David Achilles, who is an award winning director and editor (not to mention an avgeek) completed a very impressive time lapse video of his recent flight from Denver (DEN) to Burbank (BUR) and back while on Southwest Airlines. Before you get angry at David for having an electronic equipment on during take off and landing — have no worries, he received permission from the Southwest flight crew.
When you are an airline customer that drops a few hundred million on some new Boeing aircraft, sometimes you just want your pilots to pick up the plane and go. Other times you might want a celebration. Either way, it should always be exciting every time that Boeing hands over the keys to a customer.
Previously, if an airline just wanted to pick up their plane with little fanfare, they would just pick it up at the Everett Delivery Center (EDC), located on the east side of Paine Field in Everett, WA. If the airline wanted some attention, they would take delivery of their plane at the the Future of Flight across the runway (see Air New Zealand’s first Boeing 777-300ER delivery). There was not much in between.
View of what Boeing expects the new Everett Delivery Center to look like. Photo from Boeing. Click for larger.
Yesterday, Boeing broke ground on a new delivery center, which will make the picking up experience better for customers picking up their brand spanking new Boeing 747, 767, 777 or 787.
The current facility was built in the late 1960s and then renovated in 2006. The new facility, which will be 180,000 sq ft (vs 60,000 of the old one), is expected to open in early 2013.
“Our customers are demanding our products like never before,” said Jeff Klemann, vice president of the delivery center. “As we build more airplanes at faster and faster rates, we also need a world-class facility to conduct our delivery operations. The new Everett Delivery Center will be more than just a building; it’s an investment in our customers, our local community, our employees and Boeing’s future.”
The new Everett Delivery Center from the opposite view. Photo from Boeing. Click for larger.
When asked if the Future of Flight will still play a role in future deliveries, Elizabeth Fischtziur with Boeing Everett Site Communications explained to AirlineReporter.com, “We will continue to work with our airline customers to custom design delivery ceremonies to meet their needs. While the majority of ceremonies will take place at the EDC in our new delivery lounge, it is possible that we will continue to use the Future of Flight from time to time.”
Boeing explained that while the new site is being built, “interim delivery plans are in place,” including the possibility of delivering on the flight line.
Have no fear! I would expect large deliveries, like Lufthansa’s first 747-8 Intercontinental and United’s first Boeing 787 Dreamliner will most likely have ceremonies at the Future of Flight with great fanfare.
Singapore Airlines goes item by item checking the food quality at the Flying Food Group at SFO.
When it comes to airline food, most people have a pretty low expectation of what they will receive. That expectation has lowered even further over the past few years with the almost-complete elimination of free airline food served on domestic flights within the United States. To find a decent airline meal, one needs to take an international flight. Typically, the amount you pay for a ticket will correlate with the level of meal you will receive. How does a world class airline go about providing multiple meals for up to 477 passengers on just one flight? I wasn’t sure, but when I was recently given the opportunity to check out how Singapore Airlines runs its food operation out of San Francisco (SFO), I could not refuse (note that my trip down and back were taken care of by Singapore Airlines and JetSuite).
Checking out Singapore Airlines makes sense. For them, food is not just something they give to passengers to make sure they don’t go hungry; they see it as part of the in-flight service. It is an experience both via taste/sight and a positive interaction with the flight crew. How does an airline prepare a meal for someone who has spent $5000.00 or even $20,000.00 on a ticket and are used to the best things in life? Well, it is not easy, nor cheap. Each year, Singapore Airlines spends about $500,000,000.00 just on their food service alone — that is quite the investment.
The room has food all around from first, business and economy levels of service.
At each main Singapore Airlines hub in the US, it selects a caterer to produce the food. At SFO, it uses Flying Food Group, which also provides airline catering for a number of other airlines, even though all of Singapore’s recipes are unique.
Frequent fliers on Singapore do not want to see the same food week after week, so the airline needs to keep the selection new. Because of this, Singapore Airlines changes most of its entire menu each quarter. Hidden away in Singapore Airlines headquarters is a list of all the food that will be served in the coming quarters. The menu is not just a broad, “we will serve chicken and salad,” but a list that is extremely detailed, down to the exact last gram of everything, how many nuts will be on that salad and how much the entire meal will weigh.
The Singapore food tasters need to come in hungry, since they will be leaving full.
There is no down time when it comes to the food. Just after the previous quarter’s food goes live, Singapore sends the next quarter’s menu to the Flying Food Group, so that they can start preparations for following quarter. Their chefs work on successfully creating the new menu and once they have all the food from each of the three classes completed, they invite Singapore Airlines in for a Menu Presentation to visually inspect each and every item and then taste test the food — this is where my visit comes in.
After landing at SFO, I was driven to the Flying Food Group building, located just down the street from the airport. The building is not the most beautiful on the outside, but it is more about what is on the inside. After being checked in, I put on an official food tester garb and was taken to a back room, which had hundreds of different food options on display. Representatives from both the Flying Air Group and Singapore Airlines went item by item, going over every aspect of each main dish, side dish, sauces and the plate layout.
The chef shows off his creations.
Once the food is agreed upon, photos are taken that will be placed on the aircraft, so that flight attendants will know what the final serving should look like. But before anything can be finalized, the food needs to be tasted. It is a rough life, but to be able to write the best story possible, I decided I should probably try some of the food.
We were escorted to another room, where samples of the food were being served. From the soups to salads, to main entrees, I have to say that they were good — really good. During the sampling it was determined that one of the soups was a bit too spicy and Singapore requested that it be toned down a bit and the caterer agreed.
Making quality food at a restaurant on the ground is difficult enough as it is. Creating a meal, that will not be eaten for another ten hours and it still needs to taste world class is a whole other level. One question is how much should the caterer cook the food vs how much does it get cooked on the plane? For example, chicken will be cooked about 60% on the ground and the rest in the air, where steak will only be cooked 30% before being loaded onto a plane.
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 can hold 471 people. Times that by multiple meals and things can get challenging. This A380 is seen waiting at Narita in Tokyo.
No matter what level the food is cooked, once it is ready, it is “blast chilled.” Now, do not call this “freezing” the food — I got the feeling that calling it that is borderline insulting. In the blast-chilled process, the food is taken to just above freezing very quickly, but doesn’t cause all the damage at the cellular level that freezing does. The food is then loaded onto carts, then to a truck, then off to the airport to be loaded onto the aircraft. It is an impressive ballet of trying to time things just right so the food does not go too long before being consumed.
Delays in the airline business are inevitable. While passengers begin to stress about arriving late, there are people who are thinking about the food. If a delay pops up early enough, the food’s preparation is held off until later. If the food is already made, it will be stored in a freezer at the caterer. The worse case scenario, if a flight is delayed after the food has already been loaded onto the aircraft, there are times, where the call is made to dump the current food and have the caterer bring over a fresh supply. It is a costly waste, but better than passengers getting sub-par food or worse, sick.
Lobster, quail eggs and caviar make for an impressive meal.
It is difficult, but having to destroy food is part of the airline catering business. At the end of each flight, there will always be left over food. Either from passengers who didn’t finish their entire meal or for whole carts of food that were never used. Due to international regulations, all food that returns to the US on an international flight needs to be destroyed. The carts are loaded back onto the caterer’s trucks, taken to the facility and placed into a huge oven before being disposed of. This is to assure that there are no food-borne bugs that could cause an international incident.
Serving the same quality of food in economy as you do in first class could also cause some sort of incident — folks who pay more, expect a higher level of food. First class meals are prepared using three different types of ovens: steam, convection and microwave. Each item is individually cooked before being served to the customer. Economy food is made to be more efficient and less time consuming. If you order scramble eggs as a First Class passenger, they will break open real eggs while in-flight and prepare them right there on the plane for you. However, if you are seated more towards the back, you are getting pre-prepared eggs from the ground.
And then, the meal ends up on the plane. This photo is from 2010 on Singapore Airlines A380 Business Class.
What amazed me the most about this was how much process, time, energy and money is involved to get food to passengers. The crazy thing is this is only for SFO flights, (there are only three: Seoul, Hong Kong and Singapore) and each of these steps are repeated around the world.
If you get bored of the Singapore menu before the quarter runs out, you also have the options Book the Cook program, which allows you to order a custom meal.
I have had the opportunity to fly on Singapore Airlines A380 previously, and I had no idea the work and preparation that went into my food. Airline food might never be the same for me. I am always going to think about how the meal was planned, cooked and the detailed process it experienced before reaching my palate.
EVERETT, Wash., March 2, 2012 ’“ Boeing and more than 5,000 employees, suppliers, customers and government officials celebrated the 1,000th 777 (A6-EGO) at a special event. Click for larger. Photo by Boeing.
Yesterday, Boeing celebrated building the 1000th 777 airliner, a 777-300ER registered A6-EGO, which is set to be delivered to Emirates Airlines later in the month. The celebration took place in the Boeing Factory and the 1000th aircraft was revealed to have a special “1000th” livery.
“As the largest 777 customer, it’s very appropriate that Emirates is the recipient of our milestone 1,000th 777,” said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “Emirates has set an industry high bar in providing excellent customer service and we’re honored that the 777 is central to its efforts to be a global airline leader.”
Emirates is the world’s largest operator of 777 aircraft, with 102 already in its fleet and another 93 on order.
Almost a year ago Boeing celebrated building the 1000th 767, which was first produced in 1982 and took almost 30 years to reach the 1000 mark. It has taken the Boeing 777 less than 20 years to reach the same accomplishment. “The 777 program reached this milestone faster than any other twin-aisle airplane because of the 777’s proven performance, exceptional value, continuous innovation and progressive environmental performance,” said Larry Loftis, who until recently was vice president and general manager of the 777 program.
To date, Boeing has recorded orders for 1,361 777s to 64 customers around the globe.
In my experience, I think I have heard someone say, “I prefer not to fly on that aircraft,” about every type of airliner except the Boeing 777. She is an unassuming workhorse that has never caused any fatalities to any passenger or crew since her first flight on June 12, 1994. Huge cheers to Boeing and those who have helped to make all 1000 of these planes.
“This new service will serve as a gateway to an important part of the world that is essential to create jobs, new business and tourism opportunities in our state,” said Gael Tarleton, Port of Seattle Commission President. “This direct service connects the Puget Sound region to an entire new continent of economic possibilities.”
Even though this route has just started, Emirates is already planning to change out aircraft from the larger Boeing 777-300ER to the smaller 777-200LR starting on March 4th. “Like any airline, Emirates continuously reviews its aircraft schedule in order to ensure that our fleet is being deployed in the most efficient way possible,” an Emirates spokesperson explained to AirlineReporter.com. “In order to meet the strong demand for our Houston service, we are introducing our higher capacity Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on to the route. This has necessitated an aircraft change for Seattle, and this service will be operated by a Boeing 777-200LR from 4 March.” This will provide 72 less seats, but the 200LR will offer the same customer product as the 300ER.
Does this mean that Seattle might not have the demand the airline was hoping for? Could be or it could be that Houston had more than they were expecting. “We have been very encouraged by the forward bookings for Seattle and we are confident that demand will continue to grow as the route becomes more established,’ Emirates stated.
Not only is Emirates the world’s fastest growing international airline, but they also provide many jobs in the Seattle region, due to their large fleet of 777 aircraft. Today, Emirates will be taking delivery of the 1000th 777 made and more on that soon.
![EVERETT, Wash., March 2, 2012 ’“ Boeing [NYSE: BA] and more than 5,000 employees, suppliers, customers and government officials celebrated the 1,000th 777 at a special event today. The 1,000th 777 jetliner will be delivered to Dubai-based Emirates later this month.](https://www.airlinereporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/1000777-copy.gif "1000777 copy")
