This is a list of aviation-related events in 2019.
Orders and deliveries
Airbus took 768 net orders in 2019 and delivered 863 aircraft up from 800 in 2018: 642 Airbus A320s (including 551 A320neos), 112 Airbus A350s, 53 Airbus A330s (included 41 A330neos), 48 Airbus A220s and eight Airbus A380s.
Events January
3 January Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher dies at 87. 10 January Air France ends its Joon brand, began in December 2017, and will reintegrate its aircraft and crew. Boeing delivers the first 767-based KC-46A Pegasus Tanker to the U.S. Air Force. 11 January UK regional operator Flybe acquisition is proposed for £2.2 million cash by Connect Airways, a joint company of Virgin Atlantic (30%), Stobart Aviation (30%) and fund manager Cyrus Capital (40%). 13 January Iran Aseman Airlines flies the last passenger Boeing 727 flight in the world. All remaining examples are now freighters. 14 January A Saha Airlines Boeing 707 crashes at Fath Air Base in Iran, killing all but one of the 16 people on board. It was the last remaining 707 in civil operation. 16 January Airbus breaks ground for a new A220 final assembly line (FAL) in Mobile, Alabama, a $300 million investment after the $600 million previously committed for the Airbus A320 FAL, to begin deliveries in 2020. 19 January During a flight from Nantes Atlantique Airport in Nantes, France, to Cardiff Airport in Cardiff, Wales, Argentine professional footballer Emiliano Sala and his pilot die in the crash of their Piper PA-46 Malibu in the English Channel about northwest of Alderney in the Channel Islands..
February
4 February Germania Fluggesellschaft, its sister maintenance company Germania Technik Brandenburg and Germania Flugdienste files for insolvency and end flight operations.
6 February Bombardier Aerospace launches the CRJ550 variant of the CRJ700, with an order for 50 from United Airlines, with 50 seats in three classes to comply with US pilots' scope clauses.
14 February Airbus announces that it will end production of the A380 in 2021 after Emirates decides to replace its last orders for 39 planes by 30 A350s and 40 A330neos.
16 February Flybmi, ceases operations and files for administration; Flybmi operated 17 regional jets to 25 European cities, employed 376 employees and carried 522,000 passengers on 29,000 flights in 2018.
19–21 February The British Royal Air Force stages flypasts of Tornado aircraft to mark their withdrawal from its service.
20–24 February Aero India is held in Bangalore.
23 February During approach to Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, a Boeing 767 freighter, Atlas Air Flight 3591, crashes into Trinity Bay in Texas, killing all three people (2 crew members and one passenger) on board.
26 February – 2 March Avalon Australian International Airshow is held at Avalon Airport.
26 February The Boeing–Embraer joint venture is approved by Embraer's shareholders.
27 February VietJet Air purchases 100 Boeing 737 MAX for $12.7 billion at list prices, including 20 MAX 8s and 80 larger MAX 10s, during the 2019 Hanoi Summit.
March
5 March The Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie, a stealthy unmanned combat air vehicle demonstrator for the US Air Force Research Laboratory, makes its first flight at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona.
10 March Shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, crashes near the Ethiopian town of Bishoftu, killing all 157 people on board and becoming the deadliest aviation disaster of 2019.
13 March The Boeing 737 MAX is grounded worldwide, prompted by similarities between the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes. The Boeing 777-9X prototype is rolled-out in a low-key employees-only event.
21 March The first flight of the Sikorsky–Boeing SB-1 Defiant high-speed compound helicopter takes place in West Palm Beach, Florida.
25 March During Chinese leader's Xi Jinping state visit to France, China Aviation Supplies Holding Company commits to 290 Airbus A320 and 10 Airbus A350, worth $34 billion at list prices before discounts, though this general terms agreement does not necessarily correspond to 300 new orders.
27 March Cathay Pacific takes over LCC rival HK Express for HK$4.93 billion ($628 million), to close by the end of 2019; HK Express operates 23 Airbus A320 on 25 routes from Hong Kong to Japan and Southeast Asia.
28 March Wow Air ceases operations and cancels all flights. It operated transatlantic services via its hub at Keflavík International Airport.
30 March The Ilyushin Il-112, the first military transport plane designed in post-Soviet Russia and capable of carrying of up to 5 tonnes, performs its first flight.
April 2–7 April Sun 'n Fun is held in Lakeland, Florida, USA.
8 April Six years after its launch, the five-seat Flaris LAR01 makes its first flight at Zielona Góra Airport in western Poland powered by a single Williams FJ33 turbofan, targeting Polish S-1 experimental aircraft certification by the end of 2019 to start deliveries to local customers and EASA CS-23 certification aimed for the end of 2020.
9 April The United States Government threatens to place tariffs on European Union products over improper Airbus subsidies.
10 April Guillaume Faury is appointed Airbus Chief Executive Officer, replacing Tom Enders.
10–13 April AERO Friedrichshafen is held in Germany.
13 April After more than a year of ground testing, the Scaled Composites Stratolaunch air-launch carrier completes its maiden flight from Mojave Air and Space Port in California: the largest aircraft by wingspan.
17 April The Indian carrier Jet Airways suspended operations until further notice.
24 April United Airlines officially unveiled a new livery. The Airbus ACJ319neo, which is the corporate jet version of the A319neo, completed its first flight.
May
May British forces first deploy Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter jets operationally, from RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus in Operation Shader reconnaissance activities.
3 May The Airbus CityAirbus makes its first flight unmanned. Miami Air International Flight 293, a Boeing 737-800, overshoots the runway at Jacksonville Naval Air Station with no loss of life.
5 May Aeroflot Flight 1492, a Sukhoi Superjet 100, bursts into flames while making an emergency landing at Moscow-Sheremetyevo airport; 41 were reported dead out of the 78 occupants.
11 May Bristow Helicopters parent Bristow Group enters Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, affecting North America operations, but leaving overseas operations unchanged.
13 May WestJet receives a C$3.5 billion buyout offer from Onex Corporation, the private equity firm of billionaire Gerry Schwartz.
15 May Determining that conditions in Venezuela threaten the safety and security of passengers, aircraft, and crew, the United States Department of Homeland Security suspends all commercial passenger and cargo flights between the United States and Venezuela. The United States Department of Transportation simultaneously orders the suspension of all foreign air transportation for passengers or cargo to or from any airport in Venezuela. Flights between the United States and Venezuela will not resume until 30 April 2026.
16 May Air Canada bids C$520 million ($387.5 million) to buy Canadian tour operator Transat A.T., leisure carrier Air Transat's parent company.
20 May The 12,000th Airbus, an A220, is delivered to Delta Air Lines.
21–23 May EBACE is held in Geneva, Switzerland
24 May Avianca Brazil operations, under bankruptcy protection since December 2018, are suspended by Brazil's civil aviation authority ANAC.
29 May Airbus celebrates the 50th anniversary of its original partnership agreement launching the A300, with a flypast over Toulouse of its aircraft including the A220, A320, A330neo, A350 XWB, A380 and BelugaXL, along with the Patrouille de France.
June 3 June Longview Aviation Capital establishes De Havilland Canada to take over the Dash 8 programme from Bombardier Aerospace, reuniting all DHC aircraft under their historic name. An Antonov An-32 belonging to the Indian Air Force crashes in Arunachal Pradesh, India, killing all 13 occupants. The wreckage of the aircraft was found on 11 June.
9 June United Technologies and Raytheon announce their proposed merge to form a $74 billion per year aerospace and defense company, providing aircraft engines, parts, avionics, interiors, missiles and technology; the deal could close in the first half of 2020.
13 June Mitsubishi Aircraft re-brands its Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) as the SpaceJet: the MRJ90 becomes the SpaceJet M90; the SpaceJet M100 is a shorter derivative seating 76 to meet US scope clauses, longer than the cancelled MRJ70. Daher, the manufacturer of the SOCATA TBM high-speed single turboprop, is to buy US Quest Aircraft, builder of the Quest Kodiak utility single turboprop, from Japanese Setouchi Holdings, its owner since 2015: the acquisition should close by the end of the year.
14 June Roger Béteille, one of the founders of Airbus and initiators of the A300 project, alongside Henri Ziegler and Felix Kracht, dies at 97.
17 June Paris Air Show opens in Le Bourget, France. The Airbus A321XLR is launched at the Paris Air Show, with deliveries expected from 2023. It will offer of range and feature a new permanent Rear Centre Tank (RCT) for more fuel, a strengthened landing gear for a MTOW, and an optimised wing trailing-edge flap to preserve take-off performance.
18 June Partners on the E-Fan X demonstrator, Rolls-Royce plc announces its acquisition of Siemens' electric propulsion branch, to be completed in late 2019, employing 180 in Germany and Hungary.
19 June At the Paris Air Show, International Airlines Group signs a letter of intent for 200 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 10, valued at more than $24 billion at list prices, expressing its confidence and expecting a successful return to service after the Boeing 737 MAX groundings; IAG operates almost exclusively Airbus A320 family narrowbodies, and wants to spur competition in its fleet by operating the MAX at least in its low-cost affiliates Vueling and Level, being also the parent company of Aer Lingus, British Airways and Iberia. The Dutch Public Prosecution Service names four suspects in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17: Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Leonid Kharchenko.
23 June The Paris Air Show ends with 866 aircraft commitments totalling $60.9 billion (130 firm orders, 562 LoI/MoU, 119 options and 55 options on LoIs): 388 for Airbus including 243 A321XLRs and 85 A220s, 232 for Boeing including 200 737 MAXes for IAG, 145 for ATR and 78 for Embraer; 558 narrowbodies, 62 widebodies, 93 regional jets and 153 turboprops.
25 June Bombardier Aviation sells its remaining airliner programme, the CRJ series, to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, in a deal expected to close in the first half of 2020 subject to regulatory approval, and refocuses on its business jet programmes.
28 June Gulfstream announced its G600 type and production certificates from the FAA, before first deliveries later in the year.
July 11 July At 73, Norwegian Air Shuttle chief executive Bjørn Kjos steps down from his role after 17 years, having transformed the operator from a small regional airline to a pan-European budget carrier and launched transatlantic low-cost long-haul flights.
17 July Textron suspends the Cessna Citation Hemisphere business jet development as its Safran Silvercrest turbofans did not meet objectives.
22–28 July EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is held in Wisconsin, USA.
August 9 August Abbotsford International Airshow is held August 9–13, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 15 August