It’s pretty clear that engineers and executives at Boeing only want one thing for Christmas, and that’s for the 787 to finally take flight for the first time. We’ve been going back and forth on when this thing will finally test things out, and once again, it seems like there just might be some good news.

The whole wing connecting to the body problem seems to have been resolved, and it sounds like no parts will fall off during a test flight, which is great news. Just to make sure, there will be all kinds of stress tests on the ground to ensure that these wings can withstand the pressures of flight, turbulence, and probably a lot worse. ]]> kjb 2009-11-20T09:20:03-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/18/8915/4211

Like it or not the holiday season has arrived, and chances are you’ll be spending some time at the airport. We’ve jotted down a few of our experiences that have helped make the whole getting there process a little better, even if it’s just as simple as getting out of the middle seat. We can't promise that these will work, but they have worked in the past, and it never hurts to ask!

· Pick Out Your Seat:
If you didn’t pick out your seat when you booked your ticket, it’s time to check and select one right now. Enter your confirmation number at the airline’s website and it should be fairly simple to select your own seat—assuming the airline still allows you to book a seat without a fee. Use SeatGuru and SeatExpert to determine which coach seats are better than others, and maybe you’ll even learn that your seat has power underneath.

More tips and hints after the break ]]> kjb 2009-11-18T09:29:29-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/16/81021/245

We thought since Frontier Airlines loved animals—they’ve got all those critters painted on their tail fins—they would be the last ones to have a bird encounter. However, that’s not the case, as a flight headed to Denver over the weekend had to make an emergency landing in Kansas City after running into a flock of feathered friends on takeoff. ]]> kjb 2009-11-16T09:04:28-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/6/75646/0750

Fans of the Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons now have an easy pick when it comes to choosing their favorite airline—it has to be AirTran. The airline that loves in-flight WiFi has just released a Boeing 717 dubbed Ravens One from the hangar, and the plane is ready to shuttle fans to away games around the country.

Just a couple weeks ago, the airline pulled the masking tape off another plane dedicated to the Atlanta Falcons. It’s fitting that AirTran has a thing for football teams named after birds. However, the airline is also planning to release a plane with an Indianapolis Colts livery in just a few weeks. From what we’ve seen of Peyton Manning’s acting skills in commercials, we have little doubt that he’ll be the featured pitchman for the Colts’ new plane. ]]> kjb 2009-11-06T08:48:32-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/2/81121/8792

Smarty pants kids that dream of becoming aircraft engineers probably have blueprints for flying machines running through their imaginations. However, lacking from their vivid schematics are the plans for in-flight bathrooms, lounges, and sleeper suites. Now that the Airbus A380 is flying around the globe, the airline experience has been so much more, but that’s not something the now grown-up engineers are pleased about.

All these additional customizations that companies like Singapore Airlines and Air France just had to have cause delays, order deferrals, and budgets to go right out the window. It seems that the more airlines want out of the plane, the longer it takes for Airbus to deliver the goods. That’s bad for both the airlines with orders and the airlines without, as it’s slowing down the whole delivery and sales process. Airbus wanted to ship 13 planes by the end of the year; so far they’ve only pushed seven birds out of the nest. ]]> kjb 2009-11-02T11:19:21-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/23/135725/17

In our next life, we'd like to return as a baby born aboard an Air Asia flight. Talk about lucky—a pregnant woman on a flight between Penang and Kuching on Borneo went into surprise labor while in the air, prompting the plane to try for an emergency landing in Kuala Lumpur, but the baby popped out before they could get on the ground.

After the successful delivery, the mother and child were transported to a KL hospital, where they were visited by the higher-ups at Air Asia, who presented them with the rights to free flights for life. Assuming that Air Asia will be around until the kid hits retirement in something like sixty years, he could really make a name for himself traveling around Asia—or beyond, since Air Asia now also flies to both London and is busily signing paperwork to come to both Paris and Los Angeles. Boy oh boy are we jealous of this little boy. The question now is...did he kinda join the mile high club just being born up there?

Related Stories:
· Lifetime free flights for baby born on plane [AFP]
· Talking With Air Asia's CEO Tony Fernandes About US Plans [Jaunted]
· Air Asia coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: jetalone]]]> JetSetCD 2009-10-23T14:09:20-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/20/8740/5425

You may call us whatever you want, but we really enjoy when an airline decides to change things up with their paint scheme. It’s nothing too dramatic, but JetBlue revealed some new colors, patterns, and font for their fleet last week. The most noticeable change in the livery is that they’ve really increased the size of the wording on the sides of their planes. You’ll now know that a JetBlue plane is getting ready to come into the gate from a mile away. These changes will take place over some time, so if you’re headed out to the airport this week, you’ll probably be stuck with the old livery.

Any fan of airlines knows that JetBlue loves different designs for their tails; dots, stripes, plaid...it's all theirs. Along with upgrades elsewhere, they’ve released a new tail design—blueberries. It’s pretty much just some snazzy blue circles with white at the top, but like we said—new tail designs are awesome. Despite its simplicity, we say it’s a winner, and we’ll be eager to see it from T5 at JFK. There should be five of these in the sky by the end of the year. ]]> kjb 2009-10-20T08:38:40-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/