Author: FlyMarshall Newsroom
I just spent a night at the 375-key Waldorf Astoria New York, which reopened in mid-2025, after a transformative eight-year renovation. I’ve been intrigued by this hotel, given what an icon it is, and also how much it changed since pre-renovation (when it had 1,400+ rooms). I booked my stay with a Hilton Honors free night award (the rate would’ve otherwise been around $1,000 or 150,000 Hilton Honors points), as a Hilton Honors Diamond member. While I’ll have a full review soon, in this post I’d like to share some initial impressions. Long story short, the property exceeded my expectations.…
The Federal Aviation Administration placed more than 10,000 employees on furlough as a partial US government shutdown entered its first full workweek on February 2, 2026, while air traffic control operations and other core safety functions continued under contingency plans. The shutdown began over the weekend after Congress failed to pass a funding measure before appropriations expired. The funding lapse comes after a similar, prolonged shutdown in late 2025 that strained the national airspace system, leading to widespread flight cancellations and staffing challenges. Under the Department of Transportation’s lapse plan, roughly 13,800 air traffic controllers are classified as “excepted” employees and remain on duty without pay during the funding…
The U.S. Air Force is once again conducting no-notice combat readiness inspections of units, and stresses to commanders that is one of their top priorities, a top service leader said Wednesday.Lt. Gen. Scott Pleus, the Air Force’s acting vice chief of staff, told attendees at a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies conference in Arlington, Virginia, that Air Force Secretary Troy Meink and Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, the service’s chief of staff, have made improving readiness a top priority. That includes not just concentrating on flying airplanes, Pleus said, but fixing them so pilots and air crews can generate the sorties they…
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I’m briefly in New York, and decided to check out the iconic Waldorf Astoria New York, which recently reopened after a massive renovation. While I’ll share some initial thoughts shortly, in this post I’d like to talk about an interesting occurrence at check-in, as I’m curious how others feel about this… Waldorf Astoria offers junior suite upgrade for $200 I redeemed a Hilton Honors free night award to stay at the Waldorf Astoria New York for one night. The hotel has 375 rooms and suites, and a vast majority of the accommodations at the hotel are suites (initially the plan…
Back-Taxi A term used by air traffic controllers to taxi an aircraft on the runway opposite to the traffic flow. The aircraft may be instructed to back?taxi to the beginning of the runway or at some point before reaching the runway end for the purpose of departure or to exit the runway.
“Engineers have remained on track or ahead of schedule as they work through planned activities at the launch pad and are getting ready to conduct a wet dress rehearsal, leading up to a simulated ‘launch.'” Source: From a NASA update, detailing how they are moving faster than originally projected toward a critical fueling test of the Artemis II booster rocket for its Lunar test flight mission, the first spaceflight to the Moon in over 50 years. The agency had slated the “wet dress rehearsal” of the Space Launch System’s rocket for February 2, and a successful test could enable a…
Also: Airbus Helicopters, UK Aviation Authority, Britain’s Green Airline Quits, Gulf Coast Fleet Fly-In Bombardier’s Global 8000 has cleared the last major hurdle between the flight testing stage and worldwide service, officially earning certification from EASA. This follows earlier approvals from Transport Canada in November 2025 and the FAA in December. This step has been a long time coming. The FAA is reopening public comments on the planned closure of the Indianapolis Downtown Heliport (FAA identifier: 8A4) in Indiana and the request to allow the sale of all 5.36 acres of heliport land for nonaviation use. FAA received two formal…
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has thrown its weight behind US President Donald Trump, after he raised objections over Canada’s perceived refusal to certify several Gulfstream private jets. In his social media attack against Canada on January 29, 2026, President Trump threatened to “decertify” Bombardier Global Express jets and “all aircraft” made north of the US border. According to Bloomberg, on February 2, 2026, at the Changi Aviation Summit in Singapore the FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford raised his own issues over foreign countries not certifying US-made planes. “Our concern is whether or not sufficient resources are being applied to US…
Air India has grounded a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner after a pilot reported a possible defect in a fuel control switch following the aircraft’s arrival in Bengaluru from London, prompting renewed scrutiny of a component that has been under investigation since a fatal crash last year. The aircraft, registered VT-ANX, was operating as Air India Flight AI132 from London Heathrow to Bengaluru. It departed Heathrow at 19:19 local time on February 1, 2026, and landed in Bengaluru at 11:54 on Monday. According to airline sources, the issue was observed after landing and subsequently reported by the flight crew. In a statement, Air India said it had grounded the aircraft as a precaution and informed India’s aviation regulator. “We are aware that…