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By David Parker Brown, on July 30th, 2009 at 12:05 am
 Aeroflot - Russian Airlines, Tupolev Tu-154M RA-85642 (cn 88A778) Aeroflot, Russia’s largest carrier, is planning to rid its fleet of Tupolev TU-154 jets and acquiring additional Boeing and Airbus aircraft. It is planning to sell its remaining Tupolev jets, but the airline will still have six Russian built Illyushin Il-96′s to handle some international flights.
This is a big change from an airline that at one time had no Boeing or Airbus aircraft. Aeroflot is hoping to cater more to business travelers and TU-154′s are not known for their quality or silence.
Aeroflot also is looking to lower the cost of its routes. The airline’s chief executive, Vitaly Savelyev, explained the airline is currently losing money on 40% of its routes and looking to avoid thousands of layoffs over the next few years. Instead they are hoping the improved savings with fuel consumption, less maintenance costs, and increase traffic due to flying newer aircraft will allow the airline to avoid layoffs.
With the current global economy and the fact there are hundreds of other older Boeing and Airbus aircraft sitting in the desert, it will most likely be difficult for Aeroflot to find buyers for its 26 TU-154s. Personally it is a bit sad to not be able to see a TU-154 in Aeroflot livery, however it would be worth it to someday see a Boeing 747 or Airbus A380 in the airline’s livery.
Image: osdu
By David Parker Brown, on July 24th, 2009 at 11:41 am
 Ooops! AA's Boeing 767-300 fell on its nose! The American Airlines’ 767-300 had just finished undergoing maintenance at Fort Worth when “the nose gear retracted and put the aircraft on its nose,” says a spokesperson for AA.
No personnel were hurt and the plane has been being assessed for damage since the incident on July 15th. AA doesn’t expect any change in schedule due to the absence of this plane.
Terry Maxon with Dallas Morning News’ Airline Biz Blog has several additional photos.
Source: Dallas Morning News
By David Parker Brown, on July 24th, 2009 at 9:47 am
 American Airlines Boeing 757. Photo from aa.com. One of my least favorite things about air travel is waiting in line. Wait in line to check-in, wait in line for security, wait in line to get on the jetway, and wait in line to actually get on the plane. When the electronic kiosks first came out, I loved them. Most people didn’t understand them and didn’t use them, so there was normally no line at all. Now they are the norm, and I am back to waiting in line.
American Airlines is looking to add a new option. They are testing a pilot program (or more like “agent program” heh) over the next six weeks at Boston’s Logan International Airport where standing in line might have more options. Starting next week the airline will test 20 mobile devices called Your Assistance Delivered Anywhere (YADA). They will allow passengers to print boarding passes and make upgrades pretty much anywhere in the airport they can find a YADA representative. After the six week test, they hope to roll out the devices nationwide.
This seems like an interesting concept. If it works, not only could it alleviate lines, it could provide more of a one-on-one relationship with American and its customers.
By David Parker Brown, on July 17th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
 RIP JetAmerica I am not normally one to gloat and say “I told you so” but JetAmerica kind of asked for it. After Jaunted and CrankyFlier pointed out that JetAmerica was going to be delayed, I jumped on the “blogger bandwagon” and came out to say “I might eat my words, but I am guessing the airline won’t fly on July 13th and it might never fly at all.”
Brian Burling, JetAmerica’s vice president of operations countered all the negativity with, “People should not be so quick to jump to negative conclusions about JetAmerica. I am particularly referring to internet bloggers and naysayers who are predicting the worst.”
Today JetAmerica announced it just isn’t happening, they are throwing in the towel. Honestly, I wish I was wrong. Really I do. I think all of us airline bloggers love it when new airlines start up – they give us something to blog about. But this one just didn’t feel right.
Bryan Glazer, spokesperson for JetAmerica stated, “Don’t be surprised if JetAmerica comes back with new routes and new destinations.”
I won’t hold my breath…
By David Parker Brown, on July 17th, 2009 at 9:25 am
 The days when the airline would help you light up. The Gadling is reporting that entrepreneur Alexander Schoppmann is hoping to start a smoking-only airline. Schoppmann is currently looking for capital to start Smintair (which stands for Smoker’s International Airways).
The new airline is not looking to cater to the average working Joe, but to people with some extra cash. The airline will only have First and Business class. The airline is planning to have two Boeing 747′s flying from Europe to Japan. The concept is to have no seats on the upper deck and for it to be a lounge. New ventilation systems would be installed on the aircraft allowing for better fresh air recirculation on the smoke-filled flights. Schoppmann is hoping to have the airline up and running by next summer.
Can this concept work? Maybe. There is a much larger smoking population in Germany and Japan than in the US. Also, with the economic crunch a lot of companies are cutting out their business jets and this might provide a cheaper alternative. It would be like an exclusive country club in the air and probably big business deals could take place in mid-flight. It will be interesting to see if Smintair will ever take off — other sites were reporting the first flight was supposed to be December 2007, so we will have to wait and see!
Image: theage.com.au
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