Aviation

Bloomberg The rate of fatal crashes on privately owned aircraft in the US dropped to the lowest level in 50 years in 2016. The fatal-accident rate was less than 1 per 100,000 flight hours, the first time it has reached that level in decades, according to statistics released by the US National Transportation Safety Board. There were 386 people killed ...

Bloomberg China Southern Airlines Co. plans to take advantage of its ties with American Airlines Group Inc. to help beef up its US routes and close in on mainland rivals, the Chinese carrier’s President Tan Wangeng said. A new airport in Beijing, once up and running in 2019, will serve as the state airline’s second hub flying almost 50 million ...

Bloomberg Airbus SE’s Chinese arm is clamoring for high-value work building wings currently made in the UK as Brexit threatens to blunt the country’s competitive edge, according to the group’s top British executive. While the design and manufacture of Airbus wings represents one of the “crown jewels” of UK aerospace, every part is exported into the European Union and would ...

Bloomberg You can buy almost anything on Taobao, China’s biggest e-commerce platform, even a jumbo jet. While most Chinese consumers traffic the Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. app for groceries, clothes, or the odd knickknack, SF Airlines Co. took Taobao shopping to a whole other level. The Chinese carrier bid more than 320 million yuan ($48 million) for two Boeing 747 ...

Bloomberg EasyJet Plc said its fares are set to gain this winter, buoyed by the collapse of carriers including UK-based Monarch Airlines Ltd. and capacity cuts at main European rival Ryanair Holdings Plc. The demise of Monarch and Germany’s Air Berlin Plc, a bankruptcy filing at Italy’s Alitalia SpA and Ryanair’s move to scrap part of its timetable amid a ...

Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc, which doesn’t recognise trade unions, lurched further towards collective bargaining after pilots in its home market of Ireland founded a new body and demanded negotiations with the discount operator. Management should engage exclusively on national matters with the “Ryanair Company Council,” the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association said in a letter to Michael O’Leary, the carrier’s ...

Reuters EgyptAir will swing to a profit this year, buoyed by an increase in passengers and cost cutting, the chairman of the state-owned airline’s holding company said. EgyptAir has struggled to rebound from the 2008 global financial crisis and two revolutions that have hobbled Egypt’s economy since. “This year the company will transfer from a loss,” EgyptAir Holding Chairman Safwat ...

Bloomberg The Air Force’s classified next-generation bomber programme began with a solid plan for meeting cost goals and warfighting requirements, which include an option to fly unmanned missions, according to a newly declassified audit from the Pentagon’s inspector general. The challenge will be sticking to that plan. The early praise for the $80 billion B-21 programme came about a month ...

Bloomberg At 80 years old, the self-proclaimed father of the ultra-discount airline model is still swinging for the fences, stealing the spotlight at this year’s Dubai Airshow with the biggest order ever placed for Airbus SE commercial aircraft. William Augustus Franke, co-founder and managing partner of private equity firm Indigo Partners, joined Airbus in announcing the deal for 430 aircraft, ...

Bloomberg Senate Republicans say their tax bill will bring big tax cuts for middle-class families and businesses. It’ll also make sure that owners of private jets don’t get hit with the same taxes that commercial carriers face. The revised bill that emerged from the Senate Finance Committee has a provision that scraps excise taxes on management services for private aircraft. ...