IFA Launches Industry Wide Aviation Survey as Airworthiness Challenges Threaten Industry Growth With global air travel set to more than double and airlines requiring over 700,000 new maintenance technicians worldwide, the International Federation of Airworthiness calls for industry action and not just more discussion. Take the survey here: https://survey.zohopublic.eu/zs/FqC4FM As the International Federation of Airworthiness (IFA) celebrates its 50th anniversary...Read More

FAA Transport Airplane and Propulsion Certification Modernization NPRM IFA CEO comments: “IFA supports efforts to harmonise international standards.” FAA proposes to amend various airworthiness regulations to modernize certain certification standards for transport category airplanes and propulsion systems. This rule would be both deregulatory and relieving by reducing the number of exemptions, special conditions, and equivalent level of safety findings required...Read More

FAA Proposes New Rules For Civil Supersonic Flight By Amelia Walsh The agency has launched rulemaking aimed at allowing next-generation supersonic aircraft to operate over land under new noise standards. The FAA has begun developing rules that could allow civil supersonic aircraft to operate over the U.S. under a new noise-based certification framework. In a June 30 announcement, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy...Read More

Avolon to acquire 11 Airbus A321neos originally ordered by Frontier Airlines By Ricardo Meier Deal covers aircraft scheduled for delivery between late 2026 and mid-2027 Aircraft lessor Avolon has agreed to acquire 11 Airbus A321neo aircraft originally ordered by Frontier Airlines , with deliveries scheduled between November 2026 and June 2027. The agreement was approved by the board of Avolon’s...Read More

U.S. Air Force weighs a pilotless successor to the C-5 and C-17 By Colton Jones The U.S. Air Force is asking aircraft makers a question that would have sounded like science fiction a decade ago: could the giant cargo plane meant to replace its aging fleet eventually fly itself. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Mobility Aircraft Directorate published...Read More

Making the Leap to Hybrid-Electric Bizjets – Can It Be Done? A published paper in a peer-reviewed scientific journal provokes a conversation about the future of hybrid-electric propulsion and large-cabin business jets. As the aviation industry appears to be poised to enter a new era of electric- powered flight with smaller eVTOL air taxis, what are the possibilities that larger,...Read More

Can Vertical Aerospace certify the Valo eVTOL by 2028? By Ben Sampson When Vertical Aerospace’s chief test pilot Simon Davies lifted off vertically from Cotswold Airport on April 14 in the VX4 prototype, climbed away on rotor thrust, tilted the front propellers forward to fly on the wing, and then reversed the sequence to land back in a hover, the...Read More

The FAA is writing mandates, but federal coordination systems can’t keep up By Laura Crabtree Laura Crabtree is CEO and co-founder of Epsilon3. She previously served as a lead operations engineer at SpaceX. On January 29, 2025, PSA Airlines Flight 5342 descended toward Ronald Reagan National Airport with no warning of the Army Black Hawk closing on its path. The CRJ-700 jet had ADS-B...Read More

IATA calls for action to ease MRO bottlenecks of latest-generation single-aisle aircraft engines The International Air Transport Association (IATA), in collaboration with Emerton, during the World Maintenance and Engineering Symposium in Madrid on June 24-25, released a new study examining bottlenecks in the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) of latest-generation single-aisle aircraft engines—namely LEAP engines from CFM, and Geared Turbofan (GTF) engines from Pratt...Read More

KM Malta Airlines, Bird Aviation sign heavy maintenance deal By Vanja Popovic KM Malta Airlines (KM, Malta International) has contracted Bird Aviation for its heavy maintenance, including C-checks, the MRO firm said in a statement. The three-year agreement will see KM Malta Airlines’ fleet use Bird Aviation’s Larnaca facilities. The two companies have been cooperating on maintenance for a while, but without a long-term agreement. KM...Read More