Heico leaders said late April 15 they have laid off “some” employees across their aerospace and defense supplier portfolio and have cut work hours and pay at subsidiaries, but they are trying to avoid mass-layoffs as the COVID-19 pandemic rolls back the worldwide aerospace business.

Boeing has begun modifying stabilizer control wiring on its stored Boeing 737 MAX fleet—one of several tasks that must be completed before the aircraft can be handed over to customers.

No one uses the words apocalyptic or cataclysmic—yet—but without a doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on aerospace and defense manufacturing will…

John Langford, founder and former CEO of Aurora Flight Sciences, is launching a new venture to develop hybrid-electric regional transport aircraft. 

Howmet Aerospace has eight mostly smaller manufacturing plants that are closed because of the coronavirus, the company’s chief executive said late April 14, and more were shuttered in March when the Pittsburgh-based supplier was still part of Arconic.

Spirit AeroSystems—the primary supplier to Boeing including for much of the 737 MAX and which does substantial defense industry work—warned Wall Street on April 14 it will record a roughly $160 million loss for the recently ended first quarter of 2020, as well as a pretax loss of around $102 million.

The latest version of the Boeing 737 MAX master minimum equipment list (MMEL) corrects a conflict between the original MMEL’s allowances and pilot troubleshooting steps that allowed flights with no functioning autopilot, even as a checklist calls for autopilot engagement to correct flight-control issue. 

Updated Boeing commercial airliner figures for 2020 through March reveal dramatic order cancellations and reduced deliveries as the air transport market continues to nosedive in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.