Author: FlyMarshall Newsroom

If you’re familiar with the usual flying profile of a commercial airliner, you’ll likely have heard the phrase “step climb.” If you have ever wondered what exactly that term means, then this article is for you. In the broadest of strokes, a step climb is a progressive altitude increase where the pilots go up and level off at different points before reaching the final cruise altitude. The number of interim altitudes and the height at which they are set depend on a couple of basic variables: ultimate cruising altitude, weather, traffic, and, finally, fuel load. The whole point of the…

In 2025, the salaries of airline pilots in Europe will remain a key point of interest, not just for pilots themselves but for regulators, airlines, and aspiring aviators. With pilot shortages across much of Europe, rising training costs, and inflationary pressures, understanding how much pilots actually earn is more than trivia. In this article, we draw on two credible public sources: Euronews (utilizing ERI data) and EasyEASA to map out salary ranges for pilots across Europe, from first officers to long-haul captains. Our goal is to help our readers understand the current state of pilot pay in Europe as of…

The Boeing 747 remains one of aviation’s most iconic jets, known as the “Queen of the Skies.” Although many passenger airlines have retired their 747s, and this beautiful beast is no longer in production, the type remains in service in cargo and specialty operations. As of 2025, a small number of operators still maintain significant 747 fleets, and identifying the top operators offers insight into the niche yet resilient role that the 747 continues to play in global air cargo and charter markets. This list ranks the five largest 747 operator fleets by number of aircraft in service (or fleet-claimed)…

Alaska Airlines acquired Hawaiian Airlines, with the merger being completed in September 2024 to create the US’s fifth-largest airline. As it stands, the two companies operate separately, but are in the process of obtaining a single operating certificate and are working on a combined loyalty program called Atmos. However, both brands will remain, with most flights to or from Hawaii using the Hawaiian Airlines brand and all other flights branded as Alaska. This is similar to how large airline holding companies in Europe, mainly IAG, Air France-KLM, and Lufthansa Group, operate. Because the two brands are separate, their fleet differences…

There are countless reasons that the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB is the ideal engine for the A350. Rolls-Royce describes it as: “extremely efficient, impressively versatile, ultra-reliable, unbelievably popular.” The manufacturer believes that its many years exclusively powering the A350 are proof of these characteristics. As such, there is no single reason that Airbus selected the engine to power the A350, beyond the simple fact that they have reached an exclusivity agreement with the manufacturer. Discover more below about the host of advancements offered by the Trent XWB, and how it continues to develop based on lessons from over a decade of…

The Boeing 737 MAX is Boeing’s latest and most fuel-efficient narrowbody airliner. Because of the aerodynamic improvements and new CFM LEAP-1B engines, it’s one of the most fuel-efficient airliners in the aviation industry, and as such, it has greatly extended range compared to the 737NG. As such, airlines can deploy these planes on incredibly long routes, and flying the 737 MAX allows airlines to greatly reduce fuel costs compared to the 737NG. There are nearly 2,000 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in service, made up exclusively of 737 MAX 8 and 737 MAX 9 models. Additionally, Boeing is currently working on…

Kizilelma’s live-fire tests come within days of the carriage trials with the TOLUN and TEBER-82 munitions. Baykar’s Kizilelma UCAV recorded another milestone when it dropped two inert munitions, the TOLUN glide bomb and the TEBER-82 guided bomb, in its first live-fire test, the Turkish drone major announced on Oct. 8, 2025. The new milestone comes immediately after the carriage trials conducted between late September and early October. The video released by the company showed the Kizilelma prototype, TC-OZB3 (the third prototype or PT-3), flying two different sorties for each of the munition types from the Flight Training and Test Center…

Earlier this week, the Trump Administration proposed a ban on Chinese airlines flying over Russia on routes to and from the United States, arguing that it puts US carriers at a disadvantage. Chinese carriers have been able to fly these routes with less fuel and shorter times compared to their US rivals, resulting in what the US Department of Transportation (DOT) deems “substantial adverse competitive effects on US air carriers.” Should this proposed order be put into practice, it could have a significant impact on US-China flights in both the short and long term. While cargo flights are exempt from…

CAOC Bodø was officially opened on Oct. 10, 2025, joining CAOC Uedem, Germany, and CAOC Torrejón, Spain as NATO’s third active Combined Air Operations Centre. Combined Air Operations Centres, or CAOCs – not to be confused with the U.S. Air Force’s 609th Air Operations Centre in Qatar, which is also known as the Combined Air Operations Centre – are NATO’s multinational command and control (C2) nodes for the coordination and direction of allied air assets and air defence.CAOC Bodø was officially opened on Oct. 10, 2025, joining CAOC Uedem, Germany, and CAOC Torrejón, Spain as NATO’s third active Combined Air…

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend! It has been quite the eight days for me, since my mom’s passing. We’re having my mom’s memorial this weekend, so content is a bit lighter than usual. I’ll have another post on that more broadly (hopefully) tomorrow, but thank you so much to everyone for how kind you’ve been. On the points & travel front, this week United announced its latest international expansion, SWISS took delivery of its first Airbus A350, British Airways opened lounges with its new design motif, Riyadh Air revealed details about its launch and new lounge, and…