Recent Updates

The FAA has funding security (assuming presidential approval) for nine months after the Senate passed the so-called “Cromnibus” spending bill that approves appropriations for most government departments through September 2015. The vote was held late Saturday. The $1.3 trillion spending bill also rejects an administration user fee proposal and gives the FAA more money than […]

British air traffic control has restored operations after a computer glitch Friday afternoon that caused delays at London’s Heathrow Airport and other travel hubs. Meanwhile, airlines continued to catch up after the delays and the UK media are questioning the reliability of the system, which has had issues since it launched in 2002. A report […]

Daher-Socata will design and certify Airbus Group’s electric E-Fan aircraft with plans to develop the existing prototype into an all-electric series of production aircraft, the companies announced Thursday. Airbus subsidiary VoltAir, which developed the prototype, will be the project manager as Daher-Socata designs and tests the aircraft, including its electric powerplant and batteries. Airbus announced […]

National Geographic will release a new documentary, “Living in the Age of Airplanes,” in April. The film, produced and directed by Brian Terwilliger — maker of the 2005 GA documentary “One Six Right” — is about how air travel has transformed civilization.Harrison Ford narrates, while the score comes from Academy-Award-winning composer James Horner, also a […]

AVweb’s search of the world’s aviation news turned up European approval for Pratt & Whitney’s new engine, a landmark anniversary for Embraer, and new product announcements including a Bristell LSA distributor for the U.S. market and a tablet mount from MyGoFlight. Pratt & Whitney Canada’s new PW210A engine has earned certification from the European Aviation […]

The FAA on Wednesday granted four companies exemptions for operating unmanned aerial systems in various functions including aerial surveys, construction site monitoring and oil rig flare inspections. The companies are Trimble Navigation Limited, VDOS Global LLC, Clayco Inc. and Woolpert Inc., which received two exemptions.The FAA is expected to propose rules governing drones by the […]

A passenger on a Southwest Airlines 737 gave birth in flight on Wednesday morning, shortly after takeoff from San Francisco. A doctor and nurse on board assisted, and the captain diverted the flight, which was bound for Phoenix, to land in Los Angeles. “It was a beautiful day, smooth, everything was going great,” said Captain […]

The House has passed a package of tax measures that would, among other things, revive bonus depreciation on capital investments, including aircraft. Bonus depreciation allows businesses to write off up to 50 percent of the value of equipment purchased in and put into service in 2014. There are also reports the plan is to make […]

Retail giant Amazon told the FAA this week that it would rather be testing its delivery drones in the U.S., but since the agency has stymied the company’s efforts, jobs and investment in the program are being exported to sites outside the country. “These non-U.S. facilities enable us to quickly build and modify our Prime […]

It’s not often that a passenger throws the chief flight attendant off a flight but that’s the scenario that led to a recent Korean Airlines flight leaving JFK late. Of course it wasn’t just any passenger. Cho Hyun-Ah (who goes by Heather Cho), the family-run airline’s executive vice president and daughter of CEO Cho Yang-Ho, […]