Author: Metropolitan Airport News
Metropolitan Airport News
Produced by a team of aviation professionals and enthusiasts, our mission is to inform and update the more than 68,000 employees who work on the metropolitan New York airport properties, as well as the many others that provide goods and services in the surrounding communities.
FAA and Boeing test pilots will start intensive testing of the updated version of the Boeing 737 MAX flight control software on June 29th. The three days of testing will involve various flight configurations to test the effectiveness of the rewrite of software for the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). The system was a major factor in two fatal crashes of the MAX, one in Indonesia in late 2018 and another in Ethiopia in March of 2019. The report says Boeing pilots have already logged hundreds of hours testing the new software and these tests will be the first flight…
On June 26th, Vice President Mike Pence met with airline executives and led a discussion on aviation matters as they relate to recovery from COVID-19. The airline industry has faced significant health and economic challenges over the course of this pandemic, and the discussion was focused around how airlines can bring back business safely as America continues to responsibly reopen. A source familiar with the matter said that Pence gave his blessing to a “compromise solution” for contact tracing during a preliminary meeting with airline executives. Airlines had initially balked at the government’s demand that they collect detailed contact information…
June 28th marks the 81st anniversary of the first regular trans-Atlantic passenger service via Pan Am’s Boeing 314 ‘Dixie Clipper’. The aircraft left Port Washington, New York with 22 passengers on the southern route to Horta, Lisbon, and Marseilles. In 1939, the cost of the trip was US$375 for a one-way ticket or US$675 for a round trip. Southern Railway executive William J. Eck received a silver cigarette case for being the first paying passenger on the 20:50 minute route. Also, among the passengers were famous “first flighter” Clara Adams, who was on the first leg of a record-breaking, round-the-world flight; United…
From the South China Press* newspaper published on June 3rd comes the news that the U.S. government would bar Chinese airlines from flying passengers to U.S. destinations starting on June 16th in retaliation for Beijing’s refusal to let American carriers resume service to China. Last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) requested permission from the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) for U.S. carriers to resume flights to the country. But the CAAC merely extended an order that limited all domestic and foreign carriers to international flight schedules in place as of March 12th. In doing so, CAAC was…
Electric VTOL air taxis are one of the great emerging technologies of our time, promising to unlock the skies as traffic-free, high-speed, 3D commuting routes. Much quieter and cheaper than helicopter travel, they’ll also run on zero-local-emission electric power, and many models suggest they’ll cost around the same per mile as a ride share. The technology doesn’t feel far away. Electric multi-rotors deliver excellent hover stability thanks to the enormous, near-instant torque production of electric motors, which can respond very quickly to stabilize an aircraft as wind conditions move it around. And there are a plethora of different takes on…
The COVID-19 crisis has created a number of opportunities for Delta people to make a difference in the communities where we they live and work. Since Delta has temporarily adjusted services on board and in Delta Sky Clubs, they have donated food and other provisions from warehouses around the globe to hospitals, schools, food banks and other organizations. Total donations so far recently exceeded 1 million pounds, and the effort is still ongoing. Elaine Schlaeger, Manager – Catering Operations, is one of many Delta people helping to distribute food to their local communities. “My daughter is a nurse in the New York…
There is worldwide anger at China as shown by this depiction of Chinese flag in Danish newspaper Get out the respirator, it looks like the patient is barely alive. And the patient is the U.S.-China Trade Agreement. The interesting background story to the collapse of negotiations is that the principle problem has nothing to do with trade, but has its genesis in the Chinese government’s misinformation and obfuscation which had a direct effect in causing the pandemic in the United States. A pandemic that has crippled the economies of the world going forward several years. The other factors are purely…
The U.S. Department of Transportation has granted Kalitta Air and FedEx Express authorization to operate between Hong Kong and Singapore on weekly routes relinquished by integrated logistics provider UPS. Kalitta, a large all-cargo carrier based in Ypsilanti, Michigan, had applied for the three frequencies being returned by UPS, but FedEx jumped in with a request to operate scheduled freighter service on one of the available routes. The DOT also granted Kalitta’s request to convert its route authority between Hong Kong and Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates, to one between Hong Kong and Singapore. In its filing, Kalitta offered the compromise…
The Islip Town-run airport announced on June 25th that Frontier Airlines is adding non-stop flights to Sin City from MacArthur Airport beginning March 18, 2021. “For years, Long Island travelers have been hoping and asking for nonstop flights to Las Vegas from MacArthur Airport,” said Town of Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter at a press conference. “We are so excited that Frontier Airlines will now be offering Las Vegas service with fares that will lift your spirits.” MacArthur and Town of Islip officials announced the additional routes including additional flights to Florida, bringing the airport to 11 daily Frontier departures all starting in 2021.…
A new report suggests that Amazon Air’s freighter fleet could hit 200 aircraft in 2028 as it opens its Cincinnati hub and expands international flights. The report from Joseph Schwieterman and Jacob Walls of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development predicts that the e-commerce giant’s fleet will grow from its 39 aircraft at the end of 2019 to 200 by 2028. The report authors point out that this equates to a compound annual growth rate of 19.9%, which is less than half the growth rate achieved between 2017 and 2019 when Amazon’s fleet increase from 18 to 39 aircraft. “The…