Mesa Air Group will do a phased shutdown of its Air Midwest subsidiary from May 23 to June 30. The Wichita-based regional, which has been in business for 43 years, operates a fleet of 20 B1900s serving 27 cities. Mesa said record high fuel prices, insufficient demand and a difficult operating environment factored into the decision to end service. Even with Essential Air Service subsidies provided by the US Dept. of Transportation, AM has been unable to achieve "sustained profitability" for several years, MAG said in a statement.

Airbus confirmed yesterday that "the plan to sell the plants which are not being carved out remains in place" despite the recent failure of negotiations with MT Aerospace regarding three German facilities (ATWOnline, March 28). Plant divestures have been cited as a key component of the company's Power8 restructuring plan. "Airbus expects to conclude the divestments in Filton and in Laupheim in the next few weeks," it claimed. Filton will produce the A350's fixed trailing edge assembly and Laupheim the crew rest areas.

Airbus yesterday announced the fourth delay to the A380 program, saying that transitioning from "low rate. . .Wave 1" production to "the full serial design and manufacturing process called Wave 2" will take longer than anticipated.

Sukhoi Superjet 100 moved closer to its first flight, scheduled for later this month, with the successful completion of the first taxi and run tests of the new regional aircraft, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. announced yesterday. The run tests featured a gradual speed increase up to 162 kph, which is close the actual speed required for takeoff.

Hit hard by surging oil prices and competition from the Taiwan High Speed Rail on domestic city-pairs, local carriers expect to reap benefits from the first commercial flights across the Taiwan Strait, which are scheduled to be permitted starting July 4.