The TU-204SM during her first flight. Photo by Tupolev via FlightGlobal
Flight Global has been doing a great job following the developments of Tupelov’s newest aircraft, the Tupelov TU-204SM. Okay, so it is not brand new, but it is the newest version of the aircraft and will make sure the TU-204 will be flying the (mostly Russian) skies for quite some time.
The Tupolev TU-204 first flew in January 1989 and was delivered in December 1994. It was built to replace the aging TU-154 and is seen by many to very similar in looks and performance to the Boeing 757. The TU-204SM is a twin-engine, single-aisle, medium-range aircraft that is able to hold around 210 passengers. Red Wing Airlines, based in Moscow, runs the largest fleet with eight aircraft and 45 more on order (44 of which are the SM). It was the first airline to purchase the TU-204SM, but it will not be the first to take delivery. Moscow Airlines (aka Atlant-Soyuz Airlines) will be the first to take delivery hopefully in 2011.
The TU-204SM took her first flight on December 29, 2010. The new 204 uses the Russian-built Aviadvigatel PS-90A2 turbofan. Around 70% of the aircraft has improved equipment vs the base TU-204, meaning although it looks similar to the original TU-204, Tupolev says this latest version is essentially a new aircraft. With the addition of new equipment, one of the biggest changes for the aircraft is going from a three person to a two person cockpit. United Aircraft, which is a joint stock company that Tupolev is a part of, stated, “The test programme established for the first flight was successful. The aircraft landed at precisely the appointed time.”
At the time of the first flight, it wasn’t sure if the new model would make it to production. But after a strong commitment, made by Red Wings Airlines, the Russian government has given authorization for the TU-204SM to be produced. Tupolev hopes to use the new TU-204SM to learn about technologies that could be used on the United Aircraft MC-21, set to start production in 2016. “It will become a transitional project,” says the ministry’s aviation department chief Yuri Slyusar. “It should help preserve competencies in building mainline aircraft and provide for testing technologies to be applied on the MS-21.”
TU-204SM EYE CANDY:
* Photos of the TU-204SM during her maiden flight via Flight Global
* Video of the TU-204SMs first flight via Flight Global
* More video on the TU-204SM from Tupolev’s website
You think you have the livery skills to tell what airlines are in these photos?
It has been a while since I have had an Ultimate Airline Livery Challenge, so let’s do another one.
The first challenge only had seven liveries and eight people got them correct. Then I held a second contest with eight tails and tried to make them a bit more tricky, but still, somehow, six of you still got all the answers. I figured I might have made it too difficult with the third contest, choosing ten obscure liveries and BAM, only two got them all right.
For the fourth installment of Ultimate Airline Livery Challenge, I am changing things up a bit. I am not adding any more, but doing more than just tails. As you can see, there are some different parts of aircraft than we have seen before and hopefully this will spice things up a bit. What is not changing is the basic challenge:
HOW MANY AIRLINE LIVERIES AND AIRCRAFT TYPES OF THE TEN CAN YOU GET RIGHT?
I will keep the contest open until Monday, January 31st, 5pm. If you have any questions, feel free to leave comments, but please email (da***@ai*************.com) your answers, since I don’t want others seeing them.
People who get them all correct will be given a prize. If you can’t get them all correct, don’t worry, send your answers on over anyhow, if you get enough I will give you a shout out on the blog. You can then print off the blog and put it on your fridge :).
This is not a hardcore contest, so have fun with it and tell me which ones you are having the most difficulty with.
This will become the new livery of Horizon Air...er I mean Alaska Airlines operated by Horizon Air. Click for larger.
The fine media folks over at Alaska Airlines had quite the day yesterday. They were very busy announcing all sorts of exciting things. I am sure some of this stuff you have already heard, but maybe some you haven’t. Here are some of the announcements:
HORIZON LOSES OWN BRAND, GAINS ALASKA’S:
As an Alaska Airlines/Horizon fan and one that loves liveries, this is huge news. On January 1, 2011, Horizon Air stopped flying under its own brand and for most people, this was not an obvious change. Instead of flying their own routes and doing their own marketing of their routes, they started flying 100% via capacity purchase agreement under Alaska Airlines. At the time, questions started to surface on what Horizon’s future would be. Horizon could have been sold off, started to fly for other carriers or be absorbed completely under the Alaska brand. Yesterday, Alaska announced they will be re-branding Horizon with the Alaska brand. This means the sun on the tail will be replaced with the familiar Eskimo. Over time, all of Horizon’s fleet will be repainted in Alaska colors with some Horizon lettering.
If you love those Horizon Q400’s in university livery (go Dawgs!), do not worry, Horizon stated via their Twitter account, they are here to stay. Just because the outer brand will be changing, doesn’t mean the Horizon brand of service will be changing. You will still get the Ala Cart baggage service, flight crew uniforms and of course that free beer and wine you can get with every flight.
I have always enjoyed the Horizon Air livery on the Q400’s, but I have to say, Alaska’s livery on the aircraft looks slick. Normally a change like this will look odd and takes some time to get used to (ie United’s new livery), but this just seems natural. The “Horizon” after the Alaska name looks odd, but my guess is the “Horizon” will be removed as passengers get used to the new, combined brand.
This makes sense. A lot of sense. Horizon and Alaska have been operating under the Alaska Air Group since Horizon was purchased in 1986, but they have remained pretty separate. There has been a lot of overlap between the companies, where they did things separately. Not only will this move save money in advertising one brand, instead of two, but it also allows them to merge offices and jobs. This can secure both the futures of Alaska and Horizon Air and should make it easier for the airline to swap out aircraft between the mainline Boeing 737’s and Horion’s Q400’s when needed and possible.
RECORD PROFIT:
This is a booming time for the airline business. Many of the airlines are seeing profits they haven’t seen in years — or ever. Alaska is one of those that is very much enjoying the boom. They reported their 4th quarter 2010 net income as $47.4 million. That is not bad, especially seeing how they only made $4.4 million during the fourth quarter 2009. The entire Alaska Air Group has $1.2 billion in unrestricted cash and marketable securities at December 31, 2010. Adjusted debt-to-total capital ratio of 67% — lowest leverage since 1999.
Anytime airlines make a profit, some people seem to want to punish them. Asking for lower fares and removal of fees. Please. They are a business and need to save up money and reinvest money for future growth. I think we should all be happy for the airlines and especially Alaska for making such impressive profits.
ADDITIONAL BOEING 737 ORDERS:
Alaska announced they have ordered an additional 13 Boeing 737-900ER’s, which will will have the new Sky Interior. Alaska hopes to start taking delivery in 2012 and to be completed by 2014. Alaska posted a photo of the proposed new Sky Interior on their new 737’s via Twitter yesterday, which is small, but at least gives you an idea of what it will look like. Boeing released a computer generated photo of what the Alaska Air Boeing 737-900ER will look like (spoiler: no big surprises, but still cool photo). Dan Webb via his blog, Things in the Sky, took a closer look at what this order means for Alaska so no point in repeating his findings.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS OF INTEREST:
* Alaska Airlines holds the No. 1 spot in U.S. Department of Transportation on-time performance among the 10 largest U.S. airlines for the last twelve months.
* Alaska Airlines reaches a tentative agreement with its IAM-represented employees ’“ including customer service agents, reservations agents, and certain clerical staff.
* Horizon Air’s mechanics and pilots ratify long-term labor contracts.
* Alaska will be retiring all the CRJ-700’s in the Horizon fleet by the end of 2011. Although I love the Q400’s, it would have been nice to see a CRJ in Alaska livery — oh well.
Although some will be sad to see the Horizon brand will vanish over the horizon (sorry, couldn’t help myself), it does mean that the Horizon you have gotten to know and love will be going anywhere. All these changes is great news for Alaska and in turn for many of those that fly in and out of Seattle and the western United States. Alaska has done an amazing job of growing in to new markets an providing a high level of service for their customers. I see that these changes will only help Alaska continue to succeed and grow.
United's new livery on an Airbus A319 (N853UA)
Here is the first Airbus A319 in the new United/Continental Livery. I know it has been quite controversial and many of you readers have totally hated this new United livery. As I have said before, the more I see it, the more I get used to it and the more I like it. I actually think it looks best on this smaller Airbus A319 than it has on the Boeing 777 or in a Boeing 747 mock up. You can check out quite a few photos of the old and new livery of this Airbus A319 on Airliners.net. One exciting part of this combination, is we have never seen the “Continental livery” on an Airbus A320-family aircraft before. Has this “new livery” grown on you at all?
I was emailed this photo a few days ago and have been trying to track down the owner to give proper credit. If you know where this came from, please let me know.
The new look: Alaska Airlines Arena at the University of Washington. Click for larger.
I know, this might not mean much to most of you, but this is my hometown airline getting a building with their name on it at my alma mater, so I wanted to share. The on-campus basketball arena will now be called “Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion” at the University of Washington Seattle campus (UW now has three campuses: Seattle, Tacoma and Bothell but they are all the Huskies). This is a five year agreement between the airline and the university. Alaska will be paying $525,000.00 per year on top of the $175,000.00 already paid in athletics’ sponsorship.
“We are thrilled to expand our long-standing relationship with the University of Washington and that the Alaska Airlines name will be associated with the proud history of Hec Edmundson Pavilion,” said Alaska Airlines President Brad Tilden. “Husky basketball is a time-honored tradition enjoyed by many in our community, including our customers and our employees.”
Alaska has been doing a great job partnering with a lot of northwest organizations and companies to really show they are Seattle’s hometown airline and this just furthers that.
Go Alaska and Go Dawgs!
Image of Alaska Airlines image on the court
