Business & Military

This year has been the most profitable ever for China’s airline industry, growing 76 percent from last year and generating $8.5 billion in profits, according to local reports, despite an overall slowdown in the economy. Over the last five years, passenger traffic grew about 10 percent per year, nine new airlines launched, and the number […]

As 2015 draws to a close, it’s time to take a few reflective moments to consider the year just past, to wonder at the marvel of flight, to appreciate its sheer poetry and to give thanks for that rarified privilege we all reverently share. And also to attempt to make feeble but pointless amends for […]

Mitsubishi has pushed back the certification and delivery schedule of its MRJ regional jet by at least a year, saying the aircraft might not be strong enough to meet certification requirements. In a surprise announcement on Christmas Eve, Mitsubishi Aircraft President Hiromichi Morimoto said the 90-seat aircraft meets so-called “normal use” requirements but the company […]

The Army’s longest-serving unmanned aerial system retired this month after a final flight at Fort Hood in Texas. Operators of the Hunter, a fixed-wing unit similar in size to a two-seat piston airplane, enjoyed a last demonstration flight during a ceremony Dec. 16 at Robert Gray Army Airfield. The UAS is among the early generations […]

This week’s successful landing and recovery of a launch booster by SpaceX got a lot favorable coverage and was an impressive feat. But as a classically trained aeronautical engineer who spent more than three decades flying crewed rocket ships into space, I have always looked at the concept of a fly-back booster with skepticism. The […]

AVweb’s search of aviation news found announcements from airline training company CAE, a new quick-build airplane kit,details for the nextWomen in Aviation Conference, and an announcement fromLiving Legends of Aviation.CAE announced a series of training solution contracts valued at more than C$100 million with five airlines. The diversity of these agreements highlights the span of […]

The FAA said on Tuesday 45,000 drones were registered in the first day of the online registry, and the site will be taken down overnight tonight for site maintenance, in anticipation of an expected rush of registrants on Christmas Day. “While an overwhelming number of people have successfully registered, we have received reports from a […]

The FAA said today it has reached a settlement with Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) regarding 13 complaints that the company had failed to meet various compliance standards. Under the agreement, BCA must pay the government $12 million and also must implement changes to several certification processes, “to further enhance the airworthiness and continued compliance of […]

The FAA is working on ways for private aviators to protect their flight data from being made public, according to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal. NBAA and GAMA have been pressing the FAA, the Journal reported, to ensure that as new air traffic control systems such as ADS-B are developed, they will […]

Transport Canada has issued type certification for Bombardier’s CSeries airliner. Transport Minister Marc Garneau made the announcement last week at Bombardier’s Montreal-area facility. The CSeries is the first clean-sheet single-aisle airliner to be certified in at least 20 years and Bombardier is pinning its future on the fuel-efficient, fly-by-wire jet. The aircraft certified last week […]