The first landing gear for the Airbus A350 has been installed. Photo from Airbus. Click for larger.
Sorry time is making me go super lazy on this one and copy/paste the official Airbus press release with the photo:
The first A350 XWB nose landing gear produced by Liebherr Aerospace has been successfully installed in the A350 XWB landing gear systems test facility in Filton (UK).
In the coming weeks, the main landing gear supplied by Messier-Dowty will be installed and preliminary testing of all three landing gear legs will start. Full integration testing will begin with the entry into service of the facility towards the end of 2011. These tests are carried out to demonstrate reliability and maturity in addition to providing evidence for certification, especially with regards to the extension-retraction, braking and steering systems.
The test facility, called « landing gear zero », is part of a series of integration test benches specifically developed to test the A350 XWB systems in order to ensure that the aircraft meets the highest standards of in-service reliability from day one. Other A350 XWB system integration tests facilities such as this one are ’œcabin zero’ for testing the integration of cabin systems into the cabin structure and ’œaircraft zero’ known also as the ’œiron bird’ for testing the integration of the hydraulic, electric and flight control systems.
Sometimes when things go wrong, it is an opportunity to show what you are made of. On Saturday, Alaska Airlines computer system, used to plan flights, went offline due to a blown transformer. It took over 24 hours to get the system fully running again and there are still passengers who are trying to get to their destination.
From the media’s perspective, Alaska was on their game. During the outtage they posted four different press releases, allowing the media to update passengers. When this sort of thing happens with most other airlines, the media is lucky to get one press release after everything is said and done.
For passengers, both Alaska and Horizon effectively used their social media outlets to not only keep customers informed, but to apologize for the inconvenience. Alaska alone had about 25 tweets about the outage, either providing updates or talking directly to customers who needed assistance. Alaska Air President Brad Tilden and Horizon Air President Glenn Johnson also made a video apologizing for the delay, something that I have never seen an airline do, especially in the middle of the situation.
Now realize, this is all going on over the weekend. All these airline folks were working diligently to get the system back up and keep their customers informed. For me, that is true dedication.
Most airlines are too afraid to have such a public voice when something goes wrong. It takes a risk to be so public when things go wrong, but I think it seperates the good airlines from the great. Even though the computer crash only affected 18% of their flights, it is still a huge impact. Alaska did have to cancel 150 flights, affecting 12,000 passengers. Sure, for many passengers this outreach didn’t mean much help them feel better about not seeing grandma, but just like every other industry out there, airlines are prone to things going wrong. The airline business is extremely complicated and this just goes to show how something relatively minor can have such a large impact.
Cheers to Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air for being so open with the issues and getting them solved.
First off, who the heck is Qatar Airways? They have been around since 1993, but have really been growing rapidly into North America in the past few years. They are based (can you take a guess) in Qatar at Doha International Airport. They already have a fleet of 95 aircraft and 182 additional on order. Now, that is growth.
And we aren’t talking small planes either. They have 80 Airbus A350s, 60 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, 29 Boeing 777s and five Airbus A380s all on order (also 8 Airbus A321s, but those aren’t too big).
Between now and April 16th you can sign up on their website for a chance to win a pair of economy class tickets to anywhere they fly. The beauty is there are no essays, no videos, no creative photos needed to win this contest. Just you filling out a quick form and hope to get lucky. Game on!
Ah, flying how it used to be. Although a fun commercial with a great cast of airplanes, I feel it overly beautifies the earlier years of air travel. Sure, it was a big deal at the time since it was so costly and it was still new, but even comparing to 1984’s standards it would have been a bad experience for most people.
For aviation nerds, being able to fly on an old United Airlines Ford Tri-Motor would be an amazing experience. However, for most people it would be horrid. Very loud, lots of vibrations, uncomfy seats, and lots of fuel stops between point A and point B. Your coffee might have been served on a silver platter and given a glass of chocolate milk, but that doesn’t make it worth while.
Even with the “now” portion of the video, which takes place in 1984, it is a lot different than it is in 2011. A first class seat on a current United Airlines Boeing 747 is going to be much more comfortable and probably a bit cheaper. Not to mention all that interesting in-flight entertainment available now.
Sorry, I am not trying to harp too much on this video, I really enjoy it. Who can not like a video with a Ford Tri-Motor, Boeing 747-200, DC-10 and DC-8? I think it just supports the idea that flying used to be so much more glamorous, where I think it is just as glamorous or even a bit more than it used to be (not to even mention safer) — it is all about perspective.
Although not as flashy or grandiose as some more colorful liveries, US Airways is still transitioning to brightening their fleet from the blue top/grey bottom to a bright white top and blue bottom (with blue tail). The flag icon takes center stage on the tail with a bit of wispy lines drifting back along the fuselage. Gone are the red Air Wisconsin and teal America West colors in favor of a red white and blue themed livery consistent with the airline name.
In addition to the standard livery, US Airways has introduced some retro-themed liveries in former merger/acquisitions PSA Airlines, Piedmont Airlines and Allegheny Air as well as NFL teams from its hubs (Charlotte, Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia).
But don’t let the name fool you, US Airways also has flights direct from its Philadelphia and Charlotte hubs for points South to Central America and the Caribbean, and East to Europe with one direct to Tel Aviv (from Philly).
What are your thoughts? Too bland and in need of rebranding or the new normal?
