Boeing Completes 747-8F Factory Gauntlet 787 and A330-200F

Boeing has completed the first of three rounds of gauntlet testing on the 747-8F, marking a significant step towards the aircraft's first flight, the company confirms.

RC501's two-day factory gauntlet took place over Wednesday and Thursday and consisted of ground control and autopilot checks, as well as testing of the flight deck and power systems.

Gauntlet testing places the aircraft in a closed loop simulation that 'fools' the aircraft systems into thinking they are flying. The factory gauntlet also represents the first major test of all of the aircraft systems as they operate in unison.

The first 747-8F also flew a simulated reduced B1 first flight profile with dynamics, flight controls and autoflight checks.

The nine-hour "first flight" was flown by Mark Feuerstein, chief project pilot for the 747-8F program and was joined on the flight deck by Captain Sheila Beahm, says Boeing.

RC501 will continue functional testing before rolling out of the factory then heading to the paint shop and fuel dock for first APU start, followed by a move to the flight line for the intermediate gauntlet. The second phase of gauntlet testing will see the first start of the four General Electric GEnx-2B engines under the wings of the new freighter.

After the intermediate gauntlet is complete, the aircraft will move into the final gauntlet systems testing, followed by low and high-speed taxi testing before first flight.

RC501 is expected to take its maiden flight early next year, with first delivery to Cargolux in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Boeing says the installation of the wingfix on ZA001 is not yet complete, and sources say completion on ZA002 is now slightly ahead. There's conflicting information on the next point, which suggests some early steps are being taken to prepare ZA002 for flight ahead of ZA001 if it is ready first, but others indicate that ZA001 is still the prime candidate for 787 first flight.

Boeing continues to reaffirm that the 787 will fly before the end of 2009.
Additional program sources indicate that the installation of the wing fix on ZA001 is tentatively scheduled to be complete just before the middle part of the month. Once ZA001 and/or ZA002 are ready, ZY997 becomes the pacing item for the full-scale validation of the side of body modification.

Mr. Norris followed up with an additional post this afternoon that mapped out the remaining tasks for ZA001 before first flight. His assessment leads to a late-December target for ZA001's first flight. Once the static testing is complete and the fix is validated, Mr. Norris says, ZA001 will begin a three-week pre-flight process of gauntlet tests and other activity.

The first Airbus A330-200F (F-WWYE) completed its four-hour maiden flight in skies over France, kicking off a four-month, 180-hour flight test campaign that will see the first freighter handed over to Etihad Airways in August of 2010.

Flight International Magazine Deputy Editor Max Kingsley-Jones was on hand for the first flight, which saw the aircraft flown to its maximum altitude and speed of 41,000 feet a 330 knots. The aircraft was also flown down to its lowest speed or Alpha Max. Max reports that when the A330 Freighter returned to Toulouse, it flew two autoland approaches, include a late go-around and touch-and-go, before making a full stop landing on Runway 32.

The maiden flight of the aircraft came a day after the aircraft completed rejected take off testing and two weeks after leaving the paint hangar. EASA and FAA certification is expected in March of next year.


RTO testing brings the aircraft to just under the takeoff decision speed known as V1. At anytime below the V1 speed, the aircraft is able to safely stop in the remaining length of the runway. The decision speed is determined based on many factors including the length of the runway, weight of the aircraft, thrust rating of the engine, as well as runway and weather conditions.

Airbus will be streaming live video of the A330F's first flight on its website beginning at 8:30 GMT (3:30 AM ET) Thursday morning.

A little over a week ago, my colleague Mary Kirby and I had a chance to join several industry journalists in an interview with Gary Scott, president of Bombardier commercial aircraft programs.

The small gathering was part of a kickoff to a roadshow Bombardier has begun to market its new narrow-body CSeries aircraft to airlines and lessors. The first stop was New York city to be followed by stops in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

"While Embraer is not in a position to comment on the strategic positioning its competitors are aiming with their own projects, it is important to note that over 600 Embraer E-Jets have already been delivered to 45 airlines operating in five continents, providing significant benefits in terms of performance, economics and passenger comfort.

E-Jets are flying right now - in 2009, from challenging airports like Denver and London City, stretching the right-sizing benefit to cities that otherwise could not be served as efficiently and environmentally friendly."

JetWhite, JetBlue reveals new livery

Today, after us airline geeks have been speculating for so long, jetBlue came out with it's new livery....and, well.....not what all of us were expecting.

Sure, we have said that this change won't be huge, and we've speculated on items that they will change (such as their euro-white fuselage!)
They didn't do much, besides making billboard style titles, changing the color of the winglets, and taking out the "www." on their engines, so they could make "jetblue.com" in a larger font.
I'm happy with the increase of their font size for their fuselage though, but I am really disappointed that they decided to stick with the traditional "euro-white" that many airlines have been moving towards. I don't have much of an issue, because I still think that it does look really nice, but it would be cool if they could do something to set themselves apart! (and yes...I know, it would be additional money for them to paint in any other color besides white)
I think that this livery looks good, but I am really hoping that the tail design doesn't get applied to the entire fleet.....look at it! It doesn't even look finished!





There is a rumor going around that JetBlue will introduce a new livery that will come out on Tuesday to commemorate their 10th anniversary, and it is expected to be a fleet-wide change.
I wonder what it will be? Will it be a fully revised paint job? or just a small alteration? (like what Air Tran did a few years ago) ....or will it be a blue tail, with a yellow circle and a bird??? (Lufthansa! ftw!...lol)
I actually really like their current livery, and don't see the need to change it. Hopefully they will add something more to their Euro-White fuselage though!

The Top 10 Reasons They Missed MSP

Just like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, unraveling the real story behind the Northwest/Delta Airlines crew who forgot to land at MSP just keeps getting curiouser and curiouser. Brings to mind the gap in the Nixon Watergate tapes. If that doesn’t ring a bell, just assume it has to do with people trying to cover something up. Unconfirmed reports from DC actually said the CVR tape on the Airbus was blank … as in erased.

Retired American Airlines pilot Jim Tillman told CNN’s Anderson Cooper the other night that the passengers were never in any real danger. REALLY? Once you pass the destination, the Airbus FMS switches to heading mode and would have made the Airbus continue toward Canada … until the airplane ran out of fuel. The only reason we can even poke a little fun at these two buffoons is that no one was hurt.

So in the interest of performing a valuable public service, to help everyone who flies regularly deal with the anxiety of wondering whether their pilots are awake and on duty the next time they see that bank vault of a cockpit door close before the push back, here are the Top 10 Reasons why the NWA crew might have missed dozens of radios calls and SELCAL alerts.

Number 10: They were texting

Number 9: It had something to do with sex

Number 8: Each pilot thought the airplane knew the way since Airbus aircraft are all automated anyway

Number 7: They really did just fall asleep

Number 6: They couldn’t decide who should have the Nintendo Wii next

Number 5: It had something to do with sex or money

Number 4: It had something to do with sex and money

Number 3: They were trying to understand NWA’s new slogan, ” We’ll get you within 150 miles of there.”

Number 2: The pilots actually have no idea why they weren’t paying attention

And the Number 1 reason why the NWA crew missed landing at Minneapolis: They were abducted by aliens, but were returned an hour later because even the little green men couldn’t stand to listen to these two guys whine about the company any longer.

Of course, these opinions do not necessarily represent those of Northwest or Delta Airlines. Did I miss any?

Rob Mark, editor

Technorati tags: Northwest Airlines pilots miss Minneapolis, jetwhine, airline pilots, air travel, Top 10 reasons to miss landing at Minneapolis, airline

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US Airways and Delta work

Some interesting news today - US Airways has announced that it is going to swap slots with Delta and get some international routes from them as well. Under the terms of the deal, which is still pending regulatory approval, US Airways gains 42 pairs of slots at Washington's Reagan Airport and will be able to start flying to Sao Paulo, Brazil from Charlotte and Tokyo from Phoenix. In return, Delta will get 125 pairs of slots at New York's LaGuardia airport.

US Airways was quick to point out that the slots that Delta is getting are currently being used by the US Airways Express operation, and that mainline US Airways service (including the Shuttle) won't be touched. Still, it's possible that mainline traffic could take a hit if there's less traffic being fed into LGA by the Express carriers, which will stop flying to 26 destinations from LaGuardia. And there will be around 300 layoffs at the airline's Piedmont regional subsidiary.

But the airline also gets some interesting assets in return. US Airways will start serving some major destinations from Washington DC (Cincinnati, Montreal, and Miami, among others) as well as smaller cities (Savannah, Pensacola, Ithaca, and more). The airline also noted that it would boost the number of seats that it flies to Washington by using "larger dual-class jets." And the deal also gives US Airways two key international routes. US Airways currently does not fly to Asia, and the airline has repeatedly delayed the start of Philadelphia-Beijing service. But Phoenix-Tokyo, which will be flown by Airbus A330s but not until 2012 at the earliest, would be a great way for the airline to offer another international connection at its western hub. US Airways will also launch Charlotte-Sao Paulo service next year.

Let's look at Delta, which already has significant domestic and international operations across town at JFK. The airline's press release notes that the airline will "build a hub operation at LaGuardia that will increase the number of customers served... without increasing congestion." It'll do the same thing that US Airways plans to do at Washington - operate larger planes. "In every slot where US Airways operates small turboprops today, Delta will operate larger jets," said Delta. "These new markets and larger aircraft would allow more than two million additional passengers to transit LaGuardia each year without increasing the total number of takeoffs and landings... Many small- and medium-sized communities throughout upstate New York and New England will benefit from service upgrades where Delta will operate larger regional and mainline jets."

The airline also plans to spend $40 million on a project to upgrade and rebrand the US Airways and Delta operations at LaGuardia, so it's clear that they're planning on making this a hub. At the same time, "Delta will continue to invest at its hub at New York's leading international airport, John F. Kennedy International," the airline said. So now the airline will be pursuing a rather interesting strategy of operation two hubs in the same city, one of which is primarily international and the other domestic. This could pose some interesting challenges; what happens to passengers seeking to connect between the two airports for an international or a domestic flight?

Cheap Flights to Zimbabwe!

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Man accidentally ejects from plane

A PASSENGER accidentally activated the ejector seat of a plane while reaching for something to steady himself during a mid-air manoeuvre.The man instantly shot through the air force display jet’s perspex canopy and was blasted 100m into the sky by the rocket-powered emergency chair, reports the UK’s Telegraph.The incident happened shortly after the man took off for a joyride with an experienced pilot from South Africa’s Silver Falcons air display team, north of Cape Town.

It is thought he activated the ejector seat after lurching forward during an aerobatic manoeuvre and accidentally pulling on the black and yellow emergency handle between his legs.

The lever is fitted as standard in the Pilatus PC-7 Mk II jets to allow pilots and their passengers to eject from the aircraft in the event of an emergency.

As soon as it was activated, the ejection sequence activated two rockets attached to the back of his chair.The man, who has not been named, later floated back down to Earth on a parachute which opened automatically.South African Airforce bosses scrambled a helicopter to pick up the passenger after the blunder near Langebaanweg airfield.

Experts said the man was lucky to escape unharmed following the bizarre incident.

Pilots of Qantas airline forgot to lower wheels

QANTAS has stood down two pilots after a Boeing 767 landing in Sydney came within 700ft of the ground before the flight crew realised they had not lowered the plane’s undercarriage.The airline and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau have launched investigations into the October 26 incident. The pilots are due to be interviewed by authorities on Friday.

The crew on the Melbourne-Sydney CityFlyer service apparently recognised the problem and had started go-around procedures when they received a “gear too low” aural warning from the aircraft’s enhanced ground proximity warning system.

It is understood investigators are looking at possible human error and a communication breakdown between the first officer and captain about who was lowering the landing gear.

According to a former Boeing 767 pilot, a crew on an instrument approach would normally start lowering the undercarriage when the plane was between 2000ft and 1500ft in order to ensure that it met requirements that the aircraft was stable and configured to land at 1000ft.

In visual conditions, the aircraft needed to be stable by 500ft, but lowering the gear at 700ft or even at 1000ft was still far too late, the pilot said.

Landing gear problems or gear-up situations were involved in 15 per cent of airline hull-loss accidents last year, according to an analysis by the International Air Transport Association.

But Qantas said yesterday that a crew failing to lower the undercarriage was extremely rare and it was taking the incident seriously. “The flight crew knew all required procedures but there was a brief communications breakdown,” a spokeswoman said.

“They responded quickly to the situation and instigated a go-around. The cockpit alert coincided with their actions. There was no flight safety issue.

“The incident was reported to the ATSB and the pilots were stood down. We are supporting the ATSB’s investigation and our own investigations will determine what further action might be warranted.

Non Stop Flights to Dhaka from Tripoli

Afriqiyah Airways is expanding very fast to new destinations and has inaugurated its first non-stop flight to Dhaka, Bangladesh from Tripoli last Tuesday 27 October.The new service is expected to provide an important comfortable flight that spares passengers the hustle of going through transit flights from this east Asian destination.

The new destination comes as the fast growing Libyan airlines is obtaining more new airplanes. Within the last two months, Afriqiyah took the delivery of thee new Airbus A330 which enabled it to add new destinations in Africa and other parts of the world

France-Urges-Airbus-to-build

After two years of tinkering (more political than technical we think), Airbus is no closer to taking on Boeing in what is emerging as the sweetest spot in the market. Airbus has a group of amazingly loyal customers. No A350 customers have defected and Airbus has even been able to add customers that already ordered the 787 (Singapore).

*"The A350 is the core of the market," (French industry minister) Loos said. "France would welcome favorably a decision by the board" of EADS to proceed with the plane, Loos told lawmakers Wednesday in Paris. "To make the plane, we need the board to decide on it, and then we need to work with the other countries in EADS, the other countries in Airbus, to find means of support for this big project," he said.
With support like this you would expect EADS to jump into the market - but it has not. Clearly there continues to be faction fighting within EADS that ties Airbus in knots. This is an irrational way to run a business with long lead times and complex projects. How can Airbus get out from under EADS?-------*BLOOMBERG NEWS -- France would like to see Airbus move ahead with developing the A350 to take on The Boeing Co. and is willing to discuss potential assistance from the government, said Francois Loos, the country's industry minister.

Delta-Air-Lines-Northwest-airlines-merge

Merger helps offset record oil prices, creates stronger global airline to compete in Open Skies environment; Delta pilot leadership reaches agreement on post-merger contract

ATLANTA, Georgia and EAGAN, Minnesota – April 14, 2008 – Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) and Northwest Airlines Corporation (NYSE: NWA) today announced an agreement in which the two carriers will combine in an all-stock transaction with a combined enterprise value of $17.7 billion, creating America’s premier global airline.

Airlines.a320-200

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Royal Brunei Airlines Boeing 767-300 (V8-RBG) in the take-off queue at London (Heathrow) Airport.Taken by Adrian Pingstone in January 2005 and released to the public domain

Size of this preview: 800 × 531 pixelsFull resolution‎ (2,010 × 1,335 pixels, file size: 1.8 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg)
Monarch Airlines Airbus A320-200 (G-OZBJ) landing at London Luton Airport, England.
Photographed by Adrian Pingstone in February 2007 and released to the public domain.

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Russia's S7 Airlines to 787 Customer Team with Order for 15

Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Russia’s S7 Group today announced an order for 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and purchase rights for 10 additional 787s. S7 Group subsidiary S7 Airlines will operate the Dreamliners. The 787s will replace S7’s fleet of aging twin-aisle airplanes and provide capacity for growth. The order is valued at $ 2.4 billion at catalog prices.

At a press conference today in Moscow, S7 Airlines said the new 787s will allow the airline to increase frequencies and add new destinations domestically and internationally.

Financial crisis hits Aussie airlines

AIR travel between the major east coast capitals is no longer booming, as August passenger numbers on the nation’s busiest route, Sydney-Melbourne, were just 0.2 per cent higher than a year ago.Transport Department figures released yesterday suggest business travellers on the so-called “golden triangle” of Sydney-Melbourne-Brisbane may be tightening their belts as the economic crunch bites, reports The Australian.The new figures came as Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon said international passenger demand was falling.”There is lessening in demand in all classes,” Mr Dixon said as he boarded the airline’s first A380 .

“Qantas has held up better than most airlines.”

The lacklustre Sydney-Melbourne growth figures on the corresponding month a year earlier compare with a 2.7 per cent rise in June, a 10.6 per cent jump in May and a 6.3 per cent increase in April.

The government figures show that, while passenger numbers nationwide were up 4.4 per cent in August, the number flying between Brisbane and Sydney rose just 2.1 per cent and passengers travelling between Brisbane and Melbourne fell 5.2 per cent.

Planes were also flying less full, with load factors down from 80.5per cent to 77.6 per cent as increases in capacity outstripped rises in passenger traffic.

The trend appears to be continuing. Sydney airport released passenger numbers for September showing a 0.1per cent overall fall as a 2.3per cent increase in domestic and regional travel was overshadowed by a 4.3 per cent fall in international passengers.

Financial analysts have been warning for some time of a potential softening of corporate travel demand, although airlines insisted it was still holding up.

“The finance sector is a huge user of corporate travel and everyone’s looking at their travel budgets,” one aviation analyst said yesterday.

“It’s really going to hit Qantas hard, I think, because everyone’s looking to … lower transport costs and use telecommuting where they can.

Hawaiian Airlines boosts its interisland fleet

posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 at 05:21 PM Hawaiian Airlines has made a major move to fill the gap left when Aloha Airlines shut down last March: More jets.

The Honolulu-based carrier announced today that it is adding four jets to its interisland fleet to fill increased consumer demand. Two of the Boeing 717-200 jets will begin service in September, with another two joining the fleet in November or December.

The additional jets will add even more flights to a Hawaiian Airlines schedule already boosted to more than 150 a day. Hawaiian Airlines flies between Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island, and operates several domestic and international routes.

Flights aren’t the only things Hawaiian Airlines has increased. Anyone who has flown interisland frequently in the last couple of months—present company included—will confirm that Hawaiian Airlines ticket prices across its schedule have gone up $20 to $30 per flight.

But in an era of soaring fuel costs, that's likely what it takes to keep flying these days.

947 Croatia-airlines-orders-bombardier-q400

Bombardier Aerospace announced recently that Croatia Airlines has signed a contract to acquire two Q400 NextGen turboprop airliners. The airline has also taken options for an additional four aircraft. The transaction represents the conversion of two options taken for Q400 aircraft which was announced on June 4, 2007 when Croatia Airlines also placed a firm order for four Q400 aircraft. Two of those aircraft have already been delivered.

Croatia Airlines is the Croatian flag carrier and a Star Alliance member.
Photo: BombardierSource: Bombardier

Embraer announced the sale of the first EMBRAER 195 jet to Montenegro Airlines, today. The agreement with the airline from the Republic of Montenegro also includes purchase rights for two more aircraft of the same model.
The EMBRAER 195 for Montenegro Airlines will comfortably seat 116 passengers in a singleclass layout and delivery is expected in 2009. The company plans to use the new airplane for key markets on the European continent, including routes to cities like London and Moscow.
Last June, Embraer delivered the first EMBRAER 195 to Montenegro Airlines through a leasing operation carried out by GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS). This leasing contract includes another aircraft of the same model for delivery next year that will increase the airline’s fleet to three EMBRAER 195s by mid-2009.
Photo: Embraer

Qatar-airways-welcomes-second-boeing

Boeing delivered the second of eight 777-200LRs (Longer Range) ordered by Qatar Airways on February 24th. A7-BBB took a near 15-hour journey to its new home in Doha with guests on-board who included a selection of journalists from the United States, India and the Gulf and a high-profile delegation of bankers and financiers.Along with its sister A7-BBA, A7-BBB will operate the Doha – Houston route, linking the energy capitals of the world, which is scheduled for launch on March 30.

The EMBRAER 190 is the first E-Jet delivered to Virgin Nigeria, and it will assist the airline’s growing domestic and regional network, by providing the right capacity for current routes. The aircraft will also be used to develop international markets, feeding the Lagos hub for its long-haul operations.

Virgin Nigeria’s EMBRAER 190 is equipped with the new-generation i4500 satellite-based In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) system supplied by Thales Avionics (USA). As the aircraft enters service, passengers flying short-haul routes will have the opportunity to watch movies, as well as Nigerian and foreign programs, or select from a wide range of music channels.
In November 2007, at the Dubai Air Show, Virgin Nigeria announced firm orders for seven EMBRAER 170s and three EMBRAER 190s, all of which are Advanced Range versions, plus options for six EMBRAER 190s and purchase rights for another eight E-Jets.
Source: EmbraerPhoto: Embraer

Ilyushin-il76-cargo-aircraft-of-volare

Commentsspicoli_drives_a_bus says:You mean that weird looking think can actually fly? It looks like something made with all of the leftover parts from about 12 different types of aircraft. Great picture; I love all of the crap on the ground too. So Cal Metro says:My impression is that a lot of these Soviet aircraft were designed for military use. Note the gunner's windows and bubble, if that's what you call them, up front. That should make them durable and practical, if not necessarily the prettiest. Can't speak for all the crap on the ramp, that's pretty funny. Chris 1971 says:What a beaut. I like the picture too! MatthewPHX says:Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Pilot's Lounge, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

Open-skies-offers-little-gain

THE proposed “open skies” agreement between Australia and Europe may only offer limited benefit to the Australian tourism industry.Transport Minister Anthony Albanese is to travel to Europe in July for talks with European Union officials about an open-skies agreement.Last week European transport ministers approved a mandate for the European Commission (EC) “to negotiate an EU-wide comprehensive air services agreement with Australia”, Mr Albanese told parliament this week.While Mr Albanese suggests that the mandate is “an important step towards an historic open-skies agreement” which “could deliver greater competition, more flights and lower air fares between Australia and EU countries”, the benefits may well be limited, at least in the near term.

The agreement will cover only Australian and European Airlines, yet not one European airline, except British Airways, serves Australia in its own right.Over the past few decades, KLM, UTA French Airlines (now merged with Air France), Alitalia, Lufthansa, Olympic Airlines, JAT and Lauda Air have withdrawn from the Australian market as they gave way to lower-cost new world carriers Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, Cathay Pacific and more recently Emirates.Lufthansa code-shares with Singapore Airlines into Australia, Air France with Qantas, KLM with Malaysia Airlines and Finnair with Cathay Pacific.
While Europe is Australia’s largest travel market, with 4.5 million passengers, the majority travel on airlines other than Qantas and British Airways.Qantas serves only London and Frankfurt, having withdrawn from Paris, Rome, Athens, and Amsterdam mainly because its only long-range aircraft, the 416-seat 747-400, is simply too big to serve any city other than Frankfurt and London. In fact, Qantas is the only major long-range airline that does not have a true long-range 300-seat aircraft in its fleet – a fact that has hobbled its growth and now affected its fuel bill.However, the agreement will benefit Jetstar’s plans to launch European services, although those services will operate through Singapore or Bangkok and must still compete with Asian-based airlines such as Air Asia X, which operates from the Gold Coast and will start services from Perth in November.Qantas is not likely to take advantage of any open-skies agreement until it takes delivery of the 270-seat Boeing 787-9 in 2012 – which is far better suited to the size of the market that open skies would offer.But that aircraft must still operate through a fuel stop such as Singapore, whereas an open-skies deal works best when airlines can offer non-stops.

Jetstar-Computer-glitch-flights-cancelled

JETSTAR was forced to cancel 10 flights after a glitch in its computer check-in system sparked long delays for passengers across .The problem was caused by a Telstra outage yesterday at 1.30pm (AEDT) which forced staff to handle check-in manually. causing huge delays in every airport in Australia lasting about 2½ hours.As a result, some flights into and out of airports with strict night curfews - such as Sydney - had to be cancelled, a Jetstar spokeswoman said.

“There was a power surge at the Telstra exchange which houses our service and our check-in systems went down,” Simone Pregellio said.”Therefore we had to manually check in passengers for flights, which is obviously a timely exercise, which delayed services.”We operate over 165 return services a day, but we did have to cancel 10 services - eight in Sydney - as a result of the system outage.”All affected passengers would be put up in hotels, she said.
“If they have to stay overnight somewhere we are accommodating them at our expense,” she said.”We’ve looked at the Jetstar network, the Qantas network and all other airlines to try and get them to their end destination as soon as possible.”Ms Pregellio said customers had been understandably frustrated with the delays, but that Jetstar employees had been working hard to minimise the disruption.The problem has been resolved and all flights are operating normally.

Some Airline Shadule

Hyderabad, March 20 (IANS) Air India will introduce a daily Hyderabad-Chicago flight via Delhi and Frankfurt March 29, an official said here Friday.Air India deputy general manager (commercial) Ashok Kumar told reporters here that the flight will depart from Hyderabad at 9 p.m. and reach Chicago the next day at 10.50 a.m. (local time). The flight will depart from Chicago at 4 p.m. and reach Hyderabad the next day at 2.05 a.m.

A VIRGIN Blue flight en route to Sydney has landed safely at Melbourne Airport after blowing a tyre on takeoff.Emergency services were on alert at Melbourne Airport after a Virgin Blue plane turned around amid fears it had damaged its undercarriage.Emma Stenhouse from Melbourne Airport said emergency services had been placed on high alert.
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A HOLE the size of a fist was left in the wing of an Air New Zealand A320 plane after a bird strike.The plane was travelling from Melbourne to Christchurch when it was struck, however nobody noticed at the time.An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said that the aircraft was already back in the air after the incident.”Engineers observed some damage from a suspected bird strike … following the arrival of our Melbourne-Christchurch service yesterday,” she told Press.co.nz.

FORTY years ago today, the world held its breath as the biggest and most luxurious passenger jet ever created took to the sky.A whopping 60m wingspan and a tail that stretched 20m skyward attracted huge crowds to Washington to watch the Boeing 747 ride into the record books.When the iconic plane took to the air for the first time on February 9, 1969, the jumbo jet was born and air travel changed forever.”When the 747 first arrived it was so huge. People were very excited about it,” said Captain Keith Marriott, secretary of the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA).

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Decision-due-for-qantas-frequent-flyers

You can’t put it off any longer. The deadline for deciding how to manage your Qantas frequent-flyer points is looming.Qantas frequent flyer members have until the end of the month. Any points left in all the credit card rewards programs after April 1 can’t be converted to Qantas points.Qantas threw the credit card companies into a tizz last year with its decision to change the way it operates its program, claiming the old system lacked transparency and was too complicated.

909 American-Airlines-Orders-26-737s

Boeing and American Airlines today announced an order for additional 26 Next-Generation 737-800s, airplanes that will help the carrier accelerate its fleet renewal plan.Twenty of the 26 new orders are exercised options. The other six are incremental to American Airlines’ 2009-2010 fleet plan announced earlier this year.

“American Airlines continues to execute its fleet renewal plan to control costs while prudently reinvesting in the travel experience for customers,” said Tom Horton, AMR’s executive vice president of Finance and Planning and chief financial officer. “Replacing MD-80s with 737s at current fuel prices provides financial benefits while enhancing the customer experience.”With today’s announcement, American has ordered a total of 36 Boeing 737-800s in 2008.
Source: BoeingPhoto Credit: Photo courtesy of American Airlines.

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Boeing and Air China Cargo today announced that the carrier will add 3 747-400 Boeing Converted Freighters (BCF) to its cargo fleet.The modification work on the three Combi airplanes will take place at Taikoo Aircraft Engineering (TAECO) in Xiamen, China. They previously were operated by Air China.

“We look forward to our Boeing 747-400BCFs being of the same high quality as the factory-built freighters we operate,” said Air China Cargo President Yao Jun. “Since Boeing is responsible for the modification, we know that these airplanes will receive the superior customer support that we have come to expect from Boeing.”Air China Cargo currently operates eight freighters, including three 747-400 Freighters delivered new in 2005, 2006 and 2008, as well as two other 747-400 Freighters on lease and three 747-200 Freighters.“The 747-400 Boeing Converted Freighter provides an economical solution for Air China Cargo to profitably grow its business,” said Dan da Silva, vice president of Sales for Boeing Commercial Aviation Services. “Air China Cargo recognizes, as does the world, the superior reliability, efficiency and value of the 747-400 Boeing Converted Freighter.”
Modifications include a side cargo door addition, a strengthened main-deck floor, full main-deck lining installation, provisions for a new cargo handling system and complete revisions to the airplane systems. The 747-400BCF has positions for 30 pallets on the main deck - volume which is comparable to the 747-400 production freighter.
Air China Cargo, which was formed in late 2003, provides cargo services to 36 cities in 27 countries around the world.