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A rare and tragic situation aboard one aircraft could soon change what passengers on the next flight are entitled to whi...
23/09/2026

A rare and tragic situation aboard one aircraft could soon change what passengers on the next flight are entitled to while they wait.

New US Department of Transportation rules change how airlines must classify ten specific causes of flight delays and cancellations, removing them from the category considered within an airline’s control. Among them is a delay caused when an aircraft requires cleaning following the death of a passenger.

That classification might sound like paperwork, but it can matter when you’re the passenger left at the airport. US airlines make commitments including meal vouchers for qualifying controllable delays, while many also provide hotel accommodation and ground transport when a controllable disruption leaves passengers stranded overnight. If one of the newly excluded circumstances causes the disruption, those particular commitments may no longer apply.

The rules cover far more than this rare scenario. They also exclude certain unexpected maintenance, medical emergencies, unruly passengers being removed, qualifying cyberattacks, unexpected government-system failures, some baggage-system outages, specified aircraft damage, overheated brakes following a safety incident and airport closures caused by volcanic ash, wind or wind shear.

One important protection remains. This does not mean airlines can simply keep your ticket money. If your flight is cancelled or significantly changed or delayed and you choose not to accept the alternative travel offered, federal refund protections still apply regardless of the cause.

The real change is more specific: in certain situations airlines will no longer be considered responsible for the disruption, potentially leaving stranded passengers to cover expenses such as food or accommodation themselves.

Apparently being one of your customers’ most requested destinations doesn’t guarantee you’ll survive a year.Delta Air Li...
23/09/2026

Apparently being one of your customers’ most requested destinations doesn’t guarantee you’ll survive a year.

Delta Air Lines is axing its nonstop Seattle to Philadelphia route on November 29, barely six and a half months after launching it on May 7.

The daily 2,371-mile service uses a 194-seat Airbus A321neo and was introduced after Delta described Philadelphia as one of the most requested destinations among its Seattle corporate customers. Yet Delta has struggled against two established rivals, accounting for only around 8% of passengers compared with 46% for American and 41% for Alaska.

Interestingly, the aircraft weren’t simply flying empty. Delta reportedly averaged around a 76% load factor during the route’s first two months.

Six months after finally giving customers the route they asked for, it’s already disappearing.

Ever watched nearly 200 people squeeze through the front of an A321 and wondered why nobody simply opens the other door?...
23/09/2026

Ever watched nearly 200 people squeeze through the front of an A321 and wondered why nobody simply opens the other door?

On the original Airbus A321, Door 2L sits ahead of the wing and can technically be used for boarding. Some airlines have done exactly that, but unlike the Boeing 757, it never became normal practice.

The problem is where Airbus put it. Door 2L is unusually close to the wing and left engine, making jetbridge positioning more restrictive. Some jetbridges cannot comfortably reach it, while operators have cited the reduced clearance around the engine as a reason for sticking with Door 1L.

That’s a striking contrast with the 757, where Door 2L became a familiar boarding point. Passengers enter farther back in the cabin, meaning premium passengers at the front can avoid having almost everyone on the aircraft file past them.

Airbus eventually went in the opposite direction. Its newer A321neo Cabin Flex design removed the forward-of-wing Door 2 completely, replacing the arrangement with overwing emergency exits and creating more usable cabin space. Airbus says Cabin Flex became the standard A321neo configuration around 2020.

So that apparently unused door wasn’t an oversight. Airlines simply decided the space around it was often more useful than the boarding shortcut.

757 or A321 passengers, which boarding setup do you prefer?

United ordered the A350 before the aircraft had even made its first flight. Seventeen years later, the airline still has...
23/09/2026

United ordered the A350 before the aircraft had even made its first flight. Seventeen years later, the airline still hasn’t received one.

United originally committed to 25 Airbus A350-900s in 2009, intending to use the new-generation widebody as part of its long-term fleet renewal. The plan then changed repeatedly. United switched to 35 larger A350-1000s in 2013 before changing again in 2017 to 45 A350-900s, with deliveries eventually pushed as far back as 2030.

Yet United’s first A350 has never arrived.

Instead, the airline retired its Boeing 747s using 777-300ERs and has increasingly built its long-haul future around the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. United now has one of the world’s largest 787 fleets and a huge outstanding order for more.

The A350 story isn’t officially over, though. United’s 45 aircraft remain on Airbus’s order book, while United and Airbus were still amending their purchase agreement in February 2026. Separately, United is fighting Rolls-Royce over $175 million connected to the Trent XWB engines that would power the aircraft.

After 17 years, United’s A350 order has somehow survived longer than several aircraft have remained in airline fleets.

Spending around $100 million on a stealth fighter doesn’t mean you want to use it for every job. Sometimes the US Navy w...
23/09/2026

Spending around $100 million on a stealth fighter doesn’t mean you want to use it for every job. Sometimes the US Navy would rather send the older jet.

The F-35C is the Navy’s technological heavyweight, designed to pe*****te heavily defended airspace while using stealth and powerful sensors to detect threats and share that picture with other aircraft. But when hiding from radar isn’t the priority, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet still has some very useful tricks.

The Super Hornet has 11 weapons stations and can be configured for more than 400 loadouts, covering everything from air-to-air combat and precision strikes to reconnaissance and even aerial refuelling. The Navy describes it as its primary multirole strike fighter, while describing the F-35C as a force multiplier for the wider carrier air wing.

That’s why this isn’t simply a case of new replacing old. Modern US carrier air wings can deploy both aircraft together. The F-35C can use stealth and sensor fusion to find and help prosecute threats, while Super Hornets bring flexibility and external firepower when stealth isn’t essential. The Navy itself calls the combination a “high/low mix.”

The F-18 might be the older design, but there are still missions where its particular strengths make it the right aircraft for the job.

The world’s biggest passenger aircraft has four engines. Yet individually, they aren’t even close to the monsters hangin...
23/09/2026

The world’s biggest passenger aircraft has four engines. Yet individually, they aren’t even close to the monsters hanging beneath a Boeing 777-300ER.

The 777-300ER is powered by two GE90-115B turbofans, each certified for up to 115,300lb of thrust. By comparison, the most powerful Rolls-Royce Trent 900 variant certified for the Airbus A380 produces about 84,100lb.

That means each GE90 can produce roughly 37% more thrust than one of the A380’s Trent 900s.

There’s a good reason for the difference. The A380 spreads the work across four engines, while the enormous 777-300ER relies on only two. Those GE90s therefore need to produce extraordinary amounts of thrust to get an aircraft weighing up to around 351 tonnes off the ground.

The A380 still wins comfortably on combined power. Four 84,100lb Trent 900s provide roughly 336,400lb of total thrust, compared with about 230,600lb from the 777’s two GE90s.

But individually, the GE90 remains a monster. Its fan is around 128 inches across, helping make the 777-300ER one of the most instantly recognisable twin-engine airliners ever built.

Four engines versus two, yet the smaller aircraft gets far more muscle from each one.

Usually making an aircraft bigger means asking it to carry more weight. Airbus managed to stretch the A350 and give the ...
23/09/2026

Usually making an aircraft bigger means asking it to carry more weight. Airbus managed to stretch the A350 and give the bigger version even longer legs.

The A350-900 measures 219 feet from nose to tail, while the A350-1000 stretches to 242 feet, adding almost exactly 23 feet of fuselage. That extra length helps increase typical three-class capacity from roughly 300 to 350 passengers on the -900 to around 350 to 410 on the -1000.

Yet the larger aircraft can also go further.

Airbus currently lists the A350-900 at up to 8,600 nautical miles, while its latest A350-1000 specification reaches 9,100 nautical miles, around 500nm further. That enhanced -1000 range is targeted for entry into service in 2030.

Making that possible required more than simply stretching an A350-900. The -1000 uses more powerful 97,000lb-thrust Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines, carries a higher maximum takeoff weight and uses six-wheel main landing-gear bogies to handle the additional load.

So despite being nearly the length of two London buses longer, the biggest standard A350 can carry more people and fly further.

Southwest Airlines is building up its Hawaii network again, adding or restoring six nonstop routes across a 12-month per...
22/09/2026

Southwest Airlines is building up its Hawaii network again, adding or restoring six nonstop routes across a 12-month period, with five of them connecting the islands directly with California.

The six routes are:

* San Diego to Maui
* Ontario to Honolulu
* Burbank to Honolulu
* Las Vegas to Hilo
* San Diego to Kona
* San Diego to Lihue

Four are already operating. San Diego to Maui returned in March, Ontario to Honolulu followed in June, while Burbank to Honolulu and Las Vegas to Hilo began in August. The final two, linking San Diego with Kona and Lihue, are scheduled to return on weekends from March 2027.

San Diego is becoming particularly important to Southwest’s Hawaii operation. Once the Kona and Lihue flights begin, passengers will be able to fly nonstop with Southwest from San Diego to Honolulu Maui Kona and Lihue, giving the airline links to four of Hawaii’s principal airports from one California city.

The expansion is being flown with Boeing 737s, while Southwest also maintains a substantial inter-island operation once passengers reach Hawaii.

It’s not six routes appearing overnight, but taken together they represent a noticeable rebuilding of Southwest’s Hawaii network through 2026 and into 2027.

The final Etihad Airways Airbus A380 stored during the COVID-19 pandemic is returning to Abu-Dhabi after spending over f...
22/09/2026

The final Etihad Airways Airbus A380 stored during the COVID-19 pandemic is returning to Abu-Dhabi after spending over five years in storage in southern France.

On September 17, 2026, shortly after 09:30 local time, the 12-year-old Airbus A380 departed Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees Airport (LDE) for Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport (AUH) in the UAE.

How Pratt & Whitney's GTF Engine Quietly Grounded More Jets Than Any Crisis In DecadesThe difficulty emerged after the e...
22/09/2026

How Pratt & Whitney's GTF Engine Quietly Grounded More Jets Than Any Crisis In Decades

The difficulty emerged after the engines entered widespread commercial service. Powder metal contamination in certain components created the possibility of microscopic defects that could develop into cracks.

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