Honeywell flies 757 testbed to Hamilton ahead of aerospace spin-off

Honeywell flew its Boeing 757 testbed (tail N757HW) from Winslow, Arizona, to Hamilton, Ontario, on June 15, a 3-hour 9-minute hop that parked a key piece of the company's flight-test fleet at a facility near Toronto. The aircraft, a former airliner converted to carry Honeywell Aerospace's engine and systems development payloads, often moves between test centers and maintenance bases.

The trip lands the test jet in southern Ontario the same week Honeywell Aerospace is preparing to spin off from parent Honeywell International on June 29, after which the aerospace unit will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol HONA, according to a FlightGlobal report on June 3. The company's CEO, Vimal Kapur, told Semafor on June 12 that the breakup is the culmination of an 18-month program to simplify the conglomerate, with the remaining automation business rebranded as Honeywell Technologies and the aerospace division gaining autonomy in investments and supply-chain management.

The testbed last flew on June 8 between stops in the Southwest and the Midwest, part of pattern of hops that keep N757HW near Honeywell Aerospace's main development sites. The aircraft's arrival in Hamilton, which sits near major aerospace maintenance facilities and Toronto-area suppliers, is consistent with a back-to-basics operational focus the new standalone company has emphasized, per FlightGlobal.