Tag Archives: Brian McDonough

Delta agrees to sell Compass Airlines to Trans States Airlines

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) today (July 1) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell is wholly owned regional airline subsidiary Compass Airlines (Minneapolis/St. Paul) to Trans States Holdings, Inc. (Trans States Airlines) (St. Louis) for $20.5 million.

Compass will continue to serve Delta as a Delta Connection carrier with a long-term, extendable agreement, ranging from seven to 12 years depending on aircraft type. Compass will continue to be headquartered in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough. Compass Airlines’ Embraer ERJ 170-200LR (ERJ 175) N608CZ (msn 17000195) prepares to land at Baltimore/Washington.

American Airlines to upgrade existing Boeing 737-800 fleet

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) yesterday (June 29) announced that the second of its original 76 Boeing 737-800s โ€“ which are being updated to match the customer benefits and amenities featured on its newly-delivered 737-800 aircraft โ€“ begins flying with a range of new features to improve the travel experience. Once the updates are completed, American’s initial fleet of 76 737-800s will match the 84 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft that American began receiving in March 2009 and will continue to receive through 2011.

The new 737-800s are being delivered to American with several enhancements, all of which will be added to the initial 76 737-800 fleet. These include new, more comfortable and spacious First and Economy Class seats, bigger overhead storage bins, updated inflight entertainment systems, and AC power ports. In addition, the new configuration of the 737-800s allows for 12 additional Economy Class seats, for a total of 160 seats.

A prototype of the updated aircraft has been in service since February. American will continue to upgrade the remaining 74 aircraft in its original fleet by installing new seats, new cabin interiors, enhanced inflight entertainment systems, and more storage throughout the aircraft. By accelerating its 737-800 fleet renewal plan last year, American took a significant step in its efforts to invest in products and services that benefit customers, while enhancing its competitive position with new aircraft that are 35 percent more fuel efficient on a seat mile basis than the DC-9-82/83 airplanes they will replace. American took delivery of 31 new 737-800s in 2009 and will take delivery of 45 this year and 8 in 2011.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough. Boeing 737-823 N951AA (msn 29538) painted in the 1962 Astrojet retrojet color scheme arrives at the Miami hub.

Sun Country Airlines completes first Boeing 737-800 charter flight to Hawaii

Sun Country Airlines (Minneapolis/St. Paul) on Tuesday (June 22) conducted its first trans-Pacific flight in charter service from Phoenix to Honolulu. Touching down in Hawaii the Boeing 737-800 crew were greeted with a traditional gift of Hawaiian Leis welcoming Sun Country to the 50th state.

Sun Country operated the flights in scheduled and charter service utilizing procedures and equipment specifically designated for Extended-range Twin-engine Operations Performance (ETOPs).

As previously reported, Sun Country flew its first trans-Atlantic trip in scheduled service from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Londonโ€™s Stansted airport on June 11. The one-stop seasonal service will operate weekly through August 15 between the Twin Cities and London with Boeing 737-800s.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough. Boeing 737-8BK N811SY (msn 29660) completes its final approach at Miami.

FedEx Corporation reports higher fourth quarter and full year earnings

FedEx Corporation (Memphis) reported fourth quarter net income of $419 million, up from last yearโ€™s net loss of $876 million.

For the fiscal full year, net income of $1.18 billion was reported, up from last yearโ€™s $98 million.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough. McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (F) N586FE (msn 48487) is seen at the Anchorage hub.

Sun Country Airlines now flies to London with Boeing 737s

Sun Country Airlines (Minneapolis/St. Paul), as planned, started flying weekly charter flights to London (Stansted) via Gander on Friday (June 11). The flights will operate with its Boeing 737-800s through August 15.

Read the full report from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal:

CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough. Boeing 737-8BK N811SY (msn 29660) is pictured on final approach at Miami with the special 25 Years logo.

Frontier Airlines starts New Orleans-Denver service

Frontier Airlines (2nd) (Denver) yesterday (June 11) launched new nonstop service between Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) and Denver International Airport (DEN) with one daily roundtrip flight.

Frontierโ€™s New Orleans-Denver service is flown by the Airbus A318 aircraft.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough. Frontier’s Airbus A318-111 N802FR (msn 1991) arrives at Baltimore/Washington.

American Airlines starts Dallas/Fort Worth-San Salvador flights

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) yesterday (June 10) launched a new nonstop flight between Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and San Salvador, El Salvador (SAL). The airline is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary serving the Central American country.

American is operating the new flights using Boeing 737-800 aircraft with 148 seats, 16 of which are in Business Class and 132 in Economy Class.

American currently offers two daily nonstop flights to San Salvador from Miami International Airport (MIA). There is also one daily flight to San Salvador from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough. Boeing 737-823 N951AA (msn 29538) painted in the 1962 Astrojet retrojet color scheme arrives at the Miami hub.

Jazz Air’s pilots to vote on a possible strike

Jazz Air (Air Canada Jazz) (Halifax) may be facing a strike by its pilots. The Jazz Master Executive Council (MEC) has announced that they are conducting a strike ballot of the membership to back contract demands. Jazz pilots, who are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), have been negotiating with their management for a new contract for more than a year.

Read the full ALPA press release:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Jazz-Pilots-to-Vote-on-Strike-bw-3342199040.html?x=0&.v=1

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough. Jazz Air has added a Bombardier CRJ200 to its charter fleet (please click on the photo for further details). CRJ200 (CL-600-2B19) C-GTJA (msn 7966) prepares to land at Washington (Dulles).

Air Jamaica operates its last flight

Air Jamaica (Kingston) operated its last “Lovebird” flight on April 30. Flight JM 036 from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood to Kingston with an Airbus A320 was the last flight operated by JM. On May 1 Caribbean Airlines (Port of Spain) took over the operation.

News link of the last flight:

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Last-of-air-Jamaica

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough. Airbus A320-214 6Y-JMF (msn 1213) arrives at Miami in the 2006 livery, the last color scheme worn by the JM fleet.

United to celebrate 80 years of Flight Attendants on May 15 with a special flight

United Airlines (Chicago) will celebrate its 80th Anniversary of its first flight with stewardesses (now flight attendants) with a special flight on May 15.

Please click on the photo for further details.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough. Boeing 767-322 ER N659UA (msn 27114) of United arrives at Washington (Dulles).