Business & Military

Aerostructures manufacturer Spirit AeroSystems announced on Friday that it will lay off approximately 1,450 employees at its headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, due to the drop in demand for commercial airplanes caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Spirit supplies companies including Boeing and Airbus, both of which recently announced production rate cuts. The layoffs are expected […]

Airbus has announced that it is developing a modification for A330 and A350 aircraft that will allow airlines to install freight pallets directly onto cabin floor seat tracks. According to the company, the solution will reduce wear and tear on airliner seats and facilitate faster loading and unloading along with adding additional fire protection and […]

Boeing announced on Wednesday that it intends to cut commercial aircraft production rates and reduce its workforce by around 10 percent. The announcement came alongside the publication of Boeing’s first-quarter financial data, which showed a Q1 net loss of $641 million. According to Boeing, the staff cuts will be accomplished through “a combination of voluntary […]

A retired top U.S. military official says showboating Russian fighter pilots are posturing for social media, trying to go viral to raise the profile of their military and maybe sell some airplanes. In the past few weeks U.S. military have complained their aircraft have been buzzed by Russian fighters, including an inverted Su-35 that came […]

Embraer will likely sue Boeing after the collapse of a $4.2 billion deal to buy Embraer’s commercial aircraft division. Boeing announced on Saturday it was pulling out of the deal and said it’s because Embraer didn’t live up to its end of the deal. “Boeing has worked diligently over more than two years to finalize […]

Textron Aviation announced that it has delivered the first two Cessna Citation Latitude aircraft configured for flight inspection missions. Both aircraft will be owned and operated by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF). According to Textron, the Latitudes have been fitted with Norwegian Special Mission’s (NSM) UNIFIS 3000 Flight Inspection System equipment and will be […]

Airbus has turned to a new “e-Delivery” aircraft handover process designed to keep the company’s delivery system moving while meeting heightened healthy and safety requirements during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Pegasus Airlines became the first Airbus customer to adopt the process, taking delivery of three new A320neo family aircraft over the last few days. According […]

Boeing has announced that it plans to resume production at its facilities in Washington’s Puget Sound region early next week. The company’s production activities in the state have been suspended since March 23 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Boeing intends to reopen the facilities using a phased approach with the first group of employees […]

Airbus announced on Wednesday that it is reducing average production rates for the A320, A330 and A350 by approximately one-third due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Monthly A320 production will drop to an average of 40 units. A330s will be produced at a rate of two per month and A350s at six per month. “We […]

Boeing has announced the initiation of a voluntary layoff (VLO) plan as a means to address financial difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic. According to the company, the plan “aims to reduce the need for other workforce actions” by allowing eligible employees who want to leave do so with a pay and benefits package. As […]