One year ago today many waited at Paine Field for the first flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner ZA001. The aircraft’s first flight had already been delayed and the weather wasn’t looking so great, but hopes were still high. After the clouds cleared, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner ZA001 made her way to the south end of the runway for take off (photo). Boeing employees had lined up along the runway to watch the airplane they have worked so hard on take off for the first time (photo). The energy was amazing as the first 787 Dreamliner started to move for takeoff. I was standing on the Future of Flight’s strato deck (photo) with folks that yelled in excitement as ZA001 lifted off. It was quite amazing and a memory those of us that were there will always have. You know, one of those stories you will tell your grandkids that they won’t care about.
Yes, the Boeing 787 hasn’t been living the dream. The last year has been riddled with issues and more setbacks. Not to re-create the wheel, Jon Ostrower has an very comprehensive look at the 787’s year in review. I have had the privileged of watching the Boeing 787 take off and land multiple times since the first flight, but I have to say it never gets old. The way she looks, how her engines sound (just listen) and of course how her wings bow up during flight; she is one beautiful airplane. I still hold that now it is easy for us to look at the constant delays, but I am sure a few years after the Dreamliner is in service and successfully flying, people will start to forget all the issues and delays and enjoy the next generation of airliner. So, cheers to Boeing and all those who have worked hard on the 787 on this one year 787 Dreamliner flight anniversary.
Invited VIP Delta guests at the Seattle Art Museum. Yes, those are Ford Taurusi hanging from the ceiling.
After 9/11 airlines weren’t doing so hot. When the money was rolling in, airlines made a real effort to take care of their VIP customers. When flying demand goes down, airlines declare bankruptcy, mergers happen and the price of oil goes up, sometimes airlines can become distracted. Many airlines used to make an extra effort for their passengers, but had to cut back due to funding. Now, airlines are starting to make money again, and starting to concentrate more on the customer.
Delta Air Lines is one airline that isn’t doing too shabby right now. After the merger with Northwest Airlines they were the world’s largest airlines, until United and Continental stole that title away. But that didn’t stop Delta from making some decent money in extra fees. Through the end of the third quarter of this year, Delta has made $1.26billion (that is with a “B”) on bag and change fees. Just in the third quarter alone, Delta made $363million overall. Compare that to losing $161million last year. Now that Delta is making money and doesn’t have to concentrate on the merger anymore, they can put their focus back on the most important part of the equation: the customer.
So how does Seattle play into this? Last night Delta held an exclusive Picasso event at the Seattle Arts Museum (called SAM here) for VIP passengers, booking agents and other invited guests. Delta wants to show how important Seattle is to them and how they want to continue to grow loyal customers.
Before the Northwest merger, Delta didn’t have a huge presence. However, adding Northwest’s routes to Asia and having a vast domestic network in the US, provides many Seattle locals and folks flying through with more options. Seattle is a big international hub for Delta. After JFK and Atlanta, Seattle offers the third most international destinations [there is discussion going on right now. It might be fourth with Detroit third] than any other US city that Delta flies. The airline has a staff of 1500 employees based in Seattle and are in the process of remodeling their SkyClub at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). Delta hopes to have their new SkyClub open to the public sometime during the first quarter of 2011.
Although the speeches by Delta at last night’s event were short, they did make sure to mention their appreciation of Alaska Airlines more than once. While Delta is building a great international presence out of Seattle, they rely heavily on their relationship with Alaska and their domestic, west coast network.
This year, Delta added flights to Osaka and Beijing from Seattle. During the summer they plan to increase non-stop flights to Amsterdam from 10 weekly to 14. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more international flights coming out of Seattle in the future. One thing that Delta knows is an issue is their outdated aircraft interiors on most of their Seattle international flights. Some are flown with Delta’s Boeing 767-300ER’s and others with Northwest Airbus A330’s. Delta assures us that all the interiors will be updated by 2012.
This event will be one of many that Delta hopes to have around the country. They are sponsoring the Picasso exhibit that is currently in Seattle, which eventually will be making other visits around the US. I hope to see more events like this around the country from other airlines as well. I think making those VIP customers feel a bit more VIP is a good way to continue to see loyal customers continue to fly one particular airline.
From the 1970's, the updated Friend Ship United livery.
The United Airlines voting booth is closed and a winning livery has been announced for United’s retro livery: the Friend Ship United Airlines livery. I am told that the retro livery will be put on an Airbus A320 and not on a Boeing 757 as previously reported. That’s too bad since my main argument against the Saul Bass livery (which I love dearly) is I have seen it on a Boeing 757, but I have never seen it on an Airbus A320. Plus, I think liveries just seem to look better on Boeing 757s than on the A320. Oh well, better than no retro livery.
It is unknown when the new livery will make its debut, but I am told it will be a part of United’s 85th birthday celebration, which would be in 2011 sometime. I would also assume United would be celebrating the union of two airlines into the new United. I hope that United will have their Airbus A320 in retro Friend Ship livery right next to Continental’s Boeing 737 in Blue Skyway livery (hint, hint United).
United asked their employees to vote on the retro livery they wanted to see and the Friend Ship livery won with about a third of the votes. I also conducted a United Airlines retro livery poll and 27% of the more than 1200 votes wanted to see the Saul Bass livery. For me, it was a win-win. I love airline liveries and especially enjoy retro liveries. Although not my first choice, I am very excited to see the new-old Friend Ship livery on an Airbus A320 soon.
If you have been to the Boeing factory you have seen how easy it looks to make a Boeing 777. However, it is a very complex process. This video follows British Airways Boeing 777 (G-STBA) from start to finish.
Sterling Airlines was founded in 1962 and was based out of the Copenhagen airport. Originally called “Sterling Airways,” the name was changed to “Sterling Airlines” when it merged with Maersk Air in 2005. Maybe Sterling liked the idea that Maersk had Boeing 737’s that were almost all one color and wanted to do the same. But instead of using blue, Sterling went with red… lots of it. Although they did have a special blue livery that looks pretty good, but still had red winglets.
There would have been no mistaking this livery. A red fuselage, engine cowlings, winglets and tail. Some airplanes had the “Sterling.eu” and others had “Sterling.com” or “Sterling.dk” on the side of the aircraft. For me, it is a little bit too much and reminds me of Virgin Blue’s livery. That is not a good thing since I am not a huge fan of Virgin Blue’s livery; although I think I might like the old Sterling livery better.
Sterling was was able to grow to 1,600 employees, 29 aircraft and about 40 destinations, but it didn’t stop them from running into financial difficulties. In October 2008 they had to file bankruptcy and ceased all operations. Cimber Air made a deal to buy the name and branding, but not aircraft and changed their name to Cimber Sterling Airlines.
Thanks to David Brown (not me — common name) for pointing this one out.
