briefs

For some of United’s longest-serving now-retired pilots, the new math imposed as United tries to claw its way out of bankruptcy could translate next year to a loss of nearly one-quarter of their expected retirement income — in some cases, more than $100,000 per year. United Air Lines’ four pension plans are under-funded by $8.3 […]

Diamond Aircraft’s Austrian division will soon issue a Service Bulletin concerning possible cylinder-head corrosion problems on its Thielert diesel-powered DA40 aircraft. In a news release issued by Thielert, the company says the problem has affected “only a few” DA40s and none of the Cessna 172s or Piper PA-28s retrofitted with the diesels. The corrosion problem […]

What do airliners really cost? That’s nobody else’s business, say U.S. airlines fighting to keep that information secret. The financial details of commercial aircraft transactions are recorded by the Department of Transportation but for the past 10 years, at the request of the airlines, they’ve been kept confidential. Now, the government (spurred by the financial […]

Everybody feels like skipping work once in a while but a Pinnacle Airlines flight attendant is being charged with trying to do something about it. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that 23-year-old Stephen R. Hirtzinger was charged Thursday with causing a plane to become inoperable. The airline became suspicious after two dozen flights, 13 of which […]

Scientists are using cutting-edge technology to help preserve the last true wildernesses in Africa, and aviation is playing a leading role. Dr. Mike Fay, of the Wildlife Conservation Society, has spent the last six months crisscrossing Africa by Cessna in a project called Megaflyover Africa. His mission is to examine places relatively untouched by humans […]

Well, maybe they’ll have a happier New Year. Tens of thousands of Comair and US Airways passengers spent a miserable Christmas thanks to foul-ups that may take until Tuesday to clear up. Comair cancelled all 1,100 of its flights on Christmas Day after the computer that manages flight assignments simply threw in the towel after […]

The Colorado crash of a Challenger bizjet that killed two pilots and the son of NBC executive Dick Ebersol a month ago has reignited the debate on when and if aircraft should be de-iced. The Rocky Mountain News polled a range of experts on the topic and got a range of opinions. And while the […]

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_______COLUMNS The Savvy Aviator #13: Putting Compression In ContextThe differential compression check is one of the quickest, easiest, and most useful tools we have for measuring the top-end health of a piston aircraft engine. Yet many owners, mechanics, and even the FAA seem confused about how to perform the test properly and how to interpret […]