Category Archives for Aircraft.
Bilt Platinum’s annual free Blade helicopter transfer is still one of the best perks in points, and I just used my third ride—skipping the inevitable Manhattan traffic and getting to JFK in about five minutes. Here’s what the Blade Lounge West experience is like, how my rebooking played out, and why the business is changing now that Joby owns the passenger side.
A Breakout clip watched on a single private jet flight in 2013 kicked off a chain reaction—Google snapped up DeepMind, Musk responded by building OpenAI, and the modern AI arms race was born.
The FAA is locking down Palm Beach airspace for the holidays with a presidential flight restriction tied to expected Mar-a-Lago travel, in effect December 20 through January 4 and effectively closing the inner 10-mile ring to most private flying. Getting into Palm Beach International requires TSA-style screening at one of five gateway airports and nonstop, ATC-controlled operations, while flights that can’t meet those rules—like JSX’s Westchester–Palm Beach—are being pushed to reroute.
A pilot flying a private plane from Aspen to the Denver area became incapacitated mid-flight, and the aircraft’s emergency auto-landing system took over navigation and radio calls to air traffic control. ATC audio captures the computer repeatedly announcing “pilot incapacitation” and counting down to landing before it put the plane down safely near Denver, brought it to a stop, and shut the engines down—with everyone onboard surviving.
A pilot’s engine failed mid-flight, forcing an emergency landing on Minnesota’s State Highway 89 crossing the Red Lake Reservation. The Red Lake Indian Tribe seized his plane, citing their own illegal 20,000-foot no-fly rule—despite clear federal preemption. But enforcing federal rights is costly and complicated, meaning the tribe’s actions might stand regardless of legality.
Boom Supersonic is now selling 42 megawatt natural gas turbines to power AI data centers, starting with a billion-dollar, 1.21 gigawatt order from Crusoe. They say the profit will self-fund their Symphony engine and Overture jet — but the economics and execution risk still look like a long shot.
The FAA has issued a warning for all operators to avoid Venezuelan airspace, even as international airlines cancel service. The timing aligns with reporting that Washington is pushing Ukraine toward a settlement tilted toward Russia in exchange for Moscow’s acquiescence on removing Nicolás Maduro.
Since the 1930s, nearly every airplane has boarded passengers from the left side. The reason traces back to a small procedural habit that aviation inherited — and never escaped.
After meeting with President Trump in Washington, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Air Force KC-30A diverted to St. Louis on the way home when falling luggage struck a crewmember in the head. The military jet, a modified Airbus A330, was bound for Honolulu before continuing to Sydney.
For decades, the FAA relied on independent “fixers” — outside engineers who kept aircraft approvals moving when bureaucracy stalled. Now it’s dismantling that system, embracing the Boeing model of corporate self-oversight that once drew intense scrutiny.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
