The Italian Air Force made the history by successfully accomplishing the F-35’s first transatlantic crossing. On Feb. 5, the first Italian Air Force F-35, the first JSF built outside the U.S., landed at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Mariland, at the end of a 7-hour transatlantic flight from Lajes Air Base, in Portugal. The aircraft, dubbed AL-1 and serialled MM7332 departed from Ca...
A Vueling Airbus A320-200, registration EC-LVS (in the last couple of years, this aircraft has been involved in zero other incidents. The same airline, Vueling, has been featured in totally 34 incidents or accidents) performing flight VY-1005 from Barcelona,SP to Madrid,SP (Spain), was cleared to line up Barcelona's runway 07R full length and wait. An Ural Airlines Airbus A321-200, registra...
All-you-can-fly subscription service OneGo launched on Feb. 1, providing its members with unlimited service on 500 commercial routes around the US for a flat monthly rate of $2,950. Cheaper regional plans include 35 routes in the West, 158 routes in the East, and 35 routes in the central US starting at $1,500 monthly. OneGo books tickets for its members—who also have to pay a $495 signup...
TALK about an inspiration. Sibongile Sambo dreamt of being a flight attendant, but she failed to meet the minimum height requirement and was turned away by South African Airways. Instead of accepting defeat, she started her own company, even selling her car and using her mother’s pension in order to set it up. But it’s all been worth it, as she’s now laughing all the way to...
The Associated Press. The Portuguese government says it has agreed to buy 50 percent of the country's carrier TAP Air Portugal for 1.9 million euros ($2.1 million). Speaking after a signing ceremony Saturday, Humberto Pedrosa, who heads the Atlantic Gateway consortium that held 61 percent of the airline, said the deal would leave it holding a 45 percent stake in TAP, with the remainder o...
They zip and dart across the sky in a three-jet formation, a six-second apparition in a 30-second commercial touting the achievements of defense contractor Northrop Grumman. Unlike modern jets, such as the F-22 Raptor or F-16 Fighting Falcon, they have no tail and are likely to be armed with lasers that are straight out of a science-fiction movie. They’re sixth-generation fighters, and No...
The FBI has launched an investigation after pilots landing at the Cleveland airport were distracted by lasers more than two dozen times since December. The FBI announced the probe Friday and it comes after incidents on Wednesday and Thursday in which laser beams were aimed at aircraft flying into Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Fox 8 Cleveland reports. Those laser strikes are believ...
A trend emerging from the bookshelf targets road warriors who are desperate for tips on how to overcome jet lag, weeks on the road and dicey food choices. None, however, comes with the experience of the true road warriors – pilots – the men and women who sit in the heady air at the front of the plane surrounded by glowing computers who guide us safely through our collective journeys....
With its new Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice campaign, Turkish Airlines becomes the latest airline to announce a high-profile Hollywood franchise brand cross-over. The airline has partnered with Warner Bros to become the official carrier sponsor of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which will debut in theaters around the world starting on March 25, 2016. Turkish Airlines has announ...
Lufthansa Systems announced that Air Transat has opted for its Lido/mPilot mobile navigation solution and will also use the precise navigation data from the Lido/FMS database. The two companies have signed a seven-year contract for these solutions. “Using the Lido/mPilot navigation app is an important step for us in moving toward a paperless cockpit. The app’s functions and intuitiv...
Loss-making Kuwait Airways has let go of 1,350 Kuwaiti nationals during the last two years, part of a plan to cut costs and return to profit by 2019, the chief executive of the state-owned carrier told Reuters on Thursday. The airline has struggled to recover from Iraq’s 1990-91 invasion of Kuwait. Complex bureaucratic procedures have further sidelined it from the boom in Gulf aviation ov...
What happens to a baby if it’s born 35,000 feet in the air over the Pacific Ocean? Well, the answer isn’t so cut and dry. In fact, there isn’t even an answer that applies to every birth that happens in the skies. Most airlines set restrictions about how late into a pregnancy a woman is allowed to travel. Southwest Airlines recommends against air travel beginning the 38th...
Answering an audience question at the Hyperloop Pod competition awards ceremony at Texas A&M University earlier this week, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said of his next great idea: I have been thinking about the vertical takeoff and landing electric jet a bit more. I think I have something that might close. I’m quite tempted to do something about it. That could be something. Unli...
Talk about going beyond the call of duty. Two Hawaiian Airlines passengers showed aloha to a family of passengers that unknowingly took a box’s worth of lava rocks and black sand from Hawaii Island with them in their carry on. Malia Mahi recounted that when the family was deplaning on Maui she noticed a piece of lava rock sticking out of a child’s backpack and politely...
You'd be forgiven for thinking that, in the year 2016, female flight attendants working for British Airways are allowed to wear pants. But if you thought that before Friday, you'd be wrong. Female cabin crew who have joined the airline's "mixed fleet" since 2012 have been subject to a dress code that requires a skirt, unless they applied for a waiver on medical or relig...
To fabricate the composite parts of the giant wings of Boeing’s 777X, Mukilteo-based engineering firm Electroimpact has designed and built a new generation of robotic machines that haven’t been previously shown to outsiders. Inside a new building just west of Paine Field in Everett, a team of young engineers recently gave outsiders the first glimpse at a technological advance critic...
Airbus is renegotiating delivery schedules for its revamped A320neo jet and has told some airlines the aircraft will be delayed by around two months, industry sources said. The European planemaker missed a 2015 target for delivering the first aircraft, an upgraded fuel-saving version of its best-selling medium-haul jet, due to what it described as issues with documentation for its new Prat...
ASL Aviation Group has reached agreement to acquire the airline operations of TNT Express N.V. (hereafter TNT), comprised of TNT Airways (Belgium) and Pan Air Líneas Aéreas (Spain). The agreement is conditional on the completion of the intended acquisition ofTNT, which is expected in the first half of 2016. The change of ownership and control of TNT&r...
Completions specialist Associated Air Center (AAC) redelivered the industry’s first head-of-state-configured Boeing 787-8 to an undisclosed customer. (In 1989, AAC completed the first head-of-state-configured 757-200 for the same customer.) AAC’s in-house team designed the interior. Its 2,404 sq ft of cabin space can accommodate 82 passengers in three cabin zones, while...
Start-up times are not a problem for the Leap-1A engine nearing entry into service in mid-2016 for the Airbus A320neo, manufacturer CFM International says. Each of the two Leap-1A engines installed on an A320neo need 50s to spool-up after the activation sequence is started, says CFM executive vice-president Allen Paxson, speaking on a teleconference with journalists on 5 February....
The twin-engine multipurpose helicopter H145 has successfully proved its operational capabilities for challenging offshore missions. During a two-day flight trial in late January the established offshore operators Wiking Helikopter Service GmbH and HTM Offshore were able to test the H145 in all the relevant fields of offshore operations. Both aviation companies collaborate closely to offer their c...
