Aerofreaks

Zoom Airlines the UK sister company to Canada’s premiere low cost, full service, transatlantic airline, has landed its first flight in the U.S. Joining the ranks of stiff competition between low cost transatlantic airlines.

The low-fare, full- service airline will operate daily flights from New York’s JFK Airport to London Gatwick for $199.00 each way, excluding taxes. And, as a special promotion, flights departing from JFK between June 22 - July 13, 2007, will be offered for $99.00 one way, with taxes included.

Unlike competitors, Zoom’s booking service features flexible one-way fares with no precincts. It will also be pioneering a number of new environmental and ethical policies in its new services from the UK to the USA.

It will be using Boeing 767-300 aircraft with a seat pitch of 31″ in Economy and 36″ in Premium Economy. The New York to London flights will offer economy and premium economy services, including full meals and in-flight entertainment at no extra cost.

Zoom has operated full-service, low-cost flights from Canada to the UK for the last three years and has been granted permission to operate from London Gatwick as an official UK carrier to the United States along with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

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The departures of all United Airlines were halted system-wide for two hours due to a computer malfunction. It is said that the problem was computer outage which lasted from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. PDT, when the departures were able to resume.

O’Hare, Dulles and airports in Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco are the hubs of United Airlines and all United flights across its system had been grounded because of the computer hangups.

Inbound and outbound flights of United Airlines at O’Hare International Airport were delayed between one and two hours. However, United flights at Washington Dulles International Airport did not affect departures on any other airlines.

At San Francisco International Airport, a dozen United flights had been affected and most delays averaged 20 to 30 minutes. Transportation officials say delays were shorter at Washington, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The cause of the problem is not yet known.

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Source: CNN

This is very much true though the identity of the buyer remains a mystery. This of course sets a new precinct in the league of ostentatious air travel in the private plane sector. The Learjet will be left way behind by the 73-metre-long (239-feet) Airbus A380 superjumbo, the world’s biggest airliner.

The double-decker A380, which enters service later this year, is capable of carrying 840 passengers, has 900 square meters (10,000 square feet) of cabin space and towers over its biggest rival, the Boeing 747. Fitting the plane to the specification demanded from the mysterious buyer is expected to take more than a year.

Not from Europe or the US the buyer is estimated to have paid over a whopping 300 million dollars (224 million euros) for the standard plane, added to that would be customization costs estimated at 50-150 million dollars.

The weight of the aircraft and its wingspan of 80 meters means it is unable to land at many airports and it can only be flown by specially trained pilots.

My guess is that the buyer is from the Middle East. However, the plane was designed to fly a maximum number of passengers on long haul routes between major travel hubs, offering savings on kerosene and reduced noise pollution for airlines. Using it as a private plane might start a trend in of pretentious air travel that would be a cause of much pollution. That sure would be bad news for Global warming!

Source: Breitbart

As per J.D. Power and Associates’ customer-satisfaction rankings of North American airlines, JetBlue Airways Corp. and Continental Airlines Inc. have topped once again.

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Continental finished first among traditional network carriers for the second straight year.

Despite severe delays and flight cancellations caused by weather and computer malfunctions in the past year, JetBlue remained the top-ranked U.S. low-cost airline carrier.

JetBlue Airways ranked highest overall for the third consecutive year, earning the highest ranking for low-cost carriers defined as airlines that operate single-cabin aircraft with typically low fares in 2006 and 2007.

The overall customer satisfaction based on performance in seven measures, including cost and fees, flight crew, in-flight services, aircraft, boarding/deplaning/baggage, check-in and reservation.

However six of the eight carriers saw their scores fall from 2006. That decline was largely limited to the eight network airlines rated. Their average score was 667 out of a possible 1,000 points, down eight points from the 2006 survey.

The worst low-fare carrier, AirTran Airways, with 721 points scored higher than the best network carrier did, Continental, with 704 points. Northwest Airlines scored the worst in customer satisfaction amongst the eight major airlines.

Even as the skies are getting crowded, competition between airlines is getting tighter. At the end of the day it is customer satisfaction that’s going to get more passengers on board.

Source: Dallas News

Well some call it a nasty precedent, using landscapes just for advertisement. No wonder they are upset with a giant silhouette of a pole dancer painted on a field beneath the flight path of Gatwick Airport is putting out many people. The 100,000 square foot (9,300 square meter) advertisement is nearly invisible from the ground, but can be seen by airline passengers.

Tandridge District Council spokesperson Giuseppina Valenza said that the ad was painted on the field without proper permission and that the council would take legal action if it were not removed.

Sports Media Gaming Ltd, the company behind the ad, believes that the council had no grounds for removing it. However thay might just have to eat there words since in 2005, an ad for Lynx deodorant featuring a man fondling two naked women was washed off a nearby field after Unilever PLC decided to pull it.

Source: IHT

Concealed beneath a thick blanket of fog, with the skies overcrowded with too many planes, Planes need more than just good pilots to help them land safely! Aviation experts say a $40-billion GPS system is needed to handle the huge volume of traffic in the skies by 2025.

Air traffic controllers Stuart Smith, left, and Jeff Doden work in the tower at LAX, using radar. Satellite technology is more accurate and reliable, updating information every second. Image credit: Richard Hartog

UPS Airlines is using the groundbreaking technology of this system in Louisville at the Louisville International Airport to safely land more airplanes per hour and prevent delays.

The system, which relies on a network of global positioning satellites commonly used by hikers and drivers, also is the backbone of an ambitious plan by federal officials to overhaul the nation’s aging air traffic control system.

However, the cost is high of modernizing highways in the sky is high s a staggering $40-billion price tag. This would include satellite technology along with a system that would allow public agencies and private airlines to share information and new navigation procedures. It will be a big effort to get all convinced on this.

Moreover equipping aircraft with technology that can receive signals from global positioning satellites is also going to be expensive. Airlines say they are reluctant to pay millions to retrofit planes.

Pilots and controllers who participated in ADS-B tests, particularly in Alaska, also point to a steep learning curve for controllers who will use the system. But they add that the system’s safety benefits alone are worth it.

This ready technology will give us carpool lanes in the skies for airlines. To prevent delays, accidents, and manage future crowded skies, we all have to accept this technology.

Source: LA Times

The historic Qantas Boeing 707-138B lands for the last time at Sydney International Airport.

The final touch town for Qantas, a 47-year-old Boeing 707, Australia’s first passenger jet aircraft is to be at the outback Queensland town of Longreach, where national airline Qantas began in 1920.

Rescued from a scrap heap in Britain, it underwent a four-year restoration only to be flown back to its final display-resting place. The pilot captain Roger Walter had said that, the plane was a joy to fly, much different from flying a modern jet aircraft with modern instrumentation.

This plane has been a passage between Australia and the world. Museum manager Colin Westwood said the passenger jet made aviation history by cutting 21 hours off the flight time from Australia to England. Though you can no longer be a passenger on it but definitely check it out at the Qantas Founders Outback Museum.

Source: SMH

Today, time is money. If you are a businessman trying to fly from point A to point B, you might want to try the latest jets in the aviation industry. The Falcon 7X, Cessna Citation X, Gulf Stream G550 are the fastest world class jets that offers the real jet speed.

By now, you are probably wondering how fast these airplanes are?The planes can reach following speeds:

Falcon : 0.9 Mach

Cessna Citation X : 0.92 Mach
Gulfstream : 673 miles per hour

Most of these are higher than any average airliner flying a huge airbus.

Randy Brandoff, V.P. of Marquis Jet agrees:

A lot of it comes down to time, access and comfort.

Almost all of these planes are equipped with wireless LAN, DVD players, and other luxury items you can think of.

According to Cessna, the Citation X is the largest, longest and fastestaircraft made by the company.

The Citation X has a high speed cruise capability. This version of Cessna can save about a whole hour of flight time from Los Angeles to NYC under normal conditions.

So much for the good old Cessna. The Falcon on the other hand provides:

* cabin comfort for business people. If I was a businessman investing in private jet, this would be my main criteria.

* comes with a wide body which means more room.

* High speed of 5,950 nautical miles.

The Gulfstream G550 is a whole different story. It can fly at a even higher speed of 6,750 nautical miles: which is way higher than the Falcon X. However, it ain’t cheap to own one of these jets. The G550 for example is priced at $36 million.

So from the previous comparison, we can see that G550 is the king of corporate planes and the real deal. I would definitely settle for the G550 not only for speed, but also for looks. After all, looks go along with time and money in the corporate world.

Images Credit: Coffeemania

A last-minute provision is inserted in military spending legislation approved by congress two weeks ago. This change has annoyed the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Finance Committee that has asked employee pension data from American Airlines and Continental Airlines.

The changes are aimed at reducing the carriers’ obligation to employee pension fund. Few other smaller airlines would be required to make their employee pension funds over time. The break is estimated at roughly $2 billion. Both carriers said the changes were needed to give them parity with carriers like Northwest and Delta.

To punish the companies, the senators are forcing them to provide extensive information on their pension and compensation plans.

It is said that an investigation would be done to see if the changes snuck into the war funding bill are fair. Committee chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont and ranking Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa have asked for the response from the CEOs of Houston-based Continental and Fort Worth-based American by June 15.

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Source: Chron.com

Jet Airways Wednesday said it would operate five flights a day from India to the Belgian capital and provide seamless connections for onward journey to the US and Canada.
It aims to cater to Indian traffic to Europe, Africa and America .Jet Airways is going places with this large opening. Earlier it bought Air Sahara and introduced Jet lite and gave stiff competition to Kingfisher in the domestic sector. Currently it operates 340 flights across 44 destination such as Malasyia, Maldives, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Nepal etc.

It has got a lot of space and capacity, which we will be using. Since (Belgian carrier) Sabena closed down, the airport was being operated only by the Brussels Airlines and some American carriers. We are the only Indian carrier to be creating such a hub on foreign soil,”

Jet Airways Chief Naresh Goyal told PTI in an interview here.

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Our vision is to make Jet Airways match larger carriers like Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific. Through this hub, we will be participating in the European market as well,” he said, revealing for the first time the airline’s plans about the Brussels operations.