This Year’s Top 10 Airline Developments and 5 Other Top Aviation Stories This Week

The Top 10 Airline Industry Developments in 2019: It was yet another tumultuous year in the airline industry with many storied names (Thomas Cook, for example) going under and the grounding of one of the world’s best-selling jets (the Boeing 737 Max). No one said aviation was an easy business.

How Tiny Sun Country Struck an Unlikely Deal With Amazon to Transport Packages: Sun Country is America’s smallest airline that operates big jets, like Boeing 737s. It competes in a scale business, so it is always at a disadvantage. The good news is that management has been prioritizing innovation.

JetBlue Founder David Neeleman Selects Salt Lake City as Headquarters for New Airline: Utah has always been a fine place to base a regional airline. But it’s an unusual spot to build what is almost certainly going to be a nationwide carrier. But with technology, founder David Neeleman is betting that where an airline is headquartered no longer matters.

Thomas Cook Collapsed Owing at Least $12 Billion: Yes, you read that number correctly. Thomas Cook’s directors have rightly come in for plenty of criticism, but others — including the UK government — need to have their record examined as well.

Boeing Will Stop Making 737 Max Jets as Crisis Continues: You had to think this was going to happen. At some point, Boeing was going to run out of parking lots to store new grounded jets.

U.S. Airlines Seek Airbus Jets Made in America: Airbus doesn’t always get it right. But its plan to build some A320 family aircraft in the United States was a brilliant move. If only it had more capacity to build jets in Alabama, Airbus would be in even better shape.