The Air Current
• Julie Johnsson
Thruster failures during Boeing Starliner’s first crewed flight in June 2024 made its docking with the orbiting laboratory a high-risk event for astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, exposing serious concerns about propulsion reliability in a pivotal human-spaceflight test.
Boeing
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Thruster failures during Boeing Starliner’s first crewed flight in June 2024 made its docking with the orbiting laboratory a high-risk event for astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, exposing serious concerns about propulsion reliability in a pivotal human-spaceflight test.
Boeing is on pace to replace cracked metal structures inside the two aircraft being modified as the next Air Force One fleet, according to the U.S. Air Force. The retrofit remains on track for completion ahead of targeted delivery in mid-2028, preserving the program’s current schedule.
High activity
Alaska Airlines will launch nonstop Seattle–Athens and Seattle–Paris services in May 2027, expanding its intercontinental offering from Washington state to seven destinations. The new routes extend the carrier’s Boeing 787 international network and increase competition with Delta on Seattle–Europe travel.
NASA has revealed the new livery of a 13-year-old Boeing 737-700 being converted into a reduced-gravity research aircraft at King Aerospace in Oklahoma. The airframe previously served for years as a classified U.S. Air Force flying testbed before transferring to NASA for its next mission.
Rory Kennedy’s “Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing,” a follow-up to her 2022 investigation into the 737 MAX tragedies, argues that a corporate culture prioritizing profits over product quality played a central role in the disasters and their broader consequences.
India’s Akasa Air has signed a sale-and-leaseback agreement covering seven Boeing 737-8 aircraft, adding a fleet-financing transaction to the carrier’s expansion strategy. The deal highlights the role of leasing structures in supporting fleet growth while preserving airline capital flexibility.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines has reissued a tender to acquire three Boeing 787s, reopening a procurement effort for additional widebody aircraft. The move places the airline’s fleet expansion plans back into the market and could create a new order opportunity for Boeing.
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