Recently in Airlines Category

The late afternoon sunshine in Hamburg set the scene for the handover of the first 538-seat Airbus A380 to Air France. Operating as AFR380V, MSN033 (F-HPJA) departed XFW at 2:39 PM local time for Paris.

Been writing like a madman all day and came across this ad from Frontier Airlines on USAToday.com. They've used their animal-adorned Airbus tails in advertisements before, but I came across a new one and I thought it would be fun to share. This recession has gone on for over a year now with $11B to be lost by airlines, delays by Boeing and Airbus, and huge numbers of jobs lost. No doubt about it, 2009's been a rough one. Consider this a 60-second escape. I promise this will make you smile.

A lot of people are asking how laptops could've caused the crew of Northwest Flight 188 to overfly MSP? According to the NTSB, using laptops on the flight deck is strictly prohibited during flight, but even a quick glance at the tray table on each side of the Airbus A320 family flight deck shows how a laptop monitor could easily block the pilot's navigation display.

The tray table is available to both crew members because Airbus uses a sidestick controller rather than the center yoke found on Boeing, Embraer and Bombardier aircraft. 

At NBAA 2008 (yes 2008), I was provided a tour of the Comlux A319 ACJ and unfortunately the audio on the video was largely garbled, so the video was never used. This afternoon, I went back and looked at one portion of the video that shows the arrangement of the flight deck tray table in relation to the navigation display. I added some new audio and some annotations on the video to show just how easily a laptop could block the displays, causing a major distraction to the crew. This is why laptops aren't allowed in flight!

Read the full text of the NTSB update on Northwest 188. Also, why was the ACARS off?

Well, here it is! JetBlue A320 (N561JB) was unveiled this evening in Orlando with a new tail design called 'Blueberries' and larger titles on the side of the aircraft? What do you think?

It's a sensational headline I know, but the juxtaposition of two news stories published within minutes of each other caught my attention. CEO of Qatar Airways, Akbar al-Baker said that all is well with Boeing and his company's 787 order, while telling Bloomberg that in regards to an order for CSeries:

Discussions hinge on "a few figures" and Qatar Air won't buy the plane unless its conditions are met, Chief Executive Officer Akbar al-Baker said today in an interview.
    Airbus SAS could effectively kill off the CSeries by offering a version of its own shorthaul family of aircraft with the same geared-fan technology, he said. Qatar Airways already operates a fleet of Airbus A320 narrowbodies.

Al-Baker's very public negotiations on aircraft orders have worked before, and it sounds like the potential for the order has come out of the freezer to thaw.

PALM SPRINGS -- Continental Airlines is set to introduce its first newly configured Boeing 777-200ER with its BusinessFirst flat-bed seat by the end of October.

Brian Roland, engineering project manager for Continental Airlines, says 777 Ship 13 (N78013), which is currently being modfied, will be the first to feature the new 50-seat business class cabin.

Each BusinessFirst seat will feature a Panasonic designed eXport jack, allowing passengers to play content stored on Apple iPods and iPhones on the seat back screen.

Panasonic announced today at the World Airline Entertainment Association Conference and Exposition that it is partnering with Apple accessory maker Griffin to offer the eXport in-flight video cable in retail stores. Previously, the Panasonic cable was only available to passengers as property of the airlines.

In addition to Continental, Panasonic has secured about a dozen customers for the eXport jack system, including Singapore Airlines, Avianca, Swiss International Airlines and United Airlines.

The seat, which is made by B/E Aerospace, features a full 180-degree, 6'6" (198.1 cm) lie-flat seat, as well as Panasonic IFE system with hand controller and US compatible power plug.

The airline also plans to feature introduce the flat-bed seat on its Boeing 787 aircraft, along with its existing 767-400ER, 767-200 and 757-200 fleets.

The installation of the new seats on the 777-200ER fleet is expected to be completed by August 2011, with the existing fleet a year later.

Continental operates a fleet of 20 777s and holds orders for an additional eight.

Photo Credit Continental Airlines (top)

Boeing handed over the keys of the first of at least 30 brand new 777 Freighters to FedEx yesterday. The delivery marks the first long range twin in the company's fleet. Guy Norris made an interesting point about the what the 777F will provide to FedEx for the first time:

Secondly, the 777F - which is based on the 777-200LR, is FedEx's first ETOPS-qualified aircraft. Although the company has been a loyal A300/A310 operator for years, its true long-haul overseas operations have been conducted using DC-10-30, MD-10 and MD-11 trijets. Now finally, FedEx enters the 21st century with a long haul twin.

As outside observers, we never get to see the mountain of paperwork that goes along with such a hefty purchase. Each 777F (at list prices) is valued at $252.5 to $260.5 million. However, the FedEx 10Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is public record, details the 161 options that the company selected for its 777F. The prices for each option are redacted, but the eight pages are a treasure trove of interesting items.

For example, the one that jumped out for me was the line item for an Enhanced Vision System, which if installed, would be a first for a 777 operator. I created a PDF document with just the list of options to make the 10Q easier to read. Enjoy!


  Photo Credit Boeing

On the heels of its announcement earlier this week to procure Boeing 777-200LR and Airbus A350-900 aircraft, Ethiopian Airlines has become the first airline to unveil its interior configuration for its Boeing 787-8 aircraft.

Ethiopian Airlines, who is Boeing's African launch customer for the type, will fly 270 passengers in a two-class configuration. Business class will carry 24 passengers in four rows of 2-2-2 seating. Economy class will seat nine-abreast in a 3-3-3 configuration seating a total 246 passengers.

According to the computer rendering of the aircraft's interior on its specially design microsite, the Addis Ababa-based airline appears to have selected Contour's Aura Premium Business Class Seats. Contour said in a June 2007 press release that the Aura seat had been selected by six 787 customers as part of Boeing's Dreamliner Gallery 787 customization program.

For its economy cabin, it appears Ethiopian has opted for the highest density cross-section with Weber 5700 system seats. According to Weber, the 5700 seat can accomodate up to a 10.6-inch IFE screen in the seatback.

Ethiopian's microsite touts a delivery date of 2010, though Boeing has yet to announce a new delivery schedule for its first delivery to launch customer All Nippon Airways, making the entry into service date for Ethiopian uncertain. The African airline had previously said that it would receive the first of its 787s in June of 2010.

Renderings Credit Ethiopian Airlines

Yesterday afternoon, a 737-300 (N387SW) operating as Southwest 2294 made a safe emergency landing at Yeager Airport near Charleston, West Virgina after depressurizing due to  an apparent hole in the upper fuselage of the aircraft.

The incident has caused Southwest to inspect its 737-300 fleet, and according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Boeing is sending personnel to provide technical assistance to the NTSB.