Author: FlyMarshall Newsroom

Southwest Airlines is in the process of transforming its business model, under financial pressure from activist investors. The airline is changing just about everything, and has started charging for checked bags, adding basic economy, expiring travel credits, and more. In July 2024, Southwest announced plans to introduce assigned and premium seating on flights, ending the carrier’s decades-old policy of having open seating. Tickets have been on sale under this new system since then, and today is perhaps the biggest day in Southwest’s transformation — the new policy is live, and open seating is no longer a thing. Southwest completely overhauls…

Embraer announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Adani Defence & Aerospace, which is an arm of Adani Enterprises, one of India’s largest conglomerates.  Although no specific aircraft types are mentioned in the announcement, which was made on January 27, 2026, its wording refers to a “Memorandum of Understanding” (MoU) to develop an integrated regional transport aircraft ecosystem in India”.   The collaboration appears to be wide-ranging, covering areas such as manufacturing and supply chain management as well as the provision of aftermarket services and pilot training.  The ultimate goal will be the establishment of an assembly line…

Airbus Helicopters saw orders rise by 89 units in 2025 compared to the previous year with a lucrative contract with the Spanish government a key driver of the surge. On January 26, 2026, Airbus announced that the company had secured 544 gross orders (net: 536) in 2025, highlighting a strong market growth from 455 gross orders (net: 450) in 2024. In December 2025, Spain placed orders for 100 Airbus helicopters through the Directorate General for Armament and Material (DGAM). The order included 50 H145Ms, 31 NH90s for all three branches of the armed forces, 13 H135s and the first orders…

PARIS — Europeans are “dreaming” if they think the continent can defend itself without the United States, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in a meeting with members of the European Parliament on Monday, citing the costs of going it alone and the need to build up a nuclear capability.“If anyone thinks here that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the U.S., keep on dreaming,” Rutte said. “You can’t. We can’t. We need each other.”Rutte’s remarks come as Europe questions whether the U.S. is still a reliable ally following tariff threats by President Donald…

After more than five decades of letting passengers fend for themselves during boarding, Southwest Airlines has officially ended the open seating policy that defined the carrier for generations of travelers.  Beginning on January 27, 2026, the airline switched to assigned seating, ending one of the most defining and polarizing passenger policies in US commercial aviation. The change takes effect by calendar date, meaning any Southwest flight departing on January 27 local airport time will operate under the new assigned-seating system.   That makes Flight 1791 from Honolulu to Los Angeles, scheduled to depart Monday evening in Hawaii, the final Southwest flight to board under open seating. After that aircraft pushes back, every Southwest departure worldwide will fall under the…

The UK’s MoD has invited seven firms to propose their designs for Project NYX, which will give the AH-64 Apache an unmanned loyal wingman. The U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD) took a new step towards Project NYX on Jan. 24, 2026, by inviting seven European and U.S. companies to present their designs. The new development follows a pre-qualification phase which concluded in late-2025, and will be followed by a further down selection of four firms in March. Project NYX seeks new Autonomous Collaborative Platforms (ACP)/Uncrewed Air Systems (UAS) that will be employed as “loyal wingmen” drones for the AH-64 Apache…

The U.S. Air Forces Central (AFCENT), also known as Ninth Air Force, announced on Jan. 25, 2026, that it will be conducting a “multi-day readiness exercise to demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.” The exercise coincidentally happens as the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) arrived in the same AOR, joining the build up of U.S. forces. The Exercise In its press release, AFCENT describes that the exercise will be based on the now usual Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept. The assets and the…

Unmanned vehicles that can withstand harsh weather for prolonged periods at sea are critical to maintain NATO’s strategic dominance in the Arctic, experts from the Center for European Policy Analysis told Defense News at a January 22 briefing.The Arctic is becoming a hotly contested environment with increasing incursions from Russian and Chinese vessels in recent years. These intrusions constitute deliberate pressure on NATO, according to Lance K. Landrum, senior fellow at CEPA, who moderated the discussion.“We could look at it from the sense of, ‘This is a major force-on-force war’ with amphibious assaults and all-domain force-on-force warfare — or we…

Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aéreas has appointed Antonio Kandir as its new chairman following the death of company founder Constantino de Oliveira Junior, the carrier confirmed on January 26, 2026. Kandir, who previously served as vice chairman of Gol’s board, steps into the role on an interim basis as the airline begins the process of identifying a permanent successor.   Gol confirmed that de Oliveira Junior died on January 24 in São Paulo after a battle with cancer. He was 57.  De Oliveira Junior founded Gol in 2000 and remained one of the most influential figures in Brazilian aviation for more than two decades. Under his leadership, Gol introduced the low-cost carrier model…

 Subscription Required By Bjorn Fehrm and Charlotte Bailey January 26, 2026, © Leeham News: Pratt & Whitney (PW) bet big on the geared turbofan to take it back to a sizeable position in the market’s largest airliner segment, the Single-Aisle. It spent more than 20 years to develop the fan gearbox, including functional demonstrator engines that flew on Airbus test aircraft to prove the technology. The effort was a success; the gearbox in the Pratt & Whitney range of Geared TurboFans, GTFs, has worked perfectly. It achieved what was promised, a low fuel consumption, and has been rock-solid in its…