The Airbus A330neo took to the skies for the first time today, completing a 4 hour 15 minute maiden flight from Toulouse, France. The aircraft is scheduled to enter service in the second half of 2018 with launch customer TAP Air Portugal.
Long a unique feature of American aviation, Alaska Airlines is retiring its last combination—‘Combi’—737 today. Alaska inaugurated 737 combi service in 1981 with 737-200s and phased in -400s in 2007. It is the last of the -400s which will leave the fleet today. Cargo previously flown on the combis will now travel on a fleet […]
Spend time at a busy airport and you’ll likely see an aircraft go-around. Find out why airplanes go around and how the maneuver enhances safety.
On this episode of AvTalk, Jason finally gets to fly the Bombardier C Series, we say goodbye to Monarch Airlines, get an update on the Air France A380 that suffered an engine failure over Greenland, and find out how Loon balloons might soon be helping the people of Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria.
In September we activated over 100 new receivers, which helped us track 5.1 million flights. September was our fourth month this year with over 5 million flights tracked. In contrast, in 2016, we tracked over 5 million flights during just two months.
Monarch Airlines has announced that is ceasing operations and entering administration with immediate effect. The airline’s demise leaves 110,000 customers outside of the UK and all future bookings are canceled affecting 300,000 bookings. The UK government has asked the Civil Aviation Authority to charter over 30 aircraft to help repatriate customers who have been left […]
On Friday, 29 September Southwest Airlines retired the last 30 737-300 ‘Classics’ in its fleet ahead of the 737 MAX’s entry into service today. Southwest was the launch customer for the 737-300 in 1984 and took delivery of 150 of the type direct from Boeing. Southwest currently has 200 737 MAX on order.
On 30 September, Air France flight 66 en route from Paris to Los Angeles suffered an engine failure over Greenland, leading to a safe diversion to Goose Bay in Canada. The aircraft, an Airbus A380-861 powered by Engine Alliance GP7200 engines, suffered a failure of the number 4 engine—the outer, right engine.
On this episode of AvTalk, Jason reports from the APEX EXPO in Long Beach, we chat with Seth Miller about the fate of the Bombardier C Series in the US, and we Swoop in to discuss Air France’s newest creation, Joon.
Earlier today, the Airbus’ A340 “BLADE” test demonstrator aircraft conducted its first flight for the Clean Sky “Blade” project. Sponsored by the European Union, the the project is examining the commercial feasibility of using a laminar wing. For the Breakthrough Laminar Aircraft Demonstrator in Europe, Airbus is once again putting A340 MSN 001 into service.
