All Interviews
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Interview
Boeing training chief sees progress in shift to competencies approach
Boeing is reporting progress on deployment of a competency-based approach to its pilot and maintenance training programmes, an initiative now already embedded in the manufacturer’s own 737 training.
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Interview
IATA’s Owens Thomsen on why connectivity is key to sustainable development
IATA senior vice-president, sustainability and chief economist Marie Owens Thomsen sees air travel as an 'essential ingredient' to helping achieve the primary goal of sustainable development -- to eradicate poverty
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Interview
IATA chief on Covid recovery, supply-side constraints, ATC worries and SAF progress
A significant proportion of Willie Walsh’s time at the helm of IATA has been dominated by anything but a straightforward industry narrative. Today, there is still work to do, even if the that narrative is beginning to look much more like the pre-Covid one.
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Interview
Bhat looks to the long-term at Lufthansa cargo
Ashwin Bhat takes over after the cargo business reported record operating profits for three years in a row, but since then the market has weakened with both rates and volumes declining.
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Interview
Why pilot-entrepreneur Abingdon Mullin is one to watch
Mullin has worked at Cirrus Aircraft, flown turboprops throughout the Caribbean, piloted big jets for Spirit Airlines and, amid it all, launched Abingdon, a company specialising in selling watches designed for female pilots.
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Interview
Aero Volga’s Swiss successor aims to make waves with 19-seat all-electric amphibian
His father created one of the few successful aviation start-ups in post-Soviet Russia, producing the eight-passenger Aero Volga LA-8 amphibian. Now George Alafinov wants to build on that legacy by developing a 19-seat electric successor in Switzerland, with the aim of flying the seaplane by 2026.
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Interview
Airbus research head sees no ‘show-stoppers’ yet in hydrogen push
Few could have accused Airbus of lacking ambition when in September 2020 it unveled conceptual designs for a potential zero-emissions commercial aircraft and a 15-year horizon for its entry into service.
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Interview
How developing markets hooked Jacqui Sutton on a career in aerospace
An ‘atypical’ route into the UK aerospace industry saw Jacqui Sutton working for some of its biggest names. Now non-executive director of the Women in Aviation Charter, she encourages others to follow suit.
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Interview
‘Low cost is still our core’: Scoot chief looks beyond recovery
As low-cost carrier Scoot approaches full recovery, chief executive Leslie Thng says the airline wants to be the region’s leading operator, not the largest
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Interview
Regent looks to shake up military logistics with ‘wing-in-ground’ effect craft
Backed by Lockheed Martin, the Rhode Island start-up thinks the time is right to expand its “seaglider” developmental vehicle from commercial users into the defence realm.
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Interview
ATR chief admits 2022 orders and deliveries below expectations
New head Nathalie Tarnaud Laude insists Franco-Italian manufacturer is set to return to annual output of 80-plus aircraft by the second half of the decade.
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Interview
Carsten Spohr on how Lufthansa is back on the front foot
If the impact of the pandemic continues to be felt by both its airlines and the wider industry this year, new product investments and acquisition moves underline Lufthansa Group chief executive Carsten Spohr’s determination that this should not prevent it from regaining the initiative.
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Interview
How the hydrogen revolution inspired engineer Danielle McLean
In 2018, Danielle McLean was studying for her Master’s degree while working as an aerospace engineer at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas. During a class about sustainable aviation, she had an epiphany.
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Interview
Leonardo Helicopters boss Cutillo confident as rotorcraft market gains lift
Resurgent civil segment allied to increased defence spending helped the airframer to deliver a strong performance in 2022, but challenges remain as the company attempts to usher next generation of products into service.
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Interview
‘Bigger, better, stronger’: Cebu Pacific targets gains in post-pandemic market
Cebu Pacific’s new chief executive Mike Szucs sees the opportunity to outstrip its pre-crisis financial performance in the years ahead as the Philippine budget carrier emerges from the pandemic.
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Interview
IndiGo well positioned for India air travel boom: Elbers
Pieter Elbers has secured some early wins as the new chief executive of Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo, as he contemplates long-term growth in what is destined to be one of the world’s most important aviation markets.
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Interview
SriLankan Airlines chief talks ‘cautious’ recovery as airline eyes restructuring
SriLankan Airlines is emerging from the double whammy of a pandemic and political crisis with cautious optimism. Airline chief Richard Nuttall is looking to restructure the airline’s balance sheet, while working to restore its network and fleet.
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Interview
Volocopter chief leads push to certification
Volocopter chief executive Dirk Hoke is laser focused on seeing his company become the world’s first true urban air mobility (UAM) provider in 2024.
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Interview
Bruce Dickinson’s take on flying the iconic 747 as ‘Ed Force One’
Iron Maiden frontman and ‘Ed Force One’ captain Bruce Dickinson reflects on his memories from flying Boeing’s iconic 747 on the Book of Souls tour.
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Interview
Engineering change: Susan Ying’s remarkable career path to electric pioneer Ampaire
Susan Ying has transformed a series of unfortunate events – including losing all her possessions in a flood and a cancer diagnosis – into a stellar career that now finds her at electrification innovator Ampaire.