Aviation News

This week, AVweb’s news roundup found reports on a promotion effort focused on supporting airshows, a PMA for new replacement airbox gaskets for single-engine Cessnas and an update for an online flight school directory. The RenegadeAV8R Radio Show has announced that it is expanding its efforts to promote airshows during the coronavirus pandemic. RenegadeAV8R is […]

Textron Aviation has announced that it will be extending previously implemented employee furloughs and reducing workweeks due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The exact number of employees affected has not been made public, but the furloughs are expected to include most of the company’s U.S.-based staff. The length of the furloughs and workweek reductions will […]

FlightSafety International has announced that it is now providing the ground school section of its recurrent training programs online. Online courses will be conducted via the company’s LiveLearning training system, which allows real-time interaction with instructors and other course participants. Courses also offer access to online annotation tools, cockpit recordings, video and other interactive features. […]

In collaboration with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA‑ASI) and the FAA, NASA successfully completed the first flight of its Systems Integration and Operationalization (SIO) demonstration activities last Friday. According to NASA, the SIO demonstrations are designed to “highlight commercial UAS [unmanned aircraft systems] missions that have the potential to provide economic and public benefit” […]

A U.S. Air Force A-10C Thunderbolt II made an emergency landing “without its landing gear extended” at Georgia’s Moody Air Force Base on Tuesday. The pilot was uninjured in the incident and was released following an evaluation by flight surgeons. An emergency was declared in flight and the aircraft landed on Moody’s primary runway. According […]

Airbus announced on Wednesday that it is reducing average production rates for the A320, A330 and A350 by approximately one-third due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Monthly A320 production will drop to an average of 40 units. A330s will be produced at a rate of two per month and A350s at six per month. “We […]

Unions representing flight attendants working for major airlines are reporting that hundreds of flight attendants have tested positive for coronavirus. The Transport Workers Union (TWU) of America Local 556, which represents Southwest’s flight attendants, told WFAA Dallas on Tuesday that 600 staff members have tested positive. According to a statement from Southwest, “currently, far less […]

As global aviation continues to reel from the coronavirus, another giant has reacted. Lufthansa, which has already grounded most of its flights, will close its low-cost subsidiary, Germanwings, and retire some 43 aircraft, or about 6 percent of its total fleet. Those aircraft include 18 large airliners—including six Airbus A380s, seven A340s and five Boeing […]

The 44th annual Air Race Classic (ARC) will not take place this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, event organizers announced on Tuesday. The 2299 NM race was expected to begin in Grand Forks, North Dakota, on June 23 and finish in Terre Haute, Indiana, on June 26. The Air Race Classic has been held […]

Two weeks after temporarily shuttering its Puget Sound operations, Boeing has further contracted manufacturing by closing the 787 facility in South Carolina, affecting about 7,000 workers. At the same time, Airbus is closing its Mobile, Alabama, plant, where it makes A220 and A320 aircraft. Both are the result of expanding shelter-in-place guidance being rolled out […]