Air Transport

Textron plans to lay off nearly 2,000 employees at its TRU Simulation + Training, Textron Aviation and Industrial divisions to cut operating expenses as it restructures in response to challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said in a Securities & Exchange filing June 18.

With so much going on within the aviation sector we want to know your views on the key topics and stories.

Ask the Editors: Composite use is growing as a percentage of weight for manufacturers. Repair and recycling knowledge also are improving.

MESA AIRLINES permanently removed two (of 59) CRJ900s from its capacity purchase agreement with AMERICAN AIRLINES.

QANTAS has canceled all international flights until late October (with possible exception of transTasman Sea routes) due to extended closure of

EMIRATES is adding scheduled service to 10 more cities: Colombo (from June 20), Sialkot (June 24), Istanbul (June 25); Auckland, Beirut, Brussels

JETBLUE AIRWAYS is adding 30 new domestic routes to serve leisure market, which it says is showing some signs of strength as business travel is facing

JetBlue Airways will add 30 routes to its domestic network over the next few months in a bid to capitalize on a modest expected upswing in leisure travel demand.

Air-service incentives were a big deal before the COVID-19 pandemic decimated demand.

Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker has told both Airbus and Boeing the carrier will not be taking any aircraft this year or next due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to UK-based Sky News.

Qantas has canceled all international flights until late October, with the potential exception of routes to and from New Zealand.

US DOT says US scheduled pax airlines employed 428,569 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers in April, down 4% vs April 2019 (first month of year-over

VISTARA, India is reportedly in discussions with Boeing to defer delivery of six 787s from 2020-2021 to 2022 or 2023.

AIRLINES FOR AMERICA (A4A) reports that US passenger airlines had 2,736 aircraft (44% of fleet) parked on June 14, down from peak of 3,204 aircraft

EUROCONTROL says it handled >8,000 operations on June 17 (first since March 20), including 400 flights by TURKISH AIRLINES (highest number by single

VUELING plans to resume international service (Barcelona-Amsterdam/-Milan) on June 22, adding -Rome/-Copenhagen by end of June.

CHAPMAN FREEBORN (Avia Solutions Group) agreed to acquire ARCUS AIR LOGISTICS, Germany, which provides ad-hoc cargo charters (primarily for automotive

QATAR AIRWAYS says it does not expect to return to 2019 traffic levels for two years; it is against social distancing on aircraft.

AIR LEASE CORPORATION is making public offering of $850m in senior unsecured medium-term notes; net proceeds will be used for general corporate

QATAR AIRWAYS says it will not take delivery of any new Boeing/Airbus aircraft in 2020 or 2021 and any aircraft to be delivered in next 2-3 years will

LATAM AIRLINES ARGENTINA ceased operations indefinitely due to current local industry conditions, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic; it has 13

IAG´s short haul LCC LEVEL Europe will file for insolvency on June 19, citing the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

JetBlue Airways will add 30 routes to its domestic network over the next few months in a bid to capitalize on a modest expected upswing in leisure travel demand.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown of air traffic on European aviation has worsened in recent weeks, IATA warned, as it called for a coordinated restart of air travel through border openings and continued financial and regulatory support.

Airbus has completed the first fully automated vision-based taxi, takeoff and landing using an A350-1000.