Month: June 2020

Three Points: 737 Max recertification trials, Comac’s ARJ21 hat trick, Airbus autonomous landings

Jon Ostrower·June 30, 2020

With FAA recertification flights underway, Boeing's last leg to service re-entry for the 737 Max has begun. Comac makes a triple ARJ21 delivery, signaling an important new phase for the China's aerospace manufacturing proving ground. Airbus autonomous airliner flights trials wrap up and illustrate the different paths toward letting and aircraft make their own decisions.

Surging coronavirus infection rates aren’t slowing U.S. air travel rebound, yet

Courtney Miller·June 24, 2020

For the first time in over three months, the Transportation Security Administration screened over 600,000 passengers. Yet, as optimistic as the almost seven-fold increase in traffic from its lows may be, it still requires context that overall numbers remain down more than 77% from the same point in 2019 and now facing a surge in new U.S. COVID-19 cases.

A Delta Air Lines Airbus A330-300 climbing out from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in September 2019.

The hard and frustrating math behind airline pilot furloughs and buyouts

Courtney Miller·June 19, 2020

In this TAC Analysis, we focus on these nuanced dynamics of the airline pilot seniority list, and the ways in which the airlines and pilots could work together to weather this unprecedented excess in payroll.

Boeing, Spirit disband engineering teams designing Aerion supersonic business jet

Jon Ostrower·June 17, 2020

Log-in here if you’re already a subscriber Release DateJune 17, 2020Boeing, Spirit disband engineering teams designing Aerion supersonic business jetPurchase...

A General Electric GE9X engine on display at the 2019 Paris Air Show.

Three Points: Slattery to GE, 777-8F & A380 combi, staggering airline losses

Jon Ostrower·June 15, 2020

Major leadership changes at GE, Embraer and Mitsubishi. What if the 777X freighter is too small? And what of an A380 combi? COVID-19 will wipe out 20 cents of every dollar earned by airlines for the last half century.

Boeing’s 737 Max software done, but regulators plot more changes after jet’s return

Jon Ostrower·June 11, 2020

Boeing, regulators and airlines are cautiously optimistic a conclusion to the grounding of the 737 Max is realistically — and finally — in sight. That sets the stage for the jet’s return to flying around September at the earliest. All of this is happening while simultaneously plotting further long-term safety improvements to the aircraft to assuage regulator concerns, including adding systems to the Max that were previously rejected during the jet’s initial development.

An ATR 72-600 simulator at the company's training base in Toulouse, France in May 2019.

Airlines stare down simulator logjam once pilot furloughs hit

Courtney Miller·June 8, 2020

The abundance of aircraft parked around the world brings another, very human and more personal abundance - pilots. Without passengers to fly, aircraft will remain parked. With aircraft parked, some pilots find themselves the subject of a furlough. Yet, even as the industry stares down a potential sharp reduction in the overall pilot workforce, the massive change could simultaneously spark a major new wave of retraining that would overwhelm the global simulator infrastructure.

Three Points: Compass & Breeze, China overtakes the U.S., SpaceX video podcast

Jon Ostrower·June 5, 2020

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