News

The airspace in Southern California is busy and complex, and according to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), a staffing crisis is eroding the margin of safety to “dangerously low levels.” A shortage of qualified staff is forcing many controllers to work overtime and six-day weeks, while more controllers are retiring and new hires […]

Melbourne, Fla.-based Liberty Aerospace promoted Keith Markley to the president and CEO position. Markley formerly was the airplane manufacturer’s chief operating officer. “Liberty Aerospace has grown significantly over the last two years, moving to a full production Part 23 aircraft manufacturer,” said former CEO Anthony Tiarks, who founded the company in 2000. “This appointment, which […]

Aircraft crossing the Arctic Ocean can now fly more direct routes, save fuel and achieve better on-time performance, the FAA said this week. The Alaska Air Route Traffic Control Center has completed the installation of Advanced Technologies and Oceanic Procedures (ATOP). The technology enables controllers to safely separate aircraft in areas outside radar coverage or […]

The legend that says the escorts flown by the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II never lost a bomber to enemy aircraft fire is just that — a legend, according to a report by an historian at the Air Force Historical Research Agency. The preliminary findings of the research became known last year, but the […]

Talks between air traffic controllers and the Brazilian government broke down Tuesday when the controllers refused to say they wouldn’t strike, Reuters reports. The controllers had walked off the job over the weekend, and thousands of passengers were stranded when the government closed down the airports. They were back at work the next day, after […]

Linear Air, which has been operating an air-taxi service from Bedford, Mass., since 2004 with a fleet of Cessna Grand Caravans while it awaits delivery of its Eclipse very light jets, is now expanding to Manassas (Va.) Regional Airport just outside of Washington, D.C., the company said this week. Linear Air has ordered 30 Eclipse […]

The FAA is dragging its feet on changing the Age-60 rule, say three airline pilots who are about to see their careers come to what they believe is a premature end. But the trio is doing more than just griping about the situation – they filed a lawsuit against the FAA in a federal court […]

Every type of general aviation airplane saw increased shipments in 2006, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association report, but the Pilatus PC-12 – now in its 14th year of production — held top honors, according to the Switzerland-based aircraft maker. The company says that this makes it four consecutive years that the PC-12 has […]

In case you haven’t heard, AirCell is promising an onboard seamless (within the U.S.) broadband coverage system for business aircraft operators available in early 2008. The system, which was announced in at the Aircraft Electronics Association convention in Reno last week, includes a single LRU weighing in at 15 pounds and accessed via an Ethernet […]

On Monday, the new 3,400-pound-thrust Williams FJ44-4A FADEC engine slated for the Cessna Citation CJ4 flew for the first time aboard a Citation testbed. The first flight of the new engine went very well, and performance exceeded our expectations during the 50-minute flight, said CJ4 Program Manager Norm Baker III. According to the Wichita aircraft […]