Tag Archives: Seattle

Delta adds extra flights from Phoenix on February 2 for the Super Bowl

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) has added nonstop service from Phoenix to Boston, Los Angeles and Seattle/Tacoma and has put larger aircraft on select flights from Seattle/Tacoma to Phoenix to accommodate customers traveling to and from the pro football championship game (Super Bowl).

The temporary service will operate as follows:

Flights 8789 to Los Angeles and 8799 to Seattle/Tacoma will operate using specially configured aircraft with all first or business class seats. Along with the added service, Delta has increased the size of the aircraft on one regularly scheduled flight from Phoenix to Seattle/Tacoma on February 2 from a regional jet to a 160-seat Boeing 737-800.

Delta regularly operates five peak-day flights to Phoenix from its Seattle/Tacoma hub, and two of those flights will be operated using larger aircraft to accommodate more fans traveling to the game on Friday, January 30. Delta also operates five peak-day flights from Los Angeles to Phoenix. Some service may be operated by Delta Connection carriers SkyWest Airlines and Compass Airlines.

Delta Air Lines aircraft slide show (current livery):

Southwest files to serve six international destinations from Houston Hobby Airport

Southwest Airlines (Dallas) filed applications today (December 11) with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) requesting approval to serve six destinations in Latin America with new, daily, nonstop service from William P. Hobby Airport in Houston. After receiving U.S. government approval of the new service, Southwest will begin selling these flights at Southwest.com, offering Customers nonstop options between Houston (Hobby) and four destinations in Mexico—Cancun, Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, and San Jose del Cabo/Los Cabos—as well as flights to San Jose, Costa Rica, and Belize City, Belize. Service to Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport in Belize City, Belize, adds a second destination in Central America, a seventh country, and the 96th city on the Southwest route map.

The new Houston flights will be made possible by the completion of an estimated $156 million five-gate international concourse now under construction at Hobby. The completed project will increase capacity for all airport functions and add a Federal Inspections Services (FIS) facility to streamline U.S. Customs and Border Protection screening and baggage processing for arriving international passengers.

Image: Houston Hobby Airport. A concept drawing of the new international concourse.

The Houston Hobby International Terminal Project will add five new gates, enabling scheduled international service from Hobby. Southwest is working in conjunction with the City of Houston, which is preparing for the new facility with surrounding infrastructure improvements including a new parking facility, central utility plant and roadway improvements throughout the Houston Hobby Airport district. A study conducted by Houston Airport System estimates the Houston Hobby International Terminal Project would add 10,000 jobs to the region and provide a $1.6 billion impact annually to the local economy. The study also expects the expanded facility to bring an additional 1.6 million air travelers each year.

Southwest is currently selling nonstop service on Saturdays between Houston (Hobby) and Queen Beatrix International Airport in Oranjestad, Aruba beginning on March 7, 2015. The Aruba flights are made possible by U.S. CBP Pre-clearance procedures, which provide U.S. border inspection in certain foreign countries including Aruba. This will allow Southwest Customers arriving at Hobby Airport from Aruba to deplane without further CBP inspections into the domestic terminal, quickly claim baggage and depart the airport, or make seamless connections to many of the more than 40 domestic destinations Southwest currently serves nonstop from Houston (Hobby).

One of Southwest Airlines’ original cities, Houston supports the fifth busiest operation in the carrier’s network of more than 90 airports across six countries, with approximately 150 departures a day from Houston (Hobby). More than 3,200 Southwest Employees are Houston-based and foster community and business partnerships across greater Houston that, in 2013 alone, bolstered nearly 170 nonprofit organizations with more than $900,000 in local charitable donations.

Top Copyright Photo: Brandon Farris/AirlinersGallery.com. Brand new Boeing 737-8H4 WL N8654B (msn 37045) lands at Boeing Field in Seattle. Delivery is imminent.

Southwest aircraft slide show:

Transavia France to introduce six new routes next summer season, Air France’s pilots approve the expansion of Transavia France

Transavia France (Paris-Orly) is introducing six new routes for the summer season of 2015. Five new routes will be from Orly Airport to Dublin (effective June 1, daily), Munich (effective September 4, daily) Thessaloniki (effective May 9, three flights a week), Tirana (effective July 2, three weekly flights) and Valencia (effective June 1, six weekly flights) per Airline Route.

The French airline will also operate a Nantes-Madrid route effective on April 12, 2015 on three days a week.

In other news, 53 percent of Air France’s pilots approved the draft agreement to allow Transavia France to expand operations from Paris Orly. Air France issued this statement on December 3:

Air France welcomes the positive outcome of the consultation with all its pilots on the draft development agreement for Transavia France.

With a very high participation rate, 53% of Air France pilots approved the agreement, reaching 60% for members of the majority union SNPL.

This result will be approved by the Union Council of the SNPL (National Union of Airline Pilots), which will meet tomorrow Thursday, December 4.

To date, more than 200 Air France pilots have volunteered to fill the 72 positions available at Transavia France.

“We welcome the positive outcome of this consultation which puts an end to a period of uncertainty. The majority of pilots have chosen to accompany us in our growth strategy on the low-cost market with Transavia” declared Frédéric Gagey, Chairman and CEO of Air France.

Thanks to this agreement, Transavia’s rapid development plan in France will continue:

• Strong growth in summer 2015: 21 aircraft operated compared with 16 in summer 2014, making Transavia the leading low-cost airline at Paris-Orly from summer 2015.

• A target of 37 Boeing 737 by 2019.

Integrated career management for pilots at Air France and Transavia will be introduced, including a joint seniority list.

This development meets the pilots’ high expectations and enables overstaffing at Air France to be more easily managed by organizing secondments to Transavia France.

to Dublin (effective June 1, daily), Munich (effective September 4, daily) Thessaloniki (effective May 9, three flights a week), Tirana (effective July 2, three weekly flights) and Valencia (effective June 1, six weekly flights).

The French airline will also operate a Nantes-Madrid route effective on April 12, 2015 on three days a week.

Copyright Photo: Steve Bailey/AirlinersGallery.com. The pictured Boeing 737-8K2 F-GZHM (msn 37792) was delivered new on May 13, 2014. The Transavia France Boeing 737 fleet will expand to 37 aircraft by 2019.

Transavia France aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-3/Airlines-Europe3-QZ/Transavia-Airlines-France

Boeing conducts the world’s first flight with ‘Green Diesel’ as an aviation biofuel

Boeing (Chicago, Seattle and Charleston) has completed the world’s first flight using “green diesel,” a sustainable biofuel that is widely available and used in ground transportation. The company powered its ecoDemonstrator 787 flight test airplane yesterday (December 2) with a blend of 15 percent green diesel and 85 percent petroleum jet fuel in the left engine.

“Green diesel offers a tremendous opportunity to make sustainable aviation biofuel more available and more affordable for our customers,” said Julie Felgar, managing director of Environmental Strategy and Integration, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “We will provide data from several ecoDemonstrator flights to support efforts to approve this fuel for commercial aviation and help meet our industry’s environmental goals.”

Sustainable green diesel is made from vegetable oils, waste cooking oil and waste animal fats. Boeing previously found that this fuel is chemically similar to HEFA (hydro-processed esters and fatty acids) aviation biofuel approved in 2011. Green diesel is chemically distinct and a different fuel product than “biodiesel,” which also is used in ground transportation.

With production capacity of 800 million gallons (3 billion liters) in the U.S., Europe and Asia, green diesel could rapidly supply as much as 1 percent of global jet fuel demand. With a wholesale cost of about $3 per gallon, inclusive of U.S. government incentives, green diesel approaches price parity with petroleum jet fuel.

“The airplane performed as designed with the green diesel blend, just as it does with conventional jet fuel,” said Capt. Mike Carriker, Chief Pilot, Product Development and 777X, Boeing Test and Evaluation. “This is exactly what we want to see in flight tests with a new type of fuel.”

Green diesel is among more than 25 new technologies being tested by Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator Program aboard 787 Dreamliner ZA004 (N7874). The program accelerates the testing, refinement, and use of new technologies and methods that can improve aviation’s environmental performance.

On a lifecycle basis, sustainably produced green diesel reduces carbon emissions by 50 to 90 percent compared to fossil fuel, according to Finland-based Neste Oil, which supplied green diesel for the ecoDemonstrator 787. The flight test was coordinated with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney, and EPIC Aviation blended the fuel.

Copyright Photo: Rick Schlamp/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-8 N7874 (msn 40693) taxies past the camera at Boeing Field in Seattle.

Boeing delivers the first direct purchase 737-700 to Ruili Airlines

Boeing (Chicago, Seattle and Charleston) on Saturday (November 22) handed over the first direct purchase 737-700 to Ruili Airlines (Kunming), the pictured 737-7ME B-5829 (msn 60460). The new airliner departed Boeing Field in Seattle on the same day for its long journey to Kunming, China. Today, Boeing issued this announcement on the arrival in Kunming:

Boeing and Ruili Airlines today (November 25) celebrated the arrival of the airline’s first direct purchase Next-Generation 737-700. Ruili is a newly established private airline based at Changshui International Airport in Kunming, the capital city of China’s Yunnan province.

The new airplane is the first of 14 737 orders and commitments from Ruili Airlines, including eight 737-700s and six 737 MAXs. The carrier currently operates two 737-700s and one 737-800 serving seven domestic routes in China.

Ruili Airlines obtained its public air transport enterprise business license from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in February 2014, marking the formal establishment of the carrier. The start-up airline is the first private carrier approved by CAAC after the regulator relaxed restrictions on new carriers in 2013. According to its development plan, Ruili Airlines plans to increase its fleet to 30 Boeing airplanes by 2020, with around 120 daily flights on 60 to 70 routes.

Copyright Photo: Steve Bailey/www.vrefphotos.com/AirlinersGallery.com. A beautiful capture of the new B-5829 at Boeing Field in Seattle.

Boeing begins the final assembly of the first 787-9 at Charleston, S.C. for United Airlines

Boeing (Chicago, Seattle and Charleston) has issued this statement:

Boeing started final assembly of the 787-9 Dreamliner at its South Carolina facility. The team began joining large fuselage sections of the newest 787 November 22 on schedule, a proud milestone for the South Carolina team and another sign of stability for the program.

The North Charleston, S.C., site joins Boeing’s Everett, Washington, final assembly, which began 787-9 production in May 2013. United Airlines will take delivery of the first South Carolina-built 787-9.

The 787-9 complements and extends the 787 family, offering airlines the ability to grow routes opened with the 787-8. With the fuselage stretched by 20 feet (6 meters), the 787-9 can fly up to 40 more passengers an additional 450 nautical miles (830 kilometers) with the same exceptional environmental performance – 20 percent less fuel use and 20 percent fewer emissions than the airplanes it replaces. The 787-9 leverages the visionary design of the 787-8, offering passenger-pleasing features such as large, dimmable windows, large stow bins, modern LED lighting, higher humidity, a lower cabin altitude, cleaner air and a smoother ride.

Copyright Photo: Steve Bailey/www.vrefphotos.com/AirlinersGallery.com). United Airlines is already operating the stretched 787-9 Dreamliner, previously delivered from the Seattle area. Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner N38950 (msn 36401) taxies at Boeing Field in Seattle.

United Airlines aircraft slide show (current livery):

Delta continues its Seattle/Tacoma expansion, announces 5 new routes

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) will launch daily nonstop service next spring from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to five new destinations in the continued expansion of its West Coast hub.

Delta’s new service will include:

Five daily flights to Denver, beginning June 4*
Four daily flights to Sacramento, Calif., beginning May 4* **
Four daily flights to Boise, Idaho, beginning May 4**
One seasonal daily flight to Ketchikan, Alaska beginning May 15**
One seasonal daily flight to Sitka, Alaska beginning May 15**

*Flight operated by Delta Connection carrier Compass Airlines
**Flight operated by Delta Connection carrier SkyWest Airlines

Delta will serve the top 15 destinations in the Western U.S. with the addition of Boise, Denver and Sacramento, while Ketchikan and Sitka complete the top five destinations in Alaska. Delta will also increase its number of daily flights from Seattle/Tacoma to Anchorage, Alaska; Atlanta; Calgary, Alberta; Detroit; Los Angeles; San Francisco and Salt Lake City.

On December 20, Delta will begin service from Seattle/Tacoma to several sun and ski destinations, including Bozeman, Mont.**; Maui, Hawaii; Palm Springs, Calif.**; Phoenix**; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; and Tucson, Ariz.*; as well as a second daily flight to Honolulu. Additionally, Delta commenced service to Calgary** and Spokane, Wash.* **, at the beginning of November.

*Flight operated by Delta Connection carrier Compass Airlines
**Flight operated by Delta Connection carrier SkyWest Airlines

Delta currently operates 80 peak-day departures to 25 destinations from Seattle and will increase to 93 peak-day departures to 32 destinations in December. By next summer, Delta will offer 120 peak-day departures to 35 destinations.

The new routes will allow customers to seamlessly connect to Delta’s ten long-haul international flights from Seattle, while providing compelling travel options to cities important to local customers. Earlier this year, Delta launched international service to London-Heathrow, as well as Seoul and Hong Kong and now provides more international long-haul service from Seattle than all other airlines combined. This includes the top five destinations in Asia and three of the top four destinations in Europe. Delta is the only carrier to offer nonstop service from Seattle to Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo-Haneda.

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Compass Airlines is already operating several routes at SeaTac as a Delta Connection carrier with its Embraer 175s. ERJ 170-200LR N608CZ (msn 17000195) taxies to the runway at SEA.

Delta Air Lines (current livery):

Delta Connection-Compass:

Oman Air takes delivery of its first Boeing 737-900 ER

Oman Air (Muscat) has taken delivery of its first Boeing 737-900 ER. The pictured Boeing 737-91M ER A40-BI (msn 40069) was handed over on November 12.

The remaining four aircraft are due to be delivered by November 2015.

Oman Air and Boeing (Chicago) on June 19, 2013 announced an order for five Boeing Next-Generation 737-900 ER airplanes at the 2013 Paris Air Show.

Copyright Photo: Joe G. Walker. Boeing 737-91M A40-BI exits the runway after a test flight at a very dark and rainy Boeing Field in Seattle.

Oman Air aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Asia-2/Airlines-Asia2-FP/Oman-Air

QANTAS Airways introduces its first retrojet

QANTAS Airways (Sydney) has formally introduced its first retrojet in the form of its newly delivered Boeing 737-838 VH-XZP (msn 44577) painted in the retro 1971 ochre livery.

The company issued this statement and photo:

QANTAS has gone back to the future by unveiling its first ever “retro” inspired livery on one of its brand new Boeing 737 aircraft.

The eye catching design is a flying tribute to 70 years of the iconic flying kangaroo logo – a widely recognized symbol of home to millions of intrepid Australian travellers.

QANTAS Ambassador and self-confessed aviation enthusiast, John Travolta (above) was on hand to witness QANTAS and Boeing unveil the aircraft at a special hangar event in Seattle, which is timed to mark the 70th anniversary of the kangaroo logo.

QANTAS ambassador, John Travolta said the retro livery has brought back lots of memories for him.

“It’s great to see a piece of QANTAS history flying in the sky today,” said Mr Travolta.

“I have enjoyed many wonderful experiences with QANTAS over the years, from getting my 747 wings to having my own 707 painted in the original 1960s QANTAS livery. This is a great celebration of the brand’s heritage and incredible reputation over the years.

The signature element of the 1971-1984 livery design was the ochre band around the window line of the aircraft. Ochre reflected the colors of the outback where QANTAS was established in 1920.

The winged kangaroo logo is used on the tail and was adapted from the original 1947 version designed by Gert Sellheim.

In 1984 the flying kangaroo discarded its wings, evolving to its current slender and stylized form.

The 737 will operate across all QANTAS domestic routes from November 20, acting as a flying reminder of where QANTAS has come from, as well as showing new generations of young Australians some of the history behind Australia’s biggest airline.

The livery is also timed to mark the QANTAS’ 94th birthday, which also falls in November.

Happy Birthday QANTAS.

Photos: QANTAS Airways.

QANTAS Airways aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Australia/Airlines-Australia-AZ/QANTAS-Airways

Kangaroo Logo evolution:

Aerolineas Argentinas is coming to Punta Cana

Aerolineas Argentinas (Buenos Aires) will add Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on January 3, 2015 via Caracas per Airline Route. The new route will be operated three days a week with Boeing 737-800s.

The airline will also serve Havana via Caracas starting on January 5, 2015.

Copyright Photo: Steve Bailey/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8BK N5573P (msn 41561) departs from Boeing Field in Seattle on a test flight. The new aircraft was delivered as LV-FRQ on April 10, 2014.

Aerolineas Argentinas: