Tag: Airbus

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FAA Orders Airbus A350 Oxygen Clamp Fix

An A350 undergoes maintenance

The United States Federal Aviation Administration published a mandatory airworthiness directive on 14 May 2026 requiring operators of all Airbus A350-900 and A350-1000 aircraft to address an undocumented change in a key maintenance specification that could compromise emergency oxygen delivery during a cabin pressurisation failure. The directive takes effect on 18 June 2026, giving airlines fewer than five weeks to achieve compliance.

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FAA Orders Inspections on Airbus A321neo Fuselage

A manufacturing process deviation affecting the centre fuselage of several Airbus A321neo variants has prompted the US Federal Aviation Administration to issue a formal airworthiness directive compelling operators to carry out repetitive structural inspections. The directive, published in the Federal Register on 15 April 2026, mirrors a corresponding European Union Aviation Safety Agency order issued a year earlier, underscoring the increasingly coordinated nature of transatlantic aviation regulatory oversight. The aircraft models affected — among the most commercially significant narrowbodies currently in service — are operated by major carriers across North America and beyond.

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Pratt & Whitney Recall Grounds Hundreds of Jets

In late 2023 and through 2024, an engine manufacturing fault forced airlines around the world to ground hundreds of Airbus narrowbody jets. The problem affected the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G geared turbofan engine, used on the A320neo and A321neo — two of the most popular aircraft types in service today.
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A post-COVID-19 Airbus

Fly High English logo with the word 'activities' beside it

Thinking about the future

Think about the following questions

  1. How do you think that the COVID-19 situation will affect OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers)?
  2. What will OEMs have to do to survive?
  3. Do you think the Boeing and Airbus will continue their operations in the usual way in the next five years?
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Video answers: The little plane war

Here are the answers to last Friday’s video, enjoy!

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. They were both commercial failures with relatively few planes sold.
  2. Nearly 70% of the planes coming into London City Airport are Embraer planes.
  3. Due to noise restrictions, the steep approach angle and short runway, there are few planes that can operate there as efficiently as the Embraer.
  4. It’s a big market because there are many smaller airports which would be best served with regional jets.
  5. One of the test aircraft had an uncontained engine failure during routine testing.
  6. The financial support of the governments of Canada and Quebec helped to save the programme.
  7. They lacked an order from an American airline, which would make or break the programme.
  8. They allegedly sold 75 of their planes to Delta for below cost price.
  9. Boeing filed a dumping petition in US courts and the courts put a 300% import tariff on the planes.
  10. Airbus acquired a 50.01% stake in the programme.
  11. Airbus is a marketing powerhouse and can help sell many more planes than Bombardier alone. However, with final assembly taking place at Airbus’ assembly line in US, it means that the CSeries planes might be classified as US planes, avoiding import tariffs.

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Video: The little plane war

This week’s video describes the war between Boeing and Bombardier over the CSeries jet. Watch to find out exactly what it was about.

Try to answer the following questions about the video and come back on Monday for the answers.

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. How successful were Airbus’ A318 and Boeing’s 717?
  2. What proportion of London City Airport’s arrivals are Embraer planes?
  3. Why are the reasons for this?
  4. Why is the US a big market for small planes?
  5. What major setback did the CSeries programme have?
  6. What saved the programme after this setback?
  7. What kind of order did Bombardier lack?
  8. What did they do to fix this?
  9. How did Boeing react to this?
  10. What did Airbus do?
  11. How did this help?

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Have a great weekend!

The Little Plane War

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