News

Air Travel Remains Safe During Shutdown, Data Show

Details

Published: Wednesday, 23 January 2019 21:41

Rate of planes coming too close to each other hasn’t changed, but air-traffic controllers’ resources ‘are starting to run thin,’ union official says

U.S. aviation officials have compiled data that statistically support, for the first time, Trump administration statements that the partial government shutdown hasn’t jeopardized air-traffic-control safety.

The data, according to one person briefed on the details, indicate that serious traffic-control deviations—incidents of planes coming dangerously close to each other in the air or on the ground—have remained flat from levels a year ago. Such incidents are typically captured by computers and other automated means.

The statistical summary, covering the duration of the shutdown through the end of last week, also shows a 4% overall drop across a broader range of air-traffic-control deviations, this person said.

Read More

This is an excerpt from The Wall Street Journal.

Amazon to Lease 10 More Freighters from Air Transport Services

Details

Published: Wednesday, 09 January 2019 17:18

Move aims to help reduce its shipping costs, reliance on carriers such as UPS and FedEx
An Amazon-branded Boeing 767 freighter flies over Lake Washington during the Seattle Seafair Air Show in August 2016.
Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -0.56% on Friday said it would lease another 10 freighter aircraft from Air Transport Services Group Inc., ATSG -1.42% as the online retail giant expands its air cargo operation.

The expanded deal also gives Amazon the ability to buy up to a 39.9% stake in the Wilmington, Ohio, air-cargo transportation company and includes multiyear extensions of the current aircraft leases between the companies.

Read More

This is an excerpt from The Wall Street Journal.

The Last 747: Airlines Dump the Jumbo Jet, Transforming International Travel

Details

Published: Wednesday, 02 January 2019 17:18

Smaller, ultraefficient long-range airliners are overtaking the once celebrated giant of the sky; crammed seats and fewer perks<br>
About a year ago, a Boeing BA 0.41% 747 operated by Delta Air Lines took off from Atlanta for a three-hour flight to Pinal Airpark, a boneyard for unwanted aircraft in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert.<p>
The once celebrated giant of the sky, which had transformed international travel with its size and range, had flown its last flight for a U.S. airline.
Delta has replaced its fleet of jumbo jets with Airbus A350s, one of a new breed of smaller, ultraefficient long-range airliners. Nearly every other airline in the world is doing a version of the same thing, replacing huge jets with smaller ones.

Read More

This is an excerpt from The Wall Street Journal.

Boeing Faces Escalating Feud With Lion Air Over Plane Crash

Details

Published: Thursday, 27 December 2018 17:18

Boeing Co. BA -is facing unusually public criticism from a major customer, Lion Air, as the two try to minimize fallout from a fatal crash.

Accident investigators are months away from determining the precise cause of the Oct. 29 crash that killed 189 people when the new Boeing 737 MAX 8 plunged into the Java Sea. Lion Air on Monday said it had reached a deal with a Dutch marine company to resume searching for the plane’s cockpit voice recorder.

Initial information pointing to potential maintenance, operation and design issues, however, has escalated a spat that exceeds typically private finger-pointing following a major airliner accident.

“I’m very disappointed with the way Boeing has behaved,” Lion Air co-founder Rusdi Kirana said in a recent interview.

Read More

This is an excerpt from The Wall Street Journal.