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Tag: Airplane News View All Tags

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AirTran Paints Its Planes To Celebrate The Birds Of The NFL

November 6, 2009 at 8:48 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

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.

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Too Many A380 Features Starting To Annoy Airbus Engineers

November 2, 2009 at 11:19 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

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.

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Baby Born On Air Asia Plane Gets Free Flights For Life

October 23, 2009 at 2:09 PM | by JetSetCD | 2 Comments

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]

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JetBlue Shakes Its Newest Tailfeather

October 20, 2009 at 8:38 AM | by kjb | 2 Comments

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.

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Japan Exports Hello Kitty, Cars, And Now Fuel-Efficient Planes

Where: Japan
October 8, 2009 at 12:23 PM | by amandak | 0 Comments

We know that Japan is great at making robots and creating Hello Kitty hype, but now this technologically-advanced, sushi-loving nation is ready to make airplanes too.

Government-backed company Mitsubishi Regional Jet (known to the cool people simply as MRJ), which also has financial support from Toyota, started off last year when Japanese carrier (and anti-pee squad) ANA ordered 25 jets for delivery from 2014. But MRJ just got a much bigger boost, with a large order being placed by US carrier Trans States (which usually flies as United Express). They want 50 jets and an option for 50 more.

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Will You Bid For A Seat On Air France's Shiny New A380 From JFK?

October 1, 2009 at 2:48 PM | by Omri | 0 Comments

Details are finally here for that Air France auction we gave you the heads up on in August. Starting today and going through October 21, Air France will be auctioning off tickets for the maiden voyage of their new A380.

The flights will go from NYC to Paris on November 20th and then back on November 21st, but of course the auctions are starting well in advance. Each round of bidding will last 3, 5, 7, or 10 days and all proceeds will go to Air France Foundation charities. You can go to the main auction site for more details.

Ticket winners will be eligible for an array of perks collectively described as an "itinerary of cultural activities and shopping." For the NYC-Paris flight that basically means they'll take you to all kinds of small stores where you can drop your devalued USD's, the upshot being you can tell people their Christmas presents came from "Parisian boutiques." The Paris-NYC flight will also have three "key figures in the world of art and culture," the presence of which will presumably be a boon to star-struck passengers.

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Business As Usual At US Airways As Captain Sully Flies Again

Where: LaGuardia Airport [map], New York, NY, United States
October 1, 2009 at 8:42 AM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

He got a book deal, he met the president, he got the key to the city and now Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger is getting the keys to his airplane back. The hero pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, which landed in the Hudson River after goose strikes knocked out the plane's engines, returns to work today at US Airways and will fly on his old route between LGA and Charlotte.

It's been almost ten whole months since the accident, and US Airways is obviously ready to resume business as usual. Sully will not only fly the same LaGuardia-to-Charlotte route that was Flight 1549, but will do it with the same first officer, Jeffrey Skiles. Now we're all for welcoming Sully back to the skies, especially since he'd be the pilot you'd want to have in control in case anything goes wrong, but piecing together much of the same scene from the accident doesn't make avoiding stress and flashbacks any easier.

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A Singapore Airlines A380 Returns To Paris After Engine Trouble

Where: Paris, France
September 28, 2009 at 3:33 PM | by Omri | 0 Comments

A Singapore Airlines flight had to turn back mid-trip on Sunday after one of the engines on the plane—a giant A380 originating in Paris—decided to stop working.

The A380 is an ultra high-capacity airliner, designed by Airbus to compete directly with Boeing's 747 and its successors. It has two decks, four engines, and over 500 seats. All of which is a roundabout way of saying that it was loaded with almost 450 passengers and that they were probably not in the best of spirits after this:

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There's Still Time To Pay Last Respects To United's 737

September 24, 2009 at 8:58 AM | by kjb | 2 Comments

We’re all about praising new startup airlines with their fancy new menus, in-flight WiFi, and other nouveau niceties. But we do still have a place in our hearts for the classics, and that’s why we are a little sad to see United Airlines’ last Boeing 737 fly off into the sunset. The Airbus A320 is the new kid in town, but we’ll definitely miss the good old days of listening to Channel 9 and having to rely solely on the safety card in the seatback pocket for in-flight entertainment.

The last flight of their Boeing 737-300 will be on October 28, and fittingly, it will be flight number 737. The old bird will take off from Washington Dulles, make stops at ORD, DEN, and LAX, before finishing its career at SFO. San Francisco is where the airline will start stripping the plane of all the good bits and pieces before sending it out to pasture in Victorville, California. It’s been a long 41 years for the plane, and despite the forced retirement, United wants to send it off with a little fanfare.

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Nothing's Sweder Than Plane Spotting Straight From A Cockpit

September 10, 2009 at 1:18 PM | by JetSetCD | 2 Comments

We love airplanes, you love airplanes, so let's go look at airplanes! In our Prime Plane Spotting series, we'll let you in on all the best spots to whip out your cameras and binoculars for a piece of the aviation action.

Where is better for plane spotting than actually being on the airport's tarmac...or better yet, in a honeymoon suite on the tarmac? This actually became possible less than a year ago, when the Jumbo Hostel opened at Stockholm's Arlanda Airport.

This decommissioned 747 has had its seats ripped out in favor of installing 25 bedroom suites, complete with free wireless internet access and flatscreen TVs, and, for most rooms, full en-suite bathrooms. Even Singapore Airlines' A380 first class suites can't compare with these, but then the Jumbo Hostel no longer flies, so there's that.

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Breaking: Aeromexico Flight From Cancun Hijacked

September 9, 2009 at 3:26 PM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

Update: 4:00pm EST: The AP reports that the passengers have safely disembarked and that Mexican security forces have boarded the plane, where the crew remains. The Mexico City airport is still open to departing and arriving flights.

It is being reported now through Mexican press and on Twitter via @BreakingNews that an Aeromexico flight from Cancun was hijacked by armed men today.

The flight has apparently just landed in Mexico City, which was it's original destination, and passengers are unloading amongst security forces. It is flight number 576, a Boeing 737. Reuters Canada reports that three Bolivian men earlier seized control of the plane and threatened to blow it up unless they were allowed to speak to President Felipe Calderon.

Stay tuned as we wait for more news on this event, hopefully in English and hopefully an official confirmation of passenger safety from Aeromexico.

Related Stories:
· Mexican Airliner Hijacked [Breaking News]
· Aeromexico No Longer Minds A Few In-Flight Cell Phone Calls [Jaunted]
· Aeromexico Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Enrique Gracia]

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Qantas Retires Plane, But Not Because It Exploded

Where: Australia
September 4, 2009 at 8:39 AM | by amandak | 0 Comments

Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man might have said that Qantas never crashed, but these days he'd be changing his tune. This week Aussie airline Qantas announced that they will retire a few of their ageing Boeing 747s in November, and we're not alone in wondering exactly why.

One of the 747s in particular has been labeled "jinxed" after it was involved in a mid-air explosion last year and an engine shutdown this week that forced a diversion to Perth and had the pilot land with only three engines going.

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