Editorial opinion – Page 3
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OpinionStudent pilots may be worried, but better times will return
Who would be a pilot now? The crisis will have a profound effect on the prospects of the would-be aviators of today, and tomorrow
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OpinionAerospace industry must prepare for the new normal
Before the coronavirus crisis, airlines were forecast to take thousands of new jets. Now, how the industry copes with a wave of deferrals is the next question.
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OpinionIATA is not crying wolf with airline ‘apocalypse’ warning
It is a mark of how quickly the global coronavirus crisis has escalated that when IATA describes the airline sector as being in an “apocalypse now” scenario, no-one is accusing the industry association of hyperbole.
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OpinionBoeing is too big to fail, but any rescue will be conditional
Eleven years after the end of the 2007-2009 Great Recession, the USA is again having “too big to fail” discussions, with the airframer at their centre.
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OpinionEnd of illegal charter would be best tribute to Emiliano Sala
More than a year has passed since the tragic crash off the coast of Guernsey of the Piper Malibu that ended the life of the young Argentinian footballer and pilot David Ibbotson yet unlicensed flights continue.
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OpinionAirlines in fight for survival as coronavirus spreads
Events are now significant enough to suggest that the industry that will emerge from this crisis will be smaller than, and structurally different to, the one that entered it.
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OpinionLeaving EASA is not in UK’s national interest
Significant changes in relationship with EU will only be complicated by changes to regulatory regime
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OpinionCoronavirus overtakes 737 Max as airline industry’s biggest concern
Covid-19 has seen airlines slash schedules and supplanted Boeing’s 737 Max as the industry’s big story. But what happens when the jet is cleared to fly again?
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OpinionAirline bail-outs are rarely a good idea
Is there ever a case for a government bailing out a failed airline – even when its commercial shareholders judge it a bad bet? Plenty of people – including trade unions and politicians representing employees and passengers affected by Flybe’s collapse – believe there is. Particularly when the carrier in question has been providing vital transport links between underserved UK cities.
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OpinionWhy Boeing's venerable Chinook keeps on winning
It may have been a stalwart of military aviation since the Vietnam War, but the Chinook’s appeal seems undiminished.
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OpinionMilitary powers must keep control over machine AI
Not so long ago there was a good chuckle to be had in thinking about how the PC on your desk could outperform the room full of big metal cases with flashing lights and whirly tape reels that was the supercomputer of days gone by.
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OpinionBombardier’s rail sale is last roll of the dice
The mansion that Laurent built is down to its last room. Bombardier – transformed by Pere Beaudoin from humble snowmobile manufacturer to world leader in aviation and rail transportation by the time he handed the chief executive reins to son Pierre in 2003 – will soon be known simply for business aircraft.
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OpinionBoeing’s stealthy approach could yield armed scout win
For the congested US rotorcraft industry, the chance to build the US Army’s next armed scout helicopter is a tantalising prospect and the US airframer’s reatlive silence suggests it has something unique up its sleeve.
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OpinionWhy Boeing must end NMA indecision
Critics joke that Boeing’s New Mid-market Airplane (NMA) launch is taking almost as long as NASA did to get Apollo 11 off the pad, following JFK’s famous man-on-the-Moon declaration.
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OpinionCan UK fund its space-launch ambitions?
The year 1962 dawned with two space powers: the USA and the USSR. Come that spring and the UK also joined the club with its Ariel 1 satellite, sadly lost not three months later to a US high-altitude nuclear detonation.
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OpinionWhy fighter contenders must keep cool in Finnish HX battle
Buying a new fleet of fighters is a huge decision for any nation: not only due to the high capital cost of making such an acquisition, but also because of the heavy responsibility of selecting the right type to defend its citizens for 30 years or more.
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OpinionBribery scandal recovery a bitter pill for Airbus
Airbus insists that it has learned vital lessons from big bribery scandal, but to avoid a repeat will require cultural change, not simply a box-ticking exercise
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OpinionWhy smooth 777-9 test campaign is vital for Boeing
Boeing would surely have liked to celebrate the 25 January first flight of the 777X as a comprehensive and overwhelming victory for the company. A big win for the big twin, if you like.
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OpinionHow high-profile crash put helicopter safety in spotlight
If the Helicopter Association International (HAI), the organiser of Heli-Expo – the world’s largest rotorcraft trade event – was hoping for a quiet few days focussed on the industry’s positive aspects then they will have been sorely disappointed.
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OpinionCould return to the Moon prove a step too far?
By the end of this year or early next, we should get a look at the future of deep-space travel. It will not carry a crew, but NASA’s Artemis I around-the-Moon-and-back flight will demonstrate the capsule, life-support system and mighty Space Launch System rocket being designed and tested to carry ...