As jets take charge of fire-bombing missions, the 62-year-old piston-powered Tanker 60 takes its last flight over Oregon

As jets take over as fire-bombing aircraft, the piston-powered Douglas DC-7 plane, aka "Tanker 60," is going into retirement. This Eastern Air Lines plane was built in 1958 and spent its early years flying up and down the East Coast and to the Caribbean. In the 1970s, the plane was gutted and refit to be a air tanker and fire bomber, used to drop fire retardant from above, and has since spent over 40 years fighting fires. (www.msn.com) Plus d'info...

United is bringing back inflight food and beverage sales — with a twist

Early in the pandemic, airlines quickly suspended most inflight service offerings. On some of the shortest flights, you wouldn’t receive anything — not even water. With the holidays approaching and more people taking to the skies, carriers are slowly resuming pre-pandemic service, with an increased focus on crew and passenger safety. On Oct. 1, United boosted its complimentary offerings. (thepointsguy.com) Plus d'info...

Heathrow overtaken as Europe's busiest airport amid pandemic

Heathrow says it has been overtaken as Europe's busiest airport for the first time by Paris Charles de Gaulle because of a slump in demand for air travel. Some 19 million passengers used Heathrow in the first nine months of the year, versus 19.3 million who used the airport in the French capital. Heathrow said Amsterdam Schiphol and Frankfurt were "close behind". It said all three rivals had adopted testing regimes as a way of people reducing or avoiding quarantine. (www.yahoo.com) Plus d'info...

747SP owned by Sheldon Adelson damaged in hangar

A rare Boeing 747SP plane has suffered severe damage after a collision with another aircraft. The plane was set to undergo maintenance work before the collision occurred in an Arizona hangar, leaving a gaping slice beneath the fuselage’s front-end. Evidence suggests the aircraft has now been damaged beyond repair. (simpleflying.com) Plus d'info...

All Nippon Airways Reveals Plan To Launch New Widebody LCC

All Nippon Airways (ANA) plans to create a new low-cost widebody unit and cut back its mainline fleet as part of a major overhaul of its strategy spurred by the COVID-19 crisis. The new carrier is expected to be launched during the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2022. It will use Boeing 787s to fly routes to Southeast Asia and Oceania. ANA intends to use its existing Air Japan entity–primarily a charter operation–as the basis for the new carrier. ANA told Aviation Daily the name is still to be… (aviationweek.com) Plus d'info...

Some Passengers Providing Fake Negative COVID Results To Beat Air Travel Restrictions

Some travelers in the United Kingdom have resorted to faking negative COVID-19 test results as because of the difficulty of securing legitimate ones. (www.gatechecked.com) Plus d'info...

B-17 Texas Raiders Is Back in the Air

Thanks to the support of donors , supporters and the CAF hard-working maintenance crew, the CAF Gulf Coast Wing was able to get Engine number 3 swapped out in time to make their next event at McKinney, TX on October 17 as originally planned. As we previously reporter (HERE), on their way to the Labor Day weekend at the Arkansas Air and Military Museum the CAF Gulf Coast Wing’s B-17 Texas Raiders suffered a performance issue on one engine while in transit, and out of an abundance of caution the… (warbirdsnews.com) Plus d'info...

Airbus’ China Final Assembly Line Has Now Delivered 500 A320s

Number 500 of the A320 family aircraft left Airbus’ final assembly line in Tianjin, China, on Thursday. The manufacturer’s first such facility outside of Europe has sent the milestone aircraft off to China Southern Airlines. (simpleflying.com) Plus d'info...

Kuwait Airways Takes Delivery Of The First Rare Airbus A330-800

Kuwait Airways has today taken delivery of the first two Airbus A330-800 aircraft. Only 14 Airbus A330-800s have been ordered, compared to 318 orders for its twin, the Airbus A330-900. The airline has eight of the aircraft on order. (simpleflying.com) Plus d'info...

Boeing's 737MAX to Return Soon

The 737 MAX, an aircraft that has been grounded for over a year and a half, is expected to be clear to fly again in the coming weeks. The plane has already been deemed "good to go" by the E.U.'s aviation administration, and the FAA is expected to do the same shortly. Due to the fact that Boeing is an American company, the FAA must give their approval before the MAX can be officially ungrounded. (theexplorerblog.com) Plus d'info...

Uh-Oh Boeing: Southwest Considering an Airbus Plane

Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), famously an all-Boeing (NYSE: BA) fleet for most of its existence, confirmed it is evaluating an Airbus (OTC: EADSY) jet as part of its future growth plans. (www.msn.com) Plus d'info...

Parana and Sao Paulo states will have news from GOL (GOLL4) in October

With this, the Brazilian airline increases the offer of seats by more than 63% in the Parana state, when comparing October with September / 2020.... (cmsherbert.blogspot.com) Plus d'info...

The McDonnell Douglas MD-12 vs The Airbus A380 – A Comparison

The McDonnell Douglas MD-12 was designed in the early 1990s as a potential competitor to the double-decker Boeing 747. The project was ultimately unsuccessful, and McDonnell Douglas received no orders for its ‘superjumbo.’ However, had it been built, it would have also potentially shared the skies with the Airbus A380. This aircraft was also in development at the time that the MD-12 was being designed. But how exactly would it have compared with the Airbus double-decker? (simpleflying.com) Plus d'info...

Man detained after trying to open emergency exits on Hawaiian Airlines flight

A man who disrupted a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu was taken into federal custody Wednesday. The airline says the “unruly passenger” tried to open the plane’s exit doors during the flight. The added that crew members were aided by an off-duty law enforcement officer on the flight in restraining the man. It happened on flight 3, which took off from LAX with 194 passengers and 11 crew members. The Airbus A330 landed without incident at Honolulu’s airport shortly before 1… (www.msn.com) Plus d'info...

Airbus Welcomes Its Third Beluga XL Aircraft

It’s the third of six Beluga XLs that will be introduced to the Airbus fleet by 2023. (simpleflying.com) Plus d'info...

Passengers stranded as union shutdown Turkish Airlines Operations In Nigeria

Passengers booked on Turkish Airlines were bared from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos following directive by the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) to deny the airline services over the airline’s failure to reverse the sack of executive of the union engaged by the carrier. Many of the travelers were seen with their luggage at the entrance of the terminal as there were no signs that the airline would be allowed to operate. In a notice to aviation workers signed by… (www.woleshadare.net) Plus d'info...