An American Airlines jet scraped a wingtip and partially veered off the runway while landing in poor visibility Sunday night at Charlotte, N.C., and federal air-safety regulators are looking into why it took the carrier four hours to notify them about the event.

While none of the crew or the 110 passengers aboard Flight 1402 was injured, the Federal Aviation Administration is treating the event as an accident. On Monday, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said American’s timing in notifying the agency “is part of the investigation.” (continue reading…)

Taking advantage of down market prices, United Airlines said on Tuesday it placed a $10 billion-plus order for 50 wide-bodied jetliners divided between Airbus and Boeing Co, in a bid to slash fuel costs and emissions.

United, a unit of UAL Corp, has letters of intent to order 25 of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners and the same number of A350 planes from its European rival Airbus, part of EADS, following a six-month contest. The carrier also has future purchase rights for 50 of each aircraft.
(continue reading…)

United Airlines announced on Tuesday that it has ordered 25 Airbus A350XWB aircraft and 25 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft and has future purchase rights for an additional 50 of both types of aircraft.

These orders follow a six-month request for proposal process, resulting in agreements with both Airbus and Boeing that allow United to meet its financial and operational objectives.
(continue reading…)

Qatar Airways has said it completed the first trial of a commercial passenger flight in an aircraft powered by a fuel made from natural gas.

The journey from London Gatwick to Doha took over six hours and was operated with an Airbus A340-600 aircraft using Rolls-Royce Trent 556 engines, said a statement late on Monday.
(continue reading…)

German airport operator Fraport AG said a court has cleared its €4 billion ($5.7 billion) plan to expand Frankfurt’s main international airport, the final step allowing a fourth runway and third terminal to be built at Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s main hub.
(continue reading…)

Hawaiian Airlines has hired 100 employees in recent months and plans to add 170 more by early next year to meet the company’s growth needs as it prepares for the first of its new Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
(continue reading…)

Promotion Highlights American’s First and Business Class International Service, Offers Exciting Prizes Such as International Business Class Tickets, Admirals Club Memberships, Bose Headsets and AAdvantage Miles (continue reading…)

China Eastern Airlines, the weakest of the country’s three biggest airlines, wants to sell a roughly 30 percent stake in regional carrier Happy Airlines to alleviate its strapped finances, company sources said on Tuesday. (continue reading…)

Naresh Goyal-led private air carrier Jet Airways is negotiating with several airlines, including Oman Air, for exploring possibilities of leasing out its surplus aircraft, a top company official said.
(continue reading…)