Gold wings: Honda spent $1B to develop jet; can it recoup costs?

After three decades building an airplane from scratch, Michimasa Fujino, 56, chief engineer of the Hondajet, might have to reach a ripe old age to see Honda Motor Co's pet aviation project recoup its development costs.

Spotlight

Vision Airlines

Vision Airlines was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The airline has grown from a Grand Canyon tour operator to an international charter carrier operating Boeing 737 and Boeing 767 aircraft world-wide. Our Boeing operations have encompased support of tour operators, the gaming industry, sub-service for scheduled carriers and extensive government operations.

OTHER ARTICLES
Business Aviation

A Peek into The Future of Piloting Airplanes

Article | December 28, 2021

Flying is changing, and so is the future of piloting. With technological advancements across the aviation industry, one can only anticipate what’s in store for the future of piloting. The battle between automation and learning skills that automation can easily take over is coming to a head. As airplane engineering matures, the aviation industry isn’t far from seeing a day when pilots who have undergone training on electric trainers require a license endorsement to fly a piston-powered aircraft. Goodbye, Manual Flying Airplanes are becoming downright easier to fly. Consider how most pilots today would never be able to fly the aircraft that their seniors trained in. According to experts, piloting skills will put more emphasis on the efficient use of airspace systems instead of directing and maneuvering the aircraft. Decoding Airplane Information Traditionally, a pilot’s primary task was to gather and decode the information he received through the aircraft’s systems. This information was then used to give the pilot an “air picture” which allowed him to get a sense of the air traffic, airspace, and weather. As aircraft technology improves, pilots will no longer need to know how to do this. Instead, the "air picture" will be shown on a screen in front of them. Final Word From augmented reality to 3D spatial audio cues, augmentation is happening to aircraft as well as the pilot’s ability to fly them. The evolution of aviation technology will only help transform the mechanics of airplanes, and pilots will no longer need to handle flight control. As augmented reality takes over, future cockpits might not even need to be at the front of the aircraft or have windows. That would be the true test of the future of piloting.

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Air Transport

5 Digital Strategies for the Aviation Industry

Article | July 26, 2022

Whether you’re a small, newer airline looking to make a splash in the online world or a niche brand wanting to expand your customer base, you’ll need the right aviation marketing strategies in your arsenal. Similar to any other industry in today’s market, digital strategies are non-negotiable for brands in the aviation space who are hoping to connect with customers online and restore customer confidence in the aftermath of COVID-19. And if you’re looking to take your brand to the digital skies, you need impactful strategies that help you offer a seamless customer experience. Let’s look at five strategies you can use for your aviation marketing strategy. Aviation Marketing through Social Media Visibility is a hugely important goal to achieve for any business. After all, how can you hope to attract new customers if no one knows about you? This is especially true and important for smaller airlines or those not operating in the commercial space. For example, when the average customer thinks about traveling by plane, they probably aren’t considering private airlines. But if customers see content online about airlines, perhaps even highlighting that some private airlines fall in their price range, things can change. Once customers are aware of your company, you’re one step closer to securing a sale. The key is getting in the picture in the first place—something social media can do. In addition to visibility, use social media to keep your customers informed. Despite us seemingly living in a post-COVID world, uncertainty is still a big factor that customers and airlines alike have to consider. Positive coronavirus results or transmission outbreaks can throw a wrench in travel plans right up until check-in, but social media offers a way to keep customers informed with live information and updates. Airlines can use social media platforms like Twitter to post live updates on flights, including regular information on delays, but also more unexpected and yet super useful updates on things such as weather conditions at their destination. And if you’re looking for international aviation marketing strategies as a multinational company, social media is a great way to connect with customers across territories too, thanks to its global reach. Digital Customer Service Strategies We saw during COVID-19 how important it was to provide quick, accurate information to customers, with things like up-to-date websites, live social updates, and automated texts for flight changes. These strategies all helped to streamline customer service offerings, as well as free up helplines and customer service booths at airports, and they have helped establish a new benchmark when it comes to customer service. Having a solid customer service strategy in place is more important than ever—specifically, having one that’s responsive, flexible, and digital. This means offering smart chatbots that can assist with frequently asked questions, detailed guidance online addressing common challenges that customers face, and over-the-phone support in multiple languages that can enhance an international aviation marketing strategy. Customer service might not seem like it matches with airline marketing, but going above and beyond for your customers is essential in creating the right reputation for your brand. Establishing your company as a gold-star service provider will not just give you something to shout about online, but it will also keep customers loyal and engaged with you too. Mobile Solutions We all know that the future is mobile—and it’s no different for aviation companies, who have that same pressure to keep up with technological advancements if they want to provide the best service possible for their customers. Smartphones are an integral part of all of our lives, and they’re now just as important as ever, as people are taking their digital identification with them on their travels. Aviation companies must recognize the company they keep in the travel space, where mobile apps support customers on their journeys and trips—from navigation to weather and accommodation to ridesharing. Without an interactive app or fully mobile-friendly site, an airline’s strategy for marketing won’t be as impactful. Customers used to have to carry printed versions of their flight documents in order to board, including boarding passes and booking confirmations, but things aren’t so paper-based anymore. Digital wallets that keep boarding passes safe and apps that store customers’ flight information are the norm now. Mobile apps are also fantastic for driving loyalty programs. With an interactive app where customers can collect and cash in loyalty points, you not only provide an easy way for customers to enjoy their rewards, but also make flying more accessible and cost-effective. In a post-COVID market, there is even more of an emphasis on contactless travel—another area where mobile solutions can play a key role. Phones allow consumers to have all their information handy, and other contactless technology helps facilitate airport management. Content that Creates Real Connections Digital content has the potential to reach a wider audience and, more importantly, turn readers into customers, so it should be included in any airline marketing strategy. Showing customers exactly what your company can do for them, and how you do it, is crucial for establishing strong branding and customer relationships. It’s how airlines can differentiate themselves from their competitors and add value to their services. Meaningful content that your audience will trust includes user-generated content that offers real insights into what it’s like to be a customer of your company, such as honest reviews and feedback from real customers. You can deliver this content in a variety of ways—e.g., blogs, videos, social media, PR—but however you choose to do so, be sure to keep the story at the forefront of your narrative to create those all-important connections with customers. Omnichannel Digital Experiences Alongside social media, there are a slew of other digital channels that should be considered in your digital strategy. This is hugely important because of the myriad ways that consumers interact with the online world nowadays. If it’s not live Twitter updates, it’s check-in reminder emails. The point is that brands need to be present across different platforms and digital mediums in order to provide a competitive and effective experience for their customers. For airlines, it’s about making sure that no matter what device a customer is using, their journey is cohesive and streamlined. They should be able to switch seamlessly between your website on their laptop and emails on a tablet, with the right information easy and quick to find in a consistently branded way. It’s also worth considering that people tend to carry multiple devices with them while traveling, making it even more important for airlines and airports alike to offer omnichannel digital content to their customers. Conclusion Whatever part of your aviation branding or marketing you need support with, the team at TPT Digital can take your brand to new heights. The 2022 Aviation Festival is a great opportunity for learning, connection, and collaboration—come and say hello to us there! Also, get in touch if you’d like to discuss how TPT Digital can support your paid social media content. We’re happy to give you a free quote.

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Defense and Space

Analytics is Changing: How can Marketers win Airline Marketing with it?

Article | June 8, 2022

The global airline industry is currently going through unprecedented financial damage. A few factors contributing are high operational costs, increased security costs, low customer satisfaction, low revenue, and frequent dynamic shifts in air travel. Hence, it’s a high time for airlines businesses to resolve their multitude of issues for its economy to recover. To leverage this goal, the industry should leverage its most high-volume asset—analytics. Analytics will help drive the airline industry's growth rate in the coming years. It’s because, Developing new data applications will bring a handful of digital marketing opportunities in the next five years. And these applications will bridge the gap in the industry. Welcome to the New Age of Analytics This topic of discussion is not new. But the new thing about analytics is that it is changing the airline industry data collection process. Analytics has become an essential part because the pandemic has forced countless non-digital airline businesses to shift to online operations. Advanced analytics with innovative data technologies is becoming popular due to its numerous applications. To name a few, it provides smart management abilities and a proper decision-making system. So, to get a hand over this, marketers should have a razor-sharp focus to upgrade their analytics. With advanced analytics, airlines can deliver the right information to the right audience at the right time. And when customers access the right information efficiently, they turn into prospective clients. In addition, by using analytics as part of online operations, airlines can survive without a dedicated offline presence. With the digital transformation happening in the aviation industry, it at a turning point. The situation now is an “adapt or die” one. This policy is generating opportunities for airlines that are making significant changes to their current old business model. However, such a transformation is only possible when analytical technologies are fully adapted. This way, marketers can easily capitalize on operating online by being agile and have adaptable tools. How can Marketers Adapt Analytics? As a marketer in the digital era, you need to organize data with the help of technology. By organizing data, you can easily collect data from channels such as social media, loyalty programs, and other online forums. Here are some to use Analytics to empower digital transformation: Power of Personalization Digital technologies offer marketing and sales opportunities in direct and indirect channels. For supplies and buyers, this means they can establish greater contact with consumers. It will result in a significant way to sell and buy more products. However, you can take customer interaction a step further by offering personalized offers and discounts with analytics. Investing in Loyal Customer Base The most important digital opportunity comes from loyalty programs. Offering it can provide marketers with substantial amounts of customer information. Additionally, there are three other focus areas where you can use analytics: Partnership with leading technology providers Enhancing content Cost maintenance Investing in these customer-centric areas using analytics will gradually deliver proven results. Empowering Strategies using Analytics The next step is to develop a comprehensive data platform strategy by including a data integration layer. By combining traditional and new data sources, this layer will make a flexible and more accessible data architecture to scale airline industry data. This will allow marketers to gain insights into their changing customer behavior. Hence, adding a data integration layer will also need considerable effort and investment to deploy a cloud platform, an analytic-data-warehouse layer, and a team that maintains the data platform. So, what are the Exact Ways Analytics is Going to Help Marketers? Cost reduction: The advanced airline industry analysis will help in making cost reductions. Whether it is from fuel consumption, deploying technology, or smart manufacturing, analytics can solve cost-related issues at once. For this, airline businesses must deploy AI systems with machine algorithms, which will help marketers to collect the exact data. Then they can easily analyze the estimations and can reduce them as per the requirements. Customer Satisfaction The addition to cost reduction, predictive analysis can help by keeping customers up-to-date in real-time. You can enhance Customer satisfaction by promoting offers based on their demand. Once you can have genuine insights and information about your customers and understand their behavior beforehand, you can approach them with the right message, solutions, and services by giving the right reason to invest. Most importantly, predictive analytics will help speed up the response rate to customers' queries and solve them in no time. Today the response speed matters because airline customers are constantly shifting their travel behaviors. As a result, they now seek customized approaches compared to the traditional approach. For example, Delta Airlines deployed advanced predictive analytics with AI. They optimized their operations through innovative customer services. Delta Airlines invested a whopping $600,000 for automation software installation. The investment was successful as they were able to access their data effortlessly and were able to connect with their customers by offering them multitude of offers. Performance Attributes Today, airline companies need prompt and accurate performance measurements to take critical, appropriate, and timely actions. Big data analytics can automate certain daily activities. The activities such as prospects' queries, website visitors, landing page hits, and more can be watched daily or weekly. With big data being so effective it will also help you understand the core ingredients for revenue generation. In the end, such advancement will stimulate airline industry data growth. Risk Protection This is of utmost importance for the airline industry's growth rate. You can develop various innovative models and strategies and avoid risks while implementing them using Advanced Data Analytics. The risks could be like a data breach, technical factors, organizational operations, customer data, and more. To counter back these risks, you should have proper strategic or annual safety objectives. Advanced analytics have higher levels of excellence that alleviate performance drifts. It will also help you to achieve and maintain through a proper monitoring and testing system. For example, British easyJet has diminished its operational challenges using AI. With the help of IT, it used data science to improve its pricing strategy, manage inventory, and lowered risk factors. As a result, the company observed an increase in profits of almost 20% in 2021. What’s Next for You with Analytics? Marketers should be astute and apprehensive about Analytics. Understanding the upcoming trends of analytics are vital. In addition, the current situation also demands a holistic approach that supports technology (digitalization). Having appropriate approaches will lead you to stand out in this competitive industry. Taking advantage of data for your existing or potential customers can help you to recognize more information about their activities. So that you can include more innovative techniques and can attract potential leads before they are gone. With technically sound data analytics you can experiment with different customer-centric strategies like: Building responsive landing pages that get fit in every screen Being more flexible with your prospects and enhancing interactions either through social media or a website. Creating platform-specific content to improve customer interaction. The strategies mentioned above will help you in collecting more data and curating on-demand content/information. By adopting these strategies, you can provide a data-backed open online platform in which you can easily connect with your customers. Once you have grabbed the technique for your digital marketing needs, tapping big data solutions will be a much better way than before. Therefore, it is crucial to keep legacy thinking aside and welcome innovation onboard. Frequently Asked Questions What is the importance of analytics in the airlines business? Analytics play a vital role in airline businesses. It helps in cost reductions, which could result in investing in better ways. Also, data helps to avoid breaches, provide safety measures, collect huge amounts of information, and enhances operational functionalities. Does analytics require proper strategies to function in an airline business? Yes! To implement analytics in your airline business, you need a strategic approach. Analytics provides statistical analysis. Using it, you can investigate and analyze business performance and give insights about improvement as well. What are the different types of analytics used in the aviation industry? There are three types of analytics that airline businesses use: Descriptive analytics: It tells the current business operation Predictive analytics: It shows what could happen in real-time Prescriptive analytics: It shows what should happen in the future. { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [{ "@type": "Question", "name": "What is the importance of analytics in the airlines business?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Analytics play a vital role in airline businesses. It helps in cost reductions, which could result in investing in better ways. Also, data helps to avoid breaches, provide safety measures, collect huge amounts of information, and enhances operational functionalities." } },{ "@type": "Question", "name": "Does analytics require proper strategies to function in an airline business?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes! To implement analytics in your airline business, you need a strategic approach. Analytics provides statistical analysis. Using it, you can investigate and analyze business performance and give insights about improvement as well." } },{ "@type": "Question", "name": "What are the different types of analytics used in the aviation industry?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "There are three types of analytics that airline businesses use: Descriptive analytics: It tells the current business operation Predictive analytics: It shows what could happen in real-time Prescriptive analytics: It shows what should happen in the future." } }] }

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Business Aviation

COVID TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS IMPACTING BUSINESS AVIATION

Article | December 16, 2021

While countries continue to implement new Omicron-related restrictions in response to the rising number of cases globally, a majority of these are in the form of enhanced COVID testing requirements – not travel bans. As a result, travel demand for popular peak-season destinations has remained strong, and over the past few days we’ve seen a BIG INFLUX in bookings as news trickles out that Omicron may be a less severe variant. If this continues, we expect to see another prolonged booking surge, so plan accordingly and get your requests in ASAP for best options – especially parking and hotels. While the new U.S. 24-hr testing requirement for return travel is tight, it’s not a big deal if you are prepared with an approved at-home testing kit (like Abbott BinaxNow, Qured, Ellume, etc.). Alternatively, our Trip Support Teams can help you identify testing providers abroad. Looking ahead to your missions in 2022, you may want to consider On-Aircraft COVID Testing for your N-registered aircraft. It’ll make international COVID testing MUCH easier on you and your passengers when at-home testing kits aren’t an option.

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Spotlight

Vision Airlines

Vision Airlines was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The airline has grown from a Grand Canyon tour operator to an international charter carrier operating Boeing 737 and Boeing 767 aircraft world-wide. Our Boeing operations have encompased support of tour operators, the gaming industry, sub-service for scheduled carriers and extensive government operations.

Related News

Defense and Space

FlyersRights.org Litigation Continues After Boeing Settles Civil Case With MAX Crash Victims

Boeing | February 14, 2022

Boeing has settled its civil cases with all but two of the families of the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 Boeing 737 MAX crash on March 10, 2019. The ET302 crash, along with the Lion Air Flight 610 crash, just over four months prior, claimed the lives of 357 people. FlyersRights.org, however, continues its litigation, supported by independent safety experts, to compel the FAA to release the MAX fix details and flight testing. The FAA, at Boeing's behest, has kept secret all data related to the MAX under a claim of trade secrets, notwithstanding Boeing's and the FAA's multiple promises of full transparency. Boeing has admitted liability for compensatory damages caused by the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash, and the victims' families may pursue compensatory damages in Illinois. However, the agreement bars punitive damages, damages that would have punished Boeing for egregious conduct and would deter Boeing and others from such behavior in the future. "This settlement means that the FlyersRights.org litigation against Boeing will be one of the few ways to achieve truth and accountability for the 737 MAX crashes, By avoiding discovery and depositions in these civil cases in addition to having avoided criminal trials and significant fines in its agreements with the federal government, Boeing so far has escaped with merely a slap on the wrist relative to the size of the company and the magnitude of its wrongdoing." -Paul Hudson, President of FlyersRights.org. Notably, Boeing hopes to be able to avoid depositions of CEO David Calhoun, former CEO Dennis Muilenburg, and other employees. Boeing agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice in January 2021, paying $244 million in fines but admitting no guilt.

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Boeing Receives Two Major Missile Contracts Worth $3.1 Billion

Boeing | May 19, 2020

Boeing received two contracts on May 13 covering two variants from the AGM-84 missile family. The larger of the two contracts covers the supply of 650 AGM-84K Standoff Land Attack Missile Expanded Response (SLAM ER) for the Royal Saudi Air Force, to equip its F-15SA Eagle aircraft. Boeing further developed the AGM-84E SLAM weapon for attacking land targets. Boeing received two contracts on May 13 covering two variants from the AGM-84 missile family. Combined with a related, previously announced order, the contracts have a combined value of $3.1 billion. Naval Air Systems Command is the contracting activity for the orders, which answer the requirements of a number of Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. The larger of the two contracts covers the supply of 650 AGM-84K Standoff Land Attack Missile Expanded Response (SLAM ER) for the Royal Saudi Air Force, to equip its F-15SA Eagle aircraft. It is the first export order for this variant for some time, the weapons first being supplied to South Korea for carriage by the air force’s F-15K “Slam Eagles”. The $1.97 billion contract also includes funding for non-recurring engineering associated with the SLAM ER. This work is due for completion by the end of 2028. The second contract, valued at $657 million, calls for the delivery of 467 AGM-84L Harpoon Block II Lot 91 anti-ship missiles to a range of FMS customers by the end of 2026. Saudi Arabia is the biggest recipient, slated to receive 402, while Qatar is to get 53, Thailand eight, and Brazil four. The contract also includes support equipment for India, Japan, the Netherlands, and South Korea. What was then McDonnell Douglas delivered the first Harpoon anti-ship missile in 1977, and has delivered more than 7,500 since then to the U.S. and a large number of allies. As well as the AGM-84 air-launched version, the sea-skimming missile comes in RGM-84 ship-launched and UGM-84 submarine-launched forms. Pre-revolutionary Iran was one of the early recipients, and in 1980 it achieved the first combat success of the weapon when RGM-84s sank two Iraqi patrol vessels. The Harpoon has been successively updated and remains the primary anti-ship missile in the West. Boeing further developed the AGM-84E SLAM weapon for attacking land targets, replacing the Harpoon’s active radar seeker with an imaging infrared seeker that transmitted imagery back to an AWW-13 two-way datalink pod on the launch aircraft. A few were fired during the 1991 Gulf War, and it was also used during the Balkans campaign A further adaptation resulted in the AGM-84H SLAM ER, with pop-out wings that extended the range to around 150 miles. It also featured more advanced guidance options, including “man-in-the-loop” direct flying, and automatic target acquisition. It was the world’s first weapon to have this latter function. Further development led to the current AGM-84K version. As well as the procurement of new-build weapons, most of the U.S. Navy's AGM-84E SLAMs were upgraded to SLAM-ER configuration Since 2019 Boeing has been building a new 35,000-square foot manufacturing facility at its St. Charles site in Missouri to cater to increased production rates of AGM-84 versions. The new factory is expected to be ready next year. Learn More: THE BOEING 797 – HERE ARE THE CLUES WE HAVE SO FAR

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Aerospace Industry CTOs Cooperate to Drive the Sustainability of Aviation

Boeing | June 18, 2019

Aviation connects our world by efficiently and rapidly moving people, opening new economic opportunities and transporting food and goods all over our planet. Aviation promotes global understanding, generating rich cultural exchanges and thereby contributing to peaceful co-existence. At the same time, climate change has become a clear concern for our society. Humanity’s impact on the climate requires action on many fronts. The aviation industry is already taking significant action to protect the planet and will continue to do so. Aviation contributes to two percent of human-made carbon dioxide emissions. The industry has challenged itself to reduce net CO2 emissions even while demand for air travel and transport grows significantly.

Read More

Defense and Space

FlyersRights.org Litigation Continues After Boeing Settles Civil Case With MAX Crash Victims

Boeing | February 14, 2022

Boeing has settled its civil cases with all but two of the families of the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 Boeing 737 MAX crash on March 10, 2019. The ET302 crash, along with the Lion Air Flight 610 crash, just over four months prior, claimed the lives of 357 people. FlyersRights.org, however, continues its litigation, supported by independent safety experts, to compel the FAA to release the MAX fix details and flight testing. The FAA, at Boeing's behest, has kept secret all data related to the MAX under a claim of trade secrets, notwithstanding Boeing's and the FAA's multiple promises of full transparency. Boeing has admitted liability for compensatory damages caused by the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash, and the victims' families may pursue compensatory damages in Illinois. However, the agreement bars punitive damages, damages that would have punished Boeing for egregious conduct and would deter Boeing and others from such behavior in the future. "This settlement means that the FlyersRights.org litigation against Boeing will be one of the few ways to achieve truth and accountability for the 737 MAX crashes, By avoiding discovery and depositions in these civil cases in addition to having avoided criminal trials and significant fines in its agreements with the federal government, Boeing so far has escaped with merely a slap on the wrist relative to the size of the company and the magnitude of its wrongdoing." -Paul Hudson, President of FlyersRights.org. Notably, Boeing hopes to be able to avoid depositions of CEO David Calhoun, former CEO Dennis Muilenburg, and other employees. Boeing agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice in January 2021, paying $244 million in fines but admitting no guilt.

Read More

Boeing Receives Two Major Missile Contracts Worth $3.1 Billion

Boeing | May 19, 2020

Boeing received two contracts on May 13 covering two variants from the AGM-84 missile family. The larger of the two contracts covers the supply of 650 AGM-84K Standoff Land Attack Missile Expanded Response (SLAM ER) for the Royal Saudi Air Force, to equip its F-15SA Eagle aircraft. Boeing further developed the AGM-84E SLAM weapon for attacking land targets. Boeing received two contracts on May 13 covering two variants from the AGM-84 missile family. Combined with a related, previously announced order, the contracts have a combined value of $3.1 billion. Naval Air Systems Command is the contracting activity for the orders, which answer the requirements of a number of Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. The larger of the two contracts covers the supply of 650 AGM-84K Standoff Land Attack Missile Expanded Response (SLAM ER) for the Royal Saudi Air Force, to equip its F-15SA Eagle aircraft. It is the first export order for this variant for some time, the weapons first being supplied to South Korea for carriage by the air force’s F-15K “Slam Eagles”. The $1.97 billion contract also includes funding for non-recurring engineering associated with the SLAM ER. This work is due for completion by the end of 2028. The second contract, valued at $657 million, calls for the delivery of 467 AGM-84L Harpoon Block II Lot 91 anti-ship missiles to a range of FMS customers by the end of 2026. Saudi Arabia is the biggest recipient, slated to receive 402, while Qatar is to get 53, Thailand eight, and Brazil four. The contract also includes support equipment for India, Japan, the Netherlands, and South Korea. What was then McDonnell Douglas delivered the first Harpoon anti-ship missile in 1977, and has delivered more than 7,500 since then to the U.S. and a large number of allies. As well as the AGM-84 air-launched version, the sea-skimming missile comes in RGM-84 ship-launched and UGM-84 submarine-launched forms. Pre-revolutionary Iran was one of the early recipients, and in 1980 it achieved the first combat success of the weapon when RGM-84s sank two Iraqi patrol vessels. The Harpoon has been successively updated and remains the primary anti-ship missile in the West. Boeing further developed the AGM-84E SLAM weapon for attacking land targets, replacing the Harpoon’s active radar seeker with an imaging infrared seeker that transmitted imagery back to an AWW-13 two-way datalink pod on the launch aircraft. A few were fired during the 1991 Gulf War, and it was also used during the Balkans campaign A further adaptation resulted in the AGM-84H SLAM ER, with pop-out wings that extended the range to around 150 miles. It also featured more advanced guidance options, including “man-in-the-loop” direct flying, and automatic target acquisition. It was the world’s first weapon to have this latter function. Further development led to the current AGM-84K version. As well as the procurement of new-build weapons, most of the U.S. Navy's AGM-84E SLAMs were upgraded to SLAM-ER configuration Since 2019 Boeing has been building a new 35,000-square foot manufacturing facility at its St. Charles site in Missouri to cater to increased production rates of AGM-84 versions. The new factory is expected to be ready next year. Learn More: THE BOEING 797 – HERE ARE THE CLUES WE HAVE SO FAR

Read More

Aerospace Industry CTOs Cooperate to Drive the Sustainability of Aviation

Boeing | June 18, 2019

Aviation connects our world by efficiently and rapidly moving people, opening new economic opportunities and transporting food and goods all over our planet. Aviation promotes global understanding, generating rich cultural exchanges and thereby contributing to peaceful co-existence. At the same time, climate change has become a clear concern for our society. Humanity’s impact on the climate requires action on many fronts. The aviation industry is already taking significant action to protect the planet and will continue to do so. Aviation contributes to two percent of human-made carbon dioxide emissions. The industry has challenged itself to reduce net CO2 emissions even while demand for air travel and transport grows significantly.

Read More

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