An aviation commentator has hit back at a judge's criticisms of the pressure put on pilots during yesterday's sentencing of a Pacific Blue pilot.

A pilot accused of booze-fuelled antics at a Sydney hotel and supplying a colleague with drugs during a spa pool party was rightly sacked, a court has ruled.

A judge who sentenced a Pacific Blue pilot for his careless Queenstown take-off has raised concerns about industry pressure to keep passenger aircraft "off the ground".

Boeing's 787 fleet is a step closer to getting back in the air after a test flight that went "according to plan".

A pilot who operated a commercial passenger jet in a careless manner in Queenstown has been fined $5100 and must do extensive retraining.

Alexia Santamaria joins Mt Maunganui's magnificent men in their flying machines.

I've only once felt a fear of flying. We were four passengers and a pilot in an ageing Britten-Norman Islander.

The Hawaiian Airlines president and chief executive's love of aviation developed as a child frequently flying across the Atlantic from the United States to Britain.

Passengers on board remained blissfully unaware as emergency services rushed to the runway at Auckland International Airport after a Thai Airways flight blew a tyre.

After 13 years of deliberation and debate, the much-loved Transport Safety Administration will allow airline passengers to carry small pocket knives on planes for the first time.

A top ranking Cathay Pacific executive is upbeat about the airline's New Zealand route and its global strategy despite flying into a rough financial patch in the first half of the year.

The pilot of a helicopter which crashed in a remote valley near Turangi had been flying for only a couple of years but was "not green", his brother says.

The Pacific Blue airline pilot convicted of flying carelessly out of Queenstown made a series of mistakes that "seriously impacted" on safety margins, says a judge.

We are, you might like to know, probably doomed. This is because, in the 21st century, efficient, large, well-connected airports matter to prosperity above everything else.

Negotiations this month could allow Qatar Airways, one of the fastest-growing airlines in the world - to fly to New Zealand.

The lead pilot of the air force's fatal Anzac Day formation is being made a scapegoat for failures right up the command chain, says the father of one of the men who died in the 2010 crash.

The flight training industry stands on the threshhold, says Lyn Neeson: either tighten regulations now or lose more of the country's finest young pilots.

Captain Ravendra Pal Singh, convicted of assaulting two student pilots in a cockpit 1500ft above the ground, compares himself to Jesus Christ.

An Air NZ pilot who fell into a deep sleep twice while at the controls of a passenger flight says he was fatigued because he couldn't rest properly in London hotels.

Air New Zealand remains confident it will get three Boeing 787 Dreamliners by the end of next year despite battery problems that have grounded the plane around the world.

Air New Zealand has more than doubled it first-half profit after lifting passenger volumes and boosting yields on international routes.

The Civil Aviation Authority has attributed blame for the Carterton balloon tragedy partly to failures by the pilot Lance Hopping.

A mother-of-two asked to leave an Air New Zealand flight before take off because her youngest son wouldn't settle has divided parents, with several supporting the airline's actions.

Hawaiian Airlines is bucking the industry trend with its rapid expansion during the past 2 years.