Is It Still Okay to Recline Your Seat?

Etiquette expert says now considered "rude" to recline any seat outside of First or Business class. But is it? The recline button is still intact in passenger jets...are we not supposed to use it? (www.seattletimes.com) More...

Next Generation Model Serving

Model Server Motivation Producing real-time predictions requires two components: feature vector building and model evaluation (aka inference). Our original infrastructure (the Python streamer) handled both of these in one place. It followed our flight data feed to build feature vectors and evaluated those vectors on models it loaded into memory. The streamer was not performant enough to run for all the airports we wished to make predictions for, so we ran many copies of it, with each streamer… (flightaware.engineering) More...

United And Alaska Airlines Aborted Landing In San Francisco To Avoid Hitting Southwest Airlines Jet

On May 19, a United Airlines flight was forced to abort landing in order to avoid a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 on the runway. Then an Alaska Airlines jet aborted its landing, too. Air traffic control called out the Southwest pilot – “you shouldn’t be on the runway” – yet the FAA dismisses this in a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle saying that there was no runway incursion (because of the aborted landings!) and that they “looked into the incident and determined the appropriate steps… (viewfromthewing.com) More...

United Pilot Calls Out Air Traffic Control at SFO

A United pilot got angry and called out the air traffic controllers at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The aircraft was forced to go around twice due to a lack of spacing, which created an unnecessary 30-minute delay before being allowed to land. (aeroxplorer.com) More...

Retiring Delta A350 pilot, water cannon salute

Water cannon salute for a retiring pilot aboard Delta Air Lines A350-900 N510DN, Flt DL276 from HND-DTW 5-30-23 (www.youtube.com) More...

Boeing Remains Optimistic About 737 MAX 7 Certification Despite Additional Requirements

The certification process for Boeing's 737 MAX 7 has been considerably prolonged due to enhanced documentation requirements, according to a company executive. Nevertheless, the aerospace manufacturer remains optimistic about obtaining certification by the year's end. (www.airlinerwatch.com) More...

Cessna Citation violates US Capitol airspace, crashes in Virginia

Reuters reported that U.S. authorities scrambled jet fighters to pursue a light aircraft that entered restricted airspace over the U.S. Capitol area, that later crashed into the mountains in southwestern Virginia. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, a Cessna Citation that took off from Elizabethton, Tennessee, and bound for Islip, New York crashed in the sparsely populated town of Montebello, Virginia in around 3 p.m. (www.foxnews.com) More...

FAA Proposes Rule To Remove Instructor Certificate Expiration Date

The FAA has proposed a rule that would remove the 24-month expiration date on flight instructor certificates and instead establish 24-month recent experience requirements. (www.avweb.com) More...

PHOTOS: Spirit Receives its First Airbus A321neo

Ultra-Low-Cost-Carrier (ULCC) Spirit Airlines has just taken delivery of its first-ever Airbus A321neo aircraft. The company held an unveiling at its Detroit maintenance hangar this morning. The new aircraft, registered N702NK, will fly its first commercial route on June 7. (aeroxplorer.com) More...

Delta Opens New Exclusive Business Class Check-In Area

This week, Delta Airlines debuted a brand new space at LAX as part of the continuing facility upgrades at one of the airline's most prominent hubs. As part of a broader project to enhance and improve the experience for Delta passengers at LAX, the airline unveiled a new exclusive business class check-in area for Delta One business class passengers. (aeroxplorer.com) More...

New U.S. Flights Operated by Chinese Airlines to Avoid Russian Airspace

Chinese airlines are starting to avoid flying over Russian airspace for flights to the US. This suggests that China is looking to improve its relationship with the US as geopolitical tensions increase. (aeroxplorer.com) More...

The $100,000 Experience on National Geographic's Private Boeing 757

National Geographic offers a host of luxury excursions around the world, but these itineraries come with a hefty price-tag. What does a $100,000 trip on a leased private Boeing 757 entail? (aeroxplorer.com) More...

New Saudi Carrier in Talks with Boeing to Acquire 150 737 MAX Jetliners

Boeing is negotiating to secure its second major contract in Saudi Arabia this year, eyeing a potential sale of at least 150 737 Max jetliners to startup airline Riyadh Air, according to sources who spoke to the American news agency Bloomberg. (www.airlinerwatch.com) More...

Analysts and Airbus Clash Over Airbus A220-500 Launch at Paris Air Show

There seems to be a disagreement between analysts and Airbus regarding the potential launch of the Airbus A220-500, a stretched variant of the A220 aircraft, at the upcoming Paris Air Show. (www.airguide.info) More...

UK-Based Global Airlines Acquires its First A380

Emerging United Kingdom-based Global Airlines has recently announced its acquisition of the Airbus A380 from Doric Aviation to begin its operations. This is the first time in eight years that the aircraft type has been taken on by a new operator. (aeroxplorer.com) More...

Air Algérie Places Order for Five New Airbus A330-900s and Two A350-1000s

Air Algérie, the flag carrier airline of Algeria, has entered into a firm agreement to acquire seven widebody aircraft, further bolstering its growth in the commercial aviation sector. (aeroxplorer.com) More...

Oman's SalamAir Announces Plans to Launch Seven New Routes

Oman's SalamAir has announced flights to new destinations this summer, with the most highly anticipated route being to Bahrain. The Salalah-Bahrain route is in high demand because tourists are interested in visiting southern Oman to escape the summer heat of neighboring countries. (aeroxplorer.com) More...

Pakistan International Airlines 777 Grounded in Malaysia Over Unpaid Lease

A Pakistan International Airlines 777 was recently impounded in Malaysia following the airline's failure to pay its lease on the aircraft. This is the second time in two years that such an event has transpired, that too on the exact same plane. (aeroxplorer.com) More...

Jet Crashes After Supersonic Intercept Near Washington, D.C.

A Cessna Citation Jet was intercepted near Washington, D.C. by F-16s, producing a loud supersonic boom audible to the DMV Metro Area. Efforts to reconnect with the pilot were unsuccessful, and the plane ultimately crashed (aeroxplorer.com) More...

The pilots air traffic controllers love

By MATTHEW STARR I’ve encountered just about every sort of pilot there is in my years as an air traffic controller. Air traffic controllers work with more pilots in a week than any five pilots do in a year. There are pilots we could live without and there are pilots we absolutely love. Are you curious who those pilots are? Keep reading and find out... The Sloppy Pilot Slap some duct tape on it and let’s go! There are three extra bolts left over, but he spent two hours reassembling the engine… (generalaviationnews.com) More...

Southwest Pilot Shortage Will Last For Three Years

Currently, the airline has 40 aircraft grounded due to a shortage of pilots. (simpleflying.com) More...

Japan’s Starflyer Launches Unlimited Flight Pass Between 2 Destinations

The carrier is placing its bet on remote workers who may desire an unlimited flight pass between the two cities. (simpleflying.com) More...

Riyadh Air to Purchase 150 Boeing 737 MAX Jets

Saudi Arabia's newest airline, Riyadh Air, is planning to purchase at least 150 737 MAX aircraft from Boeing. This will be Boeing's second large deal with its customers in Saudi Arabia this year. (aeroxplorer.com) More...

Boeing warns new defect on 787 Dreamliners will slow deliveries

Boeing on Tuesday warned about a new defect on its 787 Dreamliner planes and that it will delay deliveries of the wide-body aircraft, the manufacturer’s latest production issue. “We are inspecting 787s in our inventory for a nonconforming condition related to a fitting on the horizontal stabilizer,” Boeing said in a statement. “Airplanes found to have a nonconforming condition will be reworked prior to ticket and delivery. (www.cnbc.com) More...

Buying with cash for the win/win

A while back I wrote a column about buying an airplane. Specifically, I believe it was about my search for a suitable aircraft, and a bit of history surrounding aircraft I’ve owned previously. In that piece I shared an opinion I hold to be incontrovertibly true. I said essentially this: Cash is king. In response to that pronouncement, I received an email from a reader who asked a highly pertinent question: Why? It’s a good question. Let’s get into it. In order for an aircraft purchase to occur,… (generalaviationnews.com) More...

China’s answer to Boeing and Airbus isn’t as ‘homegrown’ as it seems

China is claiming a historic win this week after its answer to Boeing and Airbus, the C919, took to the skies for its first commercial flight. However, a large chunk of the plane’s parts come from foreign suppliers, predominantly in North America and Europe. Chinese state media has said about 40% of the model’s components are imported, though experts say the real proportion is much higher. (www.cnn.com) More...

Airbus Nears Record Deal with IndiGo for 500 A320 Jets and Plans 720 Deliveries in 2023

Airbus, the European planemaker, is on the verge of finalizing a groundbreaking agreement to sell 500 A320-family jets to IndiGo, India’s largest carrier, according to industry sources. The official announcement is expected to take place during this year’s Paris Air Show. (www.airguide.info) More...

Qatar Airways Partners with Shell for SAF Supply at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

For the fiscal year 2023-2024, Qatar Airways has committed to uplift a minimum of 5 percent of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to meet its jet fuel requirements in Amsterdam. (aeroxplorer.com) More...

Study outlines concern over ‘unsustainable’ demand for animal fats in aviation

Concerns that aviation fuel derived from animal fats could be used to shore up compliance with sustainability targets, despite being viewed only a short-term and supply-constrained measure, have been outlined in a study into European biofuel demand. The study, conducted by clean fuel specialist consultancy Cerulogy, states that the European Commission believes animal fats and used cooking oil can only play a “minor long-term role” in replacing aviation kerosene – and that advanced biofuels and… (www.flightglobal.com) More...

New Bird for AeroMed Fleet

Corewell Health AeroMed (Formerly Spectrum Health AeroMed) adds N768AM to it's fleet. This new addition of another S-76C++ replaces N176BA and will move into it's mainline slot with N176AM moving into backup. (newsroom.spectrumhealth.org) More...