- Senior Pilots Mount Legal Challenge to US Retirement Law[Jan. 23, 2008]
Senior airline pilots in the US are challenging new legislation that allows them to continue flying until age 65, calling the law "unconstitutional and unenforceable."
- Philippine Airlines Insists US Flights to Continue Despite FAA Downgrade[Jan. 16, 2008]
Philippine Airlines said it will continue to operate flights to the US despite FAA's downgrading of the country to a Category 2 safety rating.
- BA 777 Takes Severe Damage After Rough Heathrow Landing[Jan. 18, 2008]
UK's Air Accident Investigation Branch will be joined by the US National Transportation Safety Board and Boeing to investigate Jan. 17's accident at London Heathrow, where a British Airways 777-200ER landed in the grass several hundred meters short of Runway 27L near a busy perimeter road in the afternoon.
- Airbus Announces Plans for A330 Freighter Final Assembly Line in Mobile, Alabama[Jan. 14, 2008]
Airbus announced a commitment to establish an A330 Freighter aircraft final assembly line (FAL) in Mobile, Alabama, if Northrop Grumman (supported by Airbus's parent company, EADS) receives the order to build aerial refuelling tankers from the United States Air Force. If established, the FAL would mark an important step forward for U.S. aerospace production, as it would be one of the first new commercial aircraft assembly facilities built in the U.S. in more than four decades, as well as the first Airbus manufacturing facility in the U.S.
- Qantas Flight Targetted by Laser[Jan. 16, 2008]
Emergency services officials are investigating a report about an aircraft being targeted by laser beams in the Healesville area, north of Melbourne in Australia, early on Jan. 16.
- Boeing 787 First Flight Delayed to End of Second Quarter[Jan. 16, 2008]
Chicago-based Boeing announced on Jan. 16 that the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner has been moved from the end of the first quarter of this year to around the end of the second quarter.
- Airbus Announces Conditional Plans to Establish First US Final Assembly Line[Jan. 15, 2008]
Airbus said on Jan. 14 that if the US Air Force selects Northrop Grumman over Boeing to produce next-generation aerial refueling tankers, it will establish its first US final assembly line in Mobile to produce both the tankers and commercial A330 freighters. Northrop's proposed KC-30 tanker is based on the A330. The defense firm is teamed with Airbus and parent EADS in its effort to win the tanker contract, which is valued at about US$40 billion and is scheduled to be awarded on Jan. 31. The contract calls for 12-18 aircraft to be produced annually. Airbus did not say how many A330Fs it would produce at the site.
- Boeing Quiet on Report of Further 787 Delay[Jan. 15, 2008]
Boeing is remaining quiet about a report that the first flight of the 787 may be delayed a third time, until June. "We are declining comment," the company says.
- Mitsubishi Passenger Jet Plan to Get Support From Japan's Transport Ministry[Jan. 14, 2008]
Japan's transport ministry is planning to provide support for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd's project to develop a small passenger jet, which will be the first domestically built passenger aircraft in Japan for more than 30 years, ministry sources said on Jan. 13.
- Two Injured in Helicopter Crash in St. John's, Canada[Jan. 10, 2008]
On Jan. 10, two people were injured after a helicopter crashed in a wooded area in Canada's eastern city of St. John's, reports said.