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☆ Spirit Airlines Will Delay Plane Purchases and Furlough Pilots
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Niraj Chokshi | More About Niraj Chokshi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Spirit Airlines said on Monday that it would delay delivery of new Airbus planes and furlough pilots to save money as it seeks to overcome several setbacks, including a blocked merger, engine problems and a lackluster recovery from the pandemic. Spirit and JetBlue gave up an effort to appeal that decision last month. Spirit plans to delay most of the Airbus planes it had expected to receive in 2025 and 2026 by about five years. It also said it expected to furlough about 260 pilots starting on Sept. 1. Those changes will help Spirit, which has lost money in each of the last four years, return to profitability, the company’s chief executive, Ted Christie, said.

Persons: Ted Christie Organizations: Spirit Airlines, Airbus, JetBlue Airways, Spirit, JetBlue

☆ United Airlines Faces Closer F.A.A. Scrutiny After Safety Incidents
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-22 | by ( Niraj Chokshi | More About Niraj Chokshi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Federal Aviation Administration will scrutinize United Airlines’ operations more closely in coming weeks after a spate of recent safety incidents, the airline told employees in a memo on Friday. “We will begin to see more of an F.A.A. presence in our operation as they begin to review some of our work processes, manuals and facilities,” Sasha Johnson, a vice president of corporate safety at the airline, said in the memo. said in a statement that it “routinely” monitored airline operations. The agency said it “focuses on an airline’s compliance with applicable regulations; ability to identify hazards, assess and mitigate risk; and effectively manage safety.”

Persons: “, ” Sasha Johnson, ” Organizations: Federal Aviation Administration, United Airlines

Quality concerns and production slowdowns. Boeing is an American institution that has contributed to the country’s place on the global stage. As business reporters at The New York Times, we have for years been covering Boeing and concerns over the quality of the planes it makes. We want to hear from people who work — or have worked — at Boeing or at companies, government agencies or other organizations that deal with Boeing about what the company is doing wrong or right. We will not publish any part of your submission without following up with you again to get your permission.

Organizations: Boeing, The New York Times, Airbus, Alaska Airlines Locations: American

Boeing said on Friday that it was in talks to acquire Spirit AeroSystems, a struggling supplier that the manufacturer spun out nearly two decades ago and that makes the bodies of the 737 Max jet. In reabsorbing Spirit, Boeing would be seeking to rescue and restructure a troubled but important partner that has been battered by years of losses and quality control problems. Spirit’s problems have also at times limited how fast Boeing can produce Max planes, its most popular commercial jet. Bringing Spirit, one of the company’s key suppliers, back in house would be a significant strategic shift for Boeing, which has long relied on outsourcing to make its planes. Experts say the episode could have been catastrophic had it happened at a higher altitude with passengers moving about the cabin.

Organizations: Boeing, Alaska Airlines

The Justice Department is reviewing whether an early January incident in which a part of a Boeing plane blew out in midflight violated a 2021 agreement to settle a criminal charge against the company, according to a person familiar with the review. Boeing agreed to pay more than $2.5 billion to settle the charge, which stemmed from two fatal crashes of its 737 Max 8 planes. The Justice Department agreed to drop a criminal charge that was based on the actions of two employees who had withheld information from the F.A.A. There were no serious injuries, but the incident could have been catastrophic had it occurred minutes later, at a higher altitude. The panel is known as a “door plug,” which is used to cover a gap left by an unneeded exit door.

Persons: Trump Organizations: Boeing, Justice Department Locations: midflight, Portland ,

☆ Boeing’s Safety Culture Faulted by F.A.A. in New Report
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Niraj Chokshi | More About Niraj Chokshi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A Federal Aviation Administration report released on Monday found flaws in Boeing’s safety culture while noting that the airplane manufacturer had made some improvements since two fatal crashes involving the 737 Max 8 jet in 2018 and 2019. The report, written by a group of experts convened a year ago at Congress’ behest, found that there was a “disconnect” between senior management and other employees at Boeing. The company, the panel found, has at times been “inadequate and confusing,” in the way it carried out its safety culture. said that it would “immediately begin a thorough review of the report” and take action on its recommendations as appropriate. “We will continue to hold Boeing to the highest standard of safety and will work to ensure the company comprehensively addresses these recommendations,” the agency said.

Persons: “ Organizations: Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing

The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday that it was expanding its scrutiny of Boeing, increasing oversight of the company with an audit of production of the 737 Max 9, a week after a panel in the body of one of those planes was blown out during flight. Later Friday night, the F.A.A. The agency said it needed more information on the inspection process before it could approve Boeing’s guidance for distribution. The grounded planes, 171 in total in the United States, will be not be cleared to fly again until they are inspected, which could take several days, though possibly a lot longer, once the F.A.A. United Airlines is the biggest U.S. user of the plane, though the jet makes up just 8 percent of the larger company’s fleet.

Persons: Boeing’s, Max Organizations: Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing, Alaska Airlines, Airlines Locations: United States

Alaska Airlines on Sunday announced plans to acquire Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9 billion deal. The combined airline will maintain the Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines brands but with a single operating platform, Alaska Airlines said in a news release. The company would provide service to 138 destinations, including nonstop flights to airports in the Americas, Asia, Australia and the South Pacific. For residents in Hawaii, the company would offer three times the current number of destinations from the state to destinations throughout North America, either nonstop or with one connection. “In Alaska Airlines, we are joining an airline that has long served Hawaii, and has a complementary network and a shared culture of service,” Peter Ingram, president and chief executive of Hawaiian Airlines, was quoted as saying in the news release.

Persons: ” Peter Ingram, Biden Organizations: Alaska Airlines, Sunday, Hawaiian Airlines, Department Locations: Americas, Asia, Australia, Hawaii, North America, “

Boeing is holding 85 Max planes in storage awaiting delivery to Chinese carriers, for which the planes were even painted years ago. Over the next two decades, Boeing projects, China will account for 20 percent of global airplane demand. This means China will need an estimated 6,500 single-aisle planes like the 737 Max and more than 1,500 larger, twin-aisle planes, such as Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, Boeing said. The first Max passenger flight there was in January, and all 95 Max planes in China are now back in service. Boeing has also sold and delivered dozens of 777 freighters to customers in China in recent years.

Persons: Max Organizations: Boeing, Max, ICBC Leasing Locations: China, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Dubai

☆ Sharp Drop in Airfares Cheers Inflation-Weary Travelers
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Niraj Chokshi | More About Niraj Chokshi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The glut of deals suggests that the airline industry’s supercharged pandemic recovery may finally be slowing as the supply of tickets catches up and, on some routes, overtakes demand, which appears relatively robust. Consider the fares that Denise Diorio, a retired teacher in Tampa, Fla., recently scored. She spent less than $40 on flights to and from Chicago and paid just $230 for a round-trip ticket from New York to Paris and back, a trip she plans to take this month. “I’ve been telling all my friends, ‘If you want to go somewhere, get your tickets now,’” she said. The bargains she found may be exceptional, but Ms. Diorio is right that deals abound.

Persons: Airfares, Denise Diorio, “ I’ve, ’ ”, Diorio Locations: Tampa , Fla, Chicago, New York, Paris

Chris Caputo stood on the tarmac at Burlington International Airport in Vermont in early October and looked to the clouds in the distance. He had piloted military and commercial aircraft over a long career, racking up thousands of flight hours, but the trip he was about to take would be very different. Over the next 16 days, he and his colleagues flew the plane, an CX300 built by their employer, Beta Technologies, down the East Coast. They would make nearly two dozen stops to rest and recharge, flying through congested airspace in Boston, New York, Washington and other cities. When the journey came to an end in Florida, Beta handed the plane over to the Air Force, which will experiment with it over the next few months.

Persons: Chris Caputo, Caputo Organizations: Burlington International, Beta Technologies, Beta, Air Force Locations: Vermont, East Coast, Boston , New York, Washington, Florida

☆ Air Force Receives Its First Electric Air Taxi
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Niraj Chokshi | More About Niraj Chokshi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Air Force said on Monday that it had received its first electric passenger aircraft capable of taking off and landing vertically, a milestone for the companies that hope to one day sell thousands of such vehicles to serve as air taxis. Joby Aviation, an air taxi start-up, delivered the aircraft to Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California, where the first supersonic flight took place. Joby, which is based in Santa Cruz, Calif., said that its electric aircraft is substantially quieter than helicopters or planes. The delivery is the first under an Air Force contract that Joby said was valued at up to $131 million and gives the government the option to receive up to nine aircraft. The Air Force and Joby will operate the vehicle, but Joby will still own the aircraft and receive both fixed and variable payments for hours flown.

Persons: Joby Organizations: Air Force, Joby Aviation, Edwards Air Force Base, NASA Locations: Southern California, Santa Cruz , Calif

The fastest train in the country outside of the Northeast began service between Miami and Orlando on Friday, connecting two major cities in car-loving Florida and testing whether private passenger rail can thrive in the United States. Tickets from Miami to Orlando start at $158 round trip for business class and $298 for first class, with discounts for families and larger groups. Brightline became the nation’s first private passenger rail to launch in a century when it started its service between Miami and West Palm Beach, where the company’s trains do not reach such high speeds, in 2018. If Brightline proves profitable in Florida, it could represent a turning point for American passenger rail. The last private intercity passenger train — the Rio Grande Zephyr, which connected Denver and Salt Lake City — shut down four decades ago.

Persons: Brightline Organizations: Northeast, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Salt Lake City —, Amtrak Locations: Miami, Florida, United States, West Palm, Rio, Denver, Salt Lake City

A new biography of Elon Musk portrays the billionaire entrepreneur as a complex, tortured figure whose brilliance is often overshadowed by his inability to relate on a human level to the people around him — his wives, his children and those on whom he relied to help build the space exploration and electric car businesses that made him the wealthiest man on Earth. Mr. Musk’s life so far — his difficult childhood in South Africa, his stormy romantic relationships, his success as a visionary who created SpaceX and Tesla, and his impetuous decision to buy Twitter — is detailed through scores of interviews with his family, friends, business associates and Mr. Musk himself. The book, which will be released on Tuesday, is by Walter Isaacson, the journalist whose previous works have chronicled the lives of Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin. It opens with a quote from Mr. Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, who once said, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Jobs, “, ” Organizations: SpaceX, Tesla, Twitter, Apple Locations: South Africa

☆ American Airlines Pilots Ratify Contract Offering Big Raises
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Niraj Chokshi | More About Niraj Chokshi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Pilots at American Airlines approved a contract on Monday that will increase pilot compensation by more than 46 percent and includes other benefits and changes. Under the contract, the pay of pilots at the company immediately increased by an average of 21 percent upon ratification. By August 2027, total compensation will have increased by more than 46 percent, including pay raises and increased retirement contributions by the airline. Across the industry, pilots have negotiated big raises and other gains, including greater protection against last-minute schedule changes. At the top end of the profession, pilots who fly long international flights typically earn several hundred thousand dollars a year.

Persons: ”, Ed Sicher Organizations: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Allied Pilots Association

☆ Air Taxi Rivals End Legal Fight and Agree to Collaborate
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Niraj Chokshi | More About Niraj Chokshi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two rivals in the race to mass-produce an all-electric aircraft said on Thursday that they had agreed to collaborate and settled a trade-secrets lawsuit that one rival, Wisk Aero, had filed against the other, Archer Aviation. Archer said it, in turn, would exclusively use Wisk’s self-flying technology in future aircraft. Both Wisk and Archer are developing small electric aircraft that can take off vertically, like helicopters, but fly like airplanes. Each is being designed to carry four passengers short distances, but Archer’s will initially have a pilot while Wisk is working toward autonomous flight. Boeing said in a statement that its investment in Archer would “support the potential integration of Wisk’s autonomous technology in future variants of Archer’s aircraft, pursuant to Wisk’s exclusive right to be their autonomy provider.”

Persons: Archer, Archer’s Organizations: Wisk, Archer Aviation, Boeing Locations: Archer

☆ Airlines Are Thriving as People Keep Traveling
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Niraj Chokshi | More About Niraj Chokshi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But the recent recovery has been marred by problems, including delays and cancellations around the country. Airlines and the air traffic control system have struggled to overcome bad weather, technology problems, staffing shortfalls and other disruptions over the past two years, contributing to major meltdowns like the one that Southwest Airlines suffered over several days in late December. Delays and cancellations have often cascaded on themselves, disrupting air travel for days, leaving many people stranded far from their destinations. Weather has been responsible for nearly 70 percent of flight delays this year, compared with just under 61 percent during the same period last year, according to federal data. But many more were delayed: about 25 percent over the past two months, up from about 19 percent in the same period in 2019.

Organizations: . Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Newark Liberty International Airport

☆ Air Taxis, Hyped for Years, May Finally Take Off
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Niraj Chokshi | More About Niraj Chokshi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For years, flying taxis have represented an exciting but distant dream, fueled in part by industry hype. Now they have a rollout plan and a target arrival date: 2028. “These things will be coming on the scene, and our job is to try and be ahead of the curve,” said Paul Fontaine, an assistant F.A.A. administrator who oversees the modernization of the air transportation system. The plan is intended to serve as a guide for introducing the aircraft in a way that is predictable and routine, the agency said.

Persons: ”, Paul Fontaine Organizations: Federal Aviation Administration Locations: New York, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Freight trains frequently stop and block the roads of York, Ala., sometimes cutting off two neighborhoods for hours. Emergency services and health care workers can’t get in, and those trapped inside can’t get out. “It’s not fair.”Residents have voiced these complaints for years to Norfolk Southern, which owns the tracks, and to regulators and members of Congress. Freight trains frequently block roads nationwide, a phenomenon that local officials say has grown steadily worse in the last decade as railroads run longer trains and leave them parked on tracks at crossings. The blockages can turn school drop-offs into nightmares, starve local businesses of customers and prevent emergency services from reaching those in distress.

Persons: can’t, ”, Amanda Brassfield, Grant City, “ Organizations: Norfolk, Freight Locations: York, Ala, Grant, Norfolk Southern

☆ When Trains Block a Road, Local Officials Have Few Options
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Niraj Chokshi | More About Niraj Chokshi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A decade ago, when he was sheriff, Mr. Rogers dispatched deputies to issue tickets to Norfolk Southern crews whose trains were impeding traffic. The tickets helped draw attention to blocked crossings, and the congestion decreased for a time. But the railroad sued the state, and Indiana’s Supreme Court overturned the law that authorized local officials to fine railroads for blocking crossings. Indiana and nearly 20 other states recently joined Ohio in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to determine that states can issues such regulations. Congress provided about $3 billion in 2021 to help fund projects that would alleviate congestion at frequently blocked railroad crossings.

Persons: Rogers, ” John Gray, Biden Organizations: Norfolk Southern, Association of American Railroads, “ Railroads, Indiana, Ohio, U.S, Supreme

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