Preliminary conclusions reached by a U.S. congressional team investigating the Boeing 737 MAX certification and its role in two fatal accidents underscore the need to change the FAA’s processes through legislation, committee leaders said.
LCC flydubai faced “an abrupt interruption” to both its growth and fleet strategy in 2019 as it weathered the effects of the Boeing 737 MAX grounding, the airline said as it published its annual results Mar. 4.
Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) has lined up operators for its first two Airbus A321 converted freighters and expects to receive its FAA supplemental type certificate (STC) for the program around July 1, the company’s top executive said.
Tier 2 manufacturer Senior will continue its move away from the U.S. Pacific Northwest and elsewhere and toward locating more work in Asia, as well as continuing to shop the British company’s aerostructures business, executives said Mar. 2.
Safran executives are expressing cautious optimism that any decline in commercial aftermarket demand linked to COVID-19 will be short-lived but acknowledge that it could be sharp.
WICHITA—Spirit AeroSystems missed 2019 fourth quarter profit expectations, marred by production cuts on the Boeing 737 MAX and a loss on the 787 widebody jet pr
Safran is adapting to the production halt of the Boeing 737 MAX, finding ways to mitigate the financial consequences, but the company is already measuring job cuts in four digits.
A proposed law targeting changes in U.S. aircraft certification calls for tweaks to the FAA’s delegation system, but the bill’s more significant elements include adding operational data, such as minimum training requirements, to type certificates (TCs) and prohibiting aircraft sales to countries that do not pass the FAA’s international safety audit.
An FAA draft directive set for publication Feb. 26 calls for Boeing 737 MAXs to undergo inspections and modifications before further flight to ensure engine-control wiring has adequate protection from electromagnetic interference.
Executives at Brazilian LCC GOL expect to operate roughly 20 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft by the end of the year, part of a transition that will see the MAX comprise half the carrier’s all-737 fleet by 2025.
As airlines grapple with capacity shortages created by the Boeing 737 MAX grounding or a sudden over-supply because of COVID-19-related schedule reductions, lessors are supporting their mitigation plans, including matching customers in both categories and moving aircraft between them.
Air Canada is hopeful that challenges posed by the Boeing 737 MAX grounding and COVID-19 outbreak in China will be resolved by the second half of 2020, optimistic time lines that assume worst-case scenarios regarding both crises will not come to pass.
Ireland-based lessor AerCap, reporting $1.15 billion in net income for 2019, said its prospects are fair for 2020, although the continuing Boeing 737 MAX grounding is having an adverse effect on its figures.
With the aerospace manufacturing sector expecting Boeing to restart 737 MAX production as early as next month or April, one widely followed industry consultant said it will take up to two years to clear out the stored inventory of narrowbody aircraft and fuselages.
Singapore Technologies (ST) Engineering has signed a license agreement with CFM International to provide MRO services for the Boeing 737 MAX’s LEAP-1B engine.
Albany International, the provider of 3D-woven composite fan blades to Safran for LEAP aircraft engines, has let go workers as it tries to adjust to lower demand related to the Boeing 737 MAX production halt, the company’s new executive team told analysts.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of Inspector General (OIG) plans to start a lawmaker-requested audit of global pilot training standards and evaluate ways the FAA can better link its certification process with international regulations.
FAA administrator Steve Dickson sounded a positive note on the Boeing 737 MAX recertification process, telling reporters the agency is “narrowing the issues” leading to an upcoming certification flight.
Icelandair estimates the Boeing 737 MAX grounding has cost the airline $100 million to date as the all-Boeing operator plans to reduce capacity for summer 2020.
Canadian pilot training specialist CAE expects increasing demand for its simulators for Boeing 737 MAX and continues to make so-called “white tail” systems ahead of actual orders.
The Boeing 737 MAX production halt is a catalyst for Triumph Group to further consolidate its interiors and Mexican operations, top executives said Feb. 6, adding more divestiture announcements should be expected this year.
Despite economic uncertainty, trade tensions and headwinds compounded by the Coronavirus outbreak, the Asia-Pacific region—and China in particular—remains pivotal to Boeing’s fortunes and the best hope for offsetting the commercial slowdown, a company executive said.
