Business aircraft manufacturers delivered 20% fewer aircraft in 2020, shipping a total of 624 new business jets and 220 new turboprops in 2020, according to Aviation Week Intelligence Network Fleet & Data Services.
Embraer delivered 71 jets in the fourth quarter of 2020, consisting of 43 executive jets and 28 commercial aircraft, for a total of 130 aircraft delivered during the year, a 35% decrease from 2019.
Leonardo has begun flight tests of an electric-powered multicopter unmanned air system for carrying goods as part of an urban air mobility technology program in Turin, Italy.
Some patterns in business aviation have emerged or solidified in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that appear likely to remain important in the future.
Triumph Group announced late Feb. 10 that it had struck a deal to sell its Red Oak, Texas, operations to aerospace private equity investors Arlington Capital Partners.
Wireless charging system developer WiBotic on Feb. 10 announced an energy management software platform for fleet operators of drones and other robotic vehicles.
Russia’s largest passenger carrier–S7 Airlines–has made a controversial step into the private charter market. The carrier launched an online service called S7 Select on Jan. 25 that will allow anyone to book an aircraft for personal flight.
Democratic House lawmakers proposed an additional $26 billion to help struggling airlines, airports and manufacturers survive the air travel downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Garmin International said Feb. 10 that Joby Aviation has selected the Garmin G3000 integrated avionics suite for the electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle it is developing.
Urban air mobility startup Archer is to go public in a deal that will raise up to $1.1 billion to fund commercialization of the company’s all-electric air taxi.
Spatial disorientation of the pilot led to the fatal crash of a Sikorsky S-76B helicopter in hilly terrain northwest of Los Angeles in January 2020 that killed basketball legend Kobe Bryant and eight others, the NTSB has found.
The impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic may have acted as a “pressure valve release” on the aviation industry’s pilot shortage, but it has not solved the problem, said Sheryl Barden, president and CEO of Aviation Personnel International, based in San Francisco.
Textron Aviation has unveiled the newest upgrade to its business jet lineup with the Citation CJ4 Gen2 light jet with a “luxurious” interior cabin that “redefines the way passengers travel.”
NASA is transitioning long-running hypersonic technology studies increasingly toward potential commercial applications and has awarded two new contracts supporting high speed design and propulsion work to Aerion Supersonic and GE Aviation respectively.
EAA AirVenture 2021 remains on the schedule as a live event in July in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, although some areas of the show may look different than in previous years.
Large-scale flight demonstrations are planned in seven countries under a European program to expand its U-space concept of operations for unmanned traffic management to include urban air mobility.
Europe’s SESAR air traffic management research program has launched a follow up to the Gulf of Finland’s U-space project focused on the safe and secure integration of unmanned aircraft and air taxis in urban airspace.
