Chinese jet abroad, $4.7 billion deal, American cuts ties - Dec 19
Chinese regional jet makes first international delivery
China's homegrown COMAC ARJ21-700 has been delivered to the manufacturer's first international customer, Indonesia's TransNusa. The airframe is the first of two due to be delivered within two months.
The COMAC ARJ21-700 is capable of flying up to 2,300 miles and will be utilized on the Indonesian carrier's domestic and regional routes. TransNusa is a small carrier, with only three other aircraft at the moment, all Airbus A320-200s leased from aircraft lessors. The airline is also expecting a fourth Airbus narrowbody soon.
While the COMAC ARJ21-700 seeks to break into the regional jet market, against the likes of Embraer, COMAC is also targeting the narrow-body market with its C919, which it intends to compete against the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737.
L3Harris Technologies to purchase Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc
L3Harris Technologies Inc $LHX announced Sunday it plans to purchase Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings $AJRD for $4.7 billion in an all-cash deal. The purchase is related to the rising demand for missiles amid the conflict in Ukraine.
The acquisition will go through at $58 per share, a 6.5% premium over Aerojet's Friday close. Aerojet will add on to L3Harris' Space & Airborne Systems unit, focus don electronic warfare equipment and avionics sensors. The deal is expected to complete in 2023.
Aerojet put itself up for sale following a failed merger with Lockheed Martin Corp earlier this year, which was blocked by antitrust regulators.
American Airlines to end agreement with regional operator Mesa Airlines
American Airlines $AAL announced it plans to terminate its relationship with Mesa Airlines ($MESA) , which operates a network of American Eagle regional routes for American Airlines. Flights will begin winding down in March 2023, and the company's final flight will be April 3. Mesa claims it is negotiating with United to transition its American-branded fleet to United Express, although this claim has been disputed.
NASA signs agreement with AST SpaceMobile
AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS) will cooperate with NASA on spaceflight safety following NASA's Dec 15 announcement that the two will collaborate on data sharing regarding satellite operations, including launch collision avoidance and avoiding conjunctions between their satellites.
FAA warns of Garmin GFC 500 autopilot problems
The FAA has issued a warning related to issues with Garmin's ($GRMN) GFC 500 autopilot equipped with option auto trim, which may result in automatic trim runaway, leading to a significant unintended deviation from the intended flightpath. The GFC 500 is an autopilot system created for smaller certified, experimental, and light sport aircraft. An update to the autopilot's software has been issued.