The start-up U.S. airline code-named โMoxyโ has signed a firm order with Airbus to purchase 60 A220-300 aircraft.
Moxy is the new airline venture led by David Neeleman, one of the industryโs most innovative entrepreneurs and founder of JetBlue Airways. In addition to JetBlue, Neeleman also founded Azul Brazilian Airlines and is the controlling investor in the revitalization of TAP Air Portugal.
Plans for Moxy, a low-cost airline, were unveiled at the Farnborough International Air Show in July. โThe A220-300 is the right airplane for a new airline that will be focused on passenger service and satisfaction,โ said Neeleman. โWith a low cost of operation and spacious cabin, the A220 will allow us to provide passengers with lower fares and a high quality, comfortable flying experience. The A220โs ability to operate profitably in thin, underserved markets across a broad spectrum of ranges is unique.โ
The order was completed the final week of December. Airbus will produce the A220-300 at a new U.S. assembly facility in Mobile, Alabama. Construction of that plant, to be located adjacent to the existing Airbus A320 assembly facility, will begin later this month.
The A220 is the only aircraft purpose built for the 100-150 seat market; it delivers unbeatable fuel efficiency and true widebody comfort in a single aisle aircraft. The A220 brings together state-of-the-art aerodynamics, advanced materials and Pratt & Whitneyโs latest-generation PW1500G geared turbofan engines to offer at least 20 percent lower fuel burn per seat compared to previous generation aircraft. With a range of up to 3,200 nm (5,020 km), the A220 offers the performance of larger single-aisle aircraft.
With an order book of more than 500 aircraft to date, the A220 has all the credentials to win the lionโs share of the 100- to 150-seat aircraft market estimated to represent at least 7,000 aircraft over the next 20 years.
JetBlue Airways has firmed up an order for 60 Airbus A220-300 aircraft, the larger model of the new, industry-leading A220 series.
โAs we approach our 20th anniversary, the impressive range and economics of the highly efficient A220, combined with the outstanding performance of our existing fleet of Airbus A321 and restyled A320 aircraft, will help ensure we deliver the best onboard experience to customers and meet our long-term financial targets as we continue disciplined growth into the future,โ said Robin Hayes, Chief Executive Officer, JetBlue.
JetBlueโs existing Airbus fleet includes 193 A320 and A321ceo aircraft in operation, with an additional 85 A321neo aircraft on order.
The order was completed the last week of December. Airbus will produce the A220-300 aircraft at a new U.S. assembly facility in Mobile, Alabama. Construction of the plant, to be located adjacent to the existing Airbus A320 assembly facility, will begin later this month.
The A220 is the only aircraft purpose built for the 100-150 seat market; it delivers unbeatable fuel efficiency and true widebody comfort in a single-aisle aircraft. The A220 brings together state-of-the-art aerodynamics, advanced materials and Pratt & Whitneyโs latest-generation PW1500G geared turbofan engines to offer at least 20 percent lower fuel burn per seat compared to previous generation aircraft. With a range of up to 3,200 nm (5,020 km), the A220 offers the performance of larger single-aisle aircraft.
With an order book of more than 500 aircraft to date, the A220 has all the credentials to win the lionโs share of the 100- to 150-seat aircraft market estimated to represent at least 7,000 aircraft over the next 20 years.
Statement from Gary Kelly, Chairman and CEO, following the passing of Herb Kelleher, Chairman Emeritus:
“Herb was a lifelong mentor and friend, and one of the greatest joys of my life has been working alongside Herb for over 30 years. His stamp on the airline industry and all those he touched has been profound. His vision for making air travel affordable for all revolutionized the industry, and you can still see that transformation taking place today. But his legacy extends far beyond our industry and far beyond the world of entrepreneurship. He inspired people; he motivated people; he challenged peopleโand, he kept us laughing all the way. He was an exceptionally gifted man with an enormous heart and love for peopleโall people. We have been beyond blessed to have him as a part of our lives.”” — Gary Kelly
Southwest Airlines issued this statement:
We are deeply saddened to share that Southwest Airlines Founder and Chairman Emeritus Herbert D. Kelleher passed away today at the age of 87.
Herb was a pioneer, a maverick, and an innovator. His vision revolutionized commercial aviation and democratized the skies. Herb’s passion, zest for life, and insatiable investment in relationships made lasting and immeasurable impressions on all who knew him and will forever be the bedrock and esprit de corps of Southwest Airlines.
The entire Southwest Family extends our deepest sympathies to Herb’s wife, Joan, and his entire family.
By Linda Rutherford, Southwest employee:
It is with heavy hearts that we share with you that our Founder, Inspiration, Chairman Emeritus, and Friend Herb Kelleher has passed away this morning at the age of 87. Herb is survived by his wife, Joan, three of their four children, many cherished grandchildren, and, of course, his pride and joy, the Employees of Southwest Airlines.
Born Herbert David Kelleher on March 12, 1931, and raised in Haddon Heights, New Jersey, Herb received his bachelorโs degree from Wesleyan and his law degree from New York University. He practiced law on the East Coast before relocating to Texas with plans to start his own law firm. In 1967, Herb and client Rollin King incorporated Air Southwest, Inc., with the idea of offering low-fare, intra-Texas airline service. After a name change and many legal battles valiantly fought and won by Herb, Southwest Airlines took to the skies on June 18, 1971โa date that would change each of our lives forever. Anyone in the world who has set foot on an airplane in the past 50 years has been touched by the life of Herb Kelleher. For he, with the first set of Southwest Warriors, made history when they set out to disrupt the airline industry by making flying both fun and affordable.
As we all know, Herb has played a very profound role in the life of President Emeritus Colleen Barrett. They have been a powerful pair since she became his legal secretary in 1967, and together they nurtured and groomed Southwest Airlines into one of the most admired Companies in the world. Colleen said: “He always supported me and always treated me as his complete equal. His generosity and inclusion from the very beginning allowed me opportunities and experiences that have been my guiding lights.”
Southwest CEO Gary Kellyโs life is another one of the many lives that Herb touched, and he had this to say about his lifelong mentor and friend: โOne of the greatest joys of my life has been working alongside Herb for more than 30 years. His stamp on the airline industry cannot be overstated. His vision for making air travel affordable for all revolutionized the industry, and you can still see that transformation taking place today. But his legacy extends far beyond our industry and far beyond the world of entrepreneurship. His true impact can only be accurately measured by the hearts and minds of the People who he inspired, motivated, and engaged on a daily basis. And that, I believe, cannot be measured or quantifiedโbut it is to be admired and appreciated by all who have been fortunate enough to experience it. I consider myself blessed to be one of those People.โ
Herb served as Southwest Airlines Executive Chairman from March 1978 to May 2008 and as President and CEO from September 1981 through June 2001. ย Fortune magazine, which consistently recognizes Southwest among the worldยนs top 10 most admired companies, called Kelleher perhaps the Best CEO in America.
Kelleher himself received numerous awards and honors, including the U. S. Chamber Businessย Leadership Hall of Fame; CEO of the Year and one of historyยนs top three CEOs, Chief Executive magazine; CEO of the Century, Texas Monthly magazine; National Sales and Marketing Hall of Fame; CEO of the Decade-Airline Industry; Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy; Bower Award for Business Leadership, Franklin Institute; Tony Jannus Award; Wings Club Distinguished Achievement Award; San Diego Aerospace Hall of Fame; L. Welch Pogue Award for Lifetime Achievement in Aviation, Aviation Week; Airline Business Award, Airline Business magazine; History Making Texan Award; the Business Halls of Fame of the State of Texas, the University of Texas, Texas A&M, and the City of Dallas; the Herbert D. Kelleher Servant Leader Scholarship, named in Herbยนs honor by the Austin Business Travel Association; induction into the Texas Labor Management Hall of Fame; Transportation Research Forum Presidentยนs Award; induction into the National Aviation Hall of Fame; induction into the Paul E. Garber First Flight Shrine, Wright Brothers National Memorial; recipient of the Department of Homeland Security Distinguished Public Service Medal; an honorary lifetime member of the Transport Workers Union; recipient of full page USA Today “Thank You Herb!” ad from Southwestยนs Pilots union; inducted into the AAF Tenth District Southwest Advertising Hall of Fame; the Joseph T. Nall Safety Award, NTSB Bar Association; the Murphy Award for Lifetime Achievement, University of North Texas; Ronald McDonald House Charities Award of Excellence; inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame, and, was inducted into the American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame and the Entrepreneurs For North Texasโ Ring of Entrepreneurs.
Herb was a Freedom Fighter. He revolutionized the skies. He blazed a trail of low fares and exemplary Customer Service in an industry ruled by just the opposite. Herb was a Pioneer. A Maverick. An Innovator. He celebrated and exemplified the esprit de corps of the Southwest People with such vigor that the spirit has grown exponentially. Herb knew all along that โThe business of business is Peopleโโyesterday, today, and forever. Herb decided long ago that our internal Customers, our Employees, would come first.
Herb has been quoted as saying, โIt is my practice to try to understand how valuable something is by trying to imagine myself without it.โ We now have to imagine ourselves without Herb. Our Founding Father has passed on, but the legacy that he has left to each of us is still very much alive. Southwest will grieve as Families do, but we know heโd want us to laugh through our tears.
We miss you already, Herbie.
March 28, 1978
Lamar Muse resigned as President and CEO. Herb Kelleher was appointed Interim President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board.
airBaltic has retained its place as the most punctual airline in Europe and is the second most punctual in the world according to the OAG analysts. They tracked the performance of over 58 million flight records in 2018 to create a ranking of the best on-time performance (OTP) for the worldโs largest airlines and airports. airBaltic has been on the top of the global on-time performance ranking for the past five consecutive years.
According to OAG, in 2018 airBaltic achieved an on-time performance rating of 89.17% for flights linking the Baltics to its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, CIS and the Middle Least. It means that more than 89 out of 100 airBaltic flights arrived on time in 2018.ย
airBaltic serves over 70 destinations from Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius, offering the largest variety of destinations and convenient connections via Riga to its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, the CIS and the Middle East. For summer 2019, airBaltic will launch new direct routes from Riga to Dublin, Stuttgart and Lviv. In addition, next summer airBaltic has introduced three new destinations from Tallinn to Malaga, Brussels and Copenhagen.ย
iFly Airlines in December retired its last Boeing aircraft becoming an all-Airbus airline in 2019.
The last Boeing 757-200, the pictured EI-CJY (below), operated flight I4 9848 from Bari to Moscow (Vnukovo) on December 20, 2018 according to Flightradar 24.
The aircraft has now been returned and has been put into storage.
Now the airline only operates Airbus A319s and A330s.
iFly operates for Tez Tour, TUI and Intourist Thomas Cook.
Bottom Copyright Photo (all others by the airline):ย I Fly Airlines Boeing 757-2Y0 EI-CJY (msn 26161) (Thomas Cook Airlines colors) AYT (Ton Jochems). Image: 945117.
In line with its growth strategy, Finnair is adding capacity on its route between Helsinki and London Heathrow for the summer 2019 season starting on March 31, 2019.
Finnair will add a new daily frequency to and from London Heathrow, operated with an Airbus A320 family aircraft. Providing good connection opportunities from London with Finnairโsย oneworldย partners, the new flight will leave Helsinki at 11:40 and the return flight from London will depart at 13:50.
In addition, Finnair will further increase its capacity on the London route byย upgaugingย the 16:00 flight between Helsinki and London, as well as the 18:10 flight from London to Helsinki, with an Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft (top). The change will provide more than 50 additional seats per flight compared to the current A321 narrow-body aircraft.
Finnair currently flies an Airbus A350 aircraft (above) daily for the first flight leaving Helsinki in the morning and for the return flight from London. Customers traveling from London via Helsinki to Finnairโs Asian destinations can now have a seamless business class experience with full-flat seats on their way to Asia and back.
During the upcoming summer season, Finnair will operate up to seven daily flights between both cities, including two frequencies with a wide-body aircraft.ย With the announced changes, Finnair will be adding approximately 21% more capacity on the route compared to the previous summer 2018 season.
Top Copyright Photo:ย Finnair Airbus A330-302 OH-LTT (msn 1088) BKK (Michael B. Ing). Image: 936233.
Air Botswana announced the arrival of its first Embraer 170 on social media on December 31:
Closing off 2018 with the arrival of our Embraer E-170 Jet which just touched down at SSKIA! We look forward to welcoming you on board in 2019! PULA!
The pictured Embraer ERJ 170-100LR was delivered as N734A (msn 17000318) and was officially handed over on December 29, 2018. It will become A2-ABM. The new airliner is named โOkavangoโ.
Lufthansa Group has made this announcement for 2019:
Approximately 5500 new employees will be cleared for takeoff with a career in Lufthansa Group this year โ in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium alone, the home markets of the aviation group. The company is looking to hire over 1300 flight attendants โ primarily at the Munich hub and at SWISS in Zรผrich. For the core Lufthansa brand, around 1200 new hires are planned at the Frankfurt and Munich hubs, in all business areas. Lufthansa Group is also hiring a large number of additional employees worldwide.
In addition, up to 500 future pilots are to begin their training as flight students with Lufthansa Aviation Training at the European Flight Academy in 2019. In order to stabilize flight operations after a turbulent summer, Lufthansa Group is investing approximately a quarter of a billion euros. For instance, around 600 employees are being hired to ensure quality in operations.
Highly professional environment and attractive employment conditions
There are over 500 job profiles in the globally operating aviation group that has over 550 subsidiaries and affiliates. Potential applicants can find available positions in the career portal Be-Lufthansa (www.be-lufthansa.com). Over 170,000 applications were submitted through this platform in 2018. โThis shows once again how popular Lufthansa is as an employer with its various business areas,โ says Bettina Volkens, Chief Officer Corporate Human Resources and Legal Affairs at Deutsche Lufthansa AG. As an international employer with employees hailing from 147 different countries, Lufthansa Group emphasizes diversity โ and not just in terms of language and origin. โEqual opportunities for men and women at every level, that is what I stand for and that is what I stand up for,โ Volkens says. โWe offer a highly professional environment, attractive employment conditions and are standard-setting in professional training. Moving forward, we plan to bring even more young employees into the company than beforeย as well as promote our talents through a wide range of programs.โ
Wanted: technological know-how and IT skills
Lufthansa Technik Group is set to grow significantly this year: โDie Technikโ is looking for over 1200 new colleagues in Germany, including several hundred operational employees, 400 direct entries and more than 200 apprentices. Lufthansa Group is also looking to hire well over 600 IT specialists in Germany. Lufthansa Systems already positioned itself successfully as an employer within the IT environment last year with the campaign โAviation Heroes wantedโ. And the same is true this year: IT is key, be that at Lufthansa Systems or at for example Industry Solutions (350 projected new hires) or Lufthansa Airlines (150). There is also a group-wide program that will employ 15 IT trainees.
Over 300 apprentices in Germany
Over 300 new positions for junior employees are planned in Germany for this year and almost 80 will start their vocational training at SWISS and Austrian Airlinesย inย Switzerland and Austria. On top of this, around 60 trainees will be off to a flying start in Lufthansa Group this year. The group currently offers ten cooperative degree programs as well as vocational training in 29 different skilled occupations and several trainee programs.
Lufthansa Group at a glance: passenger transportation is the biggest business segment of Lufthansa Group and is carried out by the airlines Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings and Brussels Airlines as well as SunExpress. The other business areas, including logistics, engineering and catering and additional group companies are leaders in their respective fields.
As of September 30, 2018, Lufthansa Group had approximately 135,000 employees. Around 32,000 of them work at Lufthansa. With 40,000 employees, Lufthansa Group is the largest employer in Frankfurt and Hessen; the group has more than 70,000 employees in Germany.
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