Latest Aviation Headlines

All the headlines from our Aviation Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Willis Aerospace Says Manufacturers Paying More than Fair Share

May 27 2009 // A report from Willis Aerospace asserts that, “aerospace product manufacturers are bearing a disproportionate share of aviation market premium, considering the record profits insurers derive from the sector and its...

XL Hires 3 Underwriters for London-based Aviation Unit

May 15 2009 // XL Insurance, the global insurance operations of XL Capital, has announced the hiring of three additional underwriters for its London-based aviation business. “The London team will be headed by Simon Murray as...

Feds Probe Pilot Training, Behavior in Upstate New York Crash

May 13 2009 // The training and behavior of the pilot and first officer in the worst U.S. air crash in more than seven years are prominent on the agenda of an unusual three-day safety hearing that began yesterday. All 49 people aboard...

HCC Insurance Holdings Names Donovan President of Aviation Division

May 12 2009 // Houston-based HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. has promoted Michael J. Donovan to president of HCC Aviation, a division of the company. In addition to becoming president of HCC Aviation, Donovan has been promoted to executive...

World Battles to Curb Deadly Mexico Flu Strain

Apr 28 2009 // World governments and businesses announced new steps on Tuesday to try to slow the spread of a new strain of swine flu that has killed up to 149 people in Mexico and threatens to become a pandemic. The World Health...

Federal Judge in Arkansas Dismisses Stranded Passenger Lawsuit

Apr 7 2009 // A federal judge in Fayetteville, Ark., has dismissed a lawsuit by an Arkansas woman that claimed she was illegally imprisoned on an American Airlines airplane for 91/2 hours in 2006. In an 18-page ruling, U.S. District...

Witch Hunt at AIG; While Lloyd’s Sees ‘Flight to Quality’

Apr 6 2009 // The witch hunt that has engulfed AIG needs to be toned down. If for no other reason than it’s making the problem worse, not better. It also reduces the likelihood that U.S. taxpayers will get back any of the money...

Evidence Points to Crew Error in Upstate New York Plane Crash

Mar 27 2009 // Flight data point to possible flight crew errors rather than ice accumulation as a key factor in last month’s plane crash near Buffalo, New York, that killed 50 people, aviation safety experts said. The National...

Ohio Man Sues Continental Over Mileage-Award Fees

Mar 26 2009 // An Ohio man is suing Continental Airlines Inc. for raising the number of miles needed to earn a free trip and then charging him $75 to book the flight. David Simon’s lawyer asked a federal court to approve...

Aon Survey Finds Aerospace Insurance Market Approached Parity in 2008

Mar 25 2009 // Aon’s newly launched “Aerospace Insurance Market Outlook 2009” initially determined that the “average lead premium in the aerospace insurance market continued to decline during 2008, but...

Lloyd’s Finance Director Sees ‘Flight to Quality’

Mar 25 2009 // Luke Savage, Lloyd’s of London’s finance director (among other titles), is certainly aware that 2008 was a “tough year,” as he put it in a telephone interview. Lloyd’s profits dropped by 50...

Continental Airlines Flight Crashes in Upstate New York

Feb 13 2009 // A Continental Airlines flight out of Newark, New Jersey crashed late last night into a house in Buffalo, New York — bursting into flames and killing 44 passengers, four crew members and one person on the ground,...

New Mexico Aims to Limit Liability from Space Flights

Feb 11 2009 // The New Mexico Legislature is hoping to limit lawsuits stemming from southern New Mexico’s Spaceport America. Senate Bill 37, the “Space Flight Liability and Immunity Act” sponsored by Sen. Clinton...

California’s W. Brown to Underwrite Aviation Insurance For Catlin US

Feb 5 2009 // Catlin Group Ltd., an international specialty property/casualty insurer and reinsurer, reported that W. Brown & Associates Insurance Services will underwrite general aviation insurance for clients nationwide on behalf...

Pole-to-pole Flight Finds CO2 ‘Piling Up’ over the Arctic

Jan 30 2009 // Scientists who flew a modified corporate jet from pole to pole to study how greenhouse gases move found carbon dioxide piling up over the Arctic, but also higher than expected levels of oxygen over the Antarctic. The...

Storm Batters SW France, Northern Spain, Causing 15 Deaths

Jan 26 2009 // The most violent cyclonic storm since 1999 roared across southwest France and Northern Spain over the weekend, causing the deaths of 15 people and inflicting heavy damages on infrastructure. Four children aged from nine to...

Savvy US Airways Pilot May Have Grounded Lawsuits

Jan 23 2009 // A savvy pilot saved at least 155 lives when he guided a disabled US Airways jet to a relatively gentle landing in the Hudson River last week. He also may have protected his airline from the rash of lawsuits that usually...

AIG Is Lead Insurer on Airplane Downed in Hudson River

Jan 16 2009 // American International Group Inc. said Friday it was the lead insurer on the US Airways passenger jet that went down in Manhattan’s Hudson River on Thursday. An AIG spokesman, John Jones, said he could not provide...

Insurance Industry Sees Commercial Airlines as Safe

Jan 16 2009 // With the world’s attention focused on the US Airways Airbus emergency landing in the Hudson River and the successful rescue of passengers, the insurance industry points out that the commercial airlines industry has a...

AIG Gets Bids for Aircraft Leasing Unit; Shops Asset Manager

Jan 13 2009 // American International Group Inc., moving ahead with asset sales, has received the first round of bids for its aircraft leasing unit, and is expected to start shopping its asset management business soon, people familiar...