News

SATSAir, regarded as a bright light in the air taxi field, abruptly stopped service late Friday and isn’t guaranteeing customers that it will be back. A message on the Greenville, S.C. company’s main number apologizes for the inconvenience caused passengers who have already booked flights. “A combination of circumstances will preclude us from providing scheduled […]

A 2004 study of 114 airports in Missouri is being used to support the notion that federal funds are well spent to bolster general aviation — to the tune of $1.1 billion. The survey was performed by South Carolina-based Wilbur Smith & Associates for the MIssouri Department of Transportation. The big number reflects the sum […]

The pilots of the Northwest Airlines that overshot their destination of Minneapolis last week met with federal investigators Sunday but there was no word of what transpired there by our deadline. Capt. Timothy Cheney and FO Richard Cole have consistently said that they were distracted by a conversation in the cockpit and simply lost track […]

The FAA and NTSB are investigating a bizarre incident in which a Northwest Airlines Airbus 320 overshot its intended destination by 150 miles on Wednesday evening. The crew went NORDO for 78 minutes before finally acknowledging blind calls from Minneapolis Center and reversing course back to the destination. When queried later, the crew claimed it […]

A bill passed the House on Wednesday requires that commercial airline pilots to have a minimum of 1500 hours flight time, their ATP rating, and it describes “minimum contents of study” for pilot academic training. It also calls for the Administrator to initiate a study of the effects of commuting on pilot fatigue. If the […]

The mystery of Amelia Earhart’s disappearance over the Pacific in 1937 is a familiar story, but outside of aviation circles, her other accomplishments are less well known. A new film that opens Friday, Amelia, starring Hilary Swank, explores Earhart’s life as a pilot, leading up to that famous final flight. The Ninety-Nines, the women’s pilot […]

The FAA says an airport is a rotten place to put a composting facility, and Palo Alto, Calif. officials have grudgingly agreed. Last Monday, Palo Alto city council voted 6-3 to rethink plans to use four acres of airport land as a processing site for the area’s kitchen scraps and lawn clippings. However, it wasn’t […]

An Indian newspaper, the Mail Today, is quoting an unnamed retired airline pilot as saying that senior airline pilots commonly turn up for work drunk and almost never get disciplined because they are too “precious.” The newspaper points out that there is no law against flying drunk in India, although pilots suspected of drinking are […]

A couple of Delta Airlines pilots have been suspended after the Boeing 767 they were flying from Rio de Janeiro landed on a taxiway at Atlanta Hartsfield Airport early Monday morning. The FAA reported there were no other aircraft on the taxiway and the landing and rollout were normal. Spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the crew […]

As the leadership and membership of the National Business Aviation Association talked about the progress being made in fighting the stigma of business aircraft use, the rest of the world was heaping scorn on their use by executives of banks that received federal bailouts. Business jet (usually termed private jet) use by the bankers was […]