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October 2010 Archives

Q&A with Joanna Stanley: from cabin crew to aviation litigation

By
Will Horton
 on October 31, 2010 6:47 AM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
Joanna Stanley.jpg(Photo: Clyde & Co)

Londoner Joanna Stanley studied law at the London School of Economics, but took time out to work as an Emirates crew member before returning home and joining the aviation litigation team at Clyde & Co.

Why did you study law?

I was living in Tokyo and had been watching too many re-runs of LA Law on cable TV. Sadly, and although I enjoy my job, it's not actually like that.

Starting out as an expatriate flight attendant sounds like an unusual career path for a London lawyer - did you have a plan in mind?

I had finished my degree at London School of Economics and been to law school in London. I wanted to see the world before continuing my legal career and thought that working for an airline sounded really glamorous. I applied to Emirates on a whim, and was stunned when I got the job. I only left Dubai because I was offered a job at a London law firm, which was an opportunity I couldn't turn down.

What attracted you to Emirates?

Emirates was, and still is, a fast-growing airline with lots of new routes, and had a reputation for looking after its crew. In the cold British winter, Dubai sounded wonderful. It wasn't the huge mega-city it is now, just a place along the coast from Abu Dhabi with big plans.

I had a fantastic time and I will always be grateful for that opportunity.

Continue reading the interview...


Emirates first flew 25 years ago today

By
Will Horton
 on October 25, 2010 12:40 PM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
Emirates A340-500
Photograph: AirSpace user boeing777

Twenty-five years ago today was the first ever Emirates flight. EK600 took from Dubai bound for Pakistan's Karachi.

In that week's Flight International, we covered the occasion with this short report:
Emirate Airlines, the recently launched Dubai carrier, plans to purchase nine aircraft over the next four years for Asian, European, and Middle East routes, according to chairman Sheik Ahmad ibn Saeed al Maktoum. Emirates has already signed a one-year lease with Pakistan International Airlines for a Boeing 737-300 and an Airbus Industrie A300.
We devoted almost as much space to report Virgin Atlantic had purchased a 747-200, its second aircraft.

Fast-forward twenty-five years and both Emirates and Virgin Atlantic have left their mark on the industry, but there is no questioning Emirates today has a larger spread. It is one of few carriers with an all-wide body fleet (good bye leased 737-300) and the nine aircraft it planned to purchase over four years is now the number of frames Emirates seems to purchase quarterly.

Back in 1985 it would have seemed unfathomable that Airbus could overtake Boeing, create a jet larger than the 747, have Emirates, the sleepy carrier from the backwater of Dubai, order ninety of the aircraft, and then put showers in them.

What will the next 25 years bring Emirates and the industry?

Here's how some people are commemorating Emirates' 25th anniversary

Baby born on Etihad flight, but not named after airline

By
Will Horton
 on October 25, 2010 2:21 AM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
Etihad A340
Etihad A340-600 in the F1 livery at the 2010 Al AIn Airshow 2010. Photograph: AirSpace user Davidgaughan

We were doing so well. A baby born on a Singapore Airlines flight was named SQ after the carrier's IATA code. Then last month a baby born on a Gulf Air flight was named George Francis, whose initials, GF, are the same as Gulf Air's IATA code.

But last week a Maldivian woman gave birth on an Etihad flight to Abu Dhabi, which diverted to Muscat in Oman. The couple are reportedly still looking to name the baby but are leaning towards a name to remind them of Oman, and, alas, not Etihad.

Oh well. Guess we'll have to go back to covering the next perennial topic: cabin crew calendars. Hey, it's almost the end of the year! Isn't the Ryanair calendar due out soon?

Crocodile blamed for aircraft crash

By
Will Horton
 on October 22, 2010 8:30 AM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
Quirky news is a good beat to cover when the news is innocuous, but once lives are lost the news serves as a reminder we are in a serious industry and matters need to be checked, double checked, and re-checked. Or in this situation: thought through.

The solve survivor of a 25 August aircraft crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo now says a crocodile is to blame for the loss of 19 lives on a Czech-made Let L-410 Turbolet.

According to the account, one passenger reportedly hid a crocodile in a carry-on bag on a Filair flight from Kinshasa to Bandundu. The passenger apparently wanted to sell the reptile but during descent it escaped its bag.

"The terrified air hostess hurried towards the cockpit, followed by the passengers," the account says. As a result, the small aircraft lost its centre of gravity, ostensibly leading to its crash. The crocodile apparently survived but was later cut up with a machete.

Crocs, like snakes, don't belong on planes unless they are properly carried.

Flight attendant pretends dog is baby & puts it in stroller to avoid pet travel fee

By
Will Horton
 on October 21, 2010 10:16 AM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
Dogs aren't always meant to fly
One situations where dogs aren't meant to fly. Photograph: AirSpace user aviation1

Continuing the saga of things flight attendants can do to get fired, meet Kersaundra Smith, who earlier this month lost her law suit against AirTran Airways.

Smith was a flight attendant for AirTran and on 28 May 2008 booked a staff travel ticket for herself and accompanying infant Sophie Smith, according to court documents. Infant travel for staff was free, but in February AirTran ended free travel for staff pets; Smith would have had to pay $414 to travel with a pet.
As Smith neared the gate, she was pushing a covered stroller. AirTran employee Geoffrey Wilson approached her intending to tag her stroller for storage in the belly of the plane. As he drew closer, he saw that the "infant" in the stroller was a fluffy dog.
That's how Florida District Judge Tomothy J. Corrigan in his ruling described the event, which does not end here. Wilson told Smith she would have to pay to travel with aforementioned "fluffy dog", but Smith rebutted the fee was rescinded.

Smith boarded her flight while Wilson investigated and found there was no rescission of the policy. After a supervisor told Smith this, Smith said the infant-cum-dog was her "Emotional Support Animal", which are allowed to travel for free.

Yet in all of her flying Smith never flew with an ESA and did not have any documentation she required an ESA. Smith did, however, identify a purpose for her infant-cum-dog-cum-emotional-support-animal. Judge Corrigan writes:
Smith admitted during deposition that the decision to buy the dog was a self-diagnosis and self-prescription after reading on the internet and that the dog's chief function was to wake her up after she mixed wine with Xanax and Ambien.
The supervisor gave Smith the ultimatum to board or deplane, and Smith deplaned. In a meeting with AirTran, Smith claimed she received a company memo instructing staff not to call the reservation centre to list the pet. AirTran fired her but deserves commendation for not sacking her earlier. The list of grievances against Smith includes her telling boarding passengers to sit in vomit-covered seats or get off, not showing up for work due to not receiving enough sleep in an ostensibly noisy hotel room, and threatening fellow employees.

Smith sued AirTran for a "racially motivated or retaliatory" dismissal and because she was "subjected to a hostile work environment". Judge Corrigan dismissed her case on 12 October this year.

There are many tips to give to Smith that come to mind, the first of which is this: Next time, put the pooch on Pet Airways.


Hat tip to Martha Stewardess.

VIDEO: New Turkish Airlines advert featuring Manchester United (and Wayne Rooney)

By
Stuart Clarke
 on October 21, 2010 10:15 AM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
One airline that doesn't need this week's drama involving Wayne Rooney is Turkish Airlines, who have just released an advert to capitalise on their multi-million pound official carrier partnership with the club.

The ad, which features the Manchester United team happily frolicking with a football while in the airline's business class suite, ends with the unfortunate image of the English striker nearly hitting Manchester United legend Bobby Charlton in the face with the ball. I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Here's the advert:


VIDEO: United Airlines Boeing 747 buzzes the Golden Gate Bridge

By
Stuart Clarke
 on October 21, 2010 9:39 AM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
San Francisco celebrated its Fleet Week event last week with a very cool flyover of a Boeing 747. Look how small it looks in comparison to the Golden Gate Bridge:

Frontier CEO Bryan Bedford cleans lavs, loads bags on 'Undercover Boss'

By
Will Horton
 on October 20, 2010 12:46 PM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
Frontier A318
Photograph: AirSpace user ksmd11

Bryan Bedford, the CEO of recently amalgamated Frontier Airlines (comprising Midwest Express and Republic Airways), is this week's punter on the CBS show Undercover Boss. The premise is simple: a company's boss goes incognito and carries out the less glamorous tasks at the company.

Working on the front line is not unfamiliar to AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes, who regularly checks-in passengers and loads bags, or Air New Zealand Rob Fyfe, who appeared in body paint and little else for a safety video. For Bedford, going undercover entailed donning a toupee (he's bald) and glasses and trading his suit for Frontier-branded shorts and t-shirts to clean aircraft, load luggage, be a flight attendant, and service lavatories for one week.

As you would expect, there were funny moments. Bedford got sprayed with "blue juice" for the lavatories and couldn't keep up with the safety demonstration, at one point skipping how to wear an oxygen mask, saying: "Oops. Missed that part."

But how did his experience affect his management of Frontier? After the week he goes back to his senior management and reports: "From many different perspectives our airline is doing okay. But we've got a lot of work to do too."

Bedford experiences seven minutes is not enough time to leave an aircraft as clean as it should be; "cross utilization agents" ("Anybody hear that term before?" Bedford quips to management) work on the ramp and then, exhausted and sweaty, check-in customers; and the 10% pay cut the previous management made was making it hard for Bedford's employees to make ends meet. Tui, the flight attendant who Bedford worked alongside, flies six days and also deejays and luaus in order to send his children to college so they, Tui says, do not have to work three jobs like him.

Flightglobal publication Airlines Business featured a profile on Bedford last year and readers familiar with straight-talking Bedford would expect him to make these rational changes, including restoring the 10% pay cut. I was left with the impression Bedford should have, like Fernandes and Fyfe, been on the front line earlier. Bedford has seen the value from being out there and hopefully he will return to it and other executives will do the same.

Bedford also sets out to make a difference in the lives of the employees who worked with him not knowing he was the CEO. Amongst other niceties, Bedford gives Tui $20,000 to help pay for college tuition, a daunting debit Bedford sympathizes with as he has eight children himself.

Bedford was particularly touched by Sue, the energetic and always-laughing "aircraft appearance" team member (read: aircraft cleaner). Underneath her exuberance, however, was grief for her murdered son, Andre. Bedford gives Sue a holiday and tells her Frontier will name an aircraft after Andre, and Sue will select which animal goes on the tail. (She later chooses an antelope.)

It is an act that should remind everyone in the industry that buried in quarterly reports, fleet listings, and worldwide timetables are the people who bring aviation to fruition. Sue, like many Frontier employees, never asked for much and found herself enjoying the small carrier ethos. Her voice becomes hoarse--but her smile remains--as she reflects on Frontier naming a jet after her late son. "Every time I see that plane I'm going to say, 'There go Andre. There go Andre.'"


Readers in the United States can view the full episode on the CBS website here. For those (like yours truly) in other countries, you should be able to find the episode flying around the internet.

737 deerstrike at Charlotte (yes, deerstrike)

By
Will Horton
 on October 20, 2010 3:51 AM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
What do you get when you mix a deer with a 737? Last year you would have ended up with this Thomson Airways 737-800. This year you get a closed runway for forty minutes because an aircraft literally hit deer.

Upon landing last Friday at runway 36C at Charlotte, ABC reports, US Airways flight 1950 "plowed through a herd of deer". An air traffic controller estimates there were approximately a dozen deer on the runway, one of which was struck by the 737's landing gear, according to a preliminary FAA report.

The aircraft involved was N445US and unfortunately not this Finnair MD-11 for a bit of irony. There were no human injuries although runway 36C was closed for approximately 40 minutes and re-opened after a clean up (no details provided).

LiveATC.net recordings between the ground controller and pilots make for a humorous ending. (You can hear the clip for yourself here after registering for a free account.)

US Airways flight 1950 pilot: "There's a whole herd of deer. It looked like a bunch of them. I don't know how many we hit."

Controller to unknown pilot: "Deer just got hit on the runway...it was about a dozen deer."

Unknown pilot: "Oh dear."

How far down the road really is Piaggio's new jet?

By
Murdo Morrison
 on October 20, 2010 12:22 AM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
We suspect Piaggio is a bit further down the line with its P1XX jet project than it cares to admit. On a visit to Italy recently, several suppliers mentioned that they were working hard on designs for elements of the aircraft. Mubadala - the Croesus-rich Abu Dhabi investment fund which majority owns the company along with Indian industrial giant Tata - has also said that it wants to build a business jet in the desert emirate by 2018 and views the project as a cornerstone of its aerospace ambitions. Look out for an announcement at next year's EBACE.

The fragility of big backlogs

By
Murdo Morrison
 on October 20, 2010 12:19 AM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
Dassault's experience over the past two years shows the frailty of relying on big backlogs as a bulwark against the effects of the downturn.
At NBAA yesterday, Dassault Aviation chief executive said that the French manufacturer had gone into the recession in 2008 with an orderbook for 500 aircraft.
At the time, Dassault claimed the massive waiting list for its aircraft protected it against the coming economic storm.
In a way it did. Things could have been much worse. But more than 100 cancelled orders in 2009, followed by another 35 in the first nine months of 2009 (against 34 new orders) have seriously eroded its backlog.
Customers both in its traditional markets of Europe and North America, as well as the emerging regions of Russia, Asia and the Middle East, were among those defaulting on orders.
Yet, in a bizarre twist, Dassault revealed that this year it will deliver a record number of aircraft, a lag from the splurge of orders the manufacturer won in the boomtimes of the mid-2000s.
Top-end manufacturers such as Dassault have been less badly hit than small-jet makers such as Cessna. The Wichita company's traditional market of entrepreneurial owner-flyers and corporate flyers has been decimated. But Dassault's experience shows that even at the top end, backlogs count for very little when assessing the health of a programme or a manufacturer.
Eclipse Aviation, after all, at one point boasted of more than 2,500 orders for its Eclipse 500 long before the programme had been certificated. It seemed to guarantee the Albuquerque start-up a long and busy future.

Scientists say noise is why airline meals taste bad

By
Will Horton
 on October 19, 2010 2:01 PM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
Science and aviation go together like a European airline and a white livery. Usually that relationship is kept to technical matters, but University of Manchester researchers have examined why airlines meals stereotypically do not taste good.

They determined background noise negatively affects our perception to food. The hum of engines, for example, makes that "chicken or beef?" taste worse than if the same meal was consumed in a quieter environment. In other words, it's not low humidity or the pre-cooked and re-heated process to blame. Your hearing is influencing your taste buds.

ABC reports:

The researchers fed 48 blindfolded participants a variety of foods from biscuits to rice crackers to cheddar cheese. At the same time, headphones either canceled out noise or provided various levels of white noise. The subjects then rated the intensity of the flavors and how much they liked or didn't like them.

The result: the higher the noise level, the less the participants tasted salty or sweet flavors. Their sensitivity to the crunchiness of their food was amplified.

The article cautions "higher noise levels aren't enough to make people hate their meals", which I thought was evident after this Virgin Atlantic meal.

Hear no evil...eat no evil?

Delta baggage handler found in Afghanistan

By
Will Horton
 on October 19, 2010 1:40 PM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)

Delta tails

Three Delta Boeing 767-400ERs at London Heathrow. Photo: AirSpace photographer Allan.

Was he going the ultimate way to recover a lost bag? Or maybe he was seeing if camel and armed truck convoy loading techniques could improve filling a LD3 cargo container?

Those are some (non-plausible) explanations for why Delta baggage handler Takuma Owuo-Hagood entered Afghanistan on 23 June. More likely explanations are that Owuo-Hagood was looking for "business opportunities" but was held hostage by the Taliban or that Owuo-Hagood was purposefully seeking out the Taliban, the New York Times reports.

Owuo-Hagood sought American military patrol protection on 2 October and has since flown back to the United States, although there is no word if he had to load his own bag into the aircraft.

The Flight International front cover competition is back!

By
Stuart Clarke
 on October 19, 2010 10:03 AM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
For the fourth year running, we are offering you the fantastic opportunity to have your best image adorn the front cover of the world-renowned Flight International magazine.

The winner will not only have their image feature on the magazine's front cover, but they will also receive a framed copy of that front cover and £100.

Last year we had some exceptional images to choose from and we hope that this year's offerings reach the same level.

Like last year, we have split the categories into four groups. They are:

  • Sleek Jets: From nimble and speedy fighters to the more refined biz jets, only the sleek jets need apply in this category.
  • Big Birds: Only the big beasts in aviation need apply for this gallery, which encompasses airliners, cargo aircraft and tankers.
  • Old Flyers: An affectionate hat tip to the rich tapestry of aviation gone by, this category is for the old classics
  • General Stars: This category is for the your best general aviation images.
For some inspiration here's last year's winner:

Last year's winning image


Images from previous years:

Closing entry for the competition is Midnight December 1st so get posting!

To enter the Flight International Front Cover Competition:

  1. Simply click on the above categories, sign up to AirSpace (which takes a matter of minutes) and post your image into the named gallery of your choice.
  2. Each category will be whittled down to a shortlist of three and the shortlists for individual categories will be featured on AirSpace in December 2010.
  3. The image of the year will be chosen by a panel of Flight judges, including the Editors of Flight International and Flightglobal. In addition to their image being used as the front cover of Flight International, the winner will receive a framed copy of the cover of Flight International and £100 (GBP) prize money.
  4. The image used needs to have a minimum of 300 DPI resolution and be at least 22cm high or wide.
Terms & Conditions of the Front Cover Competition:

    * Competition deadline is Midnight on 1st December 2010.
    * The image has to be owned by the person entering the competition, no forgeries or copies allowed
    * The winner will receive a framed copy of the cover of Flight International and £100 (GBP) prize money.
    * There is no limit to the number of times each registrant may take part.
    * No employee of Reed Business Information is eligible to enter the competition.
    * The judges' decision is final
      • For details of Flight's products and services go to www.flightglobal.com

Part of Reed Business Information Ltd T: +44(0)20 8652 3500 Quadrant House www.reedbusiness.co.uk The Quadrant Registered in England, No 151537 Sutton, Surrey SM25AS A division of Reed Business

Red Arrows pilots on scooters

By
Barbara Cockburn
 on October 13, 2010 12:00 PM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)

Well did you ever?...

The pilots of the iconic aerial formating team The Red Arrows were raising money for five charities by riding from Land's End to John O'Groats on 125cc Vespa scooters.

Some of the pilots already ride motorcycles, others have taken their CBT specially so that all 14 of them can ride together.

The charities RAF display chose are the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, The Royal Air Forces Association, Help for Heroes, Whizz-kidz and Fly2Help.

More information about the journey and how to sponsor the pilots...

It was all in a good cause and all that but what they do in the air is far more spectacular and thrilling than a simple scooter ride.

Concorde to settle on Thames, or will it?

By
Barbara Cockburn
 on October 13, 2010 10:00 AM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)

 

concorde.jpgCommuters in London who picked up free newspaper The Metro were this morning treated to a story about an iconic aircraft that will settle on a jetty on the Thames next to the London Eye, London's famous ferris wheel and landmark on the South Bank.

According to the newspaper, the retired supersonic airliner, Concorde, may soon be atop a double deck concourse with a river boat landing stage underneath housing an exhibition about the iconic aircraft.

The aircraft in question will not be a mock up but an actual Concorde aircraft, codenamed Alpha Bravo which made its last flight between New York and London on 15 August 2000, weeks after the crash of an Air France Concorde outside Paris.

RHWL Architects is credited as the source for the project. A spokesman at the firm told Flightglobal he could not release the images used in the article because they were out of date and it's not a story they have, as yet, released to the press.

 

 

VIDEO: Russian army attempts to outfox the enemy

By
Barbara Cockburn
 on October 12, 2010 2:21 PM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)

Russia's inflatable army is apparently impossible to distinguish from the real thing at 300m and space.

It's purpose is to be blown up by a potential enemy instead of the genuine hardware.

A load of hot air or well worth the time, money and effort? 

Standing-room only flights have arrived

By
Will Horton
 on October 6, 2010 6:04 AM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
On a Tatarstan Airlines flight from Antalya, Turkey to Ekaterinburg, Russia six passengers got to experience what standing for an entire flight is like.

The unfortunate passengers were on a fully-booked flight on a 148-seat 737 but a last-minute equipment change saw a 142-seat 737 replace the slightly larger aircraft, leaving the six passengers without seats, Travel Mole reports. The passengers were given the option to stand for their flight or wait seven hours for another flight, and they chose the former.

While standing seats have been floated by Ryanair and China's Spring Airlines, the seats gained serious traction at this year's Aircraft Interiors show when Italian seat manufacturer unveiled its Skyrider, a near vertical standing seat concept. The obvious needs to be stated: those seats are far more safer than having no seat at all like the six passengers experienced as even the standing seats would have seat belts, oxygen masks, and life jackets.

So what did they think of their experience? The passengers were originally offered US $200 compensation but are now seeking $4,700.

Another baby named after an airline--this time it's Gulf Air

By
Will Horton
 on October 3, 2010 4:37 PM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
Gulf Air A340

A Gulf Air A340 departs LHR. Photograph: AirSpace photographer Allan.

I was surprised the first time I got to write a baby was being named after an airline's IATA code, in that instance "SQ" for Singapore Airlines, but it's happened again, although this time under less fortunate circumstances.

Gulf Air flight 154 landed in Manila in mid-September and during the turn-around a cleaner found the newborn in a lavatory waste bin, its umbilical cord still attached, and no mother to be found, the Manila Standard reports. The baby was named George Francis in honour of Gulf Air's IATA code, GF. The baby can opt for dual citizenship but is still missing his mother. Perhaps if Gulf Air pulled this AirAsia tactic for in-flight births the mother might return

A nickname for passengers waiting at boarding gates

By
Will Horton
 on October 3, 2010 10:25 AM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
Waiting
Flickr user billadler

What do you call passengers who wait at boarding gates clogging up the pathway? (No, not these passengers.)

Answer: "airport vultures", created courteous of Urban Dictionary, which continues to make quips on aviation having first brought us phrases including "Northwest nap" and "hit the slide".

Urban Dictionary defines "airport vultures" as:

Passengers waiting to board a plane who stalk around near and clog up the boarding gate before a flight, regardless of where their seat is or when boarding actually is.

The flight attendant became so irritated with the airport vultures that the flight was abruptly cancelled.

So at an airport gate be a friend and get out of the way, or if you're out of the way and someone else is not, try out your new phrase. (Disclaimer: we make no guarantee for your safety if you do so.)

Ryanair's in-flight mag arrives for iPhone, iPod and iPad

By
Will Horton
 on October 2, 2010 8:26 AM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
Ryanair iPod App.jpg
Perhaps you enjoy in-flight magazines or are a lawyer needing to make sure no in-flight magazine is calling a client a murderer, has photos taken in a Holocaust memorial, or contains a partner carrier's new and unannounced route.

Whatever your intent, Ryanair has the solution for you.

The carrier has partnered with digital published Pixel Mags to bring its in-flight mag, Ryanair Magazine, to your Apple touch-screen device of choice: iPhone, iPod and iPad.

Of course there's no free lunch with the bugle-announcing on-time carrier, and the application will cost you 99 cents. (But no fee for delivery, credit card payment, airport check-in, over-weight luggage, loo charge...) It's like being on Ryanair without actually being on Ryanair.

Video and Pictures: New livery on display as United-Continental merger closes

By
Stuart Clarke
 on October 1, 2010 2:50 PM | | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)
By Niall O'Keeffe, London

Images and video of an aircraft bearing the new livery of United Airlines and Continental Airlines were released today, to mark the closure of the carriers' merger.
 
After giving a teaser of what the new livery would look like via an artist's impression issued in August, the airlines' parent United Continental Holdings is now bringing the vision to reality.

CO10_9570.jpgCO10_9665.jpgCredit: United Continental Holdings

More pictures of the new livery
 
United Continental Holdings expects the merger to general $1-1.2 billion in net annual synergies by 2013, including $800-900 million of incremental annual revenue deriving from "the greater scope and scale of the network, fleet optimisation and expanded service enabled by the broader network of the combined carrier". Continental and United notched up combined revenues of $31.4 billion in the year ending 30 June, 2010.
 
The tricky task of integrating the two carriers now looms. "We have a lot of hard work ahead," admits Smisek.

Video of the new United-Continental livery:
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