Tag: FAA

What If This Travel Chaos Is Deliberate?

Commentary Well, it happened again. A friend was coming to visit with a layover flight covering three major airports. It should have taken a few hours. Instead, it took 12 hours, and only with the assistance of Amtrak on the last leg. The rebooked flight would have meant another 36-hour delay, so that was out…


SpaceX-Backed Flying Car Gets FAA Approval

A flying car from SpaceX-backed mobility firm Alef Aeronautics has been granted certification by federal regulators, the first time such a vehicle has received “legal approval to fly” from the government. Alef’s flying car has been granted an experimental special airworthiness certificate by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). An experimental certification is issued for vehicles…


Flying Car Gets FAA Approval

A flying car from mobility firm Alef Aeronautics has been granted certification by federal regulators, the first time such a vehicle has received “legal approval to fly” from the government. Alef’s flying car has been granted an experimental special airworthiness certificate by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). An experimental certification is issued for vehicles for…


Joby Aviation Gets FAA Approval to Start Flight Tests of Electric Air Taxi

Joby Aviation received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for test flights of its electric air taxi after receiving a $100 million investment from South Korea’s SK Telecom. Joby announced on June 23 that the federal aviation regulator gave the nod to start tests of its flying air taxi, as the innovative design steps…


Politicians, Not Airlines, Are Delaying Your Flights

Commentary Like a DC-10 chasing its own tail, the deregulation of air travel is never able to progress nearly as far as it should, despite staggering successes, because politicians who want to control passengers’ lives are so good at blaming the airlines for the government’s failures. At the beginning of the year, the Biden administration…


United Airlines CEO Faults FAA as Storms Trigger More Flight Cancellations

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby faulted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for ordering flight cancellations and delays over the weekend due to severe weather. Thunderstorms and failing equipment at an FAA facility created significant delays for air travelers across the U.S. East Coast on Sunday evening as Washington and New York were forced to briefly halt most incoming flights….


FAA Launches Monthly Training for Air Traffic Controllers After Dozens of Near-Misses

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is launching a monthly training series for the air traffic controller workforce, just weeks after announcing a multi-million dollar investment aimed at preventing near-misses throughout the country. The training sessions, part of what the FAA is calling its “Stand Up for Safety” series, will be held in collaboration with the National…


Bipartisan Bill Would Prohibit FAA From Using Chinese, Russian-Made Drones

U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) on June 8 introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at preventing foreign-produced drones from flying over American skies. Known as the “Stemming The Operation of Pernicious and Illicit (STOP Illicit) Drones Act,” the bill (pdf) would ban the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from buying or using drones produced in…


Federal Agency Issues Ground Stop for Major US Airport Due to Smoke

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ground stop of New York City’s LaGuardia Airport due to Canadian wildfire smoke. “The FAA has slowed traffic to and from the New York City area airports due to reduced visibility from wildfire smoke,” the FAA said in a statement to news outlets. “The agency will adjust the…


Sonic Boom in Greater DC Was F-16s Responding to Unresponsive Pilot

Authorities have confirmed that an explosive sonic boom heard by residents in the wider D.C. area were Defense-authorized supersonic flights responding to an erratic small plane flying through the capital’s restricted airspace. Federal officials have since said that a small plane that crashed into a mountainside in the George Washington National Forest, southwestern Virginia, was…