General Aviation Day at Paine Field is back! What an amazing and great event celebrating aviation. People from all over will fly and drive in to share their love of flight.
The flyer above gives you most details, but this is a great family event, since it is FREE. Even though seeing all the aircraft is wonderful, I think the best part of the event are all the airplane owners who volunteer their time and gas to fly kids via the Young Eagle Flight program.
I heard that Boeing will have 747 DreamLifter for people to get close to, so that should be a nice treat.
Sadly, I am going to be out of town on Saturday. If you are going, take some photos and/or videos and email them to me da***@ai*************.com and I will share them!
One of Allegiant Air's Boeing 757s (N902NV) at Everett, WA.
Allegiant Air, based in Las Vegas, is one of those wildcard airlines. One can never really know what they might do next and that keeps things very exciting. At a recent Low-Cost Airlines World Conference, Allegiant President Andrew Levy talked about the future of the airline, which might include international destinations and a loyalty program.
According to Aviation Week, Levy is “very excited” about the posibility of international growth. Allegiant is looking at the possibility of adding flights to Mexico and Canada via Las Vegas and Orlando.
Allegiant hopes to have a fleet of six Boeing 757s to supplement their fleet of MD-80 aircraft by the end of 2012. The airline has already announced the desire to start flights to Hawaii and Levy has noted that the aircraft would have the range to fly from Las Vegas to the northern area of South America. The Boeing 757s could also be used to fly to Mexico and add capacity on domestic routes.
It appears that Allegiant could see a use for more than just six Boeing 757s. ’œIf it’s as good an asset as we think it’s going to be for our network, we’ll certainly be buying a lot more,’ Levy stated at the conference. Levy will not yet estimate a number, noting that Allegiant doesn’t know how successful the six they already have will be.
When asked about the timeline of getting more aircraft and the additional routes, an Allegiant spokesperson stated they are “targeting” Hawaii for 2012, but there are no specific timelines for the international routes.
Levy also announced the airline is looking into a loyalty program, but it will be one not like other airlines. Instead of rewarding customers for the number of flights or miles flown, it would create loyalty for the entire Allegiant brand; online packages, hotels, rental cars, etc. ’œWe don’t need a loyalty program to get people to buy our air,’ Levy stated. ’œIf you’re in Des Moines, Iowa, and you want to go to Vegas, you’re going to buy our air. What we want you to do is buy the hotel, the car and maybe one day buy hotels in places that we don’t even fly.’
Allegiant is breaking the Ultra-Low Cost carrier mold of only having one aircraft type and looking to fly some longer international routes. I can’t wait to see what this little airline from Nevada might be able to
Hawaiian Airlines has taken deliveries of four Airbus A330s and have plans to take another five. This video highlights the creation of Hawaiian’s first Airbus A330.
Our Airline was founded in 1970 as Air Nauru using a chartered Dassault Falcon 20. Due to their initial success, the airline started schedule flights in 1972 using a Fokker F28
In 2006, the airline had a name change to Our Airline during their relaunch in October of that year. The airline is based at Nauru International Airport and today has a fleet of only two Boeing 737-300s. On top of operating scheduled services, the airline also wet leases their 737s to Norfolk Air, Air Kiribati and other cargo and charter services.
The livery looks clean and it works. I only wish they might have used a different font type, since it is a little too wavy for my taste.
Airlines always seem to get a bad rap. Millions of people happily fly around the world and it seems to always be the negative stories that pop up. I recently was forwarded the below letter that was sent to United Airlines. I felt it was appropriate to share:
To Whom It may concern :
On Jan. 8th my husband and I boarded flight 927 from STL to SFO. We were returning to SFO . Then flying back to HNL. It was a very hard trip for us. We were carrying my brother’s remains . He was to be interred at, The National Cemetery of the Pacific, [Punchbowl]. We had just spend a week in Jefferson City, Mo. setting up the Memorial service and all the arrangements .
After the service, when the lights were dimmed, I found myself reflecting on the last few days. It was the first time my husband and I had actually had a few moments of quite. Soon tears started streamed down my face. A flight Attendant knelt down to my seat and ask if there was anything she could do. Then I explained the purpose of our trip. I shared with her the special flag that had been given to us during the, Military Honors Service . The kind words she shared help comfort me. Also the captain came out and offered his thoughts. I shared with him my brother’s love of flying and during his service to the Air Force traveled all over the world. Then one by one each crew member came to us and oftred their thanks to Bill for his service to his country.
When we landed in SFO the Captain came on the PA and made an announcement. He mention that this was Master Sgt. William Ralph Young Jr. final Flight and thanked my brother for his service to his country. As the passengers started to deplane many came up to us, some hugged us and some with tears in their eyes honored my brother. Thanking us for his many years of service to the United States. It was a unbelievable experience. I know my brother’s love for his country was deep. That love poured back on that final flight.
The crew was one of warmest and most thoughtful group of professionals I have seen in a long while. My husband and I will be forever grateful. I lost the names of the flight attendants , but I am hopeful they will receive my most sincere,”Thank you.” The wonderful Caption and First Officer , where Captain Timothy Gerner and F/O Robert Herrin.
