Air Force One debacle: Boeing has now lost more than $1 billion on each of the president’s two new jets

Boeing has been reporting losses on the planes for years, as CEO Dave Calhoun admitted last year that the company should never have signed the contract with the Air Force to produce the jets for $3.9 billion. Under pressure from then-President Donald Trump, who was threatening to cancel the contract for the planes, Boeing agreed to a fixed price contract on the two new jets. (www.cnn.com) Mehr...

Tennessee Lawmakers Propose Legislation Banning ‘Chemtrails’

The Tennessee Senate passed a bill prohibiting “the intentional injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of chemicals, chemical compounds, substances, or apparatus within the borders of this state into the atmosphere with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight …” In other words, the bill would make it against the law to dispense “chemtrails” over Tennessee. (www.avweb.com) Mehr...

Icon Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection: Pledges Transparency

Icon Aircraft, manufacturer of the Icon A5 amphibious Light Sport aircraft, announced this morning (April 4) it has filed for Chapter 11 protection under the Bankruptcy Code. The filing is part of “a strategic restructuring process,” according to a statement. As part of the announcement, Icon said its management team “remains committed to the Company’s mission of revolutionizing personal aviation and continuing to support owners and employees during this transition.” (www.avweb.com) Mehr...

Boeing Demands Virgin Galactic Destroy All Data From Its Failed Space Tourism Partnership

On Friday, Boeing asked a federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, to issue a court order blocking Virgin Galactic from further using proprietary data that was shared between the two companies as part of an agreement in 2022, according to the complaint. Boeing is accusing Virgin Galactic of “retaining, using, and threatening further use of trade secrets” that belong to the company. (gizmodo.com) Mehr...

NWS Offering Tours of Hurricane Hunter Aircraft

Hurricane experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the United States Air Force (USAF) will visit five U.S. Gulf Coast cities this spring, flying aboard a USAF Reserve WC-130J hurricane hunter aircraft and a NOAA WP-3D Orion aircraft. (www.weather.gov) Mehr...

The Most Dangerous Airport in the World, Plus 12 Nail-biters

Thanks to aircraft technology, more efficient air traffic control and better training for pilots and mechanics, air travel has become safer. The number of fatal accidents involving jet airliners worldwide dropped from 40 per million flights in 1959 to just 0.05 deaths per million flights in 2021, according to global data gathered by aircraft manufacturer Boeing. (science.howstuffworks.com) Mehr...

Uncle Sam wants to know how big airlines use passenger data

The US Department of Transportation is looking into it with a review of the country's ten biggest airlines. The probe will look at air carriers' policies and procedures to determine if they are safeguarding personal info properly, unfairly or deceptively monetizing it, or sharing it with third parties, the agency said yesterday. If they're indeed doing anything "problematic," they can look forward to scrutiny, fines, and new rules, says the DOT. (www.theregister.com) Mehr...

Pilot union rejects American Airlines offer, seeks more pay

The Allied Pilots Association said Wednesday that its board voted 15-5 to reject an offer by American that included raises of 19% in three steps over two years. The decision by the union at American followed overwhelming rejection by United Airlines pilots of an offer including pay raises totaling 14.5% over 18 months, and a strike-authorization vote by Delta Air Lines pilots. Both groups are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association. (www.sfgate.com) Mehr...

Heavy Traffic: A B-52 Bomber Is Being Trucked Across The Central United States

A retired U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress nicknamed 'Damage Inc. II' was recently taken out of storage at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group's 'boneyard' at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and disassembled before beginning its journey eastward across the country to be partially reassembled for research and development purposes. The B-52 and its escorts take up two lanes of traffic so they have to pull over every five miles or so to let traffic pass,… (www.thedrive.com) Mehr...