Tragically, an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX traveling from Addis Ababa to Nairobi crashed shortly after takeoff yesterday. 159 perished and there were no survivors. The second crash of this aircraft variant in a matter of months has left...
The Wall Street Journal Battles The Airbus A380
In a hit-piece entitled Airbus’s Lesson for Young Socialists, a Wall Street Journal column heaps scorn on the Airbus A380 program. The column is by Holman W. Jenkins Jr, a long-time columnist and editorial writer for the Journal. He starts by...
British Airways’ Stunning New 747 Paint Job
British Airways has unveiled its new 747 retro paint job and I am very impressed… Last month, I wrote about BA’s plan to repaint one of its Boeing 747-400s with classic British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) livery. British Airways...
The A380 Is Dead, Long Live The A380
Airbus announced today that it would be shutting the A380 production line in 2021. The move is sadly not a surprise. 17 A380s will still be built, including 14 to Emirates and 3 to ANA. In a written statement,...
British Airways’ Plan To Save The A380 Program
British Airways is willing to buy more Airbus A380s…if the price is right. Last week, we learned that Emirates is exploring switching some of its A380 orders to smaller A350 or A330neo aircraft. The move would likely sound the...
British Airways Honors 747 Legacy With Retro Livery
I have so many bad stories I could cover this afternoon, but after a trio of bad stories earlier today let’s take a break. How about some good news to end the day on? British Airways is celebrating its...
The Final Boeing 727 Passenger Flight
Earlier this week, the final scheduled Boeing 727 passenger flight occurred in Iran. The retirement of this aircraft from commercial service marks the end of an era. On Sunday, Iran Aseman Airlines operated its final 727 passenger flight from Zahedan (ZAH)...
Why Passengers Loved United’s Boeing 737 MAX 9
We hear a lot of bad things about the Boeing 737 MAX 9, so I was surprised at what a positive reception the aircraft received by passengers around me on a recent flight. Earlier this week, I flew from...
Air France A380 Decision Is Sad, But Smart
Air France will gradually retire half of its A380 fleet, starting in 2019. The move is sad, but smart. Air France currently operates 10 A380s. Five are owned, five are leased. All are tragically uncompetitive. By that, I mean...
Pictures: United Airlines 787-10
United’s new Boeing 787-10s are set to enter service in January on premium transcontinental routes. Later in 2019, the airplane will fly international routes from Newark. United will take delivery of 14 787-10 aircraft over the next two years....
Lufthansa’s A350 “Flying Penthouse”
The commercial passenger variant of Lufthansa’s Airbus A350 does not even have a first class section. But have you seen the VIP edition available via Lufthansa Technik? Described as a “haven of rest and comfort”, the custom interior spans...
New A380 Order? Lufthansa Teases Us On Twitter…
Lufthansa, you’re such a tease. The German carrier left us with this on Twitter yesterday: While the most likely answer is that the first A380 will soon be repainted in Lufthansa’s latest livery, the tweet has fueled speculation about...
Thai Airways Delays Retirement Of 747 Fleet
Thai Airways has indicated it will not retire its remaining fleet of Boeing 747-400 aircraft as quickly as planned. Thai Airways faces both a short-term and long-term problem. On the short-term, half of its 787 fleet (four of eight...
Medical AND Mechanical Issue Force Diversion Of AA Flight
An American Airlines’ flight bound for China was forced to divert after experiencing both a medical emergency and mechanical problems in-flight. Talk about an unlucky flight… AA263 from Dallas to Beijing departed DFW on time at just past 11:00 A.M....
Boeing 747 Skids Off Runway in Bangkok
A Thai Airways Boeing 747-400 skidded off a runway in Bangkok after landing in torrential rains. It’s monsoon season in Thailand, creating fierce storms that pummel the earth with concentrated spurts of rain. Thai Airways flight 679 was approaching Suvarnabhumi...
Flying United’s Retrofitted 777-200 In Polaris Business Class
Over the weekend I had the chance to fly United’s recently renovated 777-200 featuring new Polaris business class seats. This is the same aircraft that featured United’s new premium economy seating. I used a Global Premier Upgrade to confirm...
What The Heck Is Lufthansa Thinking?
When is a bad seat better than no seat at all? You can soon fly eight hours aboard a Lufthansa A319 between Frankfurt and Pune. I can think of much better ways to torture yourself. Some background, though. Lufthansa...
First Impressions: United Boeing 767-300 Polaris Class
Last week I had the chance to fly a recently retrofitted United 767-300 from Amsterdam to Newark in Polaris Business Class. United has updated the 2-1-2 business class seating aboard many of its 767-300s to a new 1-1-1 configuration...
My Hong Kong Airlines Trip Just Got Sweeter!
Last month I took advantage of a great business class fare on Hong Kong Airlines for an upcoming trip to Asia. But now the trip just got even sweeter. What can beat a $688 round-trip business class tickets to...
KLM Delays Retirement Of 747-400 Fleet
KLM is giving the Queen of the Skies a reprieve. KLM flies a fleet of 12 Boeing 747-400 Combis. The plan was to fully retire this aircraft type by end of 2020, replacing it with Airbus A350-900s. But KLM is deferring...
