The Federal Aviation Administration said it would seek more detailed inspections for cracks on the tops of Boeing 737-300, 400, and 500 series aircraft. This is a direct result of a hole that tore open in a Southwest Airlines jet back in 2009. They will be expanding rules to include new inspection methods with scanning…
Clive Irving is an expert on Boeing. He wrote a 1993 book on the history of the 747. The 737 is the bestselling commercial airliner. Nearly 10,000 have been produced over 40 years. Irving says there are serious issues with the fuselage design of the 737. Specifically, he says that the skin is too thin.…
Strong headwinds have led to sharp increase in the number of transatlantic Continental Airlines flights forced to make unscheduled stops to refuel, the Wall Street Journal reports. The airline, owned by United Continental Holdings, has pushed the envelope by aggressively using the Boeing 757 on transatlantic flights. The plane is smaller and cheaper to operate…
On Friday, a Southwest Airlines flight lost cabin pressure after the fuselage ruptured. This is not the first time that this has happened, of course. There was an unrelated incident last year where a Southwest plane made an emergency landing after decompression, and Southwest has even grounded some of its fleet before.
While the 787 Dreamliner is still experiencing serious delays, the latest iteration of the Boeing 747, the 747-8, is set to roll out today. The 747-8 Intercontinental boasts new wings, a new tail, a sharper nose, state of the art engines, and a new cockpit. The Boeing 747 has been in the air since 1968,…
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Our editor is back from his trip. Check out his review on the Auto Train. Meanwhile, back into the swing of things. Lots of business to take care of.
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This is Briefing 18. We’re still eager to get guest editorials. Those of you interested, please contact us. A guest editorial would be a 1-3 minute opinion on a relevant topic of your choice. It can be recorded over Skype or alternate digital means. We’re sure, while you aren’t tired of the Flight Wisdom Guru, you’d welcome additional variety.
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:25 — 3.1MB) This is the Flight Wisdom Guru with Briefing #14, once again reporting in from Flight Wisdom HQ…We ran a little long today, and will try to have a second briefing out tomorrow afternoon, to catch up before the weekend rush. Show Notes Virgin Atlantic…
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After this Briefing, our editor will be heading on the road for a few days. Lots of interesting things going on, but we’re bringing along our portable recording equipment to report on it.
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We wanted to get a special release of the briefing in commemoration of Peter Graves.
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:55 — 1.9MB) Image by Dave Sizer via Flickr As we continue to perfect the Brief, we offer a new opener, as well as a tribute to this Day in Aviation History. Tune in. Notes: American Eagle’s New Service to Augusta WestJet Launches New Frequent Flier Program…
Today is a historic day in the history of flight, one of many, but one we are happy to share with our fellow aviation enthusiasts. We couldn’t be there, so we have sourced some of these pictures from David Parker Brown at AirlineReporter.com.
Image via Wikipedia Lufthansa is bringing back in-flight wi-fi. As reported by Upgrade Travel, Lufthansa will be the first transatlantic carrier to put out a comprehensive plan for wi-fi connectivity after Boeing discontinued its in-flight wi-fi offering. Lufthansa’s system, called Flynet, is Panasonic-based, and uses a satellite based network, like Row 44, which is working…
Image by Getty Images via Daylife Boeing expects to fly the 787 Dreamliner by the end of this year, and deliver the first one in the last quarter of next year. Once the last bugs are worked out, and the process is finalized, they estimate they will be able to produce ten 787s per month…
Image via Wikipedia Boeing will be delaying the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner due to stress where the wings attach to the side of the plane. Executives said that the fixes to the 787 would require only a few small parts to reinforce areas of one to two square inches that displayed excess stress…
Image via Wikipedia Boeing is expected to conduct the maiden flight of the 787 Dreamliner this month. The plane has been plagued by delays. When the A380 was plagued by wiring problems, we said that Boeing had to make sure that it got the Dreamliner out on time to ensure the lead it got was…
Image by jnsabino via Flickr The first major parts for Dreamliner Seven are set to begin showing up in Everett when the horizontal stabilizer is flown from Italy. “The first flight test airplane, ZA001, is getting its paint touched up this week before finishing factory testing. Power was brought onto the second airplane, ZA002, in…
Image by Getty Images via Daylife Ryanair has made another bid for Irish competitor, Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus is preparing its defense plan and wishes to remain independent. Continental announced it has completed installation of an Audio/Video on demand system on its fleet of 757-200s aircraft, with the last two reentering service by December 23rd.…
For the first time in the United States, an airport is being built for commercial service completely without government funding. This new airport will be in Branson, Missouri, which receives 8.4 million visitors a year for its shows and conventions. The nearest airport is over an hour away in Springfield, and lacks low-fare service, and…
It’s time here at Flight Wisdom to review the latest in airplane manufacturing… Airbus Airbus delivered the first Airbus 380 to Singapore Airlines last month. After delivering the first four superjumbos to Singapore Airlines, Airbus will have to redesign cabins and electrical layouts for Emirates Airlines and Qantas. It is scheduled to hand over 13…
Breaking News Today, Boeing announced a delay in the schedule for the 787 Dreamliner. We had faith in Boeing…especially after the troubles Airbus had with the A380 putting the plane almost two years behind schedule, we thought Boeing would smartly throw some money to avoid the same media issues. To build the 787 Dreamliner faster,…
We’ve been a bit occupied of lot, and have a lot to catch up on. Rest assured, that while this is not our primary responsibility(we have jobs), we hope to be back on top of things soon, bringing the best in air travel developments in a timely fashion. Hagerstown Airport, 80 miles northwest of downtown…
Mesa Airlines announced an agreement with United Airlines to replace 8 50-seat CRJ-200 aircraft with two 66-seat CRJ-700 aircraft. United, as well as other airlines, are replacing the cramped 40-50 seater planes with larger more spacious regional planes which preserve the economy of smaller aircraft but add the comfort of mainline service. San Francisco International…
Airtran has signed a new three year contract with Coca-Cola. Onboard, you can get Coca-Cola Classic®, Diet Coke®, Sprite®, Sprite Zero(TM), Coca-Cola Zero(TM), Minute Maid® Lemonade, Dasani® Water, Cherry Coke(TM), Cherry Coke Zero(TM) and three types of Minute Maid® juices. Poor Pepsi. Has anyone signed with them lately? Air France-KLM announced last week they would…
Boeing announced today the delivery of its 3000th widebody airplane from its Everett, Washington plant. The plane was a 777-200ER delivered to Korean Air. The plant, celebrating its fortieth anniversary, has made 747, 767, and 777 models. Boeing widebody aircraft have flown more than 34.5 million flight, logged more than 148 million flight hours and…