India’s biggest airline has signed the largest aircraft order in aviation history. On 19 June, at the Paris Air Show, the low-cost carrier IndiGo agreed to buy 500 single-aisle jets from Airbus. The deal is a powerful sign of how quickly air travel is expanding across India.
Continue reading IndiGo Orders 500 Airbus Jets in Record Deal
China has taken a significant step in its long campaign to loosen the grip of Airbus and Boeing on commercial aviation. On 28 May 2023, the COMAC C919 — the country’s first domestically marketed large passenger jet — completed its first commercial flight. The moment carried symbolic weight far beyond the short route it served.
Continue reading C919 Enters Service as China Challenges Airbus and Boeing
In April 2023, a manufacturing fault was discovered inside parts of the Boeing 737 MAX, one of the world’s most popular passenger jets. The problem, found inside the structure that connects the aircraft’s tail fin to its body, had gone undetected for up to four years. Boeing confirmed that the fault did not put in-service planes at risk, but repairing it would delay the delivery of more than 170 aircraft to airlines around the world.
Continue reading Boeing 737 MAX Deliveries Halted by Supplier Fitting Defect
In March 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration took an unusual step: it asked every airline flying into New York to reduce the number of its daily flights. The request followed a deepening staffing crisis at the Terminal Radar Approach Control facility — known as TRACON — that manages the airspace above New York City. With only 54 percent of its required air traffic controllers in post, the facility was struggling to handle the volume of traffic safely, raising serious concerns about delays and safety heading into the busy summer travel season.
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On 1 February 2023, the very last Boeing 747 left the factory in Everett, Washington. Boeing delivered the aircraft to Atlas Air, an American cargo airline. The delivery ended 54 years of production for one of the most famous planes in aviation history.
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On 11 January 2023, a single accidental deletion brought the United States’ entire commercial aviation system to a standstill. A federal database of flight safety notices failed, triggering the first nationwide ground stop since the September 11 attacks in 2001. More than 9,500 flights were delayed and over 1,300 cancelled before operations slowly resumed later that morning.
Continue reading FAA System Failure Triggers First US Ground Stop Since 9/11