Mock up of the Boeing 747-8I in full Boeing livery. Photo by Boeing.
A quick little update on the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Boeing 737. Too much interesting news coming from Boeing to write individual posts, so here we go:
787 DREAMLINER ZA102 AND OTHERS:
Boeing announced on Monday that they expect the first 787 to be delivered to All Nippon Airways (ANA) during third quarter 2011. Boeing stated, “The new delivery date reflects the impact of an in-flight incident during testing last November and includes the time required to produce, install and test updated software and new electrical power distribution panels in the flight test and production airplanes.” They have also worked additional time into the schedule in-case other issues pop up between now and then. Flight Blogger asks some important questions of these changes. ZA001, ZA002, ZA004 and ZA005 are all back in test flight status.
As of now ZA102, the ninth 787, has still not taken flight. Word was it was supposed to take flight on Monday, but as of now it still has not flown. I asked Lori Gunter, with Boeing 787 Communications, about the delay and she brought up a great point. “It wouldn’t be right to call it a delay. We are working through the disciplined process of getting to first flight. Until all of the work is complete, we won’t fly. Boeing has not committed to a first flight date on ZA102.” All the 787s are still going through the testing phase and I am sure Boeing wants ZA102 to fly more than us outside observers do.
747-8 INTERCONTINENTAL ROLL OUT DATE:
On Tuesday, Boeing announced the roll-out ceremony for the passenger version of the 747-8I (RC001) will be on February 13th — a perfect Valentine’s gift for all those airline geeks out there. The Boeing 747-8 Freighter has been conducting flight tests, but this will be the first Boeing 747-8 that will carry passengers. I have been told the first aircraft will be delivered to a private buyer. As of December 2010, the Boeing 747-8 has eight private buyers, which were all governments. I haven’t been able to track down who will take delivery of the first Boeing 747-8I. However, I have confirmed the aircraft will be in Boeing livery, but unsure if it will be the full livery or light (I am hoping for the full). At this time, Boeing does not know the exact time and of course the date could move depending on the circumstances. I will keep you updated on any changes for the roll out and first flight of the 747-8I. If you can’t make it to see in person, Boeing will be providing a live webcast of the event.
737 FUEL EFFICIENT ENGINES:
Although the Boeing 747-8 and 787 have been getting a lot of attention recently, the Boeing 737 is making a bit of news as well. United/Continental has been working with Boeing to test out a new, more fuel efficient engine on the 737. It might only be a 2% savings, but with the average flying of a Boeing 737, that can add up to about $125,000.00 in savings per airplane, per year — not to mention the environment impact. Learn more about this and watch a video on Boeing’s website.
UPDATES: Man, Boeing is just on a roll this week with exciting information. I normally do one blog per day, but have been doing two per day because of Boeing’s good stuff. Here are two more additions announced today:
777-300ER FOR AMERICAN AIRLINES
American Airlines and Boeing announced today that the airline has ordered two Boeing 777-300ER. This is the first US airline that has ordered this type of aircraft. The two -300ERs will join American’s fleet of 47 Boeing 777-200ERs. American hopes to take delivery of the new aircraft in late 2012.
CHINA ORDERS 200 BOEING AIRPLANES
Again today, Boeing announced that China will order 200 aircraft worth a reported $19billion. Boeing spokesman Miles Kotay told KOMO news that the deal is for 185 Boeing 737 jets and 15 Boeing 777s. Although exciting, this does not change the current 737 backlog numbers, but confirms the finalization of orders already announced.
The new Airbus A320neo in Virgin America livery. Image from Airbus.com.
Virgin American has announced they are the launch customer of the new Airbus A320neo with 30 orders of the aircraft. Before the first deliveries of the A320neo start in 2016, Virgin America also has orders for 30 Airbus A320’s with sharklets. This is a huge deal for the relatively new airline.
The Airbus A320neo is the next generation of the A320 family. The aircraft will allow New Engine Options (hence “neo”) which will increase range, lower fuel costs, while allowing airlines to keep a single fleet family of A320 aircraft.
Be sure to check out Dan Webb’s blog, Things in the Sky, as he was recently able to have a chat with Virgin America CEO David Cush and got some pretty interesting information.
Baltia Air Lines Boeing 747-200 (N705BL) at LAX aftering being taken out of the airline junkyard in August 2010..
I have loved following Baltia Air Lines for quite sometime now. Since August 2009 when Tom Luly on The Airline Blog first talked about the airline, or lack of an airline, I have been intrigued.
Really the story starts long ago. Back in 1989, Baltia Air Lines was founded in New York City. The idea was to provide service from New York to what used to be the Soviet Union. After lots of planning, it looked like things were going well for the start up. Baltia had plans to fly to multiple cities in the Soviet Union and were looking to purchase a few Boeing 767’s and 737’s. Then the Soviet Union collapsed, which was great for America, but not so great for the new American-based Baltia Air Lines. There was too much instability in the Baltic region and plans to start a new airline were shelved.
It took until 1996 when Baltia was able to get authority to fly from New York (at JFK) to St. Petersberg. At the time Baltia was planning on flying a single Boeing 747 and in 1998 put a $100,000.00 down payment for an ex-Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-200. However, in 1999, the airline did not have enough capital to start flying and the Department of Transportation (DOT) revoked their route authority. In 2007, Baltia received more capital and once again filed to fly from JFK to St. Petersburg. The DOT approves the plan and allowed them to fly in 2008.
When Luly with The Airline Blog first contacted Baltia back in August 2009, they assured him they were planning on purchasing one Boeing 747 from an airline that was based in the US. Many were skeptical that the airline would actually purchase an aircraft and questioned if the airline would ever take off (pun intended).
It was quite shocking when they announced that they purchased a Boeing 747-200. They didn’t end up getting a 747 from an American carrier, but they still found one. Baltia ended up purchasing one which was first delivered to TAP Air Portugal in 1975. Then in 1976 it was sold to Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), where it flew until it was stored in 2005. Then in July 2009, Baltia Air Lines purchased the jumbo jet and registered it as N705BL. They paid a little less than a half-million for the plane, which did not come with engines.
Baltia Air Lines Boeing 747-200 (N705BL) arriving to Malaysian Airline System Berhad ("MAS") facility in Malaysia for scheduled maintenance
Even though they had a plane, it became questionable if it would ever fly. Doubters were amazed, when on August 4th 2010, she arrived at the Malaysian Airlines Maintenance Center where it will be updated and painted.
The choice of an older, less fuel efficient aircraft is a bit puzzling. Of course there is a lower up front cost, but it will cost a lot in the long run. Will passengers be willing to fly in such an old aircraft? Will most even realize how old she really is?
This airline surely is interesting. Not only a US airline flying passengers in a Boeing 747-200, but flying non-stop to major Russian cities is too good to ignore. These people sure seem to have the drive and ambition to make an airline happen, no matter what the time line.
The keen eye of a ramp worker caught N705BL at LAX on its way to Malaysia (photo) and was allowed to go in to take a look. The interior is still looks like PIA (photo), but they plan to install a VIP interior. I kind of hope they can keep the classic spiral stair case going up to the upper deck (photo).
More recently, Baltia Air Lines has announced the purchase of a second Boeing 747 and that they plan to start flying during the second quarter of 2011. According to Airliners Gallery News, Baltia Air Lines President, Igor Dmitrowsky stated, ’œSignificant progress has been made in the FAA Air Carrier Certification document process and that Baltia is anticipating a second quarter launch.” He continued with, “There are still other pre-launch certification tasks to be accomplished such as the completion of the Safety Attribute Inspection audit process of the manuals, the completion of maintenance on our newly acquired Boeing 747 aircraft, the training of our crewmembers, and the mini evacuation test and proving flights, which should all be completed prior to our inaugural flight.’
You can be sure I will be keeping a close eye on Baltia and sharing anything new they might have.
MORE BALTIA AIR LINES GOODIES:
* Video of N705BL arriving in Malaysian Airlines Maintenance Center
* 20 photos of the aircraft’s life
* Simpliflying looks at Baltia Air Lines use of social media
LAX Image: Duncan Stewart MAS Image: Baltia’s Video
Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 777-200LR (ET-ANP) at Paine Field. Click for more photos.
Ah, the life of waiting for a first flight in Seattle: cold, rain, wind, but no Boeing 787 Dreamliner. ZA102, the ninth Dreamliner, was set to take off for the first time today, but it has been pushed until at least tomorrow, Tuesday. The engines started up for a while, but then shut down and the left cowl was opened up. This didn’t mean Paine Field was short of any action this morning. There were two Boeing 777’s that took off, one Boeing 747-8 (BOE503) and a few Ryanair Boeing 737’s that did touch and goes.
CHECK OUT THE EYE CANDY FROM PAINE FIELD
JetBlue ERJ-190 (N238JB) "Blue Clipper"
Although millions of dollars are spent on airline security each year in the United States, it only took $100.00 for a JetBlue ticket agent to allow a unknown package to go onto a flight, coming from an unknown person.
On November 19, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was at Charlotte Douglas Airport testing out JetBlue’s security. Their goal was to try and get an unaccompanied package onto a flight headed to Boston and unfortunately, they succeeded. An undercover TSA agent told a JetBlue ticket agent that he needed to get a package to Boston that day and would pay the agent $100.00 for helping. The agent took the $100, put it in his pocket and proceeded to follow the unknown person’s instructions. The ticket agent chose a passenger’s name at random, which just happened to be an unaccompanied minor, and the package went through the screening process with no problems. Although the package was harmless, the TSA pulled the package just before being loaded onto the aircraft.
’œThat’s really alarming,’ Anthony Amore, a former high-ranking TSA official at Logan Airport told a local Boston CBS station. ’œWhen you have multiple layers in place you hope that they all stand in the way of a terrorist or someone who wishes us harm. In this instance, many of the layers were cast aside and we were left with this one layer of checked baggage screening.’
When the local station asked the TSA for a comment, they were told, “While we cannot comment on the specifics of an open investigation, TSA can assure travelers that, like checked baggage, every package tendered at the airline counter is screened for explosives.’ JetBlue confirmed that they are ’œfully cooperating with the TSA’s investigation’ and ’œthe involved crew member is no longer employed at JetBlue.’
I do not share this story to cause additional security-related fear, nor do I want to “teach the terrorists” how to commit crimes against passengers. I share it, since I think it shows how spending so much money on the front door of airline security and so little attention on the back is a big mistake. Although JetBlue is partly to blame for training issues, this could have happened with almost any airline. They just happened to have a bad-seed-employee in the wrong place at the wrong time. Currently, the TSA is not talking about how often they conduct these sorts of tests and how often they get a package through.
Sadly, this story is just one of many that place many questions on back-door airport security. At the same exact airport, just a few days earlier, a teenager was able to sneak onto the airport secured area, illegally board a US Airways aircraft without being caught (unfortunately, he died en-route). There is also the story of the pilot who pointed out that airport security workers could by-pass security and caused him a lot of grief. Similar stories keep popping up and I have a feeling more will continue to do so. As passengers continue to give up their freedoms and are willing to put up with many annoyances to fly, while at the same time seeing how porous the security is behind the scenes, people will take note and demand for change.
Image: kenjet
