal Aviation Administration certification for its DA62 piston twin, paving the way for the airframer to begin deliveries of its flagship aircraft into the world’s largest business and general aviation market. The approval comes 10 months after the diesel-fuelled aircraft received European approval following a three-and-a-half-year development effort....

JetSuite to revamp fleet with new light and large-cabin jets

US air taxi company JetSuite is planning a major revamp of its business jet fleet to exploit the growing appetite in the USA for its branded, low-cost charter service. The operator’s will add with 10 Embraer Phenom 300s over the coming year and will also add up to 10 large-cabin jets over the same period, “to accommodate those customers looking to fly further and/or with more p...

Gulfstream launches system testing with first G600 Iron birth flight

Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. announced that the Gulfstream G600 iron bird recently completed its “first flight,” demonstrating the company’s continued commitment to research and development and the growing maturity of the G600 aircraft program. A spatially correct, dimensionally accurate structure that includes a flight deck, the iron bird allows engineers to test the fligh...

Boeing Launches Next-Generation 737 Boeing Converted Freighter

Boeing today launched the Next-Generation 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) with orders and commitments for up to 55 conversions from seven customers. "The Next-Generation 737 provides exceptional value to express freight carriers through its superior payload, range, reliability and efficiency," said Stan Deal, senior vice president, Commercial Aviation Services,...

FAA Reveals UAS Detection Program

The FAA says it’s receiving more than 100 reports a month from pilots and others who spot unmanned aircraft flying close to airports or airplanes. The agency has partnered with CACI International to explore how the company’s prototype detection technology could help detect UAS in the vicinity of airports. CACI’s proof-of-concept system uses radio frequency sensors at strategic...