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United States aviation news

Frontier Airlines is Considering a Rare U.S. Carrier IPO

Frontier Airlines Inc., a no-frills carrier, has held early stage talks with investment banks about an initial public offering, people familiar with the matter said. The U.S. airline is considering starting a formal IPO process as early as next year, the people said, asking not to be identified as the plans are private. There are a number of factors that could influence the decision, and F...

Alaska Airlines Plane Strikes, Kills Deer on Runway, Sonoma County Airport Officials Say

An Alaska Airlines plane arriving from Seattle struck and killed a deer on a runway at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport near Santa Rosa Wednesday evening, airport Manager Jon Stout said Friday. The plane had not yet touched ground and was only a few hundred feet along the 6,000-foot runway when it clipped the deer just before 6:00 p.m., Stout said. The impact from the deer's...

Morgan Freeman's Plane Crash Lands in Mississippi After Tire Blowout

A plane that Morgan Freeman was on crash landed in Tunica, Mississippi on Saturday. The 78-year-old actor has not suffered any injuries. Freeman told TheWrap in a statement: "I was on my plane on the way to Texas to shoot a segment for The Story of God." "Sometimes things don't go as planned and a tire blew on take-off which caused other problems. But thanks to my excel...

Maverick Opens New Vegas Terminal

Heli-tour operator Maverick Helicopters recently unveiled its new $5 million Las Vegas terminal. The facility has floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook McCarran International Airport’s runways, private space for VIPs and group events, a café with expanded food and beverage selections, a registration desk with double the capacity of the one in the previous terminal, a separate ph...

Airlines Will Soon Be Forced to Pay Up for Damaged Checked Luggage

Last week, Alaska Airlines employees were filmed hurling customer suitcases onto a concrete road at San Jose International airport in an apparent contest to see who could throw a heavy piece of luggage the farthest. The airline has since apologized for the incident but it's just the latest in a series of incidents where carrier employees have been caught mishandling customer bags. B...

Automated FODetect Solution Now Deployed in Seattle-Tacoma Airport

The Port of Seattle announced the launch of the state-of-the-art runway management solution RunWize™, which includes FODetect®, automated Foreign Object Debris (FOD) detection and BirdWize™, ground level bird hazard management, developed by Xsight Systems and integrated by prime contractor Leidos (NYSE: LDOS), a national security, health and engineering solutions company. RunWize h...

Iconic RV-6 Aircraft to Celebrate 30th Anniversary at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2016

Van’s Aircraft RV-6, part of the world’s most popular kit aircraft family, will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2016 with a “family gathering” of all RV aircraft at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2016. The 64th annual edition of EAA AirVenture, the “World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration,” will be held July 25-31 at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wi...

Why Spirit Air CEO Respects Delta’s Aggressive Basic Economy Strategy

If you’ve ever wondered what’s behind Delta’s strategy in launching its Basic Economy fares, the low fares with seats assigned after check-in and no changes or refunds allowed, just ask the CEO of Spirit Airlines, whose airline is feeling the competitive heat from Delta’s inroads. “From a consumer standpoint we really like it,” said Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza, r...

Boeing CEO Muilenburg on Passage of Legislation

Boeing President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg today issued the following statement following congressional approval of legislation reauthorizing the U.S. Export-Import Bank for five years. “By reopening the Export-Import Bank, Congress has taken strong action enabling American exporters and the skilled workers they employ to compete successfully in tough global markets. We commend...

The 767 Is Not Quite Ready to Fly into the Sunset

While the near-term future of the current-generation Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 programs is tinted with concern over how much to cut production rates, the widebody program that those two aircraft were supposed to all but finish off is expanding. Bolstered by a huge order from FedEx and its selection as the new U.S. Air Force tanker platform, the Boeing 767 is in rare air: a 34-year-old widebody...

Lockheed Martin Demonstrates Drone Air Traffic Control Using UAVs to Fight Fires

Lockheed Martin has demonstrated how drone air traffic control can work by getting several unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to work together in mid-air to fight fires, showing that it is possible for both large aircraft and small drones to work together without causing an accident. The aerospace and defence contractor successfully demonstrated its UAS Traffic Management (UTM) system by getting a...

Fire in Baggage Loader Delays Sea-Tac Flight

A Virgin America flight bound from Seattle to Los Angeles was delayed Thursday after the loader used to move baggage onto the plane caught fire. Port of Seattle spokesman Peter McGraw said airport fire crews quickly extinguished the blaze on the ground-baggage loader. There were no injuries and no damage to the baggage or the plane. Virgin Airline Flight 784 was delayed more than 30 minutes....