Recent Updates

Beechcraft has signed an agreement with the Royal New Zealand Air Force to provide 11 T-6C Texan II turboprop military training aircraft, plus spare parts, two simulators, training, logistics, and maintenance support, the company announced this week. “As the Royal New Zealand Air Force began the process of modernizing its pilot training capabilities, we were […]

Letter of the Week:Overregulation to Blame Regarding the “Question of the Week”: GA was in decline long before the recession and will not recover to its glory days until the cost of aircraft ownership comes down. A new single-engine piston basic trainer currently costs the same as a Ferrari. This is due to a long-standing, […]

The Air Line Pilots Association will pay $53 million to settle a lawsuit in which former TWA pilots alleged the union failed to properly defend their seniority rights. The pilots were working for TWA when it was bought out of bankruptcy by American Airlines. Many of the TWA pilots were put on the bottom of […]

Tyson Weihs, co-founder and CEO of ForeFlight, has announced the release of version 5.6 of ForeFlights intelligent app for pilots. Highlights of the update include enhanced flight plan filing options-including ICAO flight plan form support-as well as complete worldwide coverage for military pilots. Significantly, ForeFlight now primarily files flight plans directly via the modernized Lockheed […]

Our Friday review of recent press releases uncovered an announcement that former AOPA President Craig Fuller has joined the board of directors of the Lightspeed Aviation Foundation. The Foundation was created to promote a vibrant and growing pilot community and annually awards grants to nonprofit aviation organizations through its Pilots Choice Awards. Craig Fuller brings […]

The Fly In for food season has already begun. As we kick off our Friday Weekender spot, we’re highlighting breakfast fly ins in Florida and Texas, a coffee and doughnuts gathering in Arizona and airport open houses in Florida, Oklahoma and California-all taking place this Saturday or Sunday. Thank you to Social Flight for collecting […]

The Wichita Eagle is reporting that Cessna Aircraft Companys revenue increased $22 million and profit rose $10 million in the fourth quarter of 2013 because of an increase in jet deliveries. Cessna delivered 62 new Citations in the quarter, compared to 53 in the fourth quarter of 2012. Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2013 […]

Rockwell Collins says it doesn’t expect significant recovery in the business jet sector until 2016 and it has scaled its operations to reflect that. Rockwell Collins CEO Kelly Ortberg told Bloomberg that aircraft sales won’t rebound until companies start making more money. The current recovery is driven by cost reduction rather than sales growth, he […]

The Canadian government is considering law changes that could give local and provincial jurisdictions a say in airport construction or expansion projects, according to the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association President Kevin Psutka. In a letter to members, Psutka said the proposed changes to the Aeronautics Act are so far ambiguous but could chip away […]

Bombardier is laying off 1,700 aerospace workers, 1,100 in Montreal and 600 in Wichita, because of slow sales and delays in the CSeries airliner and Learjet 85 programs. Last week, the Canadian planemaker announced the CSeries wouldn’t be ready for its first deliveries until the last half of 2015, and a few days later it […]