Tag Archives: Boeing

United Airlines to drop the Seattle/Tacoma-Tokyo Narita route on January 16

United Airlines (Chicago) is giving up on the Seattle/Tacoma-Tokyo (Narita) route on January 16, 2014 according to The News Tribune. This was one of United’s first trans-Pacific routes, operated since April 1983. Delta is back-filling United’s departure with increased flights from SEA to Asia. United’s Star Alliance partner, ANA, will also continue to serve the route.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Meanwhile United will launch a new route connecting the Houston (Bush Intercontinental) hub and Munich starting on April 24, 2013 per Airline Route.

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. United’s Boeing 777-222 ER N222UA (msn 30553) taxies to the gate after landing at SeaTac on a flight from Tokyo (Narita).

United Airlines:ย AG Slide Show

Delta Air Lines to add nonstop Orlando-Las Vegas flights on March 2

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) on March 2, 2014 will launch a new nonstop route from Orlando to Las Vegas with Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The route will be operated three days a week per Airline Route.

Delta is also starting Raleigh/Durham-Las Vegas service on March 2, 2014. Both are traditional Southwest Airlines routes.

Copyright Photo: Tony Storck/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-832 N393DA (msn 30377) prepares to land at Baltimore/Washington.

Delta Air Lines:ย AG Slide Show

Qatar Airways announces a new route to Edinburgh

Qatar Airways (Doha) announced it will begin flights to the Scottish capital of Edinburgh effective May 28, 2014, operating five flights weekly.

The new route will be served by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in a two-cabin configuration, offering passengers 22 Business Class and 232 Economy Class seats.ย The schedule for the new destination is as follows:

Doha to/from Edinburgh:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday

QR 027 departs Doha (DOH) at 08:00; arrives Edinburgh (EDI) at 13:15
QR 028 departs Edinburgh (EDI) at 14:45; arrives Doha (DOH) at 23:40

Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 16 years of operations, currently flying a modern fleet of 128 aircraft to 133 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and The Americas.

In 2013, Qatar Airways has launched eleven destinations to date โ€“ Gassim (Saudi Arabia), Najaf (Iraq), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Chicago (USA), Salalah (Oman), Basra (Iraq), Sulaymaniyah (Iraq), Chengdu (China), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Taโ€™if (Saudi Arabia) and most recently Clark Manila International Airport (Philippines).

Over the next few weeks and months, the network will grow further with Hangzhou, China (December 20, 2013), Sharjah and Dubai World Central, both in the UAE (March 1, 2014), Philadelphia, USA (April 2, 2014) and Miami, USA (June 10, 2014).

Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Boeing 787-8 A7-BCE (msn 38323) lands in Stockholm Arlanda.

Qatar Airways:ย AG Slide Show

Grand Cru Airlines is planning to add its third Boeing 737-300 and its first Airbus A320

Grand Cru logo-A320

Grand Cru Airlines (Vilnius) started ACMI and charter operations on June 21, 2013 with a single Boeing 737-300. A second 737-300 was added and a third will be added next year. Now the new company is planning to add its first Airbus A320.

The airline issued this statement:

On June 21, 2013 one of the newest companies in the market, Grand Cru Airlines began offering charter flights and providing “Wet Lease” (ACMI), “Dry Lease” and “Hybrid Lease” services, started flights from Vilnius along with its recently acquired Boeing 737-300.

Grand Cru Airlines acquired another Boeing 737-300 aircraft which will also be used for leasing and charter flights. The company announces that during the winter season aircraft will be actively used for flying passengers to Antalya, Bodrum, Heraklion, and Sharm El Sheikh. Currently it is also capable of cargo transportation but for the time being Grand Cru Airlines priority is passengers.

Though the competition in this field is high, the company is not afraid of hardships since it is leasing its aircraft on flexible and affordable conditions. Grand Cru Airlines is planning to acquire the third Boeing 737-300 in 2014. The company will also have an opportunity to acquire one Airbus A320 type aircraft so that it could adapt to the changing market in the future.

The airline also explains its unique name:

The term “grand cru” describes a vineyard in France where high quality wine is produced and refers to a class that is an official grade of French wine. Generally, “grand cru” indicates something that possesses a favorable and positive reputation. Therefore, this term is widely applied to describe different products.

Literally, “grand cru” refers to “belief without any doubt” and defines reliable, valuable, and top quality things.

Basically, Grand Cru Airlines has the same characteristics: potential for great growth by reason of its essential values.

Image: Grand Cru Airlines.

JAL to pull the Boeing 787-8 from two routes due to GE engine icing concerns

JAL-Japan Airlines (Tokyo) announced today, according to Retuters,ย it will pull its Boeing 787-8s from two international routes after Boeing notified the carrier of icing concerns in the General Electric GEnx engines.

The carrier was advised to not fly the aircraft with these engines near thunderstorms following a recent incident in which a 747 experienced a loss of power after flying through a thunderstorm.

JAL will remove the 787-8 ย on its Tokyo-Delhi and Tokyo-Singapore routes while also dropping plans to use 787-8s on its Tokyo-Sydney route starting next month.

Read the full Reuters report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Royal S. King/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner JA828J (msn 38438) lands after a test flight at Paine Field near Everett.

JAL-Japan Airlines:ย AG Slide Show

 

Ryanair to add 12 new routes from the London Stansted hub

Ryanair (Dublin) yesterday (November 21) announced it will open 12 new routes from London Stansted in April 2014 as well as adding frequencies on 17 existing routes, which will deliver an additional 1,300,000 passengers per year.
Ryanairโ€™s growth at Stansted from April 2014 will deliver:
  • 12 new routes to Basel, Bordeaux, Brive, Bucharest, Comiso, Dortmund, Lisbon, Osijek,Podgorica, Prague, Rabat and Skelleftea
  • 126 Stansted routes in total
  • More flights and improved schedules on 17 existing routes (from 430 to 600 weekly flights)
  • Over 1,300,000 new Ryanair passengers per year at Stansted (14.5 million in total)

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Boeing 737-8AS WL EI-DLC (msn 33586) climbs away from the runway Perpignan, France.

Ryanair:ย AG Slide Show

Video: London’s Stansted Airport from a B-17 and P-51 World War II USAAF base to Ryanair’s largest hub airport.

Current Ryanair routes from London Stansted:

Ryanair 11.2013 STN Route Map

United opens a new wide body maintenance hangar at Washington Dulles International Airport

United Airlinesย (Chicago)ย officially opened its new wide body aircraft maintenance hangar yesterday atย Washington Dulles International Airport, a major United hub and the airline’s principal gateway to the Middle East.

United invested nearly $45 million to construct the facility, which will enable the airline to perform maintenance on two wide body or several narrow body aircraft simultaneously. United employs approximately 300 technical operations employees at Dulles, and has nearly 6,000 employees throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

“The close relationship between Dulles and United goes back decades, and this facility represents yet another important investment in this key market,” said Greg Hart, United’s senior vice president for technical operations. “Our new maintenance hangar, coupled with additional improvements in our terminals, gate areas, lounges and employee facilities, will deliver greater reliability for our customers and enhance their overall travel experience.”

More than 600 area construction workers helped build the 125,000-square-foot hangar, which includes 85,000 square feet of enclosed aircraft space.

United has maintenance hangars at its hubs in Chicago O’Hare, Cleveland, Denver, Houston Bush Intercontinental, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and is nearing completion on another wide body hangar at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 767-322 ER N664UA (msn 29236) now with Blended Winglets completes its final approach into Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD).

United Airlines:ย AG Slide Show

Washington Dulles International Airport Hub Fact Sheet:

Washington Dulles Fact Sheet (11.2013)

Oops! Hint: When you are courting Boeing to stay in Washington State, it is always a good idea to use a photo of a Boeing aircraft (not Airbus)!

The Washington Aerospace Partnership through the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce took out a full-page advertisement in the Wednesday Seattle Times. “The Future of Washington” ad made a pitch to keep the new 777X in Washington State (the machinist union recently voted down the proposed Boeing contract extension). Boeing is now actively looking at other lower-cost locations. There was only one problem with the ad created by an unspecified advertising agency: the ad featured an Airbus aircraft!

Read the full story (with a photo of the ad) from the Boeing Blog of The Seattle Times: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Ken Petersen/AirlinersGallery.com. Note to the advertising agency: This is a Boeing 777, more specifically a 777-346 ER of Japan Airlines. Our worldwide team of photographers know quite well their aircraft and we always strive to get the best shots. We are always standing ready to help any advertising agency with the exact aircraft and the best, most dramatic shots. Contact us.

Meanwhile the issue continues. The machinists are fighting to preserve their pensions. Boeing under the 777X contract extension proposal wanted to freeze the pension benefits. Here is an opinion page article in the New York Times that presents the viewpoint of the Machinist rank and file members: CLICK HERE

Boeing knows in the new world order there is always someone ready to work for less, with less paid benefits and other cities and states (or countries) willing to welcome their lucrative and giant manufacturing program to their location with tax incentives. The cost of labor affects the final selling price. Every politician who wants to stay in office, fights for new jobs. Chicago-based Boeing is probably now factoring in the cost of moving, building new facilities and training new employees (like Airbus is doing in Mobile, Alabama) versus what it will take money-wise to get a new contract extension from the IAM. Although they are separate types of aircraft (wide body versus narrow body), the Seattle area machinists are really now competing against the Mobile area future aircraft assemblers for wages and benefits. They are also competing against future workers in Charleston in the right-to-work South Carolina should Boeing decide to expand that facility for the 777X. In reality, on a global scale, every worker today, doing the same type of work, is competing against a lower paid employee somewhere in the world. It is a global village.

There are tough decisions ahead for both sides.

Atlas Air-operated Boeing 747 Dreamlifter lands at the wrong Wichita airport

Atlas Air (New York-JFK) operates the fleet of four Boeing 747 Dreamlifters under contract for Boeing, ferrying parts for Boeing between its various supply points.

Last night (November 20) a Drealifter operated by Atlas Air was inbound for McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas. However the modified Jumbo landed instead at the nearby Colonel James Jabara Airport run by the city of Wichita according to this report by Reuters.

The pilots had taken off from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport but mistook the GA airport for the air force base.

The Colonel James Jabara Airportย (ICAO:ย KAAO,ย FAAย LID:ย AAO) has only one runway that is 6,101 feet long with an ATC control tower andย is about 9 miles (14 km) from McConnell.

Atlas Air has reassured airport officials the runway is of sufficient length to permit a safe departure today.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Ken Petersen/AirlinersGallery.com. The specially-modifiedย Boeing 747-409LCF DreamLifter N780BA (msn 24130) is pictured on the ramp at New York (JFK).

Atlas Air:ย AG Slide Show

Video:

Alitalia is likely to cut up to 2,600 jobs to reduce costs

Alitalia (2nd) (Rome) is likely to eliminate betweenย 2,500 and 2,600 positions, including 1,300 are fixed-term contracts and possibly 220 pilots, 400 cabin staff and 600-700 ground workers according to this report by Reuters citing union sources familiar with the latest cost-cutting plan.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Ken Petersen/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-243 ER EI-DBM (msn 32782) approaches New York (JFK) for landing.

Alitalia:ย AG Slide Show