Author: FlyMarshall Newsroom

Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin has launched its New Glenn rocket into orbit around the Earth, carrying two NASA spacecraft on a mission that could shed much-needed new light on Mars for scientists.  While New Glenn had previously flown on a successful test mission, the current mission – which includes NASA’s ESCAPADE twin spacecraft – marks its first delivery of an actual operational payload and will become the first coordinated dual-spacecraft mission to orbit another planet.  “The ESCAPADE spacecraft are now about to embark on a unique journey to Mars never traversed by any other mission,” remarked Alan Zide, ESCAPADE program executive at NASA Headquarters.  The Blue Origin rocket started its journey to…

Why is the Boeing B-52J, or rather, the upgraded version of the B-52 Stratofortress, becoming a nightmare for the United States Air Force in 2025? This question is increasingly relevant as the Air Force doubles down on modernizing a bomber design that first flew in 1952 to keep it active well into the 2050s! The B-52 has been America’s long-range strike icon for decades, but bringing it into the modern era and keeping it airworthy for over a century has proven far more complicated, costly, and delayed than expected. What was meant to be a cost-effective modernization has become a…

France has completed a second evaluation firing of its upgraded ASMPA-R air-launched nuclear missile, advancing one of the central modernization efforts of its strategic forces and validating the system under realistic conditions.  The test took place on November 13, 2025, when a French Navy Rafale M launched an unarmed ASMPA-R at the end of a long-range mission profile intended to simulate a nuclear strike. Conducted over French territory as part of Operation Diomede, the mission reproduced air-to-air and ground-to-air threats to evaluate the readiness of the Force aéronavale nucléaire. According to the French defense procurement agency (DGA), the exercise confirmed…

Simple Flying’s latest podcast is live and ready for you to enjoy! Hosted by Managing Editor Tom Boon and Senior Editor Channing Reid, the 271st episode is now available for your listening pleasure. The Simple Flying Podcast is released weekly and is hot off the press today. We aim to cover some of the week’s most important commercial aviation stories with commentary and occasionally a little bit of fun! What’s in episode 271? Tom and Channing are taking a look at the hot aviation news of the past week. They discuss: Credit: Dubai Airshow Listen to episode 271 now Click below…

By Bjorn Fehrm and Henry Tam November 14, 2025, ©. Leeham News: We do a series about ideas on how the long development times for large airliners can be shortened. New projects talk about cutting development time and reaching certification and production faster than previous projects. The series will discuss the typical development cycles for an FAA Part 25 aircraft, called a transport category aircraft, and what different ideas there are to reduce the development times. We will use the Gantt plan in Figure 1 as a base for our discussions. We are in the Detailed Design phase and working…

The Singapore Airlines Group has reported a sharp fall in first-half profit, hit by losses at its Indian associate Air India, higher costs, and intensifying competition. The airline’s net profits dropped steeply in the second quarter to $40.18 million from $139.5 million in the first quarter, highlighting Air India’s drag on performance. Singapore Airlines began accounting for Air India’s earnings in December 2024 after the integration of joint venture Vistara into Air India. The Singapore airline has a 25.1% stake in the Indian carrier. Passenger demand remained strong and fuel costs fell, even as competition in key markets squeezed yields. Group…

An American Airlines Airbus A321 carrying four Arizona lawmakers en route to Washington, DC, was forced to divert to Kansas City International Airport (MCI) because of disruptive behavior by a passenger. The flight landed safely in Kanasa City before continuing on to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). Greg Stanton, a Democrat from Arizona, posted on X that he and three Republican colleagues, Eli Crane, Andy Biggs, and Paul Gosar, were aboard when the incident occurred. In his social media post, Stanton added that none of his colleagues were involved in the disruption and thanked the Kansas City police for…

Emirates is taking delivery of new Airbus A350-900s. The A350 is one of only three aircraft types operated by the famed Gulf carrier (along with the Airbus A380 and Boeing 777), but while the A350-900 is an enormous airliner, it’s one of the smallest aircraft variants operated by Emirates (only slightly larger than its Boeing 777-200LRs). These planes are being used for growth, and they represent a new era for Emirates in terms of its fuel efficiency, capabilities, and passenger experience. The Airbus A350-900 is a machine designed for long-haul and ultra-long-haul flying. Not only can it fly farther than…

As the Dubai Airshow nears, Etihad Airways may be looking to strike a new deal with Airbus. As reported by Reuters, the Abu Dhabi-based carrier is looking to purchase more Airbus A350s and possibly order the Airbus A330neo as well. While the A350s make sense, seeing as how the airline is already an A350 operator, the A330neos are a bigger surprise, as it currently has no Airbus A330s in its fleet while also flying 47 Boeing 787s. Etihad Airways is one of the three major carriers in the Middle East (along with Emirates and Qatar Airways), but Etihad is significantly…

Frank Sinatra’s timeless classic ‘Come Fly with Me’ (1958) and his jet set lifestyle meant the prominent crooner, famous for his big band ballads, would forever be forged with the airline industry.  Posters of Sinatra landing in swinging London and his Come Fly with Me album art undoubtably helped propel the jet age, while promoting the freedom of travel.  With the influence of celebrity endorsement clear to see, it was perhaps no surprise that in 1968, a United Airlines commercial featured a reworked version of Come Fly with Me.  In the 1990s Sinatra would go on to link up with…