Software Issues Affecting 6,000 A320-Family Jets Unexpectedly Came to Light

Airbus shares fell sharply this week after a one-two punch of technical problems involving its best-selling A320 family went public. The stock dropped nearly 11% at one point, its steepest single-day slide in years, following reports that exposed both a large-scale software vulnerability and a newly discovered structural quality issue affecting recently built jets.

Two-Time World Aerobatic Champion Passed on November 23

Betty Stewart, a pioneer in competitive aerobatics and a cornerstone of the International Aerobatic Club for nearly five decades, passed away at the age of 78 on November 23. Tributes quickly poured in from pilots who credit her with shaping both their flying and the sport itself.

Rep. Newhouse Argues the Wind Project Would Disrupt Operations at Tri-Cities Airport

Representative Dan Newhouse of Washington’s 4th District has written to the Federal Aviation Administration asking it to take a closer look at a massive wind farm project set for construction near a commercial airport, which the agency previously determined to pose “No Hazard to Air Navigation.”

Pilot Encountered Debris While Landing on Main Street

Santa’s traditional helicopter arrival at Cedar City’s annual Downtown Christmas Lighting Ceremony didn’t exactly go according to plan during the November 29 event, when airborne construction debris forced the pilot to divert moments before touching down. Instead, a police escort rushed Santa in, and the event continued as scheduled.

Also: USAF Reaper Accident, Baikonur Damage, Horizon eVTOL IFR/FIKI, New Glenn Update

Honda has outlined its clearest timeline yet for its entry into the world of electric vertical-lift, confirming that its first full-scale eVTOL prototype will be finished by the end of 2025. The inaugural flight is slated for March 2026, marking the company’s transition from years of under-the-radar development to a much more public testing phase. Arctus Aerospace announced it raised $2.6 million from Version One Ventures, South Park Commons, gradCapital, and several angel investors in a pre-seed round to accelerate the development of its large, unmanned aircraft intended to fly at 45,000 feet for up to 24 hours. Arctus said the funding will be deployed to establish one of the deepest full-stack unmanned aircraft manufacturing and engineering capabilities that will be built entirely in-house. Sam Bousfield, CEO of Samson Sky, has been granted his eighth desi

Also: ‘Fat Albert’ Heads To UK, Samson Patent, Western Global Pilot Furloughs, 1700th Ipanema

An inflight incident that took place on a JetBlue flight from Cancun, MX, to Newark, NJ, on October 30 has resulted in serious cautions for the 11,300 aircraft in the Airbus A320 series. The scheduled flight, Flight 1230, required an emergency landing at Tampa, FL, with several people requiring hospitalization after a flight control issue and a sudden uncommanded pitch change. Cleveland officials are again attempting to close a beloved community airport, this time by exploiting a federal loophole. Mayor Justin Bibb and Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne have asked Congress to help them bypass years of FAA red tape (that they agreed to in order to get OUR tax dollars) and waive more than $9 million in federal grant obligations that legally bind the city to operate the airport until 2036. The successful launch of three crew members to the In

Also: SpaceX Starship Carries on, Hartzell Adds Lamar, Mar-a-Lago TFR Ooopppss, CAF Lobo Wing

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association issued the Third Quarter 2025 General Aviation Aircraft Shipping and Billing Report, covering results worldwide, and the result for the first nine months of 2025, when compared to the same period last year, show increased shipments in the business jet sector as well as an increase in the overall value of aircraft shipments. Airbus released an update on the deployment of precautionary fleet measures on its approximately 6,000 A320 family of aircraft. The actions were required after several aircraft experienced an unexpected loss of altitude and Airbus issued an Alert Operators Transmission (AOT). Upon inspection, Airbus engineers traced the anomalies to corrupted altitude data believed to be caused by intense solar radiation that affected software vulnerabilities feeding the altitude data to aircraft systems. N

Also: IAE Acquires Diamond Trainers, Army Drones, FedEx Pilots Warning, DA62 MPP To Dresden Tech Uni  

The danger to the flight training industry and our future pilots is clear. Donald Frano, a member of the Central Florida Pilots Association, posted a statement as an urgent warning about the increasing number of airports using or considering using a third-party vendor to send landing fees to pilots based on ADS-B data. This began in Florida and is a growing threat that the aviation community needs to stand up to and strongly oppose. Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), Chair of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation, has thrown his full support behind the bipartisan Mental Health in Aviation Act (MHAA) by joining as a co-sponsor of the bipartisan legislation. The bill intends to destigmatize mental health issues in aviation, train aviation medical examiners, and make it overall easier for aviation professionals to seek and receive mental health treatment without fearing the loss of their careers. The Federal Go

Expands Caribbean And International Footprint At Princess Juliana Int’l

Atlantic Aviation announced the acquisition of ExecuJet’s FBO operation at Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) in Sint Maarten. The acquisition expands Atlantic’s Caribbean presence and its international network, and occurs at the same time ExecuJet has relocated to a new state-of-the-art general aviation facility.

Also: Bell 505 on SAF, NYPA Gets Flak For BizAv 'Abuse', FAA Venezuela Caution, Horizon Update

Textron Aviation has confirmed it will be ending production of the Beechcraft Bonanza G36 and Baron G58, after nearly 80 years of continuous manufacturing. The company is moving toward  new products such as the Beechcraft Denali, but promises to support the thousands of Barons and Bonanzas currently flying worldwide. The announcement brings to an end one of the longest production runs in the history of aviation. The first flight of the Bonanza was in December 1945 and production began in 1947. Archer Aviation’s plan to turn Hawthorne Airport into the heart of its Los Angeles air-taxi network earned it a big “WELCOME” from the mayor… and exactly the opposite from local NIMBYs. Members of the community started the predictable “Hawthorne Quiet Skies” group to express both confusion and disappointment with the decisio