The last news

Mexicana joins One World

2009-11-16T20:14:00.000-08:00

Mexico City based Mexicana becomes the 11th member to join the One World alliance founded by American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas and Cathay Pacific in 1998. One World is one of the three major airline alliances in the world. Other members of One World are Finnair, Iberia, Malev, Japan Airlines, Lan Chile and Royal Jordanian.
Mexicana, operating a fleet of mainly Airbus A318, A319 and A320 aircraft on short and mediun haul routes, as well as the Boeing 767 and Airbus A330 on long haul routes, officially joined the One World alliance on November 9th 2009. Mexicana operates also a fleet of Fokker 100's and Boeing 717's on short haul regional routesAt the ceremony of Mexicana joining the alliance, one Airbus A320 painted with the One World logo jet was brought for the celebration. The other major airline of Mexico, Aero Mexico, is part of the Sky Team alliance.
Next member expected to join One World is S7, an airline based in Siberia Russia.

American retires last A300

2009-08-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

On the night between Aug 24th and 25th 2009, flight AA 1908 bound from Miami FL (MIA) landed in New York's John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) at 121 am local time. This was the last official Airbus A300 flight at American Airlines.

American started operating the Airbus A300 in revenue service on May 10th 1988. It looked at the Airbus A300 while at the same time it launched and ordered the Boeing 767-300ER, both models had the capacity and range American wanted for its international networks but the Boeing jets could not all be delivered as quickly as the Airbus jets could, so an initial order for 25 Airbus A300-600's was placed and those were delivered in the late 1980's. A further 10 aircraft were ordered and delivered between 1991 and 1993. All Airbus jets were assigned on East Cast flights and Latin America flights in the beginning, but in the late 1990's part of the fleet was reconfigured in an F/C/Y class layout for international operations, those were also used on trans Atlantic flights between JFK and LHR, but they were quickly removed from trans Atlantic operations once the Boeing 777's arrived and took over the JFK-LHR flights. The Airbus jets were reconfigured in a two-class layout and all were assigned on the East Coast and Latin American networks, they were based in MIA and JFK.

American suffered one major disaster with the Airbus in November of 2001 when flight AA 587 crashed in the New York City area shortly after take off out of JFK. Rudder malfunction is thought to be the cause of the crash but the disaster turned out to be a major disagreement between American Airlines and Airbus Industries. They blame each other for the disaster in the training of the pilots and the maintenance procedures of the aircraft. This disaster lead to a deteriorated relationship between the airline and the manufacturer, this is one reason why American has never ordered any other Airbus model since then. No more than 34 Airbus aircraft remained in the fleet between 2001 and 2009.

The decision to retire the Airbus A300's was made following three reasons:
1 - Cut capacity, given the troubled economy of the United States all airlines cut capacity, retired older aircraft sooner than originally planned and deferred deliveries of new aircraft.
2 - They face more maintenance issues than the Boeing do, hence more delays and grounding of equipment. They are more costly in maintenance and take longer in being serviced than the Boeings do.
3- Simplify the fleet by reducing the number of aircraft types and lowering the average age of the fleet. The A300's were older than most aircraft in the fleet, the only aircraft at American older than the A300 is the Boeing 767-200ER still in operation on long domestic routes. The Boeing 767-200ER's were delivered between 1985 and 1987.

American has drastically simplified its fleet. Only five types remain in the mainline fleet, all Boeing types: B737-800, B757-200, B767-200/300ER, B777-200ER and MD-80. The Airbus A300 has been in service with American for 21 years, it was American's only Airbus product. All former A300 routes are now flown mostly with Boeing 757 and 767 equipment.

Lufthansa retires last Airbus A300

2009-07-08T20:48:00.000-07:00

Farewell to the A300 at Lufthansa.
Frankfurt based Lufthansa retired the last Airbus 300-600 Series on July 1st 2009, the final flight originating in Rome (FCO) arrived in Frankfurt (FRA) where a farewell party took place.
Lufthansa has a long history with Airbus. It was one of the first airlines to fly the original A300 back in the mid 1970's when this model was new, it was also the time Airbus Industries came in the airliner business to compete against Boeing in the large aircraft market, not surprising since German aerospace companies are part of the Airbus Consortium based in Toulouse, and since then it helped Airbus launching later models including the A310 (launched with Swissair), the A320 (launched with Air France) and the A340. Lufthansa was also an early customer for the Superjumbo A380, and also flies the A330 on long haul routes.
Lufthansa (and maybe Thai) is one of the airlines that have flown the A300 of all variants for the longest period of time in its history, it has indeed flown the type for over three decades. The smaller and younger A310 which was introduced in the mid 1980's was retired a decade ago. Lufthansa is one of the most important customers at Airbus (other important customers include Air France and Iberia), it has been since the mid 1970's and will continue to be for many more years to come. For a long time to come, the A319/320/321 will remain in service in the short and medium haul sectors and the larger A330 and A340 will remain in service int he long haul sectors on intercontinental flights. The A380 will enter service with the German airline in the near future on hi density long haul flights. The Boeing fleet will consist of the 747-400's followed by the all new 747-8I, as well as the MD-11 (only in the freighter version, the passenger version was not considered). The 737's will be phased out in 2012.

Lufthansa, known for its punctuality and excellent inflight service, is a member of the Star Alliance and was one of the founding members. It bought Swiss in the middle of the 2000's and is now in the process of buying Brussels Airlines, the latter two based in Zurich and Brussels respectively are to be members of the Star Alliance. Other members of Star include but are not limited to SAS, Thai, United, SAA and Austrian.

Continental pilot dies in flight

2009-06-21T16:56:00.000-07:00

On Thursday Jun 18th 2009, the captain of a Continental Airlines Boeing 777 jet died in flight while operating flight CO 61 originating in Brussels (BRU). The aircraft was scheduled to arrive in Newark (EWR) where Continental has one of its major hubs. The captain, age 61, died of a heart attack in flight not long before preparing for the approach to Newark NJ. A cardiologist on board the flight tried to save his live. The two copilots on board took over the controls of the big jet and landed the aircraft safely at destination and on time as scheduled, it was a rainy day in the New York City area that day.
The major airlines have a policy such that a third pilot is always on board a large aircraft when operating long haul flights even if the aircraft requires only two pilots in the cockpit, the Flight Engineer's position is long gone from the major passenger airlines. The FAA passed the law that an airline captain is allowed to fly a commercial aircraft until age 65 for as long as the copilot is under 60 years of age, before that all commercial pilots had to retire at age 60 by law. The captain of flight CO 61 had his last physical check earlier this year, he had been flying for Continental for 32 years. He was based in Newark but had his home in Houston. He was going to bring chocolates from Belgium to his wife.
An airline pilot must undergo a thorough medical examination every six months during his or her career until retirement. The two copilots who took over the controls of the aircraft had been with the airline for several years and had logged thousands of flight hours according to media sources.
In 2007 another pilot of the same airline died in flight, a captain of a Boeing 757-300. The copilot and a passenger who had a private pilot licence landed the aircraft safely.

Continental is a major US airline based in Houston TX (IAH) with its other major hub in Newark NJ (EWR) as well as a smaller hub in Cleveland OH. It operates a well developed domestic and transatlantic network as well as a few routes to Latin America. It has a subsidiary Continental Micronesia operating flights out of Guam in the Pacific Ocean. Continental's mainline fleet consists of only Boeing aircraft including a large number of NG 737-700/800/900's (they still have older Classics but those will be phased out in the near term future), 757-200/300's, 767-200ER/400ER and 777-200ER. It is one of only two airlines operating the Boeing 767-400ER Series, the other one being Delta. It has ordered the all new Boeing 787. Its Express fleet consists mostly of Embraer Jets as well as a few Bombardier Dash 8 turboprops, one of which crashed in Buffalo NY. Continental is to leave the Sky Team Alliance before the end of 2009 and is then switching to Star Alliance, the plan to move to Star was announced in the summer of 2008.

Air France A330 vanishes over Atlantic Ocean

2009-06-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

On the night from Monday 1st of June to Tuesday 2nd of June 2009, an Airbus A330-200 aircraft vanished over the Atlantic Ocean while flying from Rio de Janeiro (GIG) to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG) as flight AF 447. The aircraft had taken off at 700PM local time, or 1200midnight Paris Time, and four hours into the flight the aircraft flew into a stormy area and encounted severe turbulence, all electrical systems onboard the aircraft had failed. Normally all airliners are designed to sustain severe turbulence and are tested in ability to fly near lightning strikes, but for unknown reasons the aircraft was hit by lightning even before the pilots could spot a thunerstorm on their navigation displays, so it hit the aircraft very quickly. The pilots were unable to control the aircraft since all electrial systems had failed, so did the back up electrical systems.
The Atlantic Ocean is not a radar covered area but pilots have to do position reports at regular intervals, radio contact was lost four hours after departure. Brazilian and African air traffic control centers desperately tried to contact the doomed Air France jet but were unable to. It was then obvious that chances to find survivors were slim, if not very close to zero. Over 200 passengers and 12 crew members including one captain, two copilots and nine flight attendants, were onboard the aircraft. The captain had logged a total of 11000 flight hours including close to 2000 hours on the A330/A340 aicraft. Among the passengers were mostly French and Brazilian passengers, as well as a few from other countries. There were a few children and one baby on board.

The Airbus A330 is a long haul twinjet dating from the mid 1990's, when it entered revenue service with major airlines. It was designed with FBW control sticks like its smaller predecessor the A320 was. Fly By Wire means that the flight controls are not powered by hydraulic systems like odler models were, it means that the controls respond by electrical signals following pilot input. It is a technology dating from the 1980's.
Air France operates a fleet of Airbus A330-200 aircraft on its long haul sectors. The one involved in the desaster was delivered to the company in 2005 and had logged since then a total of over 18000 flight hours, its last maintenance check took place in April 2009. Air France's last major disaster was in 2000 when a Concorde crashed shortly after take off in Paris, because of a part left on the runway by another aircraft. In 2005 an Airbus A340-300 crashed upon landing in Toronto (YYZ) in poor weather conditions. It landed and overran the runway, all the passengers and crew members survived but the aircraft burst into flames and was damaged beyond economical repair. The last disaster of an A330 was back in 1994 when an aircraft was undergoing flight testing in France, test pilots were killed, there were no passengers on board.
The Airbus A330 has maintained a good safety record since its introduction to the airlines fifteen years ago, many of them remain in service with various operators around the world.

UPS retires last DC-8

2009-05-18T19:22:00.000-07:00

United Parcel Service (UPS) retired its last Douglas DC-8 aircraft after a water cannon salute in Louisville KY where there final flight touched down. The company operates now a fleet of Airbus A300-600F, Boeing 747-400F, 757-200F and 767-300ERF, it was also considering ordering the A380-800F but it decided not to. UPS flies to numerous destinations around the world. It had at one time a fleet of 49 DC-8's and had 44 remaining in service up until recently, the first one arrived in 1988. Most, if not all of the DC-8's at UPS, arrived second hand and flew previously for major airlines in passenger version as DC-8-60's or 70's. The DC-8's at UPS were DC-8-70's powered by CFM power plant, some were converted from older 60 variants.
The DC-8 (Douglas Commercial type 8) was designed and built by the then Long Beach based Douglas company in the late 1950's at the dawn of the jet age as a response to Boeing's 707, at the time the two main rivals of the industry were Boeing and Douglas. Douglas merged with Mc Donnell in the 1960's and remained Mc Donnell Douglas until the late 1990's when it was absorbed by Boeing. 556 DC-8's were built and today (2009) less than 100 of then remain airworthy, most of those are still flying as freighters for small companies around the world. The DC-8 was a popular long haul aircraft during the 1960's, along with the Boeing 707, but it became a popular freighter in later years when the major airlines began replacing those with Boeing 757's and 767's in the 1980's. Freight companies that flew the DC-8 for a long time include, but are not limited to, Cargolux, UPS, and Airborne Express. Many pilots who flew the DC-8 for those companies now fly the Boeing 747 or 767.

American takes delivery of new B737 aircraft

2009-04-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

American Airlines is now gradually replacing its Mc Donnel Douglas MD-80 aircraft with new Boeing 737-800 Series. The new Boeing 737's equiped with winglets to save fuel were ordered in the early 2000's, in addition to the 77 units already in service, to replace the oldest MD-80's in service with the airline since 1984. The first 77 aircraft, the first of which was delivered in 1999, were ordered in 1996 to replace the last remaining Boeing 727-200's then still in service.
The two 737's delivered in April of 2009 will be followed by an additional 70 units in the next two years, which means that by 2011 American will have a fleet of over 150 Boeing 737's and fewer MD-80's will remain in the fleet, some of the latter were inherited from defunct TWA in the early 2000's. The Boeing 737-800 burns 25% less fuel than the MD-80.

American showed interest in the Next Generation Boeing 737 aircraft in 1996 when the then CEO Robert Crandall decided the company would eventually have an all Boeing fleet in the long run, Seattle aircraft manufacturer Boeing would then be the sole supplier of new aircraft to the company. The idea was to replace the last Boeing 727's which left the fleet in 2002 and eventually the MD-80's in the future. The last MD-80 will leave the fleet in the early 2020's, but I don't think that all 300 MD-80's will be replaced with 737's although the latter has a reduced fuel burn compared to its predecessor, what I think will happen next decade is this: by the time American takes delivery of all the 737's it still has on order, American will look at a newer model currently under study at Boeing, the 737RS or whatever new model will be available at that time, to replace the last MD-80's around the year 2020 or so. The MD-80 is already an obsolete aircraft but American still operates that aircraft on a lot of domestic flights.

I enjoy flying on the MD-80, especially when I am seated in the front rows near a window. It is a quiet aircraft and it rises quickly. The MD-80 fleet will eventually diminish in size in the new decade coming, the 2010's, but I am confident that I will still have plenty of opportunity to fly on those for another few years. I would rather choose to fly on that one instead of the new 737-800.

Fed Ex MD-11 Crash

2009-03-23T18:01:00.000-07:00

A Fed Ex MD-11 Freighter burst into flames on the morning of March 23rd 2009 when trying to land at Tokyo Narita International airport. The aircraft had its nose down on short final, bounced once, bounced again and flipped over. It burst into flames after the left wing hit the ground. Gusting winds were reported at the time of the landing but it is most probably a windshear that have caused the crash. Both pilots are confirmed dead. This particular aircraft was previously in service with Delta as a passenger hauler before being converted to freighter and handed over to Fed Ex. It was coming fron Guangzou on a scheduled freight flight.
The MD-11 aircraft, designed in the 1980's as a successor to the trijet DC-10, is also known to be hard to land especially in strong gusting winds, it is designed with an increased fuselage lenght compared to that of the DC-10 but the wing span and area remained the same, except wingtips added, hence more weight for the same lift. Four MD-11 crashed since the type entered service in 1991, including three freigher models. The freighter models that were involved in disasters were a Fed Ex bird which flipped over upon landing in Newark NJ in 1997, an other aircraft in Hong Kong in 1999, and now another Fed Ex bird in Tokyo. The fourth MD-11 disaster was the Swissair bird that crashed on the Atlantic Ocean in 1998, it was the only MD-11 in passenger version involved in a disaster.

Weather in Tokyo was reported clear with gusts of winds. Other aircraft that followed the approach in sequence for landing on RWY 34L, where the doomed Fed Ex MD-11 was cleared to land, were diverted to nearby airports including Haneda. The runway is now closed but should be reopened shortly within the next couple of days or so. Wind shear factor was blamed for quite a few disasters in the United States including EA 66, Eastern 727 landing in New York JFK in 1975, PA 759, a Pan Am 727 taking off out of New Orleans in 1982, and DL 191, a Delta L-1011 landing in Dallas in 1985. Other light aircraft were lost in windshear accidents. Since the above mentioned disasters, a technology advanced deviced called LLWAS (Low Level Windshear Alert System) helps pilot and Air Traffic Controllers detect windshears. A windshear is a sudden change in wind direction near the surface of the airport, making the aircraft loose lift and very difficult, if not impossible, to control. Wind shears occur rarely. It remains unlear whether the pilots of the ill fated Fed Ex flight should have done a missed approach, or not.

US Airways A320 down in Hudson River

2009-01-17T14:48:00.000-08:00

On the afternoon of Jan 15th 2009, a US Airways Airbus A320 bound for Charlotte NC as flight US 1549 ditched into the Hudson River three minutes after departing New York's La Guardia airport. Weather was cold and mostly clear.
The aircraft, with 150 passengers and 5 crew members on board, departed La Guardia out of RWY4 and experienced a dual engine failure shortly after take off. Birds who were sucked into the CFM engines of the aircraft are the cause of the incident, the captain radioed ATC and mentioned they had trouble with both engines, ATC vectored the aircraft towards the south attempting to have it return to La Guardia. The captain thought of diverting the aircraft to Teterboro NJ located just North of Newark but after clearing the Georges Washington Bridge it was clear to the crew that they would never make it to any airport in the vicinity so they decided to ditch the aircraft into the Hudson River and started the emergency prodecures. The aircraft ditched very smoothly at 331PM EST near the 42nd Street in Manhattan NY. Thanks to the very professinal attitude of the experienced captain and the quick response from the ferry boat crews, all 150 passengers were rescued and some were taken to nearby hospitals.

Captain Sullenberger, age 57, has been flying for US Airways for almost 30 years and he was previously a combat pilot in the military, he was also a glider instructor. All passengers owe their life to him since he has done a terrific job in handling this emergency. He has saved the lives of all passengers and crew by making the snap decision to ditch the aircraft on the Hudson River so that all passengers and crew could be rescued quickly. He put the aircraft down in the water very smoothly, as smootly as any uneventluf landing on concrete soil. The crew checked twice that every passenger escaped safely.

An airliner, although built with composite and aluminium heavier than water, can float on water because the fuel it carries is lighter than water, but the Airbus A320 aircraft and later Airbuls models are designed with a special device called "ditching switch" which closes all valves on the fuselage so that the aircraft can float longer than it would normally without this device. A few cases of ditching in the sea have been reported in the history of aviation but this one in partucular is the one that saved most lives thanks to the professionalism of the crew and the ditching device installed on the Airbus. Ths particular aircraft, registered N106US, was one of the many Airbus aircraft in US Airways fleet. It was built and delivered in 1999 to America West which merged with US Airways in 2005. The above pictures, taken at 200PM EST on Jan 17th in Lower West Side of Manhattan, show the top of the tail of the airliner.

Year 2008 review

2009-01-02T17:08:00.000-08:00

The most important event, in my opinion, of the year 2008 is the announced Delta-Northwest merger. The merger has been officially announced in December 2008. Within the next two years Northwest will be fully integrated into Delta, the new Delta will be the largest US airline with a combined fleet of over 1000 aircraft.

Other events in 2008:

-Emirates and Qantas introduce the A380.
-Boeing 787 first flight delayed further because of machinist strike.
-Price of jet fuel drastically increases to 150 USD per barrel in the middle of 2008.
-Alaska retires last MD-80.
-American orders 42 B787's and additional B738's, it also announces A300 retirement.
-Spanair MD-80 crash in Spain.
-Aeroflot B737 crash in Russia.
-Four airlines, SN, CO, TAM and Air India, announce plans to join Star Alliance.
-Egypt Air introduces new livery.
-Tarom orders 3 B737-800's.
-AF/KLM considering buying part of AZ reporting huge losses.
-Air NZ A320 crash in Mediterranean Sea while on flight testing.
-New Jet Blue terminal at JFK.
-KLM receives first Embraer 190 and B777-300ER aircraft.
-United announces B737 retirement and capacity cuts.
-Air France celebrates 75th anniversary, introduces retro color scheme on A320 aircraft.
-KLM and Delta introduce the B737-700 Series aircraft.
-American grounds MD-80 aircraft for technical inspection.
-Aeroflot introduces the A330.
-El Al turns 60 years old.
-B757/767 aircraft: 25 years of airline service.
-B707 aircraft introduced 50 years ago.
-Biofuel test begins.
-B777 Freighter first flight.
-Terminal 5 at LHR opens.
-Iberia retires last MD-87.
-Open Skies begins between Europe and USA.

Air Canada pilot has mental illness

2008-11-19T20:04:00.000-08:00

On a scheduled Air Canada flight from Toronto to London earlier this year, the copilot became mentally ill and was removed by the crew from the controls while on approach to London's Heathrow Airport. The aircraft, a Boeing 767 carrying 146 passengers and nine crew members, made a diversion to Shannon Ireland. The captain asked if anyone could help him in the cockpit, a female flight attendant, holder of a commercial pilot's license, volunteered to replace the copilot and took control of the jet all the way to the landing phase in Shannon. The aircraft was on auto pilot mode until seconds before touchdown, probably the captain managed the flight deck by keeping track of the data in the flight management system while the F/A replacing the copilot helped him in doing the radio work, consult the approach charts and select Shannon as a suitable airport. Two doctors were on board the aircraft. The mentally ill copilot is was in hospital for a few days.
Kudos to the captain and the flight attendants for their professional behavior in handling the situation.

Uzbekistan Airways orders 4 Boeing 767's

2008-11-07T20:16:00.000-08:00

Tashkent based Uzbekistan Airways, which was founded in the early 1990's following the collapse of the Soviet Union, ordered from the Seattle manufacturer 4 Boeing 767-300ER's, an order valued at close to 600 million USD's. The new Boeing twin jets will complement the airline's existing fleet of 6 B757-200's and 5 B767-300ER's (I saw one of them in JFK back in 2001), six Boeing jets are now on order: the 4 767's and the 2 787's previously ordered. The 767's were ordered for expansion and as an interim measure to compensate the delays in delivering the 787 which has still not flown. The bad news is the 787 first flight is postponed again, but the good news is the 767 production line still remains open.

The 300ER is the most successful variant of the versatile 767 twin jet, it entered service with launch customer American Airlines twenty years ago and since then it has been ordered at more than 500 units. Earlier this year, UPS ordered the 300ER in freighter version. The aircraft has a maximum range close to 6000 NM.

American orders Boeing 787's

2008-10-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

American Airlines announced a firm order for 42 Boeing 787 aircraft on October 15th 2008, an order worth 8 billion USD's, with an additional 58 units on option. The 42 aircraft on order will be delivered between 2012 and 2018 and the additional aircraft would be delivered between 2015 and 2020. The Boeing 787 will have improved technological features over its older sibling, the 767, such as new composite materials including carbon fibers replacing aluminum, fuel efficiency with a 20% reduced fuel consumption, engine nacelles with "shark teeth" placed at the rear so that the noise emissions are lowered (this technology will also be applied to the all new Boeing 747-8) and passengers will feel less dehydrated on a long flight. The 787-9, the variant American initially chose, is designed to carry up to 290 passengers on a distance of over 6000MN. It will not directly replace the 767, although the 787 will replace the 767 in the long run, it will be used for expansion in the long haul fleet, and at a later stage when the 767 will be retired the 787 will take over the routes. But that's not yet for now, because the 767-300ER is still young.

The exclusive deal American had signed with Boeing for the purchase of only Boeing jetliners is void on paper, it means that American still is a privileged customer at Boeing but it is no longer restricted from going to other manufacturers.
The A330-200 is, in my opinion a great airplane, for its capacity, range and cost of operation. It has some advantages over the 767 including a better cargo capacity, but although it is not impossible I don't think American would choose the A330 or A350 over the 787. Phasing in the A330 into the fleet would mean increasing the costs of pilot training and MX and less flexibility in crew scheduling. I know this is very unlikely but American would still choose the B767-400ER over the A330, first for the reason I explain above and then it can be available sooner than a 787 or even an A330 or A350. The only reason I see American would order the B767-400ER is because it could be available much sooner than the 787 would be, or maybe additional 300ER's fitted with winglets and 777 style interiors so that a subtype is not added and that is even more economical (that's why American doesn't really want the 737-700), should it need additional aircraft for expansion sooner than previously planned. This will also depend on how the American economy will be doing in the next four years or so.
It looks like in the long run (2025 and beyond), the mainline fleet will consist of only these three types: B737-800 which will start showing its age, B777-200ER and B787, and maybe the 737RS if Boeing ever builds it.

KLM Embraer 190 soon to be delivered

2008-10-11T20:00:00.000-07:00

KLM City Hopper, KLM's regional subsidiary, will soon receive the first of ten Embraer 190 aircraft it ordered. The type, scheduled to be delivered in November, will be assigned on short haul flights out of Amsterdam to various destinations in Europe including Geneva and Frankfurt. The Embraer 190's will replace the Fokker 100's which have been grounded several times lately for technical reasons, the 100's will leave the fleet at the latest beginning of 2010. The shorter and newer 70's will stay in the fleet longer, although the replacement of the latter is also foreseen in the longer run. KLM City Hopper operates a fleet consisting of three Fokker models, the 50 turboprop, as well as the 70 and 100 jets.

Embraer (EMpresa BRasilia AERonautica), a Brasilian company, has built hundreds of regional jets since it first unveiled the 145 ten years ago. The 170 and 190, called the E jets, were unveiled in 2004 ( I saw those at the Paris Air Show in 2005) and are now in service with several major and regional airlines in the world. The 170 and 190 are Embraer's latest product to come off the assembly lines in Sao Paulo, they both have a 2-2 seating layout and they are so far the two largest aircraft the company has ever made. The 190 is the longest variant of the E jets.
Embraer has no market share in the large aircraft sector lead by Airbus and Boeing, because it has never made an aircraft any larger than the E jet, but it has an important market share in the sales of regional jet aircraft.

Boeing 737 crash in Russia

2008-09-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

A Boeing 757-500 aircraft was involved in a disaster in Russia on the night between September 13 and September 14 2008. The aircraft was coming from Moscow and was operated by Aeroflot's subsidiary Aeroflot Nord on a scheduled flight to Perm in Ural.
Engine failure is said to be the main cause of the crash but in my opinion this cannot be the only problem because pilots are trained to fly a twin engine aircraft with one engine inoperative, other causes to this disaster can be a faulty rudder deflection, or even one of the hydraulic systems damaged, according to the media sources the pilots may have misinterpreted the instructions given by ATC when on approach to Perm. 88 passengers and crew members lost their lives in this disaster. The aircraft was built in the early 1990's and was originally delivered to Braathens, a Norwegian airline.
Aeroflot's last major disaster was in 1994 when an Airbus A310 crashed because the captain let his fifteen year old son take the controls of the aircraft! Since then Aeroflot had no more accident, and so it greatly improved its reputation and safety record. Aeroflot mainline does not fly the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A310 anymore.

Alaska retires last MD-80

2008-08-27T11:16:00.001-07:00

After gracing the Alaskan skies for 23 years, the Seattle based carrier retired its last Mc Donnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft from passenger service.

The MD-80, an stretched and improved version of the older Douglas DC-9, was introduced to the world's airlines early in the 1980's and it would burn 30% less fuel than the venerable Boeing 727 then widely in service. After the deregulation of the late 1970's, Alaska started to look for a 727 replacement. The then new Boeing 757 was considered but it was too expensive and the ground equipments would also have to be changed, the then new Boeing 737-300 was slightly too small in passenger capacity, so the airline turned to the Long Beach CA manufacturer and looked at the twin jet MD-80. Mc Donnell Douglas flew an MD-80 aircraft to Seattle, for sale purposes, in 1983. The Boeing 737-400 was also added to the fleet, those were converted to pax/cargo combi configuration.

The MD-80 aircraft was chosen over the Boeing 737-300, the order was placed in 1983 and the first unit, an MD-83, was delivered to Alaska early in 1985. The MD-83 was the variant chosen because it had a considerably long range, Alaska wanted a medium haul aircraft to be assigned on routes out of Seattle to several points in the state of Alaska as well as many points on the West Coast all the way down to San Diego (I took the above picture in San Diego in 2005). A total of 48 units would eventually be phased in, one of them which was delivered in 1992 was the 1000th MD-80 to come out of the Long Beach plant in Southern California. The MD-80 was the backbone of the fleet during the 1990's, the last 727 left in 1993. The MD-90, which Delta launched in the late 1980's, was also ordered but the order was canceled because the performances were judged not satisfactory enough for the airline.
During the middle of the 1990's, Alaska flew charter flights to Russia with the MD-80, flights to Russia started early in the 1970's but flights to Russia were suspended shortly afterwards, this was probably because there was still the Cold War between the United States and the then USSR. After the Cold War and communism ended, in 1991, charter flights to Russia resumed and continued for the rest of the decade. In addition to auxiliary fuel tanks, a second altimeter was added on the aircraft because ATC in Russia assigns altitudes in meters!

Alaska suffered on major disaster in 2000. An MD-80 bound from Puerto Vallarta to San Francisco as flight AS 261, crashed into the Pacific Ocean not far from Los Angeles; it was found that the aircraft in question had serious problems with the stabilizer. None of the passengers or crew members survived.

In the middle of the 2000's, 24 MD-80's remained the fleet and the airline decided to expedite the phase out of those so that it would move towards an all 737 fleet. Alaska decided it would move towards an all NG737 fleet in the long run, to save pilot training and maintenance costs. The MD-80, then new in the 1980's, was fuel efficient compared to the 727 but is now considered as a gas guzzler compared to the Next Generation Boeing 737-800 Series which burns 20% less fuel.
Alaska now operates an all Boeing 737 fleet consisting mostly of 700, 800 and 900 Series, the latter being the longest variant, in passenger service. A few 737-400's still remain in the fleet as combi aircraft. The last 200, the first of which came in 1981, left the fleet in 2007. In the near term future, Alaska will have a fleet consisting of only Next Generation 737's.

Spanair MD-80 disaster in Madrid

2008-08-20T09:02:00.000-07:00

A Spanair MD-80 aircraft suffered a disaster in Madrid Barajas airport when it caught fire and crashed just after take off. The aircraft was bound for Gran Canaria, a popular holiday destination, as flight JK 5022. There were some 170 passengers on board the MD-80, 150 passengers lost their lives. It caught fire on the engines, the MD-80 has two engines mounted on the tail.
Spanair, a Spanish airline based in Palma de Mallorca, was founded in the late 1980's and it flies to several destinations in Spain and some other holiday destinations. It is a member of the Star Alliance and it operates a fleet of Airbus A320/A321, Boeing 717 and Mc Donnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft.

The MD-80 has maintained a decent safety record since it was introduced in the early 1980's, other major disasters of this aircraft as far as I can remember are a Northwest aircraft which crashed in Detroit in 1987, an Alaska Airlines jet which crashed in the Pacific Ocean in 2000 and another MD-80 which crashed in Latin America (can't remember what airline it was) in 2005. The MD-80 is out of production since the year 2000 but many of them are still in service and will be for the years to come. American Airlines, the largest operator of the type, grounded its whole fleet of MD-80's for safety inspection, electrical wiring check on each aircraft, earlier this year 2008. Hundreds of flights were canceled and it caused many rescheduling tasks for thousands of passengers. The aircraft have returned to the skies and operate as scheduled on their respective flights . It is a pleasant experience to fly on one, especially if you are seated up front of the aircraft, because you barely hear any noise even when the engines are at full power during take off.

Emirates recieves first A380 and orders additional aircraft from Airbus

2008-07-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

Emirates, the Middle East largest airline, was founded in the middle of the 1980's with a fleet of a few Airbus A300's and A310's. It has since then grown drastically and it is now one of the largest major airlines in the world with a fleet consisting of mostly Airbus 330's and Boeing 777's in long range variant.

Emirates was the launch customer for the Airbus A380 aircraft back in 2000 when the then project A3XX was officially called A380. It ordered a total of 58 units and it remains so far the airline which has ordered the most A380's from Airbus. The first unit was just delivered to the Dubai based carrier. It is the second airline to take delivery of the A380, the first one to receive it was Singapore Airlines back in October 2007.
Following the delivery of the first A380 super, jumbo, Emirates placed additional order from Airbus, it ordered an additional 60 widebodies including 30 A330-300 (the airline already operates the A330-200, a slightly shorter variant) as well as 30 A350XWB (Extra Wide Body), currently under study, to be delivered from 2012 onwards. Emirates has never flown any narrowbody aircraft. The engine choice for the new Airbus aircraft at Emirates will likely be the Rolls Royce Trent. First Class passengers will be able to enjoy a shower but the luxury feature is limited up to five minutes maximum because of weight restrictions on the aircraft, since additional water has to be carried on board. The other luxury feature on the aircraft is a mini bar installed on the upper deck, a feature that the early Boeing 747's used to have.
The first A380 for Emirates arrived in Dubai, from Germany where sections of the fuselage are built, and it is scheduled to fly to New York on August 1st. The aircraft is configured to carry nearly 500 passengers in three classes of service. The second unit is scheduled to be delivered in September.

First Delta B737-700 ready for delivery

2008-07-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

Delta, which operates a large fleet of Boeing 737-800 Series aircraft, has recently added the shorter 700 Series to its fleet. Delta placed an order for 10 700's in the second half of 2007. The first unit is now getting ready for delivery. It is undergoing flight testing over in Boeing Field WA, all Boeing narrowbody aircraft are built in Renton WA while all widebody aircraft are built in Everett WA, all these facilities are located near Seattle. Delivery flight from Seattle to Atlanta is scheduled for July 25th.

Delta is a major US airline based in Atlanta GA. It announced three months ago plans to merge with Minneapolis based Northwest, the two carriers both belonging to the Sky Team alliance will become one major player in North America the same way Air France and KLM became a major player in Europe in 2005. Delta founded the Sky Team alliance with Air France back in 2000.
Delta operates a large fleet of Boeing NG 737, 757, 767 as well as MD-88 aircraft on domestic routes and a fleet of 757, 767 and 777 on intercontinental routes. Most of the 757's at Delta, the first of which arrived in the mid 1980's, are assigned on domestic routes, but a small part of the 757 fleet is configured for long haul international flights. Delta operates mostly a large fleet of Boeing 767-300ER/400ER on its global long haul network, both domestic and international flights. The 737-800 has replaced the older 727 which Delta has operated in large number since the early 1970's, the 700's are now being added to the 800's. Gone are the 727's, L-1011's, MD-11's and 767-200's. Gone also are the A310's, those were inherited from defunct carrier Pan Am when Delta bought most of the assets in the early 1990's.
The biggest hub is Atlanta (ATL) but there two other hubs also: Salt Lake City and Cincinnati. There are other "focus cities" in the system including New York City (JFK and LGA combined), Orlando, and Los Angeles. The Dallas (DFW) hub was dismantled in the middle of the 2000's.

Boeing 777F maiden flight

2008-07-15T03:52:00.000-07:00

The Boeing 777, in passenger service since 1995, is now starting a new life as a freighter. The first Boeing 777 freighter, which rolled out of the assembly plant on May 21st 2008, made its maiden flight on July 14th 2008 out of Paine Field in Everett WA. The total flight test took over three hours, the testing phase in flight went well despite problems with data transmission. The aircraft returned to the ground to have this problem fixed. Flight testing will resume after data transmission problem is resolved.
A flight test program covering 270 flight test hours is to be completed before the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Europe Joint Aviation Authorities (CAA) certify the aircraft airworthy, one this is done the first unit will be delivered.

Air France, which now operates a fleet of fifty Boeing 777's in passenger version, launched the B777 Freighter in May 2005 and is expecting the first delivery sometimes in 2009. Air France received its first passenger 777, a 200 Series, ten years ago. The B777F will join a fleet of B744F currently in service with Air France.
Fed Ex, a large shipping company based in Memphis TN, is also very interested in the aircraft.

The Boeing 777-200F will have a range of close to 5000NM with a full payload, a cruising speed of Mach .84 at an altitude of 35000ft. It will enable the freight carriers to plan their flights by scheduling longer legs with fewer intermediate stops. According to the Boeing Commercial Airplanes website, 11 customers have ordered the 777F, Air France being one of them.

Winglets on American 763's

2008-07-13T15:01:00.001-07:00

With the price of the barrel of oil climbing close to 150 USD, American Airlines is busy installing winglets on its first Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. The winglets are provided by Aviation Partners Boeing, a company supplying winglets to Boeing commercial aircraft. The winglets on the Boeing 767-300ER will yield a saving of up to 6% in fuel consumption, close to 300000 US gallons of fuel per aircraft per year will be saved. The winglets on the 767 measure 11 feet high.
The purpose of installing winglets on the aircraft is to reduce fuel consumption, noise and CO2 emissions, it only slightly reduces fuel consumption in one flight but in the long run it can bring significant savings to the fuel consumption of each aircraft. The winglets slightly increase the lift coefficient of the aircraft.
All 58 767-300ER's flown mostly on intercontinental flights will receive winglets within the next two years, but the 200ER's probably won't receive them. The 757's also have winglets installed on the wingtips, although not all aircraft in the fleet have. American, hit by the downturn of the global economy, the events of 9-11 and the soaring fuel prices, has been taking drastic measures to reduce costs and fuel consumption, and it has no plans to merge with another carrier.

Aviation Partners Boeing supplies winglets for the following Boeing models: NG737-700/800/300ER Series, 757-200/300 and now the 767-300ER. The 767-400ER isn't designed to be fit with winglets, neither is the 777-300ER, because those have raked wingtips, an alternate solution to the winglets for fuel consumption. A few airlines also equip older 737-300's with winglets, I know Brussels Airlines does, but it is mostly the younger 700 and 800 Series that have them. Other major airline customers to fit their Boeing aircraft with winglets supplied by Aviation Partners besides American include Continental, Delta, Southwest, KLM, Ryanair and South African Airways.

Boeing 747F crashes in Bogota

2008-07-07T14:34:00.000-07:00

July 7th 2008 is another bad day for Kalitta Air. A former China Airlines Boeing 747-209F crashed shortly after take off in Bogota, all eight occupants survived but two people were killed on the ground as the aircraft hit a farm. The crew declared an emergency (engine fire) two minutes after take off but while following the emergency procedures to return to the airport, the fuselage teared apart.
The aircraft, delivered new to China Airlines in passenger version in 1981, was carrying some 70 tons of flowers and was scheduled to fly to Miami. This accident happened just six weeks after the Kalitta aborted take off in Brussels (see separate article in archive). 2008 is a very unfortunate year for Kalitta Air, the company lost 2 747's! The two disasters are both due to engine troubles upon take off, both aircraft involved were previously in service with China Airlines as passenger haulers.
Kalitta Air, founded by pilot and businessman Conrad Kalitta, is a freight company based in Michigan in the United States,. It started operations in November 2000 with three Boeing 747F's. Since then, the fleet has grown and there were as many as 18 Boeing 747's. With two aircraft lost this year, 16 Boeing 747's including three 400 BCF (Boeing Converted Freighters) remain in the fleet. Kalitta's radio call sign is "Connie".

ANA considers buying A380

2008-07-04T04:25:00.000-07:00

All Nippon Airways is considering buying 5 Airbus A380 superjumbos for a total value of 100 billion Yen (almost one billion USD's), it will be the first Japanese airline to introduce the type which made its maiden flight in 2005. The airline is planning to add the A380 on long haul intercontinental routes and reduce fuel consumption, in today's market where the price of the barrel is soaring high, by reducing the number of flights daily while hauling no fewer passengers. The A380's, the decision to order them is expected to be taken in September, would also be added as an interim measure to compensate the gap left empty with the delays at Boeing in getting the 787 Dreamliner ready for delivery. ANA is also looking at the US built rival, the new 747-8, but the A380 seems to be the first choice.
ANA's relationship with European aircraft maker Airbus (EADS) goes back to the early 1990's when the first A320 was introduced on domestic routes within Japan.

United will lay off 950 pilots and phase out B737 aircraft

2008-06-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

Chicago based United Airlines will lay off 950 pilots this year and next year, pilots on the lay off list will be the ones with the least seniority number, most of them Boeing 737 First Officers. The Boeing 737 captains will transition to the A320 or larger equipment depending on the seniority or availability. This decision follows the future fleet planning announced recently in a separate press release, the Boeing 737 fleet will be phased out completely by early next decade. United currently employs over 7000 pilots.
United retired its older Boeing 727 and Boeing 737-200 Series earlier this decade following the events of 9-11, the 300 and 500 Series which make up the whole 737 fleet at United will soon be phased out as well. The whole 737 fleet will be phased out and no new aircraft will be added in the near future, as a cost cutting measure, but the A320 and Boeing 757 fleets will stay longer. United was in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection from late 2002 until the middle of the decade.

Continental's future

2008-06-20T17:57:00.000-07:00

Continental will soon be leaving the Sky Team alliance founded by Air France and Delta, and is in talks in joining Star Alliance founded by United and Lufthansa. Continental was previously in discussion with American Airlines and British Airways to join One World, since it has been granted slots at Heathrow's airport in London, but it is also in talks with United for a possible merger. I think that this plan on moving to an other alliance comes from the planned Delta/Northwest merger, the two carriers are in serious discussions for a merger since March 2008, Continental was then looking at United for an eventual merger.
Continental's move to Star would bring to the alliance a strong network in North and South America. The Newark hub would become the first Star Alliance hub in the New York City area, and also the Houston hub would bring to the alliance more connections to Latin America. Star Alliance has no major partner in Latin America after Brazilian carrier Varig left. Star's only presence in South America is TAP Air Portugal, the Portuguese carrier has quite a number of weekly flights to Brazil.

The other plan for the future is trimming the fleet. Continental is in the process of phasing out older 737's, 300 and 500 series, in the near term future as newer models, 800 and 900ER series are delivered. Continental's Next Generation's 737 fleet is growing, over 100 of the 800 series will be in the fleet once all aircraft are delivered, the above picture shows one of them. Continental's future fleet will consist of NG737's (700/800/900/900ER series), 757-200/300, 767-200ER/400ER, 777-200ER and 787. The last Classic 737 will be gone early next decade. Continental Express is parking its fleet of Embraer 135's but the 145's will continue to fly longer.

American Airlines accelerates fleet renewal

2008-06-19T03:45:00.000-07:00

With the soaring fuel prices and the barrel at 150 USD, American Airlines is in the process of renewing its fleet of over 600 aircraft, making it more efficient by reducing the number of fleet types and phasing in new fuel efficient aircraft. American has drastically reduced the number of aircraft types in its fleet since the terrorist attacks of 2001, it was the time when D Carty was the CEO. The airline lost a tremendous amount of money since 2001, not only that it was hit by the events of 9-11, it bought defunct carrier TWA.
The new CEO, G. Asprey took drastic measures by not adding any new type, cutting flights and capacity as well as charging for food and non alcoholic drinks in economy class. American has since then parked a number of older jets including MD-80's and Boeing 767-200's in the desert, those were introduced in the 1980's when R. Crandall was the then CEO. The fleet renewal plans include phasing in newer Boeing 737-800's replacing the oldest MD-80's in the fleet as well as phasing out the Airbus A300's. The Boeing 737-800 is 25% more fuel efficient than the MD-80 is, the latter is what makes half of the total mainline fleet. The 34 A300's currently in service with American serve the East Coast and Caribbean markets, some of the aircraft are owned but some are to be returned to the lessors when the lease term expire. Measures to save money include not adding any new type for the time being, not adding any sub fleet type (I mean, no 737 other than the 800 Series), concentrating assigning aircraft types on selected markets. What I mean is not every major hub sees all aircraft types in the fleet. MIA no longer sees the Super 80 and ORD no longer sees the B737-800. DFW never saw the A300 and it never will.
Gone forever are the B727's, the MD-11's, the Fokkers, as well as the MD-90's inherited from Reno Air. Gone also are the ex-TWA B717's and B757's which were PW powered, the latter went to Delta. All of American's 757's are factory fresh delivered and RR powered. It looks like what is going to happen in the near term future is that we will see part of the 757 fleet moving to selected markets in the East Coast and Latin America, taking over the A300's, leaving some of the 757 routes within the domestic system to new 737's which are scheduled to be delivered in 2009 and 2010.
An order for the all new B787 Dreamliner is a likely possibility but near term plans are reducing number of types in the fleet and capacity, so adding the Dreamliner to the fleet isn't in the near term future plans, although still possible for the coming years ahead.
The A300 will be phased out in the near future, despite its large cargo capacity needed for the markets it serves, not only to reduce capacity and simplify the fleet, it is the most expensive aircraft in the fleet to maintain. I think that following the disagreements with Airbus Industries after the crash of flight 587 in New York, American will not consider buying additional aircraft from Airbus. The new A350XWB would be a nice addition to the fleet, but that's very unlikely.

The fleet in the near term future (early 2010's) is likely to be as follow:
Boeing 737-800 (domestic and some Latin America markets)
Boeing 757-200 (domestic, transcon, Latin America and Hawaii markets)
Boeing 767-200ER (selected transcon flights only: JFK-LAX and JFK-SFO)
Boeing 767-300ER (selected transcon flights, Europe, Latin America and Hawaii markets)
Boeing 777 (London, Latin America, India and Asia)
MD-80 (domestic routes only)

The three mains hubs will still be DFW, ORD and MIA. LAX and NY JFK/LGA combined will remain secondary hubs. The STL hub inherited from defunct carrier TWA will vanish, as did the RDU, BNA and SJC hubs previously.

American has no plans on merging with another airline, no growth plan for the near term future. There were talks about selling the regional affiliate, American Eagle, plans of selling Eagle are dropped but the regional fleet will also diminish in size.

First Qantas A380 almost ready

2008-06-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

Qantas has on order 20 Airbus A380 super jumbo's, those will gradually replace the Boeing 747-300's and 400's in the long run, currently in service on long intercontinental flights. The first A380 is now getting ready for delivery. Tickets to fly on the first A380 flights are now on sale.
The first A380 will commence service from Sydney to Los Angeles in October 2008. Singapore and London will be added on the A380 network in the beginning of 2009. Qantas doesn't seem to be interested in Boeing's new 747-8.
The A380 at Qantas will be configured in four classes of service, First and Economy on the lower deck, Business and Premium Economy on the upper deck. The First Class cabin will have private suites and the Business Class cabin will have seats convertible to flat beds. Passengers will enjoy comfortable seats in Economy with adjustable headrest, and those traveling in Premium Economy will enjoy more space between each row as well as priority boarding.

Boeing 747 aborted take off in Brussels

2008-06-16T08:53:00.000-07:00

In May 2008, a Kalitta Boeing 747-200F aborted its take off at Brussels Airport due to an engine failure. The aircraft was due to fly to Bahrain on a schedule freight flight, what had happened was the crew noticed an engine malfunction and so decided to reject the take off, this was just after V1 the speed at which the pilots have to decide whether the aircraft will take off or not. The aircraft, a 200 Series operated as a passenger model by China Airlines previously, was carrying over 70 tons of freight including a lot of mail. It crashed at the end of RWY 20 just on the threshold or RWY 02 which is a runway often in use for landing. The aircraft suffered damage beyond economical repair but fortunately there were no casualties, the crew escaped safely, and the railway lines were not hit. I was not in Belgium when it happened, but after I came back one week after I saw the front part of the fuselage still resting at the end of the runway, I saw the wings with the damaged engine and the escaping slides coming out of the upper deck (too bad I didn't have my camera, I didn't have much time anyway because I had a meeting that evening, and the next day it was raining). The rear part of the aircraft had already been taken away by cranes.
A few days after, I went back there again. I wanted to take a picture but unfortunately when I went there with my camera, the aircraft had already been taken away entirely. All I could see was damage to the threshold of RWY 02 in Brussels.

Airbus A310 crash in Sudan

2008-06-16T08:48:00.001-07:00

In June 2008, a Sudan Airways bird crashed in Khartoum shortly after it landed. The aircraft suffered an engine failure and burst into flames a few minutes after touch down. The bad weather wasn't the only cause to the crash. What may have caused the disaster is the sandstorm in Sudan, the right wing touched the ground as the engine burst into flames. Out of the 200+ passengers and crew, 100 were reported dead according to several media sources. The aircraft, a former Air India bird, was coming from Amman. It had been with the Sudanese carrier for three years before the disaster.