Stephen Pope

Air travel in the United States was back to normal this week after Congress passed a measure on Friday giving the FAA new flexibility for dealing with forced spending cuts. The agreement, reached just hours before legislators were to leave on a week-long break, ends controller furloughs that briefly caused delays at large commercial airports. […]

The sleek Pipistrel Panthera piston-single prototype made a surprise journey over the Alps from its home in Slovenia to the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany yesterday. As soon as the airplane landed around 1 p.m. local time, it began drawing crowds wanting a closer look. The Panthera is a four-seater that its maker claims will […]

Diamond Aircraft is showing an intriguing mockup of the DA50 Turbine at the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany this week. The proposed model would be an upgraded version of Diamond’s developmental DA50 Magnum piston single, with power coming from a 450 shp AI-450S turbine engine built by Ukrainian company Motor Sich JSC. Diamond is showing […]

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta got the chance to experience what it feels like to be raked over the coals yesterday as lawmakers at a House hearing expressed their mounting frustration over his agency’s handling of sequester-related controller furloughs. It was uncomfortable to watch as House members bluntly told Huerta he did a poor job of […]

We’ve all heard the sage advice about staying at least a couple steps ahead of the airplane. This becomes even more critical in IMC when we must keep it crystal clear in our minds not only where the airplane is now but also where it will be at a point in the not-so-distant future. If […]

As the impact of sequester-related controller furloughs begins to put a chokehold on air travel around the country, the FAA is implementing a special traffic management program to deal with a “wide range of delays” that the agency said is hitting New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Las Vegas today. Automatic federal spending cuts forced […]

Commercial flights of the Boeing 787 could resume as early as next week after Boeing on Monday began installing reinforced lithium ion batteries on five grounded 787s operated by launch customer All Nippon Airways. Teams of Boeing engineers are working at four airports in Japan, including Tokyo’s Haneda and Narita hubs, where the Dreamliners have […]

Facing criticism over a controversial rule that would again permit passengers to bring small knives on commercial flights, the Transportation Security Administration now says it’s reconsidering. The TSA said in a statement on Monday it will seek additional input from a federal advisory committee that includes aviation interests, passenger advocates and law enforcement experts before […]

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta faced tough questions on Capitol Hill Tuesday as he was asked to give lawmakers an update on how the agency is handling sequestration budget cuts as well as its progress with the ongoing review of Boeing’s attempts to return the 787 Dreamliner to service. Sequestration cuts have reduced the FAA’s operating […]

Amid slow sales and an $8 million first-quarter loss, Cessna will pause production of several entry-level business jet models and seek to trim its workforce, the company said yesterday. Cessna delivered 32 jets in the quarter, down from 38 in the same period last year. Cessna parent Textron’s CEO, Scott Donnelly, noted that light jet […]