Monarch Aircraft Engineering (MAEL) has completed the commissioning testing for aircraft maintenance at its new 110,000 ft² state-of-the-art maintenance facility at Birmingham Airport in the UK. This important milestone is one of the final stages of testing in readiness for next week where on 4th November four aircraft will arrive to undergo maintenance. The new
Avolon, the international aircraft leasing group, has acquired two A320 aircraft for delivery to Etihad Airways, the leading international airline, as part of a sale and leaseback transaction, financed by Abu Dhabi National Leasing. The first of the two aircraft has now delivered. The second is scheduled for delivery in December.
Embraer announced that it will expand its current facilities in Melbourne, Florida, with the addition of a new aircraft assembly line for the Legacy 500/450 twin-engine business jets. The expansion is subject to approval by the appropriate authorities. The company’s campus at Melbourne International Airport currently includes an assembly plant and paint facility for Phenom
Airbus has launched the Sharklet retrofit programme for in-service A320 Family aircraft. This option will be available in 2015. Operators of older in-service A320 Family aircraft will thus be able to benefit from the significant cost savings and performance improvements which the Sharklets are already delivering on new-build aircraft. This retrofit includes reinforcing the wing
Macquarie Rotorcraft Leasing, the helicopter operating leasing business of Macquarie Group, has contracted to acquire two S-92A and two S-76D helicopters from Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. along with an unspecified number of options to acquire additional aircraft. The four new helicopters will be configured initially for the oil and gas service markets. With its proven performance
JetBlue reported record third quarter operating revenues of $1.4bn. Revenue passenger miles for the third quarter increased 5.4% to 9.56bn on a capacity increase of 5.1%, resulting in a third quarter load factor of 85.0%, an increase of 0.2 points year over year. Operating expenses for the quarter increased 8.1%, or $95m, over the prior
The Boeing 737 MAX program continues to make steady development progress since reaching Firm Configuration on the 737 MAX 8 in July. Engineers have completed an assessment of the airplane’s performance confirming an additional 1 percent fuel-efficiency improvement over the 13% already promised to customers. “Program and airplane performance just continues to improve,” said Keith
After more than four years of negotiations, a merger of three airlines and numerous representation elections, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) announced members at United Airlines ratified agreements covering approximately 30,000 fleet service, passenger service and stockroom employees. With over 65% participation, each contract was approved by more than 70% of
JetBlue will optimize its EMBRAER 190 fleet to approximately 60 aircraft in the near term. “While the E190 is critical to our continued success in Boston and San Juan, we are now at the point where our network growth calls for larger gauge aircraft,” Mr. Barger said. “In addition to allowing us to more cost-effectively
Dallas Aeronautical Services (DAS) announced the construction of a new facility in Cedar Hill, Texas. The all new 50,400 ft² facility will span over three acres of land and is being constructed in Cedar Hill’s High Meadows Industrial Park. Target completion date for the project is first quarter of 2014. DAS currently operates from five
