New product approvals are taking longer than ever, partly because of additional FAA scrutiny mandated by a 2020 law.
Credit: Boeing
The last five years have brought significant changes to how regulators review and approve products. In the U.S., the FAA’s shift has been nearly unavoidable for large projects—namely, new aircraft or major changes that need supplemental type certificates. The Aircraft Certification, Safety and…
Senior Air Transport & Safety Editor Sean Broderick covers aviation safety, MRO, and the airline business from Aviation Week Network’s Washington, D.C. office.
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Transatlantic Boeing 737 MAX flights from the US and Canada to Europe are growing. Given the relative newness of the model, it’d be odd if they weren’t. According to the latest Cirium Diio data, the MAX has an average of 24 daily transatlantic flights in September, up from 19 daily in the same month last year. Air Canada, Icelandair, United Airlines, and WestJet will operate them.
Schedule analysis reveals that the Boeing narrowbody will operate 3.3% of all transatlantic passenger services. One in every 30 takeoffs will be on this type. Perhaps more surprisingly, the MAX will only operate a fifth of all such single-aisle flights. The A321LR and A321XLR—including those operated by Aer Lingus—are collectively much ahead (1,558 departures; 46.1%).
The 10 Longest Transatlantic MAX Flights In September
The entries include multiple never-before-served routes. They include WestJet between Halifax and Barcelona, which is Spain’s second most populous city, a tourist hotspot, and an important cruise location. Timed at up to 7h 45m back to Canada, with flights having headwinds, it is the joint-third-longest service aboard the single-aisle equipment. It is also the longest passenger route operated by a Canadian carrier from Halifax.
Icelandair (daily MAX 8 until September 13; it coexists with the A321LR, which will then operate exclusively again)
7h 45m=
Barcelona back to Halifax
WestJet. A brand-new route, which started in June 2025 (four weekly MAX 8; the last Canada-bound flight of the season is on September 29)
7h 45m=
Keflavik to Vancouver
Icelandair (four weekly MAX 8)
7h 45m=
Dublin back to Toronto
WestJet (daily MAX 8, but two daily flights on September 1, which is a hangover from the peak summer)
7h 40m
Edinburgh back to Toronto
WestJet (daily MAX 8, but two daily flights on September 1, which is a hangover from the peak summer)
7h 35m
Funchal back to Newark
United. A brand-new route, which began in June 2025 (three weekly MAX 8; the last US-bound departure of the season being on September 24)
7h 21m
Amsterdam back to Halifax
WestJet. A new route for the airline, which started in May 2025 (six weekly MAX 8, but down to four weekly later in the month). More on this link later in the article
Air Canada. A brand-new route, which started in June 2025 (three weekly MAX 8; the last Canada-bound departure of the season is on September 6)
* Even if once. They will vary at other times
** They will vary at other times. Other equipment is excluded. Each route’s full MAX operation is mentioned, even if not all services have the maximum time
Keflavik To Orlando Is Number One
With a block time of up to 8h 00m, Keflavik to Orlando ranks first by this measure. However, if the great circle distance is considered instead, it is ‘only’ the third-longest airport pair, behind the company’s services to Seattle and Vancouver. However, there’s not much in it.
The year-round route to Orlando is now entirely on the MAX 8. The 757-200, which served it for many years, was last flown in August, with the A321LR down to operate next summer. Unlike earlier this year, when Icelandair’s flights remained in Orlando overnight to maximize European connectivity, things are different now.
In September, 160-seat MAX 8s leave Iceland at 16:45 and get to Florida at 20:45. Returning, they depart just 70 minutes later at 21:55, and arrive back at 09:15. This connects to a growing range of flights to European cities that leave Iceland after 10:00. However, this middle-of-the-morning departure bank from Keflavik to other European airports is a summer setup. As such, Icelandair is returning to its overnight stay in Florida later this year.
WestJet’s Amsterdam Service Relies On Its KLM Partnership
After a two-year absence, WestJet returned to Amsterdam in May. While it used the 787-9 Calgary between 2021 and 2023, things are extremely different now. This time, it operates from Halifax aboard the 174-seat MAX 8. The Nova Scotia link was flown by KLM and Martinair in the 1990s.
WestJet serves Amsterdam a surprisingly high six times weekly during most of the summer, falling to a low of four weekly at times. This high frequency is influenced by WestJet’s codeshare agreement with KLM (they codeshare to multiple places via Schiphol, especially in France, Portugal, and Italy), together with the Canadian carrier’s (limited) connections over Halifax.
GE Aerospace named two new propulsion systems that will be offered as a turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine to power the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)-proposed Next Generation Responsive Strike (NextRS) demonstrator aircraft. The newly designated GE81 High-Mach Gas Turbine…
Steve covers military aviation, missiles and space for the Aviation Week Network, based in Washington DC.
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On August 1st, a British Airways Airbus A380 flying from Johannesburg OR Tambo International in South Africa to London Heathrow was forced to return to its point of origin due to reports of smoke in the cabin. It was later revealed that the problem even affected the jet’s crew rest area.
The issue forced the double-decker quadjet to return to Johannesburg. Because it didn’t perform a fuel dump, the landing was fairly heavy.
Air Canada,
Star Alliance
