Flight Wisdom

It’s time here at Flight Wisdom to review the latest in airplane manufacturing…

Airbus

Airbus delivered the first Airbus 380 to Singapore Airlines last month. After delivering the first four superjumbos to Singapore Airlines, Airbus will have to redesign cabins and electrical layouts for Emirates Airlines and Qantas. It is scheduled to hand over 13 planes [...]

Midwest Airlines has added the option to purchase a customized Travel Guard single-trip travel insurance policy specifically for Midwest customers during the ticket purchase process on the Midwest Airlines website and through their other distribution means. We love trip insurance….it protects you from the horror stories we often collect about horrible situations that have happened [...]

Breaking News
Today, Boeing announced a delay in the schedule for the 787 Dreamliner. We had faith in Boeing…especially after the troubles Airbus had with the A380 putting the plane almost two years behind schedule, we thought Boeing would smartly throw some money to avoid the same media issues.
To build the 787 Dreamliner faster, Boeing outsourced [...]

We’ve been a bit occupied of lot, and have a lot to catch up on. Rest assured, that while this is not our primary responsibility(we have jobs), we hope to be back on top of things soon, bringing the best in air travel developments in a timely fashion.

Hagerstown Airport, 80 miles northwest of downtown Washington [...]

Mesa Airlines announced an agreement with United Airlines to replace 8 50-seat CRJ-200 aircraft with two 66-seat CRJ-700 aircraft. United, as well as other airlines, are replacing the cramped 40-50 seater planes with larger more spacious regional planes which preserve the economy of smaller aircraft but add the comfort of mainline service.
San Francisco International Airport [...]

Airtran has signed a new three year contract with Coca-Cola. Onboard, you can get Coca-Cola Classic®, Diet Coke®, Sprite®, Sprite Zero(TM), Coca-Cola Zero(TM), Minute Maid® Lemonade, Dasani® Water, Cherry Coke(TM), Cherry Coke Zero(TM) and three types of Minute Maid® juices. Poor Pepsi. Has anyone signed with them lately?
Air France-KLM announced last week they would reduce [...]

Boeing announced today the delivery of its 3000th widebody airplane from its Everett, Washington plant. The plane was a 777-200ER delivered to Korean Air.
The plant, celebrating its fortieth anniversary, has made 747, 767, and 777 models. Boeing widebody aircraft have flown more than 34.5 million flight, logged more than 148 million flight hours and flown [...]

We’ve been away for a few days and there is a lot to catch up on…

Northwest has announced its new regional subsidiary, Compass Airlines, will launch its new Embraer 175 regional jets this coming Tuesday with a flight from Minneapolis to Omaha. Compass, which was created uses the assets of Independence Air, which Northwest [...]

Today in the Sky reports that, unannounced, Delta raised fees on August 1st. Same-day confirmed standby has doubled to $50, the direct booking fee has doubled to $20, their $50 change fee is now a $75 change fee. $75 is now also the charge for redepositing unused frequent-flier miles and for booking frequent flier tickets [...]

ANA, set to be the launch customer for the 787 Dreamliner, announced that they will install bidet toilets as a standard feature when it begins flying the aircraft.
The toilets, made by Toto…will…and we do not joke, “refresh the parts other airlines cannot reach,” ANA’s chief executive said the launch ceremony…
Credit for pointing us to this [...]

We thought we should address the unveiling of the new 787…Fifteen thousand cheering people showed up to the event, giving crowds at the plant in Everett, Washington the first look at Boeing’s first all-new plane in twelve years. The event, hosted by Tom Brokaw, was watched live by thousands at Qwest Field in Seattle and [...]

Boeing will unveil the 787 Dreamliner on Sunday…July 8th, 2007(7/8/7)…in a bit of marketing whimsy. Things have been good for Boeing this year, with 544 orders for the year so far…which puts it on track to be the industry leader…a title it stole back from Airbus last year…
For a historical perspective, Reuters has a [...]

Easyjet is promoting its vision of a shorthaul aircraft that will generate half as much carbon dioxide and can be delivered by 2015. They are working with aircraft manufacturers to make their dream a reality.
US Airways won’t be allowed to serve alcohol once again in New Mexico, after being refused an extension on its 90-day [...]

There’s a lot to catch up on…

Qantas is expanding its flight schedule to the United States, effective March 2008, bringing total flights to 46 flights per week. The increased schedule includes daily service between Los Angeles and Brisbane effective March 27th; Increasing to 17 weekly flights between Los Angeles and Sydney, effective March 30th; increasing [...]

Air Canada will introduce daily nonstop service from Vancouver to Yellowknife with seasonal service from December 1st through April with a 50-seat CRJ. Flights are timed to connect with service to Tokyo, Osaka, and points within British Columbia.
Airtran launched service today from Portland, Maine to BWI. The first flight from BWI brought a delegation of [...]

Northwest has exited bankruptcy…its shares have started trading on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday morning. Unlike Delta, Northwest has kept a low-profile during bankruptcy and is moving forward with plans to eliminate its oldest and most costly planes now that it has exited. However, Northwest employees are less than happy with the situation…as new [...]

A man desperate to keep his girlfriend from boarding a flight from Ft. Myers to New York called in a bomb threat for her airplane Wednesday afternoon. Christian G. Mejia, age 23, was arrested after he dropped off his girlfriend and her travelling companion to an airport and drove to a pay phone and called [...]

The organization that runs LAX Airport(LAWA) has lost the lawsuit brought against them by several airlines involving the increasing of maintenance and operation fees to airlines not under a long-term lease. The Cranky Flier has a great synopsis of the situation. “Sounds like they’re just trying to get the airlines in T1/T3/TBIT to cover [...]

Final assembly of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner began today with a ceremony. The Dreamliner has 568 firm orders from 44 airlines, and is the fastest-selling new airplane in aviation history. The first 787 is due to roll off the assembly line on July 8th.
Eos has increased its fleet to four 757-200ER aircraft in preparation for [...]

Virgin America has been approved to launch service. Now that the company has been formally approved, the next step will be to seek a waiver to start selling tickets. The company is planning a mid-summer launch. Virgin America’s first flights will be between its home base of San Francisco (SFO) to New York (JFK). The [...]

Airtran will be the first to serve Cherry Coke and Cherry Coke Zero onboard all flights effective this month. We just love the fact that it is big news which soft drinks an airline has…probably bigger for the airlines that don’t give you any.
United raised fares on popular business routes by up to $50 each [...]

American Airlines is insisting it needs gynecological records, as well as psychological records of the daughter a woman killed on American Airlines 587, which crashed on November 12, 2001 in Queens. A hearing has been scheduled for tomorrow. Only six passenger cases from the crash are left unsettled and there seems to be no reason [...]

American Airlines will be upgrading Boeing 757 aircraft, of which it has 124 in its fleet, over the next two years. The enhancements will include new economy cabin suits, new sidewalls, new LCD monitors to replace the CRTs for inflight entertainment, and new digital media file servers for better in-flight audio and video entertainment quality. [...]

US Airways and Northwest Airlines have received temporary liquor licenses from the state of New Mexico and are once again selling alcohol on flights to and from the state. Expressjet, which just opened its service, plans to sell alcohol in the air before it gets its license, taking the same view as other carriers that [...]

A white mouse onboard a Japan-bound Vietnam Airlines flight delayed the flight for four hours. The rodent had to be seized as a matter of safety. It was theorized it might have been brought on in carry-on luggage.
On Thursday, Pinnacle Airlines, which operates as Northwest Airlink, was involved in an incident as Flight 4712 from [...]