News

It’s now an annual tradition — the FAA reaches out to holiday decorators, especially those who live near airports, asking them to consider pilots when installing laser lights outside. Some of the light shows, which have grown in popularity the last few years, can project their lasers for hundreds of feet or more. “People who […]

The Regional Airline Association, which represents 22 North American regional airlines, asked the FAA this week to approve additional “structured training pathways” for Part 121 first officers. The RAA says its data show that applicants for pilot jobs tend to do better if they are from “structured training backgrounds” with less than four years since […]

A system developed by Aurora Flight Sciences can be installed on any rotary-wing aircraft and enable it to fly autonomously, the company said in a news release on Wednesday. The Office of Naval Research will conduct a final demonstration of the system next week, Dec. 13, at the Marine Corps’ urban training center in Quantico, […]

American Airlines will pay double time to pilots who take flights that, due to a computer glitch, may have been left without cockpit crews over Christmas. The glitch allowed most American pilots to take time off over the holidays, which obviously wasn’t workable. American and the Allied Pilots Association worked out the deal, which will […]

A Canadian newspaper says the Canadian government has scrapped plans to buy 18 Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets as part of an escalating trade dispute with the U.S. manufacturer. Instead, the National Post says Canada’s Department of National Defence will announce it’s buying an unspecified number of surplus F-18 Hornets from Australia, the same type now […]

Japan Airlines is investing $10 million into Boom Aircraft, the Denver-based startup promising to bring back supersonic air travel. The deal includes options for 20 aircraft. “We’ve been working with Japan Airlines behind the scenes for over a year now,” said Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic. “JAL’s passionate, visionary team offers decades […]

Ten thousand airplanes is an impressive benchmark for any manufacturer, but when those airplanes are built one at a time in hangars and garages around the world, by amateurs, it’s even more of an accomplishment. Van’s Aircraft, based in Aurora, Oregon, said on Friday the RV-7 built by David Porter, who recently reported his first […]

SpaceX will launch its first Falcon Heavy rocket early in the new year and founder Elon Musk is betting the eternal resting place of his personal cherry-red Tesla Roadster on the successful outcome of the test flight. His daily driver will be the payload on the rocket, SpaceX’s most powerful to date, and if all […]

Pipistrel founder Ivo Boscarol has partnered with a Chinese company to build its Alpha Electro electric trainer and the hybrid version of the Panthera high-performance aircraft in a new aviation development near Nanjing. Pipistrel will retain 51 percent of Pipistrel Asia Pacific General Aviation Technology Ltd. The minority partner is Danny Wu Hao who, as […]

There are many ways to ground an airplane and ramp attendants at what sounds like a U.S. airport (based on the profanity-laced epithets from one of the ground crew members) found a novel approach. The incident appears to have happened in late September or early October and involves a Turkish Airlines A330 at the gate. […]