In one of the more bizarre incidents in recent history, an Air Canada pilot flying over the Atlantic mistakenly thought the planet Venus was an oncoming aircraft, diving the aircraft rapidly enough to cause injuries to 16 persons on board the aircraft, and upsetting those that weren’t injured.
According to an article in Canada’s National Post, pilot fatigue played a significant role in the error that occurred on a Toronto-Zurich flight using a Boeing 767-300 in January 2011. Continue reading
It’s a story that won’t die, and the buzz around ISTAT 2012 was that Boeing continues to consider offering the Pratt & Whitney GTF on the 737 MAX. Continue reading
The RAA provides great data on the US regional airline industry. We took a look at the fleet breakdown and created this chart.
It is amazing that the 50-seat regional jet accounts for 59% of operations. Note that turboprops account for only 15%. The balance comes from the newer, larger regional jets.
Given the price of fuel and changing economics for regional airlines, we expect this chart to see radical change over the next five years. We are not alone in this view.
One of the great success stories of the last decade in aviation has been the development of winglets, an Aviation Partners success. Now factory installed on virtually all Boeing 737s, these devices are becoming ubiquitous with “modern” commercial aircraft and are often thought of by the public as differentiating a newer model from an older aircraft. Continue reading
Although Airbus and Boeing came off a record year for orders in 2011 and Boeing is expected to have a record year this year as nearly 1,000 commitments for the 737 MAX are converted to orders, there are plenty of worrisome signs across commercial aviation and throughout the world that this year and next could be worse than appears on the surface. Continue reading
About six months ago we spoke with an entrepreneur with an idea. You can watch him discuss it here.
Today the idea takes off, so to speak. Wade Eyerly, CEO and Founder of SurfAir took time to speak with us while commuting in California, the new base for the start-up airline. The business model is unusual – it is subscription based. They are limiting their base to 500 people as a start and, as of this interview, 20% of those slots were sold out.
This sounds like a great idea. Play
The airline scorecard is out again with the annual report from DOT on airline performance metrics – on-time flights, baggage handling, passenger bumping and customer complaints. On all of the metrics, the US airlines did slightly better in 2011 than 2010 across the board, but only marginally so. Performance seems to have settled in at a rate most passengers believe to be somewhat lower than it should be. Continue reading
The first A350XWB, which will be used for static testing, is undergoing final assembly in a new dedicated assembly facility in Toulouse. As our readers know, several pieces of the fuselage have been completed at various facilities, and have been delivered to Toulouse for final assembly. Continue reading
As details emerge on Boeing’s 777X, the line-up in the twin-aisle competition is now becoming clearer. The following table is based on known data and our estimates of some of the technical detail. Continue reading
AirInsight published an analysis on the issue of an A330neo – something that is attracting a lot of discussion around the industry.
It is our view that the decision being faced by Airbus is not easy – there are a host of issues to work through. What does Airbus do to respond to the 787-8? Is a response necessary?
The report is available in our online store.