Tag Archives: MSP

Delta Air Lines to retire the last Douglas DC-9 on January 6, 2014

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) although not yet officially announced, but published in the schedules, is currently planning to operate the last McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 on January 6, 2014. An appropriately named flight DL 1965 will operate from Detroit to Minneapolis/St. Paul departing DTW at 3:39 pm (1539) and arriving at MSP at 4:43 (1643) followed by flight DL 2014 which will operate from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Atlanta as the last scheduled flight, departing MSP at 7:20 pm (1920) and arriving at ATL at 8:47 pm (2047) local time. An unspecified DC-9-51 will operate the last flights. Photos of the last flights are welcome.

Delta has been gradually dwindling down the former Northwest Airlines (and North Central Airlines) DC-9-51 fleet with 10 retirements in 2011, six in 2012 and four so far in 2013. According to Airliners.net, 14 were still in service as of November 19, 2013. One of these 14 aircraft will operate the last revenue flight on January 6, 2014. The aircraft will be ferried to the desert and eventually broken up for scrap metal.

This is actually the second Delta retirement of the DC-9. Delta previously retired its last original DC-9-32 on January 1, 1993. With the merger of Northwest Airlines on October 29, 2008, the DC-9 type was re-introduced back in the Delta fleet under the Delta name.

Delta Air Lines took delivery of its first 65-seat Douglas DC-9-14 (N3304L) (see N3314L below) on September 18, 1965. The new type entered revenue service on November 29, 1965 as flight DL 791 on the Atlanta-Memphis-Kansas City route.

177 total DC-9s were operated. Delta in its history operated the following DC-9 types:

16 DC-9-14s

1 DC-9-15 (leased from Jet International)

114 DC-9-31/32s

12 DC-9-41s

34 DC-9-51s

Information from the Delta Museum:

Top Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 N773NC (msn 47775) completes its final approach into Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Delta Air Lines:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Douglas DC-9-14 N3314L sits at the old Atlanta maintenance base on January 27, 1970. The original delivery color scheme of the DC-9-14s included this forward-pointing widget which was later changed to the standard upright widget.

Delta to fly for Syracuse University

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) is expanding its charter program flying professional and college teams to and from their games. Delta and Syracuse University announced today that Delta will serve as the official airline of Syracuse University Athletics. The Syracuse football team will also use Delta as their charter carrier for the 2013 season.

As the official airline of the Orange, Delta will be featured on game day signage at the Carrier Dome and sponsor in-game promotions during football, basketball and lacrosse games.

Delta has marketing relationships with eight NCAA athletic programs in addition to Syracuse – Boston College, Brigham Young, Duke, Georgia Tech, University of Georgia, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota and University of North Carolina. Delta serves as the charter carrier for 41 NCAA Football programs.

Beginning in March 2012, Delta added new all-jet service from LaGuardia to key Upstate New York markets, including Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse. It continues to maintain its commitment to the Upstate community through its support of local civic arts and community organizations, including the Syracuse YMCA and the Taste of Syracuse.

Delta offers 15-peak day departures from Syracuse Hancock International Airport to five destinations, including Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia and New York-JFK. A portion of travel for some itineraries may be on the Delta Connection carriers: Chautauqua, Compass, Endeavor Air (formerly Pinnacle Airlines), ExpressJet or GoJet.

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-114 N363NB (msn 1990) arrives at the Minneapolis/St. Paul hub.

Delta Air Lines:

IAM defeats the Teamsters to represent the US Airways’ mechanics

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) (Washington) has issued this statement:

In a contest overseen by the Nation Mediation Board (NMB), the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) today soundly defeated the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) in an election to represent nearly 4,600 Mechanic and Related employees at US Airways (Phoenix). The IAM received 1,903 votes, or 58 percent of all votes cast in the five-week election, while the IBT received 1,418 votes, less than 42 percent.

“This victory marks an important milestone for the Mechanic and Related group at US Airways,” said IAM Transportation Vice President Sito Pantoja. “By voting for the Machinists Union our members safeguarded their pensions and seniority heading into the merger with American Airlines while rejecting the empty promises of an organization with a history of corruption.”

In addition to creating uncertainty regarding future representation, the year-long raid by IBT effectively suspended contract negotiations between US Airways and IAM, which has represented Mechanic and Related employees at US Airways since 1949.

“The election results will allow contract negotiations between the IAM and US Airways to resume without any further delay,” said IAM District 142 President Tom Higginbotham. “We remain convinced that the IBT never had support among mechanics at US Airways to get this election in the first place. We fully expect the NMB to thoroughly investigate the matter.”

In a separate IBT raid on more than 11,000 Mechanic and Related workers at American Airlines, the Transport Workers Union (TWU) presented testimony from former Teamster organizers who claimed that IBT organizing staff forged hundreds of election authorization cards. The NMB is currently investigating to determine if the IBT submitted enough valid cards to warrant an election at American Airlines.

The IAM is the world’s largest airline union and is the largest union at US Airways, representing over 14,000 Mechanic and Related, Fleet Service, Stockroom and Maintenance Training Specialists.

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-132 N826AW (msn 1534) in the special Arizona livery prepares to arrives at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

US Airways:

Want to see more logojets?: CLICK HERE

Frontier to convert the Denver-Durango route to summer season only

Frontier Airlines (2nd) (Denver) is suspending the Denver-Durango route on October 29, 2013 for the winter season. The intra-Colorado route is currently operated with Airbus A319s and will be restored next summer according to Airline Route.

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-111 N934FR (msn 2287) with L.J., the Baby Lynx, prepares to land at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP).

Frontier Airlines (2nd):

Delta to fly from Indianapolis to both Montego Bay and Nassau

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) will operate seasonal weekly fights from Indianapolis to both Montego Bay, Jamaica (A320) and Nassau, Bahamas (CRJ900) starting on December 21, 2013 and running through March 29, 2014 for the winter season per Airline Route.

In addition, the company will suspend Atlanta-Dublin service from January 11, 2014 through March 8, 2014.

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-211 N325US (msn 281) arrives at the Minneapolis/St. Paul hub.

Delta Air Lines:

Delta launches nonstop Seattle/Tacoma-Shanghai flights

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) yesterday (June 17) celebrated new nonstop service from Seattle/Tacoma to Shanghai with an inaugural service ceremony. The flight is the latest addition to Delta’s growing Asian gateway in Seattle/Tacoma, as the service, between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Shanghai Pu Dong International Airport complements current nonstop service from Seattle/Tacoma to Beijing, Osaka, Tokyo-Narita and most recently, Tokyo-Haneda.

The flight will operate using a 208-seat Boeing 767-300 ER aircraft with 36 full flat-bed seats in BusinessElite, 29 seats in Economy Comfort and 143 Economy class seats.

Shanghai service is Delta’s second route between Seattle/Tacoma and China, following Beijing service which began in 2010. In addition to its Asian routes, Delta operates nonstop service from Seattle/Tacoma to Paris and Amsterdam. This summer the airline will operate more than 45 daily flights to 18 destinations worldwide from Seattle/Tacoma.

Delta’s recent partnership with Virgin Atlantic also provides the opportunity to offer new service between Seattle/Tacoma and London-Heathrow, pending government approval.

In addition, this summer Delta added a fifth daily flight between Seattle/Tacoma and New York-JFK with upgraded BusinessElite service to match the airline’s trans-continental product from Los Angeles and San Francisco to New York.

In Seattle/Tacoma, Delta has enhanced its facility including a new Delta Sky Club, new power ports, expanded ticket counters and lobby renovations as part of its ongoing $3 billion investment to improve products, services and facilities.

Delta’s international expansion and customer enhancements in Seattle are enhanced by a strategic partnership between Delta and Alaska Airlines that benefits customers of both carriers and creates more competition and travel options for consumers in the Pacific Northwest region. Customers traveling on Delta’s new Shanghai service will have easy connection times to 58 U.S. cities via the two airlines’ domestic networks.

From Shanghai, Delta’s partnership with China Eastern will also provide extensive connection opportunities throughout China for customers traveling from Seattle.

Delta’s schedule between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Shanghai Pu Dong International Airport:

Flight	Departs	Arrives	Service Begins
589	SEA at 2:30 p.m.	PVG at 5:55 p.m. (following day)	June 16, 2013
588	PVG at 12:20 p.m.	SEA at 8:50 a.m. (same day)	June 18, 2013

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 767-332 ER N1605 (msn 30198) prepares to land at the Minneapolis/St Paul hub (click on the photo for the full-size view).

Delta Air Lines:

Delta to restore the Salt Lake City-Raleigh/Durham route on December 22

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) is planning to restore the Salt Lake City-Raleigh/Durham route on December 22 according to Airline Route. The restored route will be operated daily with Airbus A320 equipment.

Delta Air Lines:

North America Route Map (click on the map for the full-size view):

Frontier launches seasonal service from Denver to Harrisburg and Knoxville

Frontier Airlines (2nd) (Denver) today returns nonstop service between its Denver, Colorado (DEN), hub and both Harrisburg, PA (MDT) and Knoxville, TN (TYS). Both routes will operate seasonally with three weekly nonstop flights.

Following is the schedule for the service from Denver:

Denver-Harrisburg (beginning April 22, 2013)

Route	Departs	Arrives	Frequency	Aircraft
DEN-MDT	11:20 a.m.	4:35 p.m.	Mon/Wed/Fri	A319
MDT-DEN	5:19 p.m.	7:00 p.m.	Mon/Wed/Fri	A319

Denver-Knoxville (beginning April 22, 2013)

Route	Departs	Arrives	Frequency	Aircraft
DEN-TYS	12:30 p.m.	5:09 p.m.	Tues/Thurs/Sun	A319
TYS-DEN	5:59 p.m.	7:00 p.m.	Tues/Thurs/Sun	A319

Beginning May 16, 2013, the days of operation for Harrisburg will be Tues/Thurs/Sun and the days of operation for Knoxville will be Mon/Wed/Fri.

These flights will operate on 138-seat Airbus A319 aircraft.

Frontier Airlines:

Frontier Airlines will outsource its jobs at all stations except the Denver hub

Frontier Airlines (2nd) (Denver) according to the Denver Post will outsource 700 jobs at all of its outlying stations except the Denver hub. This will impact gate agents, ticket counter agents and ramp employees.

Read the full story: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum. Frontier is also phasing out the remaining Airbus A318s. A318-111 N807FR (msn 2276) approaches the runway at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Frontier Airlines:

Pinnacle Airlines’ pilots react to the company’s motion to void the current contract

Capt. Tom Wychor, Chairman of the Pinnacle Airlines arm of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), released the following statement regarding the Section 1113 filing by Pinnacle Corporation.

“Late last night Pinnacle filed a motion in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to reject the pilots’ collective bargaining agreement. While this filing was expected, we do not think that it was necessary for Pinnacle to take this step so shortly after contract negotiations resumed. We believe the filing is an ill-advised distraction from the real work of negotiating a consensual agreement that maintains industry standard pay, work rules and benefits and can garner pilot support to help Pinnacle move through this difficult period.

“We acknowledge that concessions are necessary to allow Pinnacle to successfully reorganize. The extraordinary level of concessions sought by Pinnacle, however, would set a new floor for pilot contracts within the regional airline industry. The bottom line is this: in the five months since company executives filed for bankruptcy, they have not been able to justify the level of concessions they are seeking. Rather than solving its problems, Pinnacle executives are attempting to use the bankruptcy process to gain an overwhelming and unfair competitive advantage in the industry. We firmly believe that if the bankruptcy court allows Pinnacle to implement steep reductions in our wages, work rules and benefits that it is proposing, the cost of pilot attrition and inability to hire new pilots in the future would vastly outweigh the assumed short-term benefits of the imposed cuts.

“We encourage our management to bring to the bargaining table the same energy they have used to run to the courtroom. We must find enough common ground to form the basis for a new agreement, one that provides a future for both Pinnacle Airlines and its pilots.”

Delta Connection-Pinnacle Airlines: