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United States aviation news

The Age of Aerospace: Boeing sponsors TV series looking back at 100 years of high-flying history

This year marks the Boeing Co’s 100th anniversary, and the company is using the centennial as an opportunity not only to celebrate its own history, but the history of aerospace as well. That celebration takes the TV spotlight starting tonight, in the form of “The Age of Aerospace,” a five-part documentary series that’s airing on the Science Channel on Mondays. The series...

United Is Adding a Training Safety Day for All 12,000 Pilots

United Continental Holdings Inc. is adding special training for all 12,000 pilots to boost safety and improve communication as the industry braces for a generational turnover among cockpit-crew members. The day-long sessions follow a strong letter United sent to pilots a year ago, warning of “major safety events and near misses” that included the use of an aircraft’s ground pr...

Delta Flight Attendants Fight, Plane Makes Unscheduled Landing

Flights have been diverted and have had to make emergency landings for a variety of reasons. I just came across an article about one of the strangest (and most unprofessional) reasons that a Delta flight had to land. Two female flight attendants got into a fist fight on a recent Delta flight, according to Yahoo News. Delta flight 2598 was flying from Los Angeles to Minneapolis when the capta...

Reports of 'unruly passengers' on planes drop; social media might be the reason

The number of airline passengers who are reported for disrupting commercial flights has been dropping for several years. But the decline may have more to do with social media than any improvement in fliers’ manners. In 2015, the incidents of “unruly passengers” reported to the Federal Aviation Administration fell to 82, from 145 in 2014, a 43% drop. Federal law says passeng...

American Airlines Claims It Earned More in 2015 Than Any Carrier in History

American Airlines reported a record profit for the fourth quarter and all of 2015 as a sharp drop in fuel prices more than offset lower revenue. The world’s biggest airline said Friday that its earnings were the highest ever for any carrier. American Airlines Group Inc. posted net income of $3.28 billion in the fourth quarter, but the results were inflated by a huge accounting gain fro...

Why a Boeing 737 MAX 8 Costs $110 Million

Boeing Co. on Friday completed the first test flight of its new 737 MAX 8 passenger jet. The MAX 8 carries a list price of $110 million per copy, with other members of the re-engined MAX family selling for $90.2 million for the MAX 7, $112.9 million for the MAX 200 and $116.6 million for the MAX 9. At the end of December, Boeing had 409 orders for the MAX family of jets, the largest an order fo...

Boeing has won the deal to build new Air Force One presidential jets

Boeing has won a contract to start preliminary design work on a new fleet of Air Force One presidential aircraft based on its 747-8 commercial airliner, the Pentagon said on Friday. The US Air Force awarded Boeing an initial contract worth $25.8 million (£18.1 million) to start work on the program by looking at the tradeoffs between the requirements for the new plane and its design, accor...

FAA modernizes outdated medical requirements for trans pilots

With a set of significant improvements to the process by which transgender pilots can begin or complete a gender transition while still flying, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is finally making it easier for trans pilots to maintain their required medical certification without being needlessly grounded. The changes include simplifying the requirements for all transgender, transexua...

Alaska Airlines Apologizes For Inviting Everyone To 'Meet Our Eskimo'

“Meet Our Eskimo!” What could go wrong? Alaska Airlines didn’t get the reception it expected for its new brand update. Alaska Air Group CEO Brad Tilden reportedly apologized for the company’s invitation to “Meet our Eskimo” in the unveiling of the revamp. The tweaked brand, which was released this week, included a “modernized” Eskimo mascot....

Boeing Completes Successful 737 MAX First Flight

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 took to the skies for the first time today. The 737 MAX program achieved the milestone on schedule which begins a comprehensive flight-test program leading to certification and delivery. With the latest technology LEAP-1B engines from CFM International and Boeing-designed Advanced Technology winglets, the first member of the efficient 737 MAX family completed a tw...

Bell Helicopter in Hover This Year, Growth Mode in 2017

Civil helicopter deliveries at Bell Helicopter Textron won’t really take off until next year, after the new Bell 505 Jet Ranger X light single enters service late this year and the super-medium 525 Relentless is certified early next year. Thus, shipments this year will be mostly flat, just as they were last year, Textron chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly said yesterday during a...

Textron Aviation U.S. Centers Expand Capabilities

Textron Aviation has completed an expansion of its certifications to enable each of its U.S. company-owned service centers to support Beechcraft, Cessna and Hawker aircraft. This marks another milestone toward the integration of all three brands under the Textron Aviation umbrella. The company had announced plans for the integrated service center network shortly after Textron acquired Be...