Aviation News

Over the years, the wealth and geographical convenience of the Middle East has seen the region become a key market for commercial aviation. The area's main hubs are ideally located to handle connecting traffic between Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, while, at the same time, Middle Eastern countries are working hard to establish themselves as tourist destinations in their own right to boost traffic.

According to the US Department of Transportation, ~77 million passengers flew between the US and Europe in the 12 months to November 2024. More than three in 10 of the country's international passengers flew to/from the continent. Some 37 carriers operated 500+ routes and 340+ airport pairs. They filled an average of 83% of the seats for sale.

Narrowbody aircraft on long flights elicit many reactions. Focusing on the Boeing 737,OAG data shows up to 28 daily transatlantic flights in the peak summer, the highest number to date. The type will operate one in every 53 passenger flights eastwards from the Americas, which would rise for just North America.

Passengers onboard Delta Air Lines Flight 4819 have been offered $30,000 each following the crash landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Monday. The Endeavor Air CRJ900 has now been removed from Toronto's Runway 23 as operations at the airport normalize following the crash and a spell of bad weather.

The F-22 Raptor is powered by two RTX Corporation'sPratt & Whitney F119 afterburning turbofan engines, so their maintenance and sustainment are key. Pratt & Whitney has been working on making the F119s smarter with real-time data monitoring, software improvements and potentially additive manufacturing. The improvements being made on the F119 can quickly transfer to other Pratt & Whitney jet engines—not just the F-35’s F135. So let’s take a look at the $1.5 Billion gross in F119 sustainment the United States Air Force (USAF) just bought.

In the past month, there have been two high-profile plane crashes that have stoked a new fear of flying into the minds of millions of people in the public. From the deadly mid-air collision over the Potomac in late January, to the recent flipping over of a Delta CRJ-900 on landing in Toronto, aviation safety is in the spotlight now more than ever. Yet despite this, US President Donald Trump has begun firing probationary employees working at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Airlines For America (A4A), a Washington DC-based trade association and lobbying group, has teamed up with several major US carriers as they look to reverse a rule imposed by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) concerning wheelchair damage. In the lawsuit that has been filed against the DOT, A4A and the carriers in question have argued that the existing ruling is 'unlawful.'

Four airlines will operate between the Middle East and Australia this year: Emirates,Etihad Airways,Qatar Airways, and Virgin Australia.The market last had four carriers in 2018, when Qantas pulled out of Dubai and returned to stopping in Singapore en route to/from Europe.

Airbus has confirmed in its full-year results presentation that it is continuing to face logistical and supply chain issues involving Spirit AeroSystems. These are having knock-on effects concerning the production of certain aircraft types, and, most notably, will delay the entry into service of the Airbus A350F. Nonetheless, the European planemaker's outlook on the whole is remaining largely positive.

American Airlines passengers flying from Dallas Fort Worth International to Austin Bergstrom Airport can usually arrive in the Texan capital city less than an hour after taking off, but travelers on Tuesday's flight were not so fortunate. Their journey stretched to more than seven hours after the operating aircraft came into contact with a deicing truck.

Southwest Airlines said that its Chief Transformation Officer, Ryan Green, will leave the position with effect from April 1, 2025, according to the airline's filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Southwest is the USA's second-largest passenger operator. With a fleet of 800+ Boeing 737s, the carrier's statistics show that enplaned passengers totaled 175.5 million in 2024. Traffic rose by 2% compared to its prior high in 2023 (despite the average passenger fare increasing by nearly double that rate). As traffic rose faster than capacity, the load factor increased to over 80%.

Eleven airlines plan narrowbody flights from the US to Europe this year. In order of annual departures, they are Aer Lingus, Icelandair, JetBlue, United Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, PLAY, SAS, Iberia, Azores Airlines, La Compagnie, and Delta Air Lines. This article focuses exclusively on United and Delta's single-aisle transatlantic operations. (American last had such flights in 2019 before its Boeing 757s were withdrawn.)

Arajet, the Dominican Republic-based airline, has scheduled two services from two Dominican cities to San Juan, Puerto Rico, opening up more connections from Punta Cana and Santo Domingo.

On February 19th, a Delta Air Lines Airbus A350-900 featuring a special livery was spotted. This aircraft's livery celebrates the fact that Delta is turning 100 years old in 2025, and it features a unique combination of silver and gold features. It is not surprising for a legacy airline to use special liveries to celebrate company milestones, especially ones as important as its 100th anniversary. The aircraft in question bears registration MSN720.

The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada has provided an initial update on its investigation of the crash involving the Endeavor Air CRJ900, which was operating a flight on behalf of Delta Connection on February 17.

WestJet is returning to Amsterdam,influenced by its KLM codeshare. While Canada's second-largest airline previously served the Netherlands from Calgary between 2021 and 2023 with the Boeing 787-9, things will be very different this time.

Etihad Airways has announced that in 2024, the airline achieved its highest-ever profit after the number of carried passengers grew by a whopping 32% year-on-year (YoY).

Air Canada has shared an operational update with its customers, saying that due to the weather and the recent Endeavor Air Mitsubishi CRJ900 incident at one of its main hubs in Toronto, Canada, the carrier had to cancel around 1,290 flights in the past week.

Boeing’s delivery schedule was severely affected last year and continues to affect the fleet and network plans of many airlines. Alaska Airlines, which recently acquired Hawaiian Airlines, has also tweaked its growth plans because of delivery delays of its Boeing 737 MAX and 787 Dreamliner aircraft.