briefs

It’s not often you’ll see a bunch of FAA guys all misty-eyed, but agency spokesman Greg Martin assured AVweb there was barely a dry eye when this aircraft lifted off from Oklahoma City Airport Monday. “It was kind of an emotional moment for our people down in Oklahoma City to see this DC-3 take off […]

While other U.S. airlines bemoan falling revenues, empty seats, crotchety unions, bad management, etc., etc., Southwest Airlines this week posted its 48th consecutive quarterly profit, and said it’s ready to buy 25 more Boeing 737s. The first-quarter earnings of $24 million represent a 14-percent gain over the same period last year. CEO James Parker said […]

Sales and earnings were down by almost one-third for Gulfstream Aerospace in the first quarter of this year, totaling just $634 million compared to $907 million over the same period last year, according to a report last week from General Dynamics, the jet-maker’s parent company. “The Aerospace group continued to feel the effects of the […]

Adam Aircraft Industries, of Englewood, Colo., announced on Tuesday the successful closing of a “significant investment” by GS Capital Partners 2000, a private fund managed by Goldman, Sachs & Co. Adam Aircraft did not announce the amount of the investment, but said it will be utilized to fund the FAA certification of its A500 twin […]

Well, it seems like everyone has a reality show these days and EAA is next up. Starting April 28, the trials, tribulations, challenge and honor that comes with earning a private pilot certificate will be a weekly feature on the Discovery Wings Channel. The 13-week series Learning to Fly will follow Kyle, an actual student […]

American Airlines workers nearly got all the pain and the company’s top managers got the gain after unions agreed to massive concessions in a bid to keep the airline out of bankruptcy. Union leaders said it’s unlikely their members would have voted in favor of salary and benefit cuts of $1.8 billion had they known […]

It’s hard to imagine anyone falling asleep at the controls while flying water bombers but Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority has come up with a computer program to help firefighting pilots avoid fatigue. The “fatigue management systems” are designed to optimize flight time while ensuring the pilots get enough rest. Pilot fatigue has been identified […]

There could be an armed pilot locked behind a reinforced cockpit door at the controls of your next airline flight. The TSA said last week the first class of 48 “federal flight deck officers” were to have completed their weeklong training program on Saturday. Those pilots would then be authorized to carry a .40-caliber semiautomatic […]

XPrize, here we come. While other people talk about commercial manned space flight, Burt Rutan is one of few doing something about it. The owner of Scaled Composites LLC unveiled his company’s hardware — a suborbital spacecraft (click here for larger image) that consists of an airborne launcher (a.k.a. the White Knight) and the space […]

On the off chance that the flamboyant owner can turn a profit in the supersonic market, British Airways (BA) is saying “No, thank you” to Virgin Atlantic Airways owner Richard Branson’s offer to take seven Concordes off its hands. BA announced last week it was retiring the Concordes by October due to falling revenue and […]