N280WN, the new Missouri One, pushes out of an ATI hanger in Kansas City
I adore Southwest Airlines and I’m a proud Missourian. Can you imagine how excited I was to attend last week’s special event?! As soon as my Missouri-centric invite came through, I knew we were dealing with a Missouri One, but held back as I didn’t want to ruin the fun. Those who fancy themselves Southwest experts knew something might be up when N280WN (Penguin One- a SeaWorld plane overdue for de-livery as a result of contract termination) entered the paint shop in Spokane, Washington but never left. What could cause such a delay in the paint shop? A new livery, of course!
My first thought when I put two and two together: “Isn’t our state flag kind of boring?” Okay, fine. It is. But our state seal is pretty sweet and thankfully the folks at Southwest and their advertising firm GSD&M took a bit of artistic privilege. The result? My new favorite special-liveried bird. This isn’t the first time they’ve had little to work with, yet hit a home run. Has anyone seen Florida or Nevada’s state flags? Sort of dull, but absolutely stunning on a 737.
Scoot vs Spirit. Their liveries are different enough, but it goes deeper than that – Photo: Bernie Leighton
Sometimes when airlines fight — we get entertained. The most recent throwing of the punches is between Singapore’s low cost carrier Scoot and US-based Spirit Airlines.
It would seem that Campbell Wilson, CEO of Scoot, has caught on to something that many might have noticed but filed away as merely a coincidence: branding similarities.
Spirit’s livery is much more in your face – Photo: Spirit Airlines
“So a little yellow birdie told us that a certain American airline looks familiar,” Scoot posted on their Facebook. “It looks like #ScootInspires their current campaign’¦well, we’re really flattered!” It becomes clear that the airline that Scoot is talking about is — wait for it — Spirit.
And Spirit has something to say about all of this.
ANA’s tribute to R2-D2 is truly a masterpiece. Image- ANA.
We all know that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is coming out Christmas of this year. We even saw the second teaser trailer on April 16 of this year, BB-8 is adorable.
Just look at this thing. This is going to sell more models than the VC-25A! Image: ANA
What we did not expect is that ANA would partner with Disney to launch what they are calling their Star Wars project that will take five years to complete. While we don’t know much about what the project will entail- we do know that it’s all starting with a new-build 787-9 that will be coming “this Autumn.”
Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner ZK-NZF – Photo: Kris Hull
Air New Zealand on Thursday announced a North American expansion, adding Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport as their fourth U.S. destination. Air New Zealand currently serves Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Honolulu, in addition to Vancouver, Canada to the north.
BONUS: Flying Like a Boss in Air New Zealand’s Business Premier Seat
Service to Auckland was long-sought by Houston; Continental Airlines (prior to their merger with United) had announced service in 2010, only to cancel the service in 2012 prior to introduction. That said, the route likely makes good sense for Air New Zealand, given their status as a member of the Star Alliance. United’s giant presence at their Houston hub will allow for significant feed to the Air New Zealand flight, along with smooth connections for inbound travelers to the U.S. east coast and Latin America.
Space Bins in the 737 Configuration Studio – Photo: The Boeing Company
During Aviation Geek Fest 2015, a small number of us AvGeeks (seven, to be exact: me, Mal, Dan, Christy, Michael, Michael #2, and Derek — who didn’t seem to make it into the video, but still was great) were invited by Boeing to preview their new Space Bin design and offer our feedback. It was previously announced that Alaska Airlines will be the launch customer for the Space Bin (first aircraft should be delivered by the end of the year), so as a frequent flier on Alaska, I was very interested to see the overhead bin of the future. (Also, this was probably the closest I will ever come to my not-so-secret dream of appearing in an airline safety demonstration video.)
The Space Bin offers a significant increase in capacity, with each bin holding six standard-sized rollaboard bags, instead of four. According to Boeing, that allows for 194 total bags in Space Bins on a 737-900ER or 737 MAX 9, compared to 132 in the current bin configuration; 174 compared to 118 on a 737-800 or 737 MAX 8; and 130 compared to 90 on a 737-700 or 737 MAX 7.
