Want to be treated extra special when flying? American Airlines’ newly expanded Five Star Select service adds Flagship Lounge Dining, private car transfers to the plane, and even Blade helicopter transfers between the airport and downtown locations. All for a price, of course.
Airplanes and Airports
Welcome to the 2019 Haneda Slot Lottery!
Which airlines and passengers will win the next round of Haneda slot allocations? Four carriers applied to add 19 flights for Summer 2020. Alas, only 12 slots are available.
End of the (assembly) line for the A380
It is huge. It is (generally speaking) more comfortable for passengers. It is spectacularly quiet on board. And as of 2021 no more will be built. Airbus confirmed today that it will finally halt production of its A380 super jumbo in two years, once the final 17 frames are delivered. The move comes after reaching an agreement with Emirates to slash the carrier’s order backlog.
United, Bombardier launch the CRJ550
Behold the outcome of a battle between pilot scope clause and a shrinking pool of commercial airline pilots United Airlines and Bombardier announced the launch of the CRJ550 this morning. It is a CRJ700 frame, reconfigured to a maximum of 50 seats.
Bringing Artificial Intelligence to ATC: Huge promises, challenging timelines
Urban air mobility – flying taxis – will revolutionize personal transport. But the projected volume of traffic is simply too much for humans to effectively manage. Artificial Intelligence systems aim to solve that problem.
Lounge access, booze and crew bases: Cuts galore at Norwegian
Cost-cutting at Norwegian kicked in to high gear this month. The carrier is trimming expenses in several areas as it seeks to shore up its books. The cuts affect passengers and crew alike, demonstrating just how critical and broad the efforts are. The carrier hopes that the moves will improve profitability and reduce the cost […]
Aireon can prevent lost planes anywhere on the planet, and that’s not the best part
Aireon’s space-based ADS-B tracking will know the location of every commercial aircraft. More important are the operational improvements it will bring to life.
Haggling for Haneda, Clashing over China
Drama is unfolding in the battle for highly coveted route authorities. Haneda is, in theory, the focus but the fight is spilling over to China as well.
The Joon branding experiment is officially over
Millennials finally killed something they should have: The millennial-focused airline. Air France’s Joon brand is officially dead as the company agreed to fold it back into Air France operations.
Multiple aviation projects hit by ongoing government shutdown
As the US government shutdown drags on the number of airline and airport projects at risk continues to grow. These are just a few of the major programs affected.