Uber for Planes Amendment in FAA Bill

Contained in the FAA reauthorization bill currently speeding its way through Congress is a little noticed provision that would change the charter game completely. The new provision would effectively allow private pilots to post ride share notices online, which would in theory open up the market to companies wanting to enlist pilots in a money making endeavor. FAA reauthorization is expected to zip through both chambers as early as next week. (www.planeandpilotmag.com) Plus d'info...

Spirit Airlines to buy regional jets to fill the gap in barely served routes

Houston - The American ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines plans to buy hundreds of regional jets to strengthen its network. The candidate list includes Bombardier CSeries and Embraer E2. (airlinerwatch.com) Plus d'info...

It would be the world’s largest airplane. It’s being built by a billionaire. And it’s getting ready to fly.

COLORADO SPRINGS — The massive airplane that Paul Allen’s aerospace company has been building in the California desert could fly for the first time as soon as this summer, officials said. (www.msn.com) Plus d'info...

Southwest Airlines protested airworthiness directive designed to prevent engine failures

While a National Transportation Safety Board investigation is still underway, NTSB officials confirmed that the uncontained engine failure aboard Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 was the result of a fan blade breaking from a crack near the fan's hub. The failure is similar to one that occurred on another Southwest flight in September 2016. (arstechnica.com) Plus d'info...

Emergency landing KAEX by ICE Contract Aircraft

Emergency landing due to landing gear problem on a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 operated by World Atlantic in support of ICE. (www.kalb.com) Plus d'info...

Air France chief Jean-Marc Janaillac threatens to resign if strikes continue

The embattled CEO of Air France-KLM, Jean-Marc Janaillac, threatened Friday to resign if Air France staff continue to reject his wage proposals following nine days of strikes in the past two months. (www.airlive.net) Plus d'info...

Listen to the pilots of SWA1380 land the plane

Audio has been condensed but includes all publicly available ATC transmissions to/from SWA1380 from the time they declared an emergency to the time they stopped on the ground. Audio quality of these feeds varies dramatically just due to distance to transmitters, A/D converters, interference, receivers, bandwidth, bitrate, compression, digital artifacts, dither, all that fun stuff, etc. (www.youtube.com) Plus d'info...

SIA 777 door ripped off at Los Angeles

A Singapore Airlines (SIA) Boeing 777-300ER had its second leftside door ripped from the airframe at Los Angeles International airport on 16 April at 17.50 hours local time. (www.flightglobal.com) Plus d'info...

1 dead in Southwest Airlines flight has uncontained engine failure

PHILADELPHIA -- A Southwest Airlines jet apparently blew an engine and got hit by shrapnel that smashed a window and damaged the fuselage Tuesday. Southwest Flight 1380 was flying at about 30,000 feet when the explosion took place. The incident killed one passenger and injured seven others, authorities said. The plane, a Boeing 737 bound from New York to Dallas with 149 people aboard, made an emergency landing in Philadelphia just before noon as passengers breathing through oxygen masks that… (www.cbsnews.com) Plus d'info...

Thai Boeing 747 at Tokyo on Apr 11th 2018, GPWS alert on short final

The crew initiated an evasive maneouver in compliance with the GPWS alert, repositioned for another approach and landed safely on Haneda's runway 22 about 12 minutes after the GPWS alert. (www.aeroinside.com) Plus d'info...

A plan to put beds on planes

Beds could soon be coming to the cargo holds of passenger planes. But at what cost? (www.economist.com) Plus d'info...

First fully capable KC-46 tanker aircraft delayed

Under the Air Force's KC-46 modernization program, commercial aircraft are being converted by The Boeing Company into aerial refueling tankers. (dcnewsroom.blogspot.com) Plus d'info...

Primera Air takes delivery of its first A321neo

Confirming the success of the A320 Family on the market (www.airbus.com) Plus d'info...

Norwegian Air Shuttle shifts orders for Boeing 787 Dreamliners to Chinese leasing giant

Low cost airline Norwegian Air Shuttle has quietly shuffled orders for six Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners to Chinese airplane leasing giant BOC Aviation. (www.bizjournals.com) Plus d'info...

Airline operators to face route planning restrictions due to ETOPS downgrade for the 787-9

New York - Rolls-Royce increases the inspection frequency of Trent 1000 "Package C" engines to a monthly interval due to the recent problems reported by the clients. Operators also need to be prepared for route planning restrictions. (airlinerwatch.com) Plus d'info...

Icelandair celebrates the arrival of its first 737 MAX 8 with a special flight of landscape photography

Reykjavik - Icelandair has celebrated the arrival of its first Boeing 737 MAX 8 with a special route over the landscapes and most remarkable sites of Iceland, inviting its passengers to take spectacular photos. (airlinerwatch.com) Plus d'info...

This wasn't the first time a Southwest jet lost a fan blade in its engine

Investigators don't yet know what caused the engine failure that forced Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 to an emergency landing in Philadelphia on Tuesday, but it has similarities to an incident with the same airline in 2016. (www.cnn.com) Plus d'info...