Delta & V Australia
Another new wrinkle in the trans-Pacific price wars is a link up between Delta and V Australia. The two airlines inked an interline agreement to allow purchase of tickets for travel between the US and Australia on either airline. Both newcomers to the trans-Pacific market were once thought to be competitors against QANTAS and United, but have found that they gain more together than separate. This definitely says a lot about feeder traffic on both sides of the Pacific and filling airplanes.
QANTAS’ 5th A380 Flies
Airbus has flown the 5th A380 for QANTAS (MSN027) from Toulouse last week for outfitting in Hamburg. The aircraft will eventually become VH-OQE (Lawrence Hargrave) for delivery toward the latter part of this year.
Qatar to Houston
Next Monday, Qatar Airways will launch non-stop service between Doha and Houston with the airline’s new 777-200LR. The 16-hour and 45-minute flight will be the sixth longest (duration) non-stop flight in the world.
HBC gets a new CEO
Hawker Beechcraft named Bill Boisture, formerly president of NetJets, Gulfstream Aerospace and British Aerospace Corporate Jets, will assume the company’s top position, effective immediately. HBC has faced major workforce cuts and rumored cancellation of new aircraft programs amid major industry turmoil that has hit business jets hardest. The departure of HBC’s CEO Jim Schuster was entirely expected and planned, though the task put to Mr. Boisture is certainly a tall one, as his company is forced to weather the storm of uncertainty.
On Accidents, Incidents and Crashes
2009 has brought us an unusually high number of tragic and high profile aircraft accidents and this page has largely been silent on covering them. Many have asked my why I don’t report more on crashes, the simple answer is: if I have nothing to add with new information or insight, I find it best to refrain from comment. I want this page this page to be a place you find something you won’t find somewhere else, not a reiteration of someone else’s reporting. Our veteran safety experts, David Learmount and John Croft, have much more experience and insight on these topics and I recommend them highly. Thanks for understanding.
The Road to 787 First Flight
As we approach first flight, things on
the 787 program are speeding up rapidly. This calls for a change in coverage. Since I joined with Flight in
2007, I opted to write less frequent, longer updates as program progress
was moving at a slower pace. Moving forward, you will see more frequent and
compact updates tha twill better suit the coverage between here and first flight, though I still plan to post longer
comprehensive updates as warranted.
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.