As jets take charge of fire-bombing missions, the 62-year-old piston-powered Tanker 60 takes its last flight over Oregon

As jets take over as fire-bombing aircraft, the piston-powered Douglas DC-7 plane, aka "Tanker 60," is going into retirement. This Eastern Air Lines plane was built in 1958 and spent its early years flying up and down the East Coast and to the Caribbean. In the 1970s, the plane was gutted and refit to be a air tanker and fire bomber, used to drop fire retardant from above, and has since spent over 40 years fighting fires. (www.msn.com) More...

Some Passengers Providing Fake Negative COVID Results To Beat Air Travel Restrictions

Some travelers in the United Kingdom have resorted to faking negative COVID-19 test results as because of the difficulty of securing legitimate ones. (www.gatechecked.com) More...

United is bringing back inflight food and beverage sales — with a twist

Early in the pandemic, airlines quickly suspended most inflight service offerings. On some of the shortest flights, you wouldn’t receive anything — not even water. With the holidays approaching and more people taking to the skies, carriers are slowly resuming pre-pandemic service, with an increased focus on crew and passenger safety. On Oct. 1, United boosted its complimentary offerings. (thepointsguy.com) More...

747SP owned by Sheldon Adelson damaged in hangar

A rare Boeing 747SP plane has suffered severe damage after a collision with another aircraft. The plane was set to undergo maintenance work before the collision occurred in an Arizona hangar, leaving a gaping slice beneath the fuselage’s front-end. Evidence suggests the aircraft has now been damaged beyond repair. (simpleflying.com) More...

All Nippon Airways Reveals Plan To Launch New Widebody LCC

All Nippon Airways (ANA) plans to create a new low-cost widebody unit and cut back its mainline fleet as part of a major overhaul of its strategy spurred by the COVID-19 crisis. The new carrier is expected to be launched during the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2022. It will use Boeing 787s to fly routes to Southeast Asia and Oceania. ANA intends to use its existing Air Japan entity–primarily a charter operation–as the basis for the new carrier. ANA told Aviation Daily the name is still to be… (aviationweek.com) More...

Heathrow overtaken as Europe's busiest airport amid pandemic

Heathrow says it has been overtaken as Europe's busiest airport for the first time by Paris Charles de Gaulle because of a slump in demand for air travel. Some 19 million passengers used Heathrow in the first nine months of the year, versus 19.3 million who used the airport in the French capital. Heathrow said Amsterdam Schiphol and Frankfurt were "close behind". It said all three rivals had adopted testing regimes as a way of people reducing or avoiding quarantine. (www.yahoo.com) More...

B-17 Texas Raiders Is Back in the Air

Thanks to the support of donors , supporters and the CAF hard-working maintenance crew, the CAF Gulf Coast Wing was able to get Engine number 3 swapped out in time to make their next event at McKinney, TX on October 17 as originally planned. As we previously reporter (HERE), on their way to the Labor Day weekend at the Arkansas Air and Military Museum the CAF Gulf Coast Wing’s B-17 Texas Raiders suffered a performance issue on one engine while in transit, and out of an abundance of caution the… (warbirdsnews.com) More...

Airbus Welcomes Its Third Beluga XL Aircraft

It’s the third of six Beluga XLs that will be introduced to the Airbus fleet by 2023. (simpleflying.com) More...

Boeing's 737MAX to Return Soon

The 737 MAX, an aircraft that has been grounded for over a year and a half, is expected to be clear to fly again in the coming weeks. The plane has already been deemed "good to go" by the E.U.'s aviation administration, and the FAA is expected to do the same shortly. Due to the fact that Boeing is an American company, the FAA must give their approval before the MAX can be officially ungrounded. (theexplorerblog.com) More...

Delta, United and Alaska Airlines have banned more than 900 passengers for not wearing masks

With airlines imposing mandatory mask requirements on flights amid the coronavirus pandemic, many unhappy passengers have made headlines for being removed from flights for refusing to wear a mask. And with some carriers keeping no-fly lists of passengers who violated the policy, it is now clear that more than 900 passengers have been banned from airlines because of their refusal to put on a mask. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said in a Thursday memo to employees that 460 people are now banned… (www.msn.com) More...

A321 converted freighter debuts with Australia Post

Qantas is the first company to operate an Airbus A321 converted freighter. It's customer is the Australian postal service. Find out why this aircraft is in demand. (www.freightwaves.com) More...

Airbus To Begin Offering Tours Of Its Mobile Final Assembly Line

On Saturday, November 14, Flight Works, an aerospace exhibition and education center next door to the Airbus site, will run four tours open to anyone to join. (simpleflying.com) More...