October 2009 Archives

Captain Chesley B (Sully) Sullenberger and some of his crew, (Donna Dent, Sheila Dail) who ensured the safety of all 150 passengers after the US Airways A320 Flight 1549, crash-landed in the Hudson River west of New York City after a departure from LaGuardia Airport. 

Sully accepted the Master's Medal for "an outstanding aviation achievement" from Air Cdr Rick Peacock-Edwards , Immediate Past Master (GAPAN) last night at The Guild's Annual Trophies & Awards Banquet in London's Guildhall for his and his crew's actions back in January following a bird strike and double engine failure.   

Related content:

VIDEO: US Airways A320 crew showed the world how ditching should be done

US Airways A320 Flight 1549 coverage on Flightglobal and the rest of the web

On 29 October 1998, John Glenn became the oldest person to enter space as STS95/Space Shuttle Discovery hosted him as a payload specialist.

You can read our original coverage here from the archives. A few months earlier we pondered whether his trip was for scientific purposes of just a "romantic ego trip". What did we reckon? Find out here.

Maybe there is such a thing as bad publicity.

The Age reports:

Qantas says it does not deserve "in any way" the "Shonky" award it received from Choice today, for what the consumer watchdog believes is the airline's "sky-high" surcharge on bookings made with a credit card.

The Shonky awards - now in their fourth year - aim to name and shame "dubious, dodgy and doubtful" products on the basis of their performance, pricing and marketing claims, Choice said.

Qantas charges each passenger $7.70 to purchase domestic tickets with a credit card, while international flights incur a $25 surcharge. Other Australian airlines (Jetstar, Tiger, and Virgin) charge credit card fees, but not as high as Qantas does.

Yes, credit card companies charge outlets whenever someone uses a credit card, but as the Shonky award identified, Qantas is going excessive.

Update 25 November: For a broader perspective on credit card merchant fees and if Australian practices could be carried over to the United States, see this New York Times article.

Shell Aviation is celebrating its centenary at the forefront of aviation technology & innovation this year - a milestone marked by the 100th anniversary of the Blériot cross-channel flight of 1909. This video celebrates this achievement with a look at a hundred years of aviation development and Shell's contribution to it.

Earlier this month Shell and Qatar Airways achieved the first passenger gas-to-liquid flight. Read our coverage about it here and here.




Two weeks ago we showed another video Shell created to celebrates its centenary.

Air New Zealand's announcement that it is looking at having economy class "seat beds" is not surprising.

The grapevine has been chatting for a while there would be major innovation in the on-board economy product on the carrier's new B777-300ERs, due to be delivered next year. Most rumours favoured the idea of sleeping bunks, but the seat bed idea is close enough.

Under the plan, Air NZ will offer economy customers the ability to purchase the seat next to them if it is not occupied. The two seats will then be able to form a bed.

What to do with empty seats is a potential revenue stream that has been overlooked in an industry that constantly tries to ensure every seat is filled but never (understandably) achieves that.

Last year Air NZ started a programme where on flights to the US passengers could pay an extra $75 and guarantee the seat next to them would be empty. According to one report, up to 10 passengers on each flight would select the option. (There are approximately 240 seats on an Air NZ B777-200.)

I would be curious to know what the cost is of flying an empty seat in Air NZ's case. With no meal to feed it and no fuel to carry the person and his/her luggage, could Air NZ make a greater profit with a passenger in that seat or with someone paying $75 for the seat to be empty?

Any bean counters willing to crunch some numbers?

Update
Air NZ has released this statement from General Manager International Airline Ed Sims.

The current speculation about Air New Zealand launching a lie flat economy class bed is misleading. While improving personal space and allowing our Economy passengers to sleep flat remains our Holy Grail we are still in the middle of a research and development process to deliver the world's best long-haul travel.  Our design and prototyping that involves more than 20 options has some months to go and only five or six of these options might fly.

Our break through thinking will not be limited to seat design. We've had some of the best technical, engineering, research and customer service brains in Air New Zealand, and from around the world, working on a range of ground breaking products.  We're also redesigning our aircraft livery, our uniform and a whole range of other products that will change the way our customers fly.

The most significant innovations will be revealed with the launch of our new long-haul product for our new Boeing 777-300ERs, which start arriving in late 2010.

It may not be Webster's dictionary or the OED, but Urban Dictionary has coined a new phrase in response to Northwest flight 188, which last week overshot its destination by 150nm.

Welcome to your lexicon "Northwest Nap", today's Urban Dictionary Word of the Day.

Urban Dictionary defines it as:

Next year's Gordon Bennett Ballooning Cup, or Coupe Aeronautique Gordon Bennett, will be held in the UK for the first time in the cup's history.

The cup was inaugurated in 1906 and was frequently held until WW II. It went on hiatus until the 1980s when it was revived. At the 2009 cup, Britons Janet Folkes and Ann-Ruth Rich broke the female duration world record flying for almost 70 hours covering 1,100 kms from Geneva to Madrid.

During their flight they made this excellent video that has some spectacular views.




Flightglobal regularly featured this event in the 1900s. This page from 1909 tells readers about the upcoming event. Stay tuned to Flightglobal for coverage on next year's cup.

EVERETT, Wash., Oct. 19, 2009 - Cathay Pacific Airways 12th Boeing 777-300ER sports a special oneworld alliance livery as it takes off for a test flight at Paine Field in Everett, Wash. The new airplane expands the airline's 777 fleet to 29 airplanes, including 12 777 300s and five 777-200s.

Cathay Pacific's senior executives, Hong Kong government officials and aviation industry leaders were on hand to witness the delivery ceremony on Oct. 17 at the Future of Flight Aviation Center in Everett before boarding the airplane to Hong Kong.

In other oneworld news, Mexicana is set to join the alliance on 10 November.

Last month on the Image of the Day blog you might have read that Etihad's 100th cadet pilot was an Emirati female. She was also the sixth female Emirati cadet pilot, and eighth female overall to join the programme.

Today we hear from the Abu Dhabi carrier that its first female Emirati cadet pilots, Salma Al-Baloushi and Aisha Al-Mansouri, have successfully graduated from flight training alongside nine male colleagues and gained their airline transport pilot licence (ATPL).
Etihad Airways' first female Emirati cadet pilots Aisha Al-Mansouri (left) and Salma Al-Baloushi (right) celebrate graduating from flight school.

In a statement, Etihad said:

The cadet pilots, Etihad's second group to graduate, were conferred with their flying wings in a ceremony at the airline's training academy which was attended by family and friends as well as senior management from Etihad Airways and the Horizon International Flight Academy.

Joining Salma and Aisha to receive their wings were Ali Al Farsi, Ahmed Balalaa, Ibrahim Sanqoor, Khalid Al Ali, Mohamed Al Kaabi, Khalid Al Marzouqi, Khalil Amiri, Abdalla Balkhashar and Hasan Abdulla.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways' chief executive, said: "Everyone at Etihad is delighted that Salma and Aisha - our first female cadet pilots - have made history as the first women to graduate from the programme.

"Salma and Aisha are a key part of Etihad's expanding female pilot community and we wish them, as well as their male colleagues, the best of luck as they enter the next phase of their careers with Etihad."

The cadets started the pilot programme course in September 2007 and now have the rank of second officers at Etihad Airways.

As second officers the pilots will undertake a multi-crew co-operation course and an Airbus A320 type conversion course which will enable them to fly as co-pilots on the Etihad Airways Airbus A320 short haul fleet.

The cadet pilots will spend much of the time during the type conversion course in Etihad's A320 full-flight simulator as well as training in the development of non-technical skills applicable to working in a multi-crew environment. After approximately six months they complete their final checks and will qualify as A320 first officers.

In order to gain the frozen ATPL the cadet pilots had to complete 750 hours of classroom tuition and 205 hours of flight training in single and multi-engine aircraft. During this time they all passed the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority's theoretical knowledge and flying exams.

Etihad Airways recently welcomed the 100th cadet pilot to its innovative and expanding flying programme. Shareefa Al Bloushi is a member of Etihad's tenth group of cadets. She is also the sixth female Emirati cadet pilot to join the programme, and eighth female overall.

In addition to the cadet pilot programme, Etihad Airways' Emiratisation initiatives focus on two other streams which include the technical engineering development programme and graduate management development programme.

Etihad now also has two international cadet pilot courses which run alongside the five Emirati courses at Horizon Academy. The two groups contain 24 cadet pilots from countries around the world including Hungary, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Missed a day of Tweets? Don't have an account? Never fear! Here's your first ever wrap-up of what the Twitter community had to say* about aviation and Flightglobal this past week.

*besides that whole boy-in-balloon saga

Boeing reiterates 787 schedule and says more details will be available this Wednesday

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/10/16/333556/boeing-reiterates-787-first-flight-target.html

 

US Airways to sell 10 E-190s to Republic

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/10/14/333456/us-airways-to-sell-10-e-190s-to-republic.html

 

Airlines say fuel price instability is their most vexing problem

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/10/12/333354/airlines-say-fuel-price-instability-is-their-most-vexing.html

 

Picture exclusive: China starts manned Moon mission planning

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/10/15/333472/picture-exclusive-china-starts-manned-moon-mission-planning.html

 

Rob Coppinger, also known as @Flighthyperbola, was busy Tweeting all week at the 62nd International Astronautical Congress in Daejeon, Korea. Until Thursday Rob is at the 16th AIAA/DLR/DGLR International space planes and hypersonic systems conference Bremen and then goes to the first EU-ESA international conference in Prague on human space exploration.

 

On a lighter update, @winglets747 walked past a house and saw...what? A set of airline seats outside:

 

What's going on this week? Why it's the annual National Business Aviation Association conference and exhibition and our team is there to cover the show. Follow @flightblogger, @mtargettuk and @cockburnb and check out our dedicated NBAA page for all the latest news.

Finally, Our mascot Stefan the pilot is also at NBAA and has already found himself in trouble. What happens at NBAA stays at NBAA, right Stefan? See here for the photo, and if you're at NBAA please help rescue Stefan.

 

Follow all of Flightglobal's journalists on Twitter with one simple click. Go here: http://tweepml.org/?t=32313

When you hear that an aircraft has lost an engine, best to check what that means before committing to press, and before it turns up (as this one did) embarrassingly intact.

 

 

In 1909 Louis Blériot made history when he flew over the English Channel on Shell fuel. 100 years later Swedish pilot Mikael Carlson marked the event in a restored Blériot XI plane, also fuelled by Shell.

This video captures that flight, which was recreated to mark Shell Aviation's Centenary Year.

NBAA show was renamed in 1997 from the Corporation Aircraft Owners Association as it had always been known since its formation in 1947. Flight reported that the new name was said to reflect the safety, efficiency and acceptance of business aviation.

In 1947 it had 19 member companies, 50 years later it had 4,700, and according to the NBAA website it has in excess of 8,000 members.

Here are a few entries I found in the archive...

1971 - NBAA Convention guide

1978 - The Great St Louis Meeting

1988 - Breaking records

1993 - Making history

1997 - Dallas hosts No. 50

1999 - Millennium fever

 

AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman-Rani just Tweeted that a passenger wanting a return ticket from Melbourne to Perth in Australia booked a ticket that goes via Kuala Lumpur--some 4800 miles out of the way.

Melbourne to Perth direct: 1,681 miles (one way)
Melbourne to Perth via Kuala Lumpur: 6,481 miles (one way)
Why do this? Certainly not as a "mileage run" since AirAsia X has no frequent flyer programme. The answer, Azran says, appears that flying on his airline via KL--despite adding nine hours flying time each way--is cheaper than going direct on an Australian airline.

Tickets to Perth must have been really expensive, or the seats on AirAsia X must have been on a super sale, because we can't find dates and flights that make it cheaper to fly through KL. Or maybe the person wanted to fly a widebody or had a friend flying AirAsia X on some of the segments?

KLM is celebrating its 90th anniversary today. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines was founded on 7 October 1919 and still operates under its original name.

KLM is hosting a European "Tour of Inspiration" visiting 29 European cities in 45 days including London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.

The tour has been designed to celebrate and showcase KLM's products and services including the recently launched "Economy Comfort" seating zone.

KLM's 90th anniversary celebrations kicked off on 1 January with a celebration flight of a Boeing 737-800 over Holland which was painted in KLM's old livery especially for the occasion.  

Flight International's coverage of KLM matters

Building an image (1995)

BA & KLM confirm merger talks (2000)

BA & KLM merger talks colllapse (2001) 

 

Asking the public to come up with a livery design isn't always a good idea (those of you who hate the ghastly Jat Airways 'dots' will, I'm sure, testify). But Hungarian flag-carrier Malev has released a shortlist after inviting entries for a special colour scheme on one of its Bombardier Q400 turboprops.

 

The aircraft, registered HA-LQD, is an ex-Scandinavian Airlines Q400 and has been carrying a hybrid livery since being placed into Malev service.

 

Malev says it received over 200 entries for the competition - from amateurs to qualified graphics artists - and has opened a public vote to assist its final selection. Which, I think, means that if the judges sense another bit of Jattery in the offing, they reserve the right to be completely undemocratic about the whole thing.

 

(And before you email me, yes, I know Malev says it shortlisted 20 entries and, yes, I know there's 21 on the voting site and, no, I don't know why. Just enjoy the pictures.)

We love aviation. We really do. But I think I found someone who loves aviation more than we do.

Tommy and Kimi (no surname supplied) had their pre-wedding photos taken at the airport. But we're not talking about the luxurious Dubai or Singapore airports. The couple had their photos taken at AirAsia's low-cost terminal in Kuala Lumpur.

Photographer Dennis Yap (who does freelance photography in addition to his day job at AirAsia) wrote this to us:

Kimi had worked in AirAsia for many years in the finance department and so she spent her time working in AirAsia while in a relationship with Tommy. She had made many friends in AirAsia and most people stayed in AirAsia because of good friendship. She is leaving to Dubai with her husband and so this portrait is her remembrance of her time spent in the company.

Last week Lufthansa made an interesting announcement on Twitter: they were going to start Tweeting. But not yet.

In the past year we've seen companies and individuals jump on board and starting Tweeting right away, not wanting to lose any more time.

But Lufthansa announced last week it would formally launch its @Lufthansa_USA account today, 5 October. Users who followed before a set deadline were promised a reward, which turned out to be $75 off their next ticket.

Does Lufthansa's decision indicate Twitter has shed its semi-underground status and is now a mainstream marketing tool? Will other airlines or companies follow suit? Stay tuned.