This is a list of aviation-related events in 2018.
Orders and deliveries
Up from 763 in 2017,
Boeing delivered 806 commercial jets in 2018, including 580 B737s and 145 B787s; and won 893 net orders valued at $143.7 billion: 675 B737s and 218 widebodies including 109 B787s and 51 B777s.[1]
Airbus delivered 800 aircraft to 93 customers including 20 A220s (since July 2018), 626 A320, 49 A330s, 93 A350 XWBs and 12 A380s, 11% more than the 718 delivered in 2017; and received 747 net orders.[2]
AeroVironment announces it will design and develop solar-powered high-altitude unmanned aircraft and ground control stations for a
Joint Venture with Japanese telco
SoftBank (95%) for $65 million.[3]
4 January
The first
Airbus BelugaXL rolls off the assembly line, unpainted and without engines.[4]
5 January
The
A321neo Cabin Flex rolls out before ground tests and first flight in the following weeks, it should be delivered in mid-2018 and the layout will become the A321neo default from 2020.[5]
9 January
Boeing announces it had won 912 net orders in 2017 for $134.8 billion at list prices including 745 737s, 94 787s and 60 777s, and delivered 763 airliners including 529 737s, 136 787s and 74 777s.[6]
Airbus announces it received 1,109 net orders from 44 customers in 2017, and delivered 718 aircraft to 85 customers: 558 A320 Family (including 181 A320neo); 67 A330s; 78 A350 XWBs and 15 A380s.[11]
18 January
Airbus secures a preliminary agreement from
Emirates for up to 36
A380s: 20 potentially firm orders and 16 options, to be delivered from 2020, valued at $16 billion at list prices.[12]
Following the
Air Berlin insolvency, Austrian carrier
Niki is sold to
Laudamotion, controlled by former Formula 1 champion
Niki Lauda, while
IAG had previously tentatively acquired its assets for €20 million ($24 million) at the end of
2017 before the proceedings were re-opened.[14]
24 January
The revised
NAL Saras-PTN1 with 14 seats instead of 19 and improved systems first flew from
HAL Airport for 40 minutes, reaching 8,500 ft (2,600 m) and 145 kn (269 km/h) before 20 flights to freeze the production design.[15]
After in-flight failures of
PW1100G turbofans with its high pressure
compressor aft hub modified –apparently problems of its knife edge
seal, the
EASA and Airbus grounds some
A320neo family aircraft until they are fitted with spares.[22]
A Dana Air
MD-83 with registration 5N-SRI veered off of the runway at Port-Harcourt international airport and into bushes during a night landing. There were no casualties[27] Both the airline and the
Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria stated that the cause of the accident was inclement weather as there was torrential rain at the time of the landing.[28]
The 10,000th
Boeing 737 is rolled-out, a
MAX 8 destined for
Southwest Airlines: continuously manufactured since 1967, over 4,600 orders are pending.[34]
The smallest
737 MAX-7 took off for its first flight from its Renton factory for three hours, reached 250 kn (460 km/h) and 25,000 ft (7,600 m), and landed in
Moses Lake, WA, Boeing's flight test centre.[36]
20 March
Ryanair announces it will acquire - subject to EU Competition approval - 75% of Austrian airline
Laudamotion, built from the assets of the former
Niki including A320 airliners, for €50m plus €50m for year 1 start up and operating costs, aiming for profitability by year 3 and a fleet of 30.[37]
21 March
Asian low-cost carrier
Lion Air Group takes delivery of the first stretched
737 MAX-9 before entering service with
Thai Lion Air.[38]
All Nippon Airways announces the integration of its two
low cost carrier subsidiaries
Peach Aviation and
Vanilla Air, starting in the second half of the FY2018 and to be completed by the end of FY2019 into Peach, planning over 50 aircraft beyond FY2020, up from 35 today, operating on more than 50 routes, up from 39 currently, and targeting a ¥150 (1.37) billion revenue and a 10%
operating profit for FY2020.[40]
Founded in 1977 and once the largest provider of US
Essential Air Service from 1992 to 2002,
Great Lakes Airlines stopped scheduled passenger flights due to pilot shortage caused by US regulations requiring first officers to have 1,500 flight hours, up from 250 hours since 2013, leaving a fleet of 28
Beechcraft 1900Ds and six
Embraer 120s, but continue to support
Aerodynamics Inc. flights.[42]
29 March
A
takeover bid of £8.1 billion ($11.4 billion), up from £7 billion initially in January, from
turnaround specialist
Melrose Industries for UK
aerostructure specialist
GKN is accepted by a majority of the later's
shareholders, while Melrose aims for an over £10 billion market capitalisation.[43]
The 100th anniversary of the formation of
Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918 in the United Kingdom[44] it is the oldest independent air force in the world.[45]
Already a
Boeing 737 Max 8 customer, Indian
Jet Airways order 75 more, not disclosing the variant, valued at $7.2 to $9.7 billion before customary discounts.[47]
Adding to its previous order for 42,
American Airlines orders 47
Boeing 787s, 22 -8s and 25 -9s, for over $12 billion at list prices.[51] American simultaneously cancels its 22
A350s order originally placed by
US Airways.[52]
Boeing acquires
aircraft parts manufacturer
KLX, Inc for $3.2 billion, valuing it at $4.25 billion including $1 billion of
net debt.[56] In over 15 countries, KLX sells $1.4 billion per year of
fasteners and
consumables within its 1 million items catalog, and will be integrated within Aviall with its 2,000 employees.[57]
Bombardier unveils its
Global Express 5500 and 6500 developments expected to enter service at the end of 2019 with an optimized wing, a revamped cabin and new more efficient
Rolls-Royce Pearl engines for better operating costs, performance and range.[69]
Boeing and
Safran announce their 50-50 partnership to design, build and service
APUs after regulatory and
antitrust clearance in the second half of 2018.[72]
8 June
After having gained regulatory approval, Airbus and Bombardier announce that Airbus will get a
majority stake of the
CSeries on 1 July 2018, leaving its main operations in
Mirabel, Québec as Bombardier will fund its
cash shortfalls for up to US$610 million till 2021.[73]
Along a larger and modernised delivery centre,
Airbus inaugurates its fourth Hamburg
A320 production line, with two seven-axis
robots to drill 80% of fuselage upper side holes,
autonomous mobile tooling platforms and following
Design Thinking principles.[75]
Rolls-Royce plc announces its restructuring, cutting 4,600 jobs to
save £400m per year by 2020.[76] Two-thirds of the cuts will happen in
Britain where 26,000 work including 15,700 at the
Derby headquarters among 55,000 worldwide.[77]
19 June
FedEx orders 12
Boeing 767Fs to be delivered between June 2019 and May 2022 and 12
Boeing 777Fs to be delivered from June 2020 to May 2025, for a $6.6 billion list price.[78][importance?]
Ten days after taking control of the program,
Airbus renames the Bombardier CSeries
Airbus A220-100/300.[82]
Hours after its rebrand,
jetBlue ordered 60 A220-300s to replace its 60
Embraer 190s from 2020 for $5.4 billion before customary discounts, with 60 options pending from 2025, a blow to
Embraer which was marketing the
E195-E2 to the carrier.[83]
Valencia-based
Air Nostrum and
Dublin-bound
CityJet announce their cooperation to create the largest European
regional airline, subject to regulatory approval, employing 2700 people and flying 94 aircraft including 30 CRJ1000 and 22 CRJ900, for a combined revenue of €700m with over 170,000 flights per year.[84]
A February agreement was formalized for two
747-8 at $3.9 billion to replace from December 2024 the two
747-200-based Air Force One
VC-25A presidential aircraft delivered in 1991.[85]
Airbus announces its
Zephyr S remained aloft for 25 days 23h 57min for its maiden flight from Arizona, nearly twice as long as the previous
record flight of 14 days set by its predecessor.[92]
Utair Flight 579, a Boeing 737-800, registration VQ-BJI, on a flight from
Vnukovo with 164 passengers and 6 crew, overran the runway and caught fire while landing in
Sochi, injuring 18 people. One airport worker, suffered a
heart attack and couldn't be revived.[100]
2 September
Within the
Airbus Perlan Mission II, Jim Payne and Tim Gardner reached an altitude of 76,124 ft (23,203 m), surpassing the 73,737 ft (22,475 m) attained by Jerry Hoyt on 17 April 1989 in a
Lockheed U-2: the highest subsonic flight.[101]
4 September
Boeing announces the
KC-46 FAA certification.[102]
The Turkish Aerospace
TAI T625 6 t (13,000 lb)
MTOW helicopter makes a 10 min first flight from
Ankara powered by two
LHTEC CTS800s; the 165 kn (306km/h) max, 400 nmi (740km) range aircraft development began in 2010, certification including from
EASA is targeted in 2020 and production from 2021.[104]
As it lacks funds to continue after 14 years, Northern European carrier
Primera Air cease operations ahead of the winter season, after
grounded aircraft and delivery delays led to
flight cancellations, revenue loss and costly
leases, exacerbated by low fares and high
fuel costs.[117]
Embraer introduces the Praetor 500 and 600
business jets with 3,250 nmi and 3,900 nmi of range, to be certified in 2019.[121] Both have larger winglets, the 500 boosts the fuel capacity of the
Legacy 450 while the 600 is based on the
Legacy 500 with tanks on the fuselage belly and more powerful engines.[122]
Cypriot airline
Cobalt Air ceases operations and cancels all flights.[124]
23 October
After 1,900 flight hours, the
Embraer KC-390 received its Brazilian civil type certification, the first production aircraft will be delivered to the
Brazilian Air Force in the first half 2019 and it should reach its military certification by the end of 2019.[125]
Icelandair Group announces a purchase agreement to acquire all shares of low-cost competitor
WOW Air, subject to shareholder agreement.[128]
6 November
The shorter -800 variant of the
A330neo makes its
maiden flight.[129] The 4h 4min flight inaugurated a 350h test program aiming for a mid-2019 type certification and a first half of 2020 delivery to launch operator
Kuwait Airways.[130]
A Boeing 747-400F, operating
Sky Lease Cargo Flight 4854, overruns the runway on landing at Nova Scotia airport, damaging the aircraft beyond repair and resulting in injuries for the crew. The accident was attributed to pilot fatigue.[132][importance?]
Air Astana Flight 1388 from Lisbon Alverca Airport loses flight control during takeoff. After one and a half hours in the air, the pilots manage to regain some control and make an emergency landing at
Beja Airport. Earlier during the flight, the crew requested directions for an
emergency landing on water. The
Portuguese Air Force deploys F-16 fighter jets to communicate with the aircraft. Six crew members but no passengers are on board the flight.[134][importance?]Roll oscillations started immediately after
takeoff,
ailerons were behaving erratically and roll inputs were kept to a minimum:
flight-data records suggest that commands resulted in an opposite responses,
fly-by-wire in direct law improved the situation considerably but control remained difficult.[135]
21 November
First electroaerodynamic thrust ion plane test flight at MIT using
ionic wind.[136]
22 November
Italian manufacturer
Piaggio Aerospace requests to be placed into
receivership after declaring itself
insolvent as its restructuring plan failed, less than a year after its owner, Abu Dhabi investor
Mubadala, injected €255 million ($308 million) and repurchased its bank debt, as the
P.180 Avanti deliveries fell to four in 2018 from 30 in 2008.[137]
26 November
Leased from Avolon, the first
A330neo-900 is delivered to
TAP Air Portugal, featuring 298 seats: 34 full-flat
business, 96 economy plus and 168
economy seats, and to be deployed from Portugal to the Americas and Africa.[138]
Air Berlin's insolvency
administrator sues its former owner
Etihad for 0.5 to 2 billion euros of damages caused by withdrawing its funding before the promised 18 months from April 2017.[149]
15 December
The first
Boeing 737 is delivered, a MAX 8 to
Air China, from the new Chinese completion center in
Zhoushan, 20 months after construction of the 666,000 sq ft (61,900 m2) facility began in a joint venture with
COMAC, as one third of 737 deliveries are going to Chinese customers and China should become the largest airliner market.[150]
17 December
A strategic partnership was announced for the
Boeing-Embraer joint venture for airliners, subject to multiple approvals, while another joint venture to market the
KC-390 will be owned for 51% by Embraer and 49% by Boeing, and will also need similar authorizations.[151]
SkyWest, Inc. sells Atlanta-based
ExpressJet Airlines to KAir Enterprises-
United Airlines joint venture ManaAir for $70 million, the transaction is expected to close in early 2019. A
Continental Airlines subsidiary before 2002 and purchased by SkyWest in 2010, ExpressJet lost $302 million in 2016, $32.5 million in 2017, and $0.23 million in the third quarter of 2018. With 128 aircraft (105
Embraer ERJ-145s, 14
Bombardier CRJ700s and nine
CRJ100/200s) ExpressJet operates regional services for United, and
American Airlines until April 2019. Utah-based SkyWest will retain the CRJs, but will lease 20 CRJ200s to ExpressJet, which will operate 25 United-owned, 70-seat
Embraer 175s.[154]
After 4,050 hours in 1,650 test flights, the
Cessna Citation Longitude receives a provisional
FAA type certification, allowing deliveries in early 2019.[157]
After being delivered in early December, the
Bombardier Global 7500 enters service with 100 secured orders.[158]
21 December
The
Airbus A319neo with CFM Leap-1A engines received a joint type certificate from the
EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) and the
FAA (Federal Aviation Administration).[159]
Safety review
The
EASA reported 530 fatalities in 11 fatal
accidents worldwide in 2018 for
commercial air transport with
large aircraft, up from 67 fatalities in 9 accidents in 2017.[160]
The
Aviation Safety Network reported 556 fatalities in 15 accidents of commercial aircraft for at least 14 passengers or their cargo variants, excluding military aircraft.[161]
The
IATA reported an accident rate of 1.35 per million flights, improving from 1.79 for the previous 5-year period, and 0.19 for jets, down from 0.29, with 11 fatal accidents with 523 fatalities for 4.3 billion passengers on 46.1 million flights.[162]
^"Air France-KLM, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic Sign Definitive Agreements to Strengthen Trans-Atlantic Partnership" (Press release). 15 May 2018.
Air France-KLM,
Delta Air Lines and
Virgin Atlantic
^"Boeing, Safran Agree to Design, Build and Service Auxiliary Power Units" (Press release). 4 June 2018.
SafranArchived 24 September 2020 at the
Wayback Machine,
Boeing