Recent Updates

Boeing set a new company record for annual deliveries with 806 aircraft delivered in 2018. The company’s previous record was 763 deliveries, set last year. At 580 deliveries, 737s made up the biggest portion of Boeing aircraft delivered in 2018. Almost half of the 737 deliveries were new MAX aircraft. According to Boeing, the company […]

Cirrus Aircraft has announced the launch of the next generation of its single-engine Vision Jet. According to the company, the G2 Vision Jet offers an increase in maximum operating altitude from FL280 to FL310 and slight improvements to the first generation’s 300-knot top cruise speed (305ktas) and 1,200nm range (1,275nm). Other G2 upgrades include autothrottle, […]

Over the weekend, Elon Musk tweeted out images of what his completed Spaceship test vehicle will look like, and said it should be ready for first flight within weeks. The ship is 30 feet across, the same as the final vehicle, according to Engadget. It has a shiny aluminum hull, but no windows. Musk said, […]

A year and a half ago, it dawned on me that what I most enjoyed about my previous career as a science communications consultant was when I got to commute to visit clients in my faithful Cessna 180. With some 1500 hours in my logbook—accumulated primarily on those business trips—I sent out my rsum to […]

Bell Helicopter revealed a full-scale concept eVTOL on Monday, during the press day at the Consumer Electronics Show 2019 in Las Vegas. The air taxi, namedBell Nexus, is powered by a hybrid-electric propulsion system and driven by Bell’s powered-lift concept, incorporating six tilting ducted fans designed for safety and efficiency. Bell is working with Uber […]

Rep. Pete DeFazio, D-Ore., is the new chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and he’s made it clear his emphasis will be on the latter rather than the former. DeFazio says he intends to have a comprehensive infrastructure bill before Congress in six months and that likely means aviation issues will be […]

The government shutdown has reached beyond the national airspace system and postponed at least one space launch. According to spacenews.com, Exos Aerospace intended to launch its SARGE suborbital rocket from Spaceport America in New Mexico on Saturday but pushed it back to Feb. 9 in hopes FAA staff will be back at work and able […]

In case there were any doubts that the pilot shortage is real, the South China Morning Post is reporting that China’s People’s Liberation Army has joined the rest of the aviation world and launched a pilot recruitment drive. The army has created a flashy promotional video aimed at 17- to 20-year-olds and 2019 high school […]

Herbert D. “Herb” Kelleher, the maverick and much beloved co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of Southwest Airlines, passed away on Thursday, Jan. 3. He was 87. Herb was a young lawyer recently relocated from the East Coast to Texas when a client, Rollin King, approached him about helping him start a low-fare intra-Texas airline. The eventual […]

As the government shutdown grinds on with no end in sight, calls from the aviation industry to restore funding are getting more strident and the system is starting to show some strain. Possibly the biggest concern is the furloughing of 3,000 “safety specialists,” who support air traffic control functions. Another concern is that virtually all […]