Airbus urges airlines to replace air speed devices on its planes

September 17th, 2009 Airbus sees signs of recovery after rocky spellLONDON — Airbus' chief salesman John Leahy said Thursday he is optimistic that the airline industry is recovering — although he warned that financing conditions remain tight. "Recessions begin, they have a middle and an end.

September 3rd, 2009 FAA orders replacement of Airbus airspeed sensorsWASHINGTON — U.S. officials on Thursday ordered the replacement of Airbus airspeed sensors of the type suspected of playing a role in the loss of Air France Flight 447 and all 228 people aboard in June.

August 21st, 2009 Air France sued over plane crash investigationPARIS — A lawyer says the family of a French flight attendant who perished in an Air France plane crash on June 1 over the Atlantic Ocean is suing the airline to force it to release information on what caused the tragedy. The Airbus jet went down while flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

August 8th, 2009 AP Enterprise: Faulty speed sensors found on jetsWASHINGTON —The discovery of faulty airspeed sensors on some Northwest Airlines jets suggests the equipment problems are more widespread than previously believed and could provide clues to the cause of the Air France crash that killed 228 people in June. Federal aviation officials say that on at least a dozen recent flights malfunctioning equipment made it impossible for the pilots to know how fast they were flying.

August 7th, 2009 AP Enterprise: Airspeed systems failed on US jetsWASHINGTON —On at least a dozen recent flights by U.S. jetliners, malfunctioning equipment made it impossible for pilots to know how fast they were flying, federal investigators have discovered.

July 31st, 2009 Euro regulators order Airbus sensors replacedBRUSSELS — European air safety regulators told world airlines on Friday they will have to replace hundreds of air speed sensors of the type that may have contributed to the Air France Airbus A330 crash in the Atlantic Ocean in June. The announcement came after Airbus recommended that airlines flying its planes exchange some of the speed sensors manufactured by Thales Corp.

July 29th, 2009 Ethiopian Airlines aims to buy 12 Airbus A350 XWBsPARIS — Airbus says Ethiopian Airlines has signed a memorandum of understanding to buy 12 of its Airbus A350 XWB aircraft. The A350-900s have an average list price of $241 million, giving the deal an estimated potential value of $2.9 billion.

June 22nd, 2009 Virgin Atlantic orders 10 Airbus A330sPARIS — Virgin Atlantic Airways has ordered 10 Airbus A330-300 passenger jets worth more than $2 billion at list prices, Airbus said Monday. The European aircraft manufacturer said Virgin Atlantic will buy six of the the wide-body, twin-engine jets from Airbus and will lease another four from AerCap, the Netherlands-based aircraft leasing company.

June 10th, 2009 Airlines replace monitors after Air France crashRECIFE, Brazil — A French nuclear submarine reached the crash zone of Air France Flight 447 on Wednesday to comb the Atlantic depths for black boxes that should help determine what brought the Airbus down in the sea off Brazil with 228 people on board. The slow-moving attack sub Emeraude will be able to trawl patches of about 13 square miles (35 square kilometers) a day trying to pick up the boxes' acoustic beacons or "pingers," which are expected to start to fade 30 days after the crash, French armed forces spokesman Christophe Prazuck said Wednesday.

June 9th, 2009 Airline chiefs dismiss safety fears over A330 jetsKUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Several airline chiefs dismissed safety fears over the Airbus A330 on Tuesday, saying they were confident of the plane's reliability despite last week's Air France jet crash. Emirates airlines President Tim Clark said the Dubai-based company has a fleet of 29 A330-200 planes that have been flying since 1998.

June 9th, 2009 union: All Air France jets have new speed monitorsPARIS — A spokesman for a pilots' union says all Air France jets taking off now have been equipped with two new-generation speed sensors. The so-called Pitot tubes on the outside of an aircaft are under suspicion in the crash of Air France Flight 447 into the Atlantic Ocean.

June 4th, 2009 United goes jet shopping with Boeing and AirbusUnited Airlines is on a jet shopping spree, seeking dueling proposals from Boeing and Airbus to replace the biggest jets that make up nearly half of its fleet. If United really takes delivery, the planes will rejuvenate its fleet and signal that the airline may be aiming to stick around for the long-term after years of appearing to be mostly interested in merging with another carrier.

June 4th, 2009 Boeing to negotiate with United over new airplanesPITTSBURGH — Airplane maker Boeing Co. said Thursday it will hold discussions with United Airlines over a possible order for new aircraft, after a newspaper reported the carrier had sought bids from Boeing and rival Airbus for up to 150 new jets.

June 1st, 2009 A glance at the Airbus A330-200Some details about the Airbus A330-200 jets, after one disappeared Monday en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. — According to the Aviation Safety Network, there has not been a fatal accident for this type of plane since a 1994 test flight blamed on the type of the test and its execution by the crew.

March 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - European aircraft manufacturer Airbus Industrie has once again initiated talks with India's flagship carrier Air India to sell its jumbo A-380 aircraft, a senior company official said Tuesday. 'Yes, we are in talks with Air India for our A-380 aircraft,' Srinivasan Dwarkanath, head of international cooperation, India and East Asia at Airbus, told IANS on the sidelines of a press meet here.