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Henry County airport expansion underway
Blue Ridge Regional Airport in Henry County has completed a larger apron for airplane parking and will soon extend its 5,002-foot runway to 6,000 feet — long enough to accommodate executive jets. A new terminal is also planned as part of a package of about $30 million in upgrades for the airport, according to Jason […]
Boeing CEO Calhoun to step down by year-end
Amid ongoing bad press over production problems and fallout from a high-profile January incident in which a 4-foot wall panel blew out of a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet cabin in mid-air, Boeing announced Monday that its president and CEO, Dave Calhoun, would step down from his position leading the embattled Arlington County-based Fortune 500 […]
Intelsat strikes $250M deal with Eutelsat Group
McLean-based satellite services provider Intelsat has committed to secure low-Earth orbit service for six years for $250 million from Paris-based Eutelsat Group’s OneWeb low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellation service, with an option for another $250 million, Intelsat announced Tuesday. “We’ve been partnering with Eutelsat for quite some time now, leveraging its OneWeb LEO constellation [...]
FAA probes Boeing’s possible role in 737 Max 9 cabin blowout
Nearly a week after a four-foot wall panel blew out of a Boeing plane cabin midair, exposing Alaska Airlines passengers to open air at 16,000 feet, the Federal Aviation Administration formally notified the Arlington County-based aerospace giant Wednesday that it will investigate the company’s potential role in the incident and whether it failed to ensure […]
Blackstone vertiport receives landmark approval
Move over, North Carolina. The Tar Heel State may have been first in flight, but Virginia landed a first for the advanced air mobility industry in September 2023 when the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration granted conditional approval for the nation’s first public-use vertiport, a landing and launch site for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft […]
Va. joins collaborative to launch air taxi industry
Virginia has joined seven other states in forming a collaborative to support the growth of the advanced air mobility industry. The Advanced Air Mobility Multistate Collaborative represents all aviation modes, including small uncrewed aircraft systems (sUAS) and electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOL), which are both often referred to as air taxis, as well […]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2023: C. JEFFREY KNITTEL
As head of Airbus’ Americas arm, Knittel runs the European aerospace giant’s commercial aircraft business for North and South America, as well as its helicopter and defense units. He also chairs Acubed, Airbus’ Silicon Valley-based innovation arm, and serves on the board of Airbus Ventures, the company’s VC firm for early-stage technologies. Before coming aboard […]
Leidos buys Aussie special missions biz
Reston-based Fortune 500 federal contractor Leidos Holdings Inc. has entered into an agreement with British technology aerospace manufacturer Cobham Ltd. to purchase the special missions business from its Australia-based Cobham Aviation Services subsidiary, according to a news release. Financial details of the deal, which will add airborne surveillance and search and rescue missions to Leidos̵[...]
PAE aviation division receives $136.5M Air Force contract
Arlington-based PAE Aviation and Technical Services LLC has received a $136.5 million contract to provide aerial target operations and maintenance for the Air Force, the Pentagon announced Thursday. Under the contract, PAE will conduct lethality testing of major weapons systems and munitions programs at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida and Holloman Air Force Base […]
Averett students take flight at Danville airport
Times are changing at Danville Regional Airport. Averett University became the airport’s fixed-base operator in July 2021, replacing General Aviation Inc., a family-owned business which served as the FBO for more than 70 years. The city of Danville owns the airport and its fueling facility. The city’s chosen FBO pays the city for the privilege […]
Airbus U.S. Space & Defense promotes COO to CEO
Robert Geckle has been promoted to be the CEO of Arlington-based aerospace and aviation contractor Airbus U.S. Space & Defense Inc., moving up from serving as the chief operating officer and head of operations and corporate functions, the company announced Thursday. Geckle has worked with Airbus across its major business lines in multiple countries for […]
Aery Aviation to add 211 jobs, expand Newport News HQ
Newport News-based defense contractor Aery Aviation LLC will add 211 jobs with the $15.3 million expansion of its headquarters in Newport News, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Tuesday. The aviation company will build a 60,000 square-foot hangar with access to the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport runway and an engineering technology center to provide maintenance and modification [&helli[...]
