Ethipoian Airlines Boeing 787-800 MAX crash wreckage

Source: Xinhua / Shutterstock

2019 year in review

By Flight International

For the big aviation story of the year to be a crash is not so unusual; the history of flight has been punctuated by disaster. But there is no discussing 2019 without reference to Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. The deaths of all on board – 157 souls – was human tragedy enough, but to follow by just a few months a disturbingly similar loss, half a world away, undermined the confidence in design, regulation and operation that keeps the world flying. We open our review of the year with a report on the implications of trouble with the Boeing 737 Max family.

Topics

2019 year in review

News
United extends 737 Max cancellations through June
2019-12-21T05:11:00
United Airlines will pull its 14 Boeing 737 Max aircraft from its schedules through 4 June as the US Federal Aviation Administration’s safety review of the grounded aircraft extends into 2020 and carriers remain uncertain when those fleets could be cleared to return to service.
In depth
Milestones of 2019
2019-12-19T12:09:00Z
From the end of the Airbus A380 to the influence of Greta Thunberg, 2019 presented a shift in the way we fly and view the future of aerospace
In depth
KC-46A inches forward, but foreign sales remain elusive
2019-12-19T12:09:00Z
The Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tanker programme got off to a bumpy start in 2019. Delivery stoppages because of foreign object debris and three category one deficiencies put the already-late programme on an even more delayed schedule.

More Flight International

In depth
What aerospace technologies will survive looming US defence cuts?
2020-07-14T11:52:00Z
Expect a shrinking Pentagon budget in the mid-2020s. Though the USA might have tamed coronavirus and started to see its economy grow again by the middle of the decade, Washington will have to face up to the hard fiscal and economic realities of years of lost revenue
Analysis
European militaries prepare for budget battle
2020-07-14T11:52:00Z
Quite how a looming period of recession initiated by the coronavirus crisis will impact European defence budgets remains to be seen, but it is highly likely that a recent upward spending trend will be slowed – if not halted altogether
In depth
Global defence budgets special
2020-07-14T11:51:00Z
With recession looming large, defence budgets around the globe will not be immune from cutbacks, as economic realities force a rethink of programmes and capabilties.