Eastern Airlines wants to Tango. The carrier filed with the US Department of Transportation on Wednesday to operate flights between Miami and Buenos Aires, using its Boeing 767 fleet.
Airplanes and Airports
Airbus, EASA warn on parked aircraft battery issues
With thousands of aircraft parked around the globe this year the industry is learning more and more about the impact of these long-term storage actions. This week Airbus and EASA issued an advisory regarding battery systems on the A320, A330, A340 and A380 family aircraft that “could lead to reduced battery endurance performance, possibly resulting […]
A Tale of Two Holidays: Memorial Day v Labor Day in US Traffic Numbers
Between Memorial Day and Labor Day the US commercial aviation market saw a 37% rebound in the number of passengers flying. Not surprisingly, however, the distribution of that growth was anything but consistent across the country.
AirAsia Japan halts operations
AirAsia Japan is dead. Again. The second iteration of the ASEAN discount carrier’s operation in Japan ceased operations on Monday, bringing an end to the three year run the carrier flew from its base at Nagoya.
Two major takeaways from FAA Administrator Dixon’s 737 MAX test flight
On Wednesday morning Steve Dickson, Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, took Boeing’s 737 MAX for a test flight. Following the successful flight Dickson repeatedly stated, “I like what I saw” from the progress, particularly in how the MCAS system was revised. But that optimism must be tempered against a few very real remaining challenges in getting the aircraft back into commercial service.
Breeze Airways resets launch plans, again
Launching an airline is far from easy. Doing so in the midst of a global health pandemic ups the challenge factor significantly. Breeze Airways is making significant progress in its planning, with additional funding secured and FAA milestones reached. It also has a new plan for what the operations will look like when they launch.
Redundant switch failure causes degraded controls on Pilatus PC-24
Modern aircraft generally are designed with many redundancies built in. Testing and managing what happens when those systems both fail, however, does not always get sufficient attention. And in the case of the Pilatus PC-24 a dual failure on a data communications bus led to some interesting results in flight.
JetBlue extends service suspensions at seven cities
With demand still lagging JetBlue will delay the restart of service to seven Blue Cities currently suspended. All seven were previously slated to resume service on 6 November 2020. Four of the airports will now restart in April 2021 and two remain suspended indefinitely. Just one will reopen later this year.
United Airlines introduces at-airport COVID testing for SFO-Hawaii flights
As the largest carrier between the mainland and Hawaii United Airlines has a lot to gain by increasing passenger numbers to the islands. Quarantine restrictions limited the viability for most visitors over the summer but a new policy allowing passengers with a negative COVID test to skip the quarantine could help boost traffic. United will soon offer testing at San Francisco International Airport to help meet that requirement.
Pushing the Single European Sky forward
Europe mostly eliminated borders on the ground, allowing for the smooth passage of people and goods, but in the skies the story is very different. Switching between 37 service providers and 63 ATC centers results in inefficient flight routings, longer trip times, increased delays, and excess fuel burn causing surplus carbon emissions. After years of debate the Single European Sky (SES), addressing these issues, is set to move forward.