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Indonesian investigators said a mechanical failure linked to automated engine controls and a delayed pilot response led to the crash of a passenger jet last year that killed all 62 people on board.
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Engineers are exploring radical new designs for commercial planes that would use less energy and lower emissions. But will passengers be willing to board them?
Modern airliner designs date from the 1950s: a metal tube and swept-back wings with jet engines slung underneath. They get you where you’re going and back. But after decades of research, something very different could be flying you on vacation by the late 2030s.
Unconventional designs such as “blended-wing” shapes now used for some military jets, which combine the cabin and wings in one piece, have been floated for years as possibilities for passenger aircraft. Now the rise of climate-change concerns and emergence of new manufacturing materials have brought a rethink a step closer to reality, scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration say.
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Europe has expanded its cybersecurity rules around airline flight safety. And for the first time, the requirements cover a range of companies in the aviation supply chain. WSJ Pro Cybersecurity reporter Catherine Stupp joins host Julie Chang to discuss the new rules and how companies are responding.
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Finance companies that buy and lease out airliners have a problem: Planes they own that are collectively worth billions of dollars are trapped in Russia.
Still, the risk of major losses for investors is relatively small, a new Moody's analysis finds.
The airliners, leased to Russian airlines and stuck there since Russia's ties with the West dissolved this year, are only a small portion of global leasing fleets: less than 10%, for the companies Moody's tracks.
Plus, insurance contracts should help the aircraft lessors—companies such as AerCap Holdings and Dubai Aerospace Enterprise—eventually recover some of the value of their lost planes. Claims could reach around $11 billion, per Moody's.
That could take time. But meanwhile, lessors may be able to sell the rights to their insurance claims to other investors. That would help the leasing companies sooner fund purchases of more planes, which they could lease out to other airlines to make up for some of the lost leasing revenue from the Russian airlines.
Other tailwinds are helping minimize the pain from the Russian freeze-out. Coming out of the pandemic, global travel demand is strengthening again. Meanwhile, Airbus and Boeing have been slow to deliver new jetliners, boosting the going rate for the planes in the leasing companies' fleets.
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The U.S. will rely on existing B-52 jets, like this one landing at England’s RAF Fairford station, until the made-over versions debut.
The U.S. is pushing to upgrade its 60-year-old fleet of strategic bombers to keep them flying into the second half of the 21st century in an effort to deter potential adversaries such as China and Russia.
Air Force officials and military experts have said the refresh of the B-52 bomber—a long-range jet built by Boeing Co. that can carry large loads of conventional and nuclear weapons—is crucial to providing an effective deterrent. The B-52 revamp could cost $11.8 billion, according to Pentagon budget documents in the spring.
The challenge for the Air Force and aerospace suppliers is to refresh long-running programs such as the B-52 while newer systems come online. Upgrading older aircraft takes time as the new systems need testing and the changes have to be staggered so that enough jets remain in service.
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Carriers try to plan their flight networks as plane makers juggle supply-chain, other constraints
Airlines in need of more pilots and spare parts are increasingly facing another shortage: new jets.
Boeing Co. and Airbus SE are months behind handing over new single-aisle jets often used for U.S. domestic flights or other short-haul trips, constraining carriers’ ability to add flights to meet resurgent demand and plan their schedules, according to company executives and industry officials.
“It makes it really hard for our team to plan,” Southwest Airlines Co. Chairman Gary Kelly said at an aerospace industry event in Washington, D.C., last month.
A Boeing spokeswoman said the company continues to work closely with suppliers to meet its commitments to customers.
In addition to supply problems, Boeing is facing regulatory challenges for its latest two iterations of the 737 MAX. Both face uncertain futures if Boeing can’t win Federal Aviation Administration approval for them by the end of the year. Current federal law would require a cockpit overhaul if the planes aren’t approved in 2022.
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While China’s airlines haven’t resumed using the plane, one of the jetliners operated by a Mongolian airline landed in Guangzhou
A Boeing Co. 737 MAX operated by MIAT Mongolian Airlines landed in China on Monday in what industry experts say is the jet’s first commercial flight in Chinese skies since Beijing grounded the plane in 2019.
The 737 MAX jet flew to China’s southern city of Guangzhou from Ulaanbaatar, according to flight tracker Flightradar24. Chinese regulators gave MIAT permission to fly the 737 MAX into China in August, a spokesman for the Mongolian airline said in an email, adding that the jet had been leased out to another operator until now.
The flight by the non-Chinese carrier comes weeks after China’s air-safety regulators met with Boeing to discuss the 737 MAX in September. China grounded the series in early 2019—the first country to do so—after two deadly accidents in the space of less than six months in other countries. Chinese airlines have yet to resume commercial flights using the plane.
Qi Qi, a Chinese aviation analyst, said that the MIAT Mongolian Airlines flight is the first commercial flight for the 737 MAX in China since the grounding. The flight is another step toward a broad resumption of MAX’s commercial flights in China, he said.
Since late 2020, the 737 MAX has resumed operations in the U.S., Australia and Canada, among other countries. Only a handful, including China, are still grounding the model.
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A Boeing 737 MAX jet landed in China today in what industry experts say is the aircraft's first commercial flight in Chinese skies since Beijing grounded the plane in 2019. That was shortly after two deadly accidents involving 737 MAX jets in other countries in the space of less than six months. Since late 2020, the Boeing jet has resumed operations in the US, Australia and Canada, among other countries.