June 4, 20205 yr Lots of small things slipping through news cycles with the Floyd protests, etc. This one could have repercussions in a post-COVID world. Trump apparently responding to China not allowing US carriers in. Obviously the airline industry and business in general wants to reestablish these lucrative routes ASAP. Trump administration bans Chinese passenger airlines from flying to U.S. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/03/trump-administration-set-to-bar-chinese-passenger-carriers-from-flying-to-us-reuters-reports.html
June 10, 20205 yr Things aren't as bad as everyone thinks? Well, maybe. [tweet] [/tweet] Remember: It's the Year of the Snake
June 10, 20205 yr ^Interesting scale on the left - the return of passengers to planes is logarithmic?
June 10, 20205 yr 22 hours ago, buckeye1 said: ^Interesting scale on the left - the return of passengers to planes is logarithmic? Yes it is. I believe because the rise in the TSA count is exponential, a semi-log graph better shows the proportional movement; but there may be a better explanation. Edit: buckeye1's critism of the ordinate scale was echoed elsewhere. The acceleration of the TSA counts was called insufficient to justify a semi-log graph. The growth in counts is still good news, but it doesn't support straight-lining the projection. Edited June 11, 20205 yr by Dougal Remember: It's the Year of the Snake
June 14, 20205 yr laguardia’s brand new terminal b opened today — check out the artwork: https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/check-out-the-new-laguardia-airports-spectacular-public-art-installations-061120
June 14, 20205 yr 17 hours ago, mrnyc said: laguardia’s brand new terminal b Yeah but I'd bet you still have to get off planes out on the tarmac so you don't even get to see the artwork.
June 16, 20204 yr On 6/14/2020 at 2:10 PM, jmecklenborg said: Yeah but I'd bet you still have to get off planes out on the tarmac so you don't even get to see the artwork. ^ you don't get off planes on the tarmac, but if you did yes you might miss the new terminal ... if you were taking the bus back home. *** looks like they had an open house at lga: See inside LaGuardia Airport’s new Terminal B POSTED ON WED, JUNE 10, 2020 BY DEVIN GANNON The new arrivals and departures hall at LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B will officially open on Saturday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced. The 850,000-square-foot, four-level space measures roughly 50 percent bigger than the hall it replaces and comes equipped with more check-in kiosks, security lines, and new screening systems, all aimed at improving efficiency and reducing crowds. The new hall is part of the ongoing reconstruction of LaGuardia, an $8 billion project which first broke ground in 2016. more: https://www.6sqft.com/see-inside-laguardia-airports-new-terminal-b/
June 16, 20204 yr ^I like the cityscape "stained glass" in concept but it would have really been amazing if it had in fact been stained glass, plus a more abstract rendering of the cityscape.
June 17, 20204 yr ^ oh please — dont you think this dumb project costs enough? for all the money they should have closed lga and expanded stewart. also, no idea what is happening now for sure, but i believe they are still fighting and mulling over the idiotically planned airtrain for lga. i’ll look into that when i get bored with work ha.
June 17, 20204 yr On 6/10/2020 at 11:48 AM, Dougal said: Things aren't as bad as everyone thinks? Well, maybe. [tweet] [/tweet] I highly doubt this. It seems most of the growth we've seen since travel bottomed out has been due to vacation travel ticking up a bit. What we haven't seen, as far as I can tell, is business travel seeing any significant uptick similar to vacation travel. Without that business travel recovering, we will not hit that threshold.
June 17, 20204 yr ^Exactly right. This will inevitably plateau (not sure where) and then probably drop again in the Fall if/when we see a significant second wave of infections and additional travel restrictions. Beyond that you have a large portion of the economy that is under significant financial stress this year. All of these companies will be restricting business travel in some way at least through the end of the year. So even if we see a recovery in 2021 due to the end of the pandemic it's very likely that we'll see suppressed air travel demand at least into 2022 due to economic pains. And none of this even considers how long it will take for public confidence in the safety of air travel to return. Anyone predicting a "snap back" of air travel simply doesn't know the industry very well.
June 23, 20204 yr ^ i’ll say. offices could open this week here in nycand nobody wants to go in them. my spouse’s company hasnt made any plans at all to open them as of yet. i seriously doubt flying is on anyones agenda. plus scenes on the news of airlines over filling planes and the crowding are definately scaring people off. its got to be disasterous for the industry.
June 23, 20204 yr 40 minutes ago, mrnyc said: ^ i’ll say. offices could open this week here in nycand nobody wants to go in them. my spouse’s company hasnt made any plans at all to open them as of yet. i seriously doubt flying is on anyones agenda. plus scenes on the news of airlines over filling planes and the crowding are definately scaring people off. its got to be disasterous for the industry. Yeah, my wife and I are scheduled to take a two-year anniversary trip in November to Anguilla, and the hotel hasn't even processed our payment yet (from May 11)
June 23, 20204 yr ^ yeah we had a couple free flight vouchers we used on flights to portland in april, which of course we had to cancel everything, so we still have to use them, but i dk what to do with that for now. carribbean sounds good for winter or next spring, or retry portland, but i dk if i even want to do that.
June 23, 20204 yr Well you all are very lucky then. I am back flying for the next couple months for work, and to the covid hot spots of Florida (Orlando and Miami). Makes me uneasy, but work wont allow me to drive from Cincinnati to Florida. So i will be masking and wearing sunglasses in the plane and hoping i do not catch anything while on job site or traveling by plane.
July 2, 20204 yr CMH, CVG, and CLE have all released passenger stats through May. CLE 1,963,962 YTD; -49.86% to LY 88,559 May; -90.24% to May'19 CVG 1,752,241 YTD; -50.43% to LY 84,986 May: -89.82% to May'19 CMH 1,717,301 YTD; -51.4% to LY 87,260 May; -89.1% to May'19 Ridership is obviously a tiny fraction of what it was before the lockdowns began, but it is definitely starting to pickup again. Ridership at each airport increased by 2X-3X from April to May. Anecdotal, but I flew down to TPA from CMH on Southwest last week, with a layover in ATL down and MDW back. Every plane I was on was a full as Southwest would allow. All window and aisle seats were full with all middle seats open. While sitting at ATL, I overheard an airport employee saying that the airport was the busiest it had been since before Covid. The only reason I had layovers was because Southwest had paused the CMH-TPA route; however, they started the route again this week with 2x daily flights between the cities. The route is increasing next week 3x daily flights. Note - The CMH figures above include passenger numbers from LCK because Allegiant flies out of LCK in Columbus while all other commercial flights are out of CMH. Below are a few interesting charts the Columbus Airport Authority has added to their monthly reporting. They do a great job of showing just had drastic ridership dropped. CMH Total Passengers: CMH Load Factor: LCK Total Passengers:
July 3, 20204 yr a new luxury saudi airport designed by foster near a resort area being developed by the red sea is the way: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/amaala-airport-mirage-design/index.html
July 17, 20204 yr "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
July 17, 20204 yr 2 hours ago, KJP said: Only 30 left in passenger service. I consider myself lucky to have flown hundreds of thousands of miles on a 747--will miss them!
July 17, 20204 yr FYI - Was on a conference call discussing the state of the airline industry and the following was the consensus. 3 years minimum to return to 2019 levels of airline fleet numbers. This would signal the recovery of the Aerospace manufacturing industry. 4 years to return to 2019 levels of passenger traffic. This would signal the recovery of the airlines themselves. Other notes: Expect massive fleet retirements in the next year or two. These retirements will lead to a glut of serviceable surplus hardware. This will suppress the demand for spare parts and product overhaul which will be significantly damaging to the Aerospace manufacturing sector. The demand for long-haul wide body aircraft is obviously nil at the moment. This will be a multi-year trend that could change the look of airline fleets around the world for the next 20 years. Expect aircraft OEM's to significantly adjust their investment profile to focus on smaller, longer range, and more fuel efficient aircraft. This trend was already happening, but expect it to accelerate. This is a boon for the A321XLR as well as the B737 MAX (if it ever flies again). Boeing's NMA still appears to be the right investment, but expect some adjustments based on the troubled 737 MAX program. Cash flow issues will likely lead to some penny-pinching by the airlines. I can't speak to the consumer facing side of the business, but expect Boeing and Airbus to respond by limiting any significant technical advancements on the next-gen aircraft in favor of more off-the-shelf components and simplified systems.
July 17, 20204 yr 1 hour ago, Cleburger said: Only 30 left in passenger service. I consider myself lucky to have flown hundreds of thousands of miles on a 747--will miss them! I won't. I thought the 747 was one of the worst planes I've taken for my many transatlantic trips in the last 10 years. The best was an A330-300 flown by Air Transat from Toronto to Rome and back. Flew first-class there, economy back. The Boeing 777 in business class was pretty nice too. That's pretty amazing info @Hootenany. I guess that new airline Breeze that planned to fly out of Burke is on hold or dead... http://neo-trans.blogspot.com/2020/02/burke-lakefront-airport-ready-for-take.html "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
July 17, 20204 yr 1 hour ago, Hootenany said: Expect aircraft OEM's to significantly adjust their investment profile to focus on smaller, longer range, and more fuel efficient aircraft. This trend was already happening, but expect it to accelerate. This is a boon for the A321XLR as well as the B737 MAX (if it ever flies again). Boeing's NMA still appears to be the right investment, but expect some adjustments based on the troubled 737 MAX program. I hope this doesn't take over en masse for trans Atlantic routes. I much prefer the widebody flights to Europe, unless it was a direct daytime LGW-CLE ?
July 17, 20204 yr 20 minutes ago, KJP said: I won't. I thought the 747 was one of the worst planes I've taken for my many transatlantic trips in the last 10 years. The best was an A330-300 flown by Air Transat from Toronto to Rome and back. Flew first-class there, economy back. The Boeing 777 in business class was pretty nice too. That's pretty amazing info @Hootenany. I guess that new airline Breeze that planned to fly out of Burke is on hold or dead... http://neo-trans.blogspot.com/2020/02/burke-lakefront-airport-ready-for-take.html I just took a Lufthansa 747 from Munich to OHare prior to Covid. There was something about biz class on the upper deck that made me feel there was still hope for a return to the heyday of airline transport.
July 17, 20204 yr 1 hour ago, Cleburger said: I just took a Lufthansa 747 from Munich to OHare prior to Covid. There was something about biz class on the upper deck that made me feel there was still hope for a return to the heyday of airline transport. I agree - business class upstairs on the 747-400 is great. I actually got to fly upstairs on a Korean Air 747-800 two years ago when I went to Korea and China. That was fun. Very few passenger 747-800 ever went into service. I think it was basically them, Lufthansa, and Cathay Pacific for carriers. When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
July 26, 20204 yr On 7/17/2020 at 2:15 PM, Boomerang_Brian said: I agree - business class upstairs on the 747-400 is great. I actually got to fly upstairs on a Korean Air 747-800 two years ago when I went to Korea and China. That was fun. Very few passenger 747-800 ever went into service. I think it was basically them, Lufthansa, and Cathay Pacific for carriers. the 747 is legendary, it changed the industry and was a fantastic plane. i have flown it at every level, but nothing will ever top the surreal experience of being one of four passengers returning from france on a deadhead flight. we had run of the plane, ate and drank like kings and it was just hilarious.
July 31, 20204 yr I am going to be a little leery flying again on the surviving airline. They may have young pilots making minimum wage to get through this! United Plans to Cut ExpressJet or CommutAir from Regional Network https://www.flyertalk.com/articles/united-plans-to-cut-expressjet-or-commutair-from-regional-network.html?utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=
July 31, 20204 yr 1 hour ago, Cleburger said: I am going to be a little leery flying again on the surviving airline. They may have young pilots making minimum wage to get through this! United Plans to Cut ExpressJet or CommutAir from Regional Network https://www.flyertalk.com/articles/united-plans-to-cut-expressjet-or-commutair-from-regional-network.html?utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign= ExpressJet ended up being cut, which is good for local jobs.
July 31, 20204 yr 1 hour ago, Enginerd said: ExpressJet ended up being cut, which is good for local jobs. Yes, for now; and CLE might even see CommutAir take over Expressjet's maintenance facility at CLE. History, however, argues against long-term trust in United. Remember: It's the Year of the Snake
July 31, 20204 yr 4 hours ago, Dougal said: Yes, for now; and CLE might even see CommutAir take over Expressjet's maintenance facility at CLE. History, however, argues against long-term trust in United. I agree. Although if I remember correctly, the new partner agreement is for 26 months.
August 27, 20204 yr Here is a more recent article on Expressjet shutdown. https://www.flightglobal.com/strategy/expressjet-to-cease-operations-on-30-september/139879.article
August 31, 20204 yr United Airlines scraps ticket-change fees for domestic flights in bid to win over customers https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/30/united-airlines-scraps-ticket-change-fees-for-domestic-flights.html I’m completely stunned that United is making a customer friendly move. “It’s time to say goodbye to the $200 ticket-change fee. “United Airlines on Sunday said that it will permanently scrap fees to change domestic flights, a big bet that more flexible policies will win over much-needed customers as the pain from the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on air travel continue to mount. “It’s a page from the playbook of rival Southwest Airlines, which doesn’t charge customers fees to change their flights.” When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
September 2, 20204 yr On 8/31/2020 at 7:56 AM, Boomerang_Brian said: United Airlines scraps ticket-change fees for domestic flights in bid to win over customers https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/30/united-airlines-scraps-ticket-change-fees-for-domestic-flights.html I’m completely stunned that United is making a customer friendly move. “It’s time to say goodbye to the $200 ticket-change fee. “United Airlines on Sunday said that it will permanently scrap fees to change domestic flights, a big bet that more flexible policies will win over much-needed customers as the pain from the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on air travel continue to mount. “It’s a page from the playbook of rival Southwest Airlines, which doesn’t charge customers fees to change their flights.” I just got an email from American Airlines - they are following United and eliminating change fees for domestic plus flights to Canada, Mexico, and Caribbean, including reward tickets. They are also reintroducing free same-day standby, regardless of fare purchased. If I'm reading this correctly, "Basic Economy" would still have change fees, but they are allowing some types of purchased extras. It looks like Basic Economy will NOT count for status qualifying miles. When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
September 2, 20204 yr I don't know when they announced it, but it looks like Delta is also "permanently" eliminating change fees (until they reinstate them): Quote Beyond 2020, Delta is making it easier for customers to book, change or cancel their travel plans by eliminating change fees permanently for tickets purchased for travel within the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (excluding Basic Economy tickets).
September 11, 20204 yr https://www.cleveland.com/business/2020/09/united-airlines-to-increase-october-flights-to-40-of-last-years-schedule.html
September 24, 20204 yr Interesting article on the history of the jet bridge, complete with great old photos! https://www.airporthistory.org/boarding-bridge-1.html
September 24, 20204 yr how fast can you cross the pond? BRITISH AIRWAYS RECORDS FASTEST EVER NEW YORK-LONDON FLIGHT AT MORE THAN 800MPH, AS STORM CIARA WINDS SEE AIRLINES BATTLE FOR SPEED RECORD OVER ATLANTIC Boeing 747 arrives moments ahead of Virgin Atlantic Airbus A350 to clinch crossing time feat Tom Embury-Dennis@tomemburyd Sunday 09 February 2020 09:53 16 comments A British Airways flight has likely broken the fastest-ever subsonic New York to London crossing time after reaching speeds of more than 800mph. Passenger plane records over the Atlantic tumbled overnight on Saturday and Sunday as Storm Ciara hurtled towards Britain on the back of a 200mph jet stream. According to Flightradar24, an online flight tracking service, a British Airways Boeing 747 departing JFK airport on Saturday reached Heathrow in 4 hours 56 minutes shortly after 11.20pm. It was just a minute faster than a Virgin Atlantic Airbus A350 flight which landed at Heathrow moments later, and three minutes quicker than another Virgin plane which arrived at 5.12am this morning. Flights travelling in the opposite direction were taking more than two and a half hours longer. more: https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/storm-ciara-flight-record-new-york-london-time-atlantic-winds-british-airways-a9325396.html
September 24, 20204 yr Well, this is not surprising. https://www.cleveland.com/business/2020/09/cleveland-hopkins-improves-in-traveler-satisfaction-still-lags-behind-similarly-sized-airports-according-to-latest-jd-power-survey.html Edited September 24, 20204 yr by skiwest
October 9, 20204 yr Historic American Airlines terminal at LaGuardia Airport torn down, other terminal to be preserved Todd Maisel October 2, 2020 Demolition began Friday morning on LaGuardia Airport’s Hangar 1, formerly occupied by American Airlines, in the latest step of the airport’s $8 billion transformation into a state-of-the-art, 21st century transit hub. The hangar is being demolished to create the space needed to operate 35 new gates at the newly rebuilt Terminal B. Hangar 1, along with adjoining Hangars 3 and 5, were built as part of the original LaGuardia Airport, which opened in 1939. more: https://www.amny.com/transit/historic-american-airlines-terminal-at-laguardia-torn-down-other-terminal-to-be-preserved/
October 9, 20204 yr 5 minutes ago, mrnyc said: Historic American Airlines terminal at LaGuardia Airport torn down, other terminal to be preserved Todd Maisel October 2, 2020 Demolition began Friday morning on LaGuardia Airport’s Hangar 1, formerly occupied by American Airlines, in the latest step of the airport’s $8 billion transformation into a state-of-the-art, 21st century transit hub. The hangar is being demolished to create the space needed to operate 35 new gates at the newly rebuilt Terminal B. Hangar 1, along with adjoining Hangars 3 and 5, were built as part of the original LaGuardia Airport, which opened in 1939. more: https://www.amny.com/transit/historic-american-airlines-terminal-at-laguardia-torn-down-other-terminal-to-be-preserved/ It's a shame they couldn't work the exterior shell or facade into the design....
January 13, 20214 yr Atlas orders "final four" Boeing 747s 😔 end of an era. Atlas Air orders 4 more Boeing 747-8F aircraft Today, Boeing and Atlas Air announced an agreement to purchase four 747-8 Freighters. The 747-8 airplanes in this agreement will be the final 4 aircraft to roll off the production line in Everett, Washington. https://aeronewsglobal.com/atlas-air-orders-4-more-boeing-747-8f-aircraft/
January 19, 20214 yr Quote FAA chief says there’s been a ‘disturbing increase’ in passenger disruptions on flights [...] For example, American Airlines is pausing alcohol service on flights to and from Washington and Baltimore from Saturday through next Thursday. The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline also implemented this suspension after last week’s Capitol riot. Delta Air Lines will not allow passengers who are flying to airports that serve Washington to check firearms, CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC on Thursday. I think we may be getting to the point where American adults aren't mature enough to fly.
January 19, 20214 yr 21 minutes ago, taestell said: I think we may be getting to the point where American adults aren't mature enough to fly. Just imagine when we all have jetpacks!
January 19, 20214 yr 1 hour ago, taestell said: I think we may be getting to the point where American adults aren't mature enough to fly. Anything to do with the Washington flights is overblown security theater with a dash of political correctness run amuck. It's funny to watch these things unfold - companies go out of there way trying to one-up each other in the name of appearing PC. Everyone has to make it look like they're "doing something." Next thing you know, they'll delete violent movie scenes from the in-flight infotainment systems (I flew on a Chinese airline once and noticed they did this!). But the sentiment holds true. I personally blame the "Megabuses" of the skies for the decline in the quality of airline clientele behavior. Air travel has become very cheap because of discount airlines, so people no longer treat it like a special occasion. People don't dress professional any put on their best behavior when a ticket is $65. You also get a larger, more accurate slice of the population.
January 19, 20214 yr People stopped dressing professionally when they fly because the airlines told them to after 9/11. A lot of professional clothes are made of melty stuff that sticks to flesh in a fire like polyester and nylon.
January 19, 20214 yr 18 minutes ago, Ram23 said: Anything to do with the Washington flights is overblown security theater with a dash of political correctness run amuck. It's funny to watch these things unfold - companies go out of there way trying to one-up each other in the name of appearing PC. I'll be anxiously awaiting video of the throngs of maskless Biden supporters departing the inauguration day festivities with light projections of "Biden 2020" on the cabin ceiling all while chanting "BIDEN! BIDEN! BIDEN..."
January 19, 20214 yr People who hate accountability love using the term PC or cancel culture. And I'm somewhat confident that most normal people and Biden supporters aren't weird enough to buy endless merchandise with someone else's name on it. I think that's more of the insurrection / Qanon / Trump crowd.
January 19, 20214 yr 28 minutes ago, Ram23 said: Anything to do with the Washington flights is overblown security theater with a dash of political correctness run amuck. It's funny to watch these things unfold - companies go out of there way trying to one-up each other in the name of appearing PC. Everyone has to make it look like they're "doing something." Next thing you know, they'll delete violent movie scenes from the in-flight infotainment systems (I flew on a Chinese airline once and noticed they did this!). Two things. 1) Trump supporters have caused massive disturbances in airports and in airplanes over the last 2 weeks. This is just responsible company policy making to try to protect their employees and the comfort of their passengers. This is not controversial to those not looking to be play the victim. 2) Airlines already edit their movies for content. It usually says so right at the beginning of the movie. For example, Delta airlines edited out a lesbian kiss scene from the movie Booksmart. In general it doesn't seem like a terrible idea to edit a movie down to a PG-13 level visually since it's possible young children could be watching any screen on the plane. This isn't the PC police run amuck, this is a private company trying to accommodate a very large, diverse set of customers.
January 19, 20214 yr 1 hour ago, Hootenany said: For example, Delta airlines edited out a lesbian kiss scene from the movie Booksmart. That's interesting - I'm pretty sure I was on a Delta flight when I watched the Korean movie "The Handmaiden." I was surprised at how little it was censored. If you haven't seen it, not only is it a great movie, but it is fairly explicit. 1 hour ago, ytown2ctown said: People who hate accountability love using the term PC or cancel culture. And I'm somewhat confident that most normal people and Biden supporters aren't weird enough to buy endless merchandise with someone else's name on it. I think that's more of the insurrection / Qanon / Trump crowd. Really? I'd say the exact opposite is true. I think accountability and personal responsibility are among the most important traits someone can have. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that whatever you make of your life - most of it comes down to personal responsibility. The sort of PC moves airlines are making right now spit in the face of personal responsibility in order to make the decision-makers seem holier-than-thou. "Virtue signaling" is probably the most appropriate term, but it all falls under the PC umbrella.
January 29, 20214 yr When we finally get back to "normal," a pilot shortage will be a hurdle for the airlines. Hopefully they will spend the money on training to get the ones coming back current, rather than waiting until they need them. More than half of world's airline pilots no longer flying-survey Jan 29 (Reuters) - More than half of the world's airline pilots are no longer flying for a living amid the plunge in demand during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new survey, and those that are still flying feel less valued by their employers. https://news.trust.org/item/20210128145935-ldwxq
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