Northern Jet strengthens operations with Part 145 Repair Station acquisition

Following a year of significant fleet expansion with the addition of seven charter jets in 2024, Northern Jet has further solidified its commitment to the industry by acquiring a Part 145 Repair Station. The move allows the private jet travel company to perform in-house aircraft maintenance, inspections, and alterations.

The Part 145 certification signifies that Northern Jet's maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) practices meet the rigorous standards set by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regarding personnel qualifications and facility requirements. This acquisition not only enhances Northern Jet's internal maintenance capacity but also fosters a transparent relationship with the FAA.

By internalizing more maintenance operations, Northern Jet is poised to streamline processes, further improving service delivery. The reduced dependence on external MRO facilities will enable faster response times, greater efficiency, and enhanced control over maintenance quality.

WestJet adds seasonal Calgary-LaGuardia flights, boosting New York options

Great news for travelers planning a summer escape. WestJet has announced a new seasonal route connecting Calgary International Airport (YYC) directly to New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA), expanding options for flights to the Big Apple.

This new service complements WestJet's existing year-round flights between Calgary and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), providing even more flexibility for travel plans.

Starting May 24, you can enjoy a direct flight from Calgary to LaGuardia, making it easier than ever to experience the magic of New York City. Whether you're dreaming of catching a Broadway show, exploring Central Park, or cheering on the Yankees, this new route offers a convenient gateway to all the city has to offer.

"There is a significant appetite for flights to New York, either for visiting the city itself to watch a Broadway show, concert, catch a Yankees game, visit Central Park, or just to connect onward," said Daniel Fajardo, WestJet vice-president of Network and Schedule Planning. "The addition of this route boosts our ability to meet this demand and provide guests with more options."

The seasonal service will operate once weekly, with flights departing Calgary at 8:15 a.m. and arriving at LaGuardia at 3:05 p.m. Return flights leave LaGuardia at 4:00 p.m. and arrive in Calgary at 7:35 p.m. This route is available for travel between May 24 and Aug. 30. Don't forget, WestJet's year-round service from Calgary to JFK remains in place, offering even more travel flexibility.

Tickets for the Calgary-LaGuardia route go on sale starting Jan. 20. Be sure to book early to secure your spot on this popular route for the summer months.

Now with over 180 aircraft and 100 destinations, WestJet continues to be a leading choice for air travel.

Two lunar landers on their way to the moon

Like turning back in time, before the Apollo missions, two robotic lunar landers were sent into space on Wednesday to land on the moon before NASA sends astronauts.  Have you heard this story before?

A Falcon 9 rocket, developed by SpaceX, was successfully launched on Wednesday at 1:11 a.m. EST from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The vehicle carried Blue Ghost, a lander developed by Texas-based Firefly Aerospace, and Resilience, a lander developed by Japan-based company ispace. The mission will also carry out experiments for NASA.

Firefly’s Blue Ghost commercial lander is designed to carry customer experiments to the Moon. For this first mission, the lander is carrying out 10 NASA science and technology investigations as part of the agency's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative.

Now in space after a successful launch, Resilience and Blue Ghost will spend approximately 45 days in transit to the Moon before landing on the surface.

The Blue Ghost lander will test and demonstrate lunar subsurface drilling technology, regolith sample collection capabilities, global navigation satellite system abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation methods.

The approximately 60-day mission for Blue Ghost will be operated from Firefly’s Mission Operations Center in Cedar Park, Texas. The mission will land near a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille within Mare Crisium, a more than 300-mile-wide basin located in the northeast quadrant of the Moon's near side.

From Japan, the Resilience lander carries a micro rover named Tenacious that will travel to the surface of the moon.

The NASA scientific investigations and technology demonstrations aboard Blue Ghost will provide insights into the Moon's environment that will support future astronaut landings.

Firefly is targeting a lunar landing on March 2 for Blue Ghost.

Following the launch, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said each scientific instrument and technology demonstration on these missions brings the agency closer to its vision.

"Each flight we're part of is vital step in the larger blueprint to establish a responsible, sustained human presence at the Moon, Mars, and beyond,” Melroy said.

Ten NASA payloads are flying on this mission under the CLPS program:

• Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity will characterize heat flow from the interior of the Moon by measuring the thermal gradient and conductivity of the lunar subsurface. It will take several measurements to about a 10-foot final depth using pneumatic drilling technology with a custom heat flow needle instrument at its tip. Lead organization: Texas Tech University
• Lunar PlanetVac is designed to collect regolith samples from the lunar surface using a burst of compressed gas to drive the regolith into a sample chamber for collection and analysis by various instruments. Additional instrumentation will then transmit the results back to Earth. Lead organization: Honeybee Robotics
• Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector serves as a target for lasers on Earth to precisely measure the distance between Earth and the Moon. The retroreflector that will fly on this mission could also collect data to understand various aspects of the lunar interior and address fundamental physics questions. Lead organization: University of Maryland
• Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC) will determine how lunar regolith sticks to a range of materials exposed to the Moon's environment throughout the lunar day. The RAC instrument will measure accumulation rates of lunar regolith on the surfaces of several materials including solar cells, optical systems, coatings, and sensors through imaging to determine their ability to repel or shed lunar dust. The data captured will allow the industry to test, improve, and protect spacecraft, spacesuits, and habitats from abrasive regolith. Lead organization: Aegis Aerospace
• Radiation Tolerant Computer (RadPC) will demonstrate a computer that can recover from faults caused by ionizing radiation. Several RadPC prototypes have been tested aboard the International Space Station and Earth-orbiting satellites but now will demonstrate the computer's ability to withstand space radiation as it passes through Earth's radiation belts, while in transit to the Moon, and on the lunar surface. Lead organization: Montana State University
• Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) is an active dust mitigation technology that uses electric fields to move and prevent hazardous lunar dust accumulation on surfaces. The EDS technology is designed to lift, transport, and remove particles from surfaces with no moving parts. Multiple tests will demonstrate the feasibility of the self-cleaning glasses and thermal radiator surfaces on the Moon. In the event the surfaces do not receive dust during landing, EDS can re-dust itself using the same technology. Lead organization: NASA's Kennedy Space Center
• Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager will capture a series of X-ray images to study the interaction of solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field that drives geomagnetic disturbances and storms. Deployed and operated on the lunar surface, this instrument will provide the first global images showing the edge of Earth's magnetic field for critical insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces surrounding our planet impact it. Lead organizations: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Boston University, and Johns Hopkins University
• Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder will characterize the structure and composition of the Moon's mantle by measuring electric and magnetic fields. This investigation will help determine the Moon's temperature structure and thermal evolution to understand how the Moon has cooled and chemically differentiated since it formed. Lead organization: Southwest Research Institute
• Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) will demonstrate the possibility of acquiring and tracking signals from Global Navigation Satellite System constellations, specifically GPS and Galileo, during transit to the Moon, during lunar orbit, and on the lunar surface. If successful, LuGRE will be the first pathfinder for future lunar spacecraft to use existing Earth-based navigation constellations to autonomously and accurately estimate their position, velocity, and time. Lead organizations: NASA Goddard, Italian Space Agency
• Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies will use stereo imaging photogrammetry to capture the impact of rocket plume on lunar regolith as the lander descends on the Moon's surface. The high-resolution stereo images will aid in creating models to predict lunar regolith erosion, which is an important task as bigger, heavier payloads are delivered to the Moon near each other. This instrument also flew on Intuitive Machine's first CLPS delivery. Lead organization: NASA's Langley Research Center

NASA has already awarded 11 CLPS deliveries and plans to continue to select two more flights per year.

Condor airline selects new terminal at JFK for service in 2026

JFK Millennium Partners, the company chosen by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey to build and operate the new Terminal 6 (T6) at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), announced on Monday that Condor airline has selected the new facility for its future operations.

Condor joins a growing list of award-winning, international carriers who have chosen to make the new T6 their future home at JFK, including Air Canada, Aer Lingus, ANA, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Cathay Pacific, JetBlue, Lufthansa, Norse Atlantic Airways and SWISS.

Terminal 6 is a key component of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's $19 billion transformation of JFK Airport into a world-class gateway, with two new terminals, two expanded and modernized terminals, a new ground transportation center, and an entirely new, simplified roadway network.

Condor, which has been serving the JFK market since 2014, operates year-round service from JFK Terminal 7 to Frankfurt, Germany using its Airbus A330neo aircraft in a three-cabin configuration.

"Condor has been an excellent partner at T7, and we are thrilled that they've put their trust in our JMP team once again by joining us in the new T6," said Steve Thody, CEO, JFK Millennium Partners.

The plan is to have the first T6 gates open in early 2026.

"As New York/JFK is one of our most important North American gateways, we are extremely thrilled to be moving into the new, state-of-the art T6," said Mikko Turtiainen, director of sales, The Americas, Condor. "Condor passengers will also enjoy seamless connections to our partner JetBlue's Terminal 5 operations, located just a short walk from T6 gates."

About JFK Terminal 6

Currently under construction at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Terminal 6 is being developed in two phases, with the first six gates opening in 2026 and construction completion expected by 2028. Terminal 6 features include:

• 10 gates, of which nine will accommodate widebody aircraft
• State-of-the-art automated baggage system, customs/border control facilities, and the latest TSA screening technologies
• One of the longest departures curbs at JFK, with airline-branded passenger drop-off zones
• Multiple airline lounges, in addition to a new arrivals lounge
• A new ground transportation center
• A curated collection of New York City-inspired artwork featuring local and international artists, curated by the Public Art Fund in partnership with JMP and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey
• Sustainably sourced building materials, rooftop solar power, and energy-efficient systems and operating practices throughout the terminal
• Sustainability certifications for LEED (silver or gold), Envision, and SITES underway

Starship Flight 7 will attempt satellite deployment test

The seventh flight test of SpaceX’s Starship is scheduled for Wednesday (Jan. 15). The launch window will open at 5:00 p.m. EST. The upcoming flight will launch a new generation Starship with significant upgrades.

The highlight of the mission will be Starship's first attempt to deploy test satellites in space. The vehicle will also carry multiple reentry experiments geared towards ship catch and reuse. The mission will also include the recovery of the Super Heavy booster after liftoff.

Vehicle Upgrades

The Starship upper stage will debut a series of upgrades on this flight test, “bringing major improvements to reliability and performance,” SpaceX said in a mission update.

“The vehicle’s forward flaps have been reduced in size and shifted towards the vehicle tip and away from the heat shield, significantly reducing their exposure to reentry heating while simplifying the underlying mechanisms and protective tiling.”

Redesigns to the propulsion system include a 25% increase in propellant volume.

The ship’s heat shield will also use the latest generation tiles and includes a backup layer for protection from missing or damaged tiles.

The vehicle’s avionics underwent a complete redesign, adding additional capability and redundancy for increasingly complex missions like propellant transfer and ship return to the launch site. Avionics upgrades included a more powerful flight computer.

Video During Flight

With a link to the company’s Starlink satellite network, Starship is capable of streaming real-time high-definition video and telemetry in every phase of flight.

While in space, Starship will deploy 10 Starlink simulators, similar in size and weight to next-generation satellites for the network. This will be the first exercise of a test satellite deployment mission. The Starlink simulators will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship, with splashdown targeted in the Indian Ocean.

Starship will also attempt to refire a single Raptor engine while in space.

The ship’s reentry profile is being designed to intentionally stress the structural limits of the flaps while at the point of maximum entry dynamic pressure.

Super Heavy Booster Upgrades

The launch system will continue to demonstrate its reusability. The Super Heavy booster for Flight Test 7 will reuse a Raptor engine from the booster launched on Flight Test 5.

Hardware upgrades to the launch tower will increase the reliability of catching the Super Heavy booster when it returns to the launch site. During the last Super Heavy Booster mission, sensors on the tower were damaged at launch resulting in the booster performing a landing in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Distinct vehicle and pad criteria must be met prior to a return and catch of the Super Heavy booster, requiring healthy systems on the booster and tower and a final manual command from the mission’s Flight Director,” SpaceX said. “If this command is not sent prior to the completion of the boostback burn, or if automated health checks show unacceptable conditions with Super Heavy or the tower, the booster will default to a trajectory that takes it to a landing burn and soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.”

The returning booster will be slowing down from supersonic speeds, resulting in audible sonic booms in the area around the landing zone.

Law firms line up to investigate Southwest Airlines for shareholders

Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announced this week that it is investigating potential breaches of fiduciary duties by Southwest Airlines' directors and officers regarding its information technology infrastructure, which impacts the company's business, operations, and stock price. The law firm invites investors to contact them through their website.

“If you purchased Southwest Airlines Co. securities and would like to receive information about our investigation concerning the class action to recover your losses in Southwest Airlines Co. securities, please provide us the information in the form below.”

The firm made its announcement following a series of shakeups within the airline recently:

• Longtime leaders at Southwest Airlines are out
• Southwest Airlines sells and leasebacks 36 aircraft to raise cash

In December, Los Angeles-based Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, said that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Southwest Airlines for violations of the securities laws.

The investigation focuses on whether the company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors.

Texas-based Firefly Aerospace ready to land on the moon in March

A lunar lander set for launch on Jan. 15 will investigate and help NASA understand the Moon's environment, setting the stage for humans to return to the surface in the future. The unmanned lander, named Blue Ghost Mission 1, is the first of three developed by Firefly Aerospace based in Texas.

The Blue Ghost lander is flying annual missions to the Moon with payload services customized to the technology and exploration goals of each customer. For this first mission, the lander will carry out 10 NASA science and technology investigations as part of the agency's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative.

The mission will lift off at 1:11 a.m. EST on Jan. 15 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

After launch, Firefly's Blue Ghost lander will spend approximately 45 days in transit to the Moon before landing on the surface in early March.

The lander will test and demonstrate lunar subsurface drilling technology, regolith sample collection capabilities, global navigation satellite system abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation methods.

The approximately 60-day mission will be operated from Firefly’s Mission Operations Center in Cedar Park, Texas.