Boeing hit by quality lapses, certification delays; Airbus soars to dominance

By  Dominic Gates  Seattle Times aerospace reporter While Boeing’s leadership scrambled to contain its latest crisis — following the in-flight door plug blowout on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 — top executives at Airbus confidently laid out the rival’s success in 2023 and its dominance of the commercial airliner business. The data on last year’s jet

NASA and Boeing chase jet contrails with science of climate impact in doubt

By  Dominic Gates  Seattle Times aerospace reporter Scientific debate is getting heated over what to do about airplane contrails — the wispy lines of water vapor you often see trailing behind a jet. Those harmless-looking vapor trails sometimes spread out to form thin cirrus clouds. Environmental activists and nonprofits focused on climate change routinely assert

Seattle needs a new Sea-Tac-sized airport. No one wants it near them

1 of 8 | Jeremy Foust, owner of Left Foot Farm in Eatonville, pauses before feeding his goats. Foust’s goat farm falls inside the circle identified as a possible airport site. (Karen Ducey / The Seattle Times) By  Dominic Gates  Seattle Times aerospace reporter By 2040, Western Washington will need another large airport. State officials

Scorched by climate change, the aviation industry mobilizes for sustainable fuel

By  Dominic Gates  Seattle Times aerospace reporter FARNBOROUGH, England — On the opening days of the Farnborough Air Show, Britain endured record high temperatures and as the mercury climbed past 100 degrees Fahrenheit, people retreated where possible from the scorched runways to the air-conditioned company chalets. This was nature providing a timely reminder of the greatest threat

FedEx close to a deal to operate out of Paine Field as Boeing abandons its 787 Dreamlifter center

 1 of 2 | A Boeing Dreamlifter, bringing 787 parts from Nagoya, Japan, lands at Paine Field in Everett on July 24, 2020. (Mike Siegel / The Seattle Times) By  Dominic Gates  Seattle Times aerospace reporter Boeing is close to finalizing a deal to transfer the lease of its Dreamlifter Operations Center at Paine Field in Everett to

Price tag for Sea-Tac’s new International Arrivals Facility soars to almost $1 billion

A review panel gave a new final estimated cost for the International Arrivals Facility of $968 million, up from the original $608 million. The project is also now eight months behind the original schedule. By Dominic Gates Seattle Times aerospace reporter The latest update on the budget-busting International Arrivals Facility at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport states that