News

The annual NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition opens officially on Tuesday morning in Orlando, Florida, but it was already a busy day on Monday, with a full slate of news conferences and plenty of reporters and industry officials on site. The show news even got off to an extra-early start, with the announcement from […]

Pratt & Whitney Canada has received type certification from Transport Canada for its PW617F1-E jet engine, the company announced on Monday at the NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Orlando, Florida. The engine has been chosen by Embraer to power its new version of the Phenom 100, the EV, which was announced this summer […]

Dassault Aviation unveiled a new cabin design on Monday for its Falcon 900LX at the NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Orlando, Florida. The fully redesigned cabin features reduced noise levels, LED lighting, upgraded acoustics and enhanced connectivity and communications systems. The cockpit crew gets Dassault’s new FalconEye combined vision system and an upgraded […]

Gulfstream will build the last 450 model business jet in 2018 as its new G500 enters service. At a news conference at NBAA, company officials updated several programs, noting that despite the softer market, Gulfstream is maintaining the schedule for its new aircraft. There are now five G500 test airplanes flying and more than 1,750 […]

Competition is always intense in the business aircraft market and a new front has opened that’s affecting the whole industry. There’s a shortage of maintenance technicians and companies are getting innovative to attract and retain the people who keep their products flying. Bombardier recently announced it is hiring an additional 200 techs to beef up […]

Cirrus announced Sunday that its Cirrus SF50 personal jet has been type certified and that deliveries will begin in December. The company made the announcement at a hastily arranged function two days after it received the FAA paperwork and two days before the National Business Aviation Association Convention in Orlando, Florida. CEO Dale Klapmeier told […]

The Boeing 747 assembly line has been thrown a substantial lifeline with a major order from UPS. The freight service has ordered 14 new 747-8 freighters and taken options for 14 more as part of its international fleet modernization. It’s the biggest 747 order since Lufthansa bought 20 in 2006. There have been steady predictions […]

The Canadian government has begun laboratory testing of two unleaded aviation fuels that the FAA is also testing as possible replacements for 100LL. Canada’s National Research Council (NRC) is using its altitude chamber at its Ottawa research complex to put Swift 102 and Shell’s candidate fuel through its paces. Pervez Canteenwalla, the researcher heading up […]

Slovenia-based Pipistrel has signed a $550 million deal with Sino GA Group Co. of China to build its Alpha Electro electric trainer and hybrid-powered Pantera high-performance aircraft in China. And while that’s significant in itself, it’s Pipistrel’s plans for the money it will earn in the project that is bound to raise eyebrows. “Pipistrel will […]

The two pilots of the business jet that crashed at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport in 2014, killing one, appeared to have lost control during an attempted landing in gusty, variable tailwinds as the tower implored the crew to go around. The NTSB’s factual report from the Jan. 5, 2014, crash, released this week, said the Bombardier […]