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WASHINGTON—Federal lawmakers have signaled that they will investigate the mass flight cancellations by Southwest Airlines Co., with some Democrats suggesting the Transportation Department should be more aggressive at protecting passengers.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.), who leads the Senate’s committee on transportation issues, said in a statement this week that its members will look into what caused the cancellations and how consumers were affected.
“The problems at Southwest Airlines over the last several days go beyond weather,” Ms. Cantwell said.
The airline canceled nearly two-thirds of its flights Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, part of an effort to dig out from a cascading meltdown after last week’s severe winter storm threw it into disarray. While other airlines were able to recover from the brutal weather within a few days, Southwest continued to spiral.
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This special report explores what’s ahead for transportation, from the weird-looking planes that could fly you on vacation to the ways e-bikes could change our cities.
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Comac’s C919, China’s first homegrown narrow-body jet and challenger to Boeing and Airbus, made its public debut at the country’s biggest aerospace and defense exhibition on Tuesday. The plane recently cleared a major regulatory hurdle to begin carrying passengers.
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Indonesian investigators said a mechanical failure linked to automated engine controls and a delayed pilot response led to the crash of a passenger jet last year that killed all 62 people on board.
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Engineers are exploring radical new designs for commercial planes that would use less energy and lower emissions. But will passengers be willing to board them?
Modern airliner designs date from the 1950s: a metal tube and swept-back wings with jet engines slung underneath. They get you where you’re going and back. But after decades of research, something very different could be flying you on vacation by the late 2030s.
Unconventional designs such as “blended-wing” shapes now used for some military jets, which combine the cabin and wings in one piece, have been floated for years as possibilities for passenger aircraft. Now the rise of climate-change concerns and emergence of new manufacturing materials have brought a rethink a step closer to reality, scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration say.
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Europe has expanded its cybersecurity rules around airline flight safety. And for the first time, the requirements cover a range of companies in the aviation supply chain. WSJ Pro Cybersecurity reporter Catherine Stupp joins host Julie Chang to discuss the new rules and how companies are responding.
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Finance companies that buy and lease out airliners have a problem: Planes they own that are collectively worth billions of dollars are trapped in Russia.
Still, the risk of major losses for investors is relatively small, a new Moody's analysis finds.
The airliners, leased to Russian airlines and stuck there since Russia's ties with the West dissolved this year, are only a small portion of global leasing fleets: less than 10%, for the companies Moody's tracks.
Plus, insurance contracts should help the aircraft lessors—companies such as AerCap Holdings and Dubai Aerospace Enterprise—eventually recover some of the value of their lost planes. Claims could reach around $11 billion, per Moody's.
That could take time. But meanwhile, lessors may be able to sell the rights to their insurance claims to other investors. That would help the leasing companies sooner fund purchases of more planes, which they could lease out to other airlines to make up for some of the lost leasing revenue from the Russian airlines.
Other tailwinds are helping minimize the pain from the Russian freeze-out. Coming out of the pandemic, global travel demand is strengthening again. Meanwhile, Airbus and Boeing have been slow to deliver new jetliners, boosting the going rate for the planes in the leasing companies' fleets.
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The U.S. will rely on existing B-52 jets, like this one landing at England’s RAF Fairford station, until the made-over versions debut.
The U.S. is pushing to upgrade its 60-year-old fleet of strategic bombers to keep them flying into the second half of the 21st century in an effort to deter potential adversaries such as China and Russia.
Air Force officials and military experts have said the refresh of the B-52 bomber—a long-range jet built by Boeing Co. that can carry large loads of conventional and nuclear weapons—is crucial to providing an effective deterrent. The B-52 revamp could cost $11.8 billion, according to Pentagon budget documents in the spring.
The challenge for the Air Force and aerospace suppliers is to refresh long-running programs such as the B-52 while newer systems come online. Upgrading older aircraft takes time as the new systems need testing and the changes have to be staggered so that enough jets remain in service.
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