The NASA team developing the X-59 supersonic demonstrator jet have fired up the aircraft’s GE Aviation F414-GE-100 powerplant for the first time, having started engine-run tests on 30 October.
Spirit AeroSystems is warning that its business viability remains in doubt, saying its cash reserves are drying up due to Boeing’s sharply reduced production rates and to other factors driving steep losses on its Airbus and Boeing programme work.
Ben Baldanza, who worked four decades in the US airline industry and helped create the ultra-low-cost model as former chief executive of Spirit Airlines, died on 5 November at age 62 after battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).