No joke.
The new vice-president for passenger services at American Airlines is Chuck Imhof.
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This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.
5 Injured During Ground Tests of Airbus
TOULOUSE, France (AP) — Five people on board an Airbus 340-600 were injured Thursday during technical tests of the plane on the ground at a French airport, the company said.
Airbus gave no details of the accident.
The company said the four-engine plane, which is scheduled to be delivered to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, had been undergoing engine tests outside Toulouse, the southwestern French city where the European plane-making consortium is based.
Please stay tuned to Flightblogger for details to follow. This page will update. Updates after the jump.
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After a two month hiatus, I wanted to provide an update on where things stood with the 787 program. Early October gave us a six month delay announcement from Boeing. The timeframes below reflect new program expectations (as Boeing says, there is always risk involved in any projection of expectations)
Dreamliner One – ZA001
ZA001 was lowered back on to its landing gear and moved to position three in Building 40-26 just prior to the October 10th press conference call. This was the first step to make way for delivery of new structural components.
Brackets are being installed in the fuselage and some rack shelves for avionics and flight test equipment is now in the cargo bay. Installation of flight test sensors is underway in the wings as well as wiring on the forward side of the wing spars.
Flight deck installation has begun as of last week. A photograph taken in early November and shared with Flightblogger, shows the progress in the concluding structural and early wiring phase. Boeing Chairman and CEO Jim McNerney visited the factory floor to check in on progress on the factory floor, as well as offer his personal thanks and appreciation for the hard work of the 787 team.
Internal schedules point to a production power on in late January, though limited power on testing has begun to test circuit breakers and other electronics in the wings. Though unconfirmed by official sources, Dreamliner One is tentatively scheduled to be flight ready by late February. Word from the factory floor confirms this time frame is on target with expectations.
UPDATE: See Explaining 787 Flight Readiness
787 Cabin Mockup In Dubai
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Delta, United discuss combining operations
Associated Press
ATLANTA – UAL Corp.’s United Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc. have been discussing a combination between the nation’s second- and third-largest carriers that would keep the United name and the corporate headquarters in Chicago, The Associated Press has learned.
Two hundred aircraft orders here, 82 here, 188 there and plenty of others elsewhere. However, a merger between United and Delta could be the trump card of the week. There was not a single order by a North American commercial operator (correct me if I’m wrong) at the Dubai Air Show – this would be a massive shift in the US market.
I’m going to take a little time to digest the news because I spent the day traveling and I am still trying to convince my body to be asleep when it’s supposed to be and awake when it’s supposed to be. However, there are a few big questions that immediately come to mind about any merger.
What would the resulting fleets look like?
Overlap:
777-200 (different engines)
767-200/300ER (different engines)
757 (Same engines – PW)
CRJ200
CRJ700
United
747-400
B737-300/500
A319
A320
Delta
767–400ER
737–700 (on order)
737–800
MD–88
MD–90
777–200LR (on order)
What would codeshare/FF alliances look like? Would Delta leave Skyteam for Star Alliance? Would they join forces?
Delta – Skyteam – Partnering with AeroMexico, Aeroflot, Air France, KLM, Continental, Alitalia, CSA, Northwest, Korean, Air Europa, Copa, Kenya Airways
United – Star Alliance – Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana, Austrian, BMI, LOT, Lufthansa, SAS, Singapore, South African, Spanair, Swiss, TAP, Thai and US Airways.
Is this any good for travelers?
Yes – Expanded routes mean more accessible networks and schedules.
No – Less competition means higher fares – especially in regional markets.
What happens to regional carriers?
What questions come to your mind?
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This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.
Live from the Airbus press conference. Air Blue orders 8 A320s making it Pakistan’s fastest growing airline in Pakistan. The order makes 14 total A320s in its fleet.
Shahid Abbasi and John Leahy announced that they are in talks to purchase A350XWB aircraft as well. When asked by Flightblogger, Mr. Abbasi says he is speaking with Boeing on a 787 purchase as well and the order could go either way. A decision should come by June 2008.
Deliveries for the A320 will start in July 2009.
Expansion will be eastward to Singapore and Bankok as well as routes within the region.
UPDATE: 10:42 GST – Chief Operating Officer, Shahid Abbasi was present at the press conference, not Chairman and CEO Tariq Chaudhary
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Reporting live from the Dubai Air Show. Qatar Airways, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Fuel Company, Airbus and Rolls Royce are signing a milestone agreement to study the use of synthetic jet fuel to power aircraft.
The goal is to make Qatar the GTL (gas to liquid) producing capitol of the world.
By converting natural gas to liquid jet fuel, aircraft will benefit from distinct advantages:
1. Higher energy density. (potentially 4-5%) Which means aircraft will be able to fly longer on the same amount of fuel. Or rather, less fuel for existing routes.
2. Cleaner burning: Sulfur and nitrate emissions are zero.
3. It is a “drop-in” fuel meaning that no modification or new engine technology is required. In addition, Airbus’ new fuel initiative requires that there will be no change to airport infrastructure. An aircraft that can run GTL will be able to use traditional kersene and biofuel with existing technology.
Qatar Gas Ventures suggests that airlines should expect to pay a premium for the increased efficiency.
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This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.
DUBAI — Airbus and Yemenia-Yemen Airways have announced a firm order for 10 A350-800 XWB aircraft. They will be configured in a two class configuration (18 first class, 265 economy).
Yemenia signed an agreement with Airbus on March 6, 2008 for up to 10 A350s. The March 2006 order was for the 1st generation A350 (non-XWB).
In addition, Oman Air has placed firm orders for 5 A330 aircraft. Three A330-300 and two A330-200. A choice of engine has yet to be made.
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I sat down with Addison Schonland with IAG to talk about the first two very busy days here in Dubai. Addison is on the other side of the planet from me right now; a twelve hour time difference. Good thing he’s an early riser.
We raised some excellent questions:
1. What kind of discounts has DAE gotten if they had $15b to spend, but bought $27b worth of aircraft?
2. Why no new A330F or 777F orders?
3. Why is there an absence of A340/A330 orders?
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This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise
Airbus – Total 100
70 A320
30 A350XWB
Boeing – Total 100
70 737NG
15 787
10 777-300ER
5 747-8F
Qatar
Boeing – Total 57
30 787 + 35 options
6 777-200LR
14 777-300ER
7 777F
Emirates
Airbus – Total 81
50 A350-900
20 A350-1000 + 50 options.
11 A380
Boeing
12 777-300ER
Nas Air
Airbus
20 A320
Embraer
5 E190 + 5 options + purchase rights + 12
Air Arabia
Airbus
34 A320 + 15 options
Saudi Arabian
Airbus
22 A320s + purchase rights for 8
TOTALS
Airbus
146 A320
100 A350
11 A380
Boeing
70 737
5 747-8F
6 777-200LR
36 777-300ER
45 787
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Here’s a glimpse into the very busy goings on here at the tarmac at DXB. More to come.
This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.