Aviation Daily Roundup: Oct. 06, 2022

Lessors have played a major role in boosting the conditional orderbooks of electric aircraft startups, from Avolon’s preorder for 500 Vertical Aerospace four-passenger air taxis to Rockton’s letter of intent for 40 Heart Aerospace 30-seat regional airliners.

Sweden’s Heart Aerospace may have moved up to 30 seats to increase the appeal of its planned electric regional airliner, but French startup Aura Aero continues to pursue a 19-seater and has announced letters of intent for another 130 aircraft, taking the total to more than 330.

The chief executive of Mesa Airlines is holding out hope that his company’s new Mesa Pilot Development (MPD) program could help the airline industry recover from an ongoing regional pilot shortage but has no illusions about the magnitude of the challenge at hand.

The UK’s competition watchdog has expressed concerns that a $7.3 billion tie-up between satellite communications firms Viasat and Inmarsat could lead to airlines and passengers paying higher prices for onboard Wi-Fi. 

Wizz Air sees deployment opportunities for “significantly more” than the 47 Airbus A321XLR aircraft it currently has on firm order, the airline’s President Robert Carey told attendees at the World Aviation Festival. 

Lessor Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Sky Fund I Irish and its subsidiaries. 

Startup Northern Pacific Airways is planning to take four Boeing 757-200s before year-end, initially operating them to Mexico before launching services to Asia in the new year.

Regional aircraft lessor ACIA Aero Leasing plans to expand its relationship with express delivery provider DHL Express by converting a batch of ATR turboprops into freighters. 

As unstable oil prices and environmental pressures combine for the next generation of aircraft to drastically cut fuel consumption, Safran Landing Systems is anticipating its electric taxiing system will find an application eventually. 

WestJet, Canada’s second largest airline, said it will make its Calgary (YYC) home base the carrier’s “single global connecting hub” where all long-haul international flying will be focused.

Royal Jordanian Airlines has signed a memorandum of understanding with Embraer to acquire 10 Embraer E2 regional jets over the coming years. 

Avianca is reactivating the brand of Guatemalan regional subsidiary Aviateca, with plans to offer domestic and international routes.

Croatia Airlines says it will replace its existing Airbus A319/320 fleet with six A220-300 aircraft for delivery by 2026, which will arrive instead of the four A320neos previously ordered.

The Allied Pilots Association’s (APA) strong opposition to granting Boeing more time get the 737-7 and 737-10 certified without adding modern flight crew alerting capabilities pits a technically respected voice with deep 737 experience against the manufacturer’s claims that the safest route is to keep the MAX family as common as possible.