Boeing has added a third 787 Dreamliner to its flight test program. It’s the fourth 787 to be built.
The plane, ZA004, took off Wednesday afternoon for the first time and flew three hours.
“Airplane No. 4 operated flawlessly,” Heather Ross, a co-pilot on the flight, said in a statement. Ross will serve as chief pilot for that particular aircraft.
The plane will be used for testing of aerodynamics, high-speed performance, propulsion performance, flight loads, community noise, extended operations and other flight conditions, Boeing said.
AirTran Airways will add nonstop service from Wichita to Orlando beginning May 27. The service will be offered on Saturdays and run through Labor Day.
AirTran currently offers nonstop daily service to Atlanta from Wichita.
The new flight will depart Wichita at 11:18 a.m. It will leave Orlando at 3:53 p.m.
Pentagon officials are briefing senior lawmakers this morning about the final terms of a $35 billion aerial refueling tanker competition, according to Reuters.
The officials declined to comment after a meeting, saying they will speak publicly at a 3 p.m. news conference at the Pentagon.
The guidelines don’t differ a lot from a draft version released earlier by the Air Force, Rep. Norm Dicks said after the briefing, according to the Seattle Times.
“I think the changes have been rather minimal,” Dicks said. But Boeing will have to “compete aggressively” to win the bid over Northrop Grumman and EADS, the parent company of Airbus.
Sen. John McCain told Reuters he was reviewing the Pentagon’s information.
“Put me down as cautious,” McCain said when asked if he was confident the terms would guarantee a level playing field for both parties.
Northrop Grumman has said it won’t bid unless significant changes were made to the final request for proposal. But Pentagon officials have said they expect to receive two bids, the Seattle Times said.
Boeing is expected to offer its 767 airliner as a platform for an aerial refueler.
It’s the third attempt to replace the U.S. Air Force’s aging tanker fleet, which were built by Boeing.
Hawker Beechcraft has delivered the first Hawker 4000 business jet into mainland China.
The composite jet will be based at the Beijing Capital International Airport for business and leisure travel. The company declined to name the customer.
The Hawker 4000 typically is configured to hold eight passengers in a 6-foot stand-up cabin.
There’s a bit of good news in the airline business. Following 14 consecutive months of declines, passenger revenue rose 1.4 percent in January, compared with a year ago.
The report released today by the Air Transport Association of America, an industry trade group of U.S. airlines, was based on a sample group of carriers.
About 0.4 percent fewer passengers traveled on the airlines in January, however. But the average price to fly one mile rose 0.6 percent. It was the first increase since November 2008, the ATA said. Growth was strongest on trans-Atlantic routes, where passenger revenue rose 3.4 percent.
Meanwhile, cargo traffic rose 17 percent in December 2009. January figures aren’t yet available. For the year, however, cargo traffic declined 11 percent over 2008 traffic.
“The modest uptick in passenger revenue and the solid increase in cargo volumes are promising signs that air-transport demand may be at the beginning of a long-awaited recovery,” ATA president and CEO James May said in a statement.
In the past week, there’s been a lot of articles in the news on how more restrictions should be placed on general aviation aircraft.
The articles follow the horrifying incident in which a Texas man, disgruntled with the IRS, flew his small airplane into an office building, killing himself and one person inside.
Some are asking what kinds of regulations can be put in place to prevent this awful event from happening again. Currently, all pilots are checked against a government terror watch list. And they must carry a current medical certificate when they fly.
But other than grounding all small airplanes, what could have stopped Joe Stack — a pilot with a current medical certificate capable of flying single-engine and multi-engine airplanes with no enforcement action ever taken against him — from flying into a building? True, Stack wasn’t subject to a baggage check or metal detector scan. But would those have stopped his mission to kill himself? I don’t think so.
How can one regulate against every potential tragedy? As a pilot friend of mine pointed out, Timothy McVeigh used a Ryder truck when he bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people.
When the government starts doing background checks on everyone who rents Ryder trucks, “then I will start becoming concerned about who is aboard a GA airplane,” my friend said.
Piaggio Aero Industries has named John Bingham as president and CEO of Piaggio America, the U.S. arm of the Genoa, Italy-based company.
Bingham, a former Cirrus Design vice president, was vice president of Piaggio and has been serving as its chief marketing director. He will continue that marketing role with the company.
Former Piaggio America president and CEO Tom Appleton has retired but will be a consultant to the company.
Piaggio America completes, delivers and supports the company’s Piaggio P180 Avanti and Avanti II aircraft in the North American, Latin American and Canadian markets.
Cessna Aircraft has added seven flight training schools to its network of 280 Cessna Pilot Centers around the world.
The schools are located in St. Louis; Rock Hill, S.C.; Lokeren, Belgium; Gulf Shores, Ala.; Rancho Murieta, Calif.; Daytona Beach, Fla.; and North Las Vegas, Nev.
“Expanding our CPC network is part of the company’s effort to make flying more accessible and to re-energize pilot training,” said Cessna Pilot Center manager Julie Filucci.
Boeing Wichita has completed 11 months of maintenance on an E-4B National Airborne Operations Center aircraft.
It delivered the aircraft back to the Air Force last week.
The plane is a modified Boeing 747-200 and serves the president, secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It also was designed to serve as a survivable command post for the control of U.S. forces in the event of a conflict, including nuclear war.
It’s one of a fleet of four E-4Bs stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.
The upgrade included an extensive scheduled depot maintenance refurbishment, including repairs and system upgrades.
“The E-4B is the most advanced communications aircraft in the world and on alert 24/7,” said Steve Wade, general manager of Boeing Global Transport and Executive Systems in Wichita. “When they’re called upon, it’s our job to ensure they are ready.”
Hawker Beechcraft officials are in Orlando this week highlighting the company’s T-6 trainer, AT-6 and the King Air 350ER.
It’s taking part in the Air Force Association’s 26th annual Warfare Symposium and Technology Exposition today and Friday.
Hawker Beechcraft delivered 109 T-6A trainers and 36 King Airs for military use last year. The planes are a bright spot in an otherwise depressed aviation market.
