A few weeks ago there were rumors that United’s first 787 Dreamliner might have gone into the paint booth. As an airline geek, this is exciting news. It would mean that we get to see the 787 [...]]]>

United Airline's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner (line number 45) on the factory floor on September 25, 2011.

A few weeks ago there were rumors that United’s first 787 Dreamliner might have gone into the paint booth. As an airline geek, this is exciting news. It would mean that we get to see the 787 in a United livery and we get to find out if United is going to dress their first 787 in a special livery.

As time passed and no 787 in United livery came out of the paint booth, I started to wonder… where the heck is United’s first Dreamliner?

I reached out to United and they said that their plane was out of the factory, but has not gone into paint. “We are quite excited for this revolutionary aircraft to join our fleet,” Mary Ryan with United Airlines communications explained to AirlineReporter.com. “As for the status of our first 787, unfortunately the rumor is untrue: the aircraft is out of the assembly process but has not yet gone into paint.”

Bummer, but my guess is that we won’t miss it since I expect United to celebrate their first aircraft.

There were other rumors that aircraft #45 might not be going to United Airlines anymore. No worries Boeing confirmed to me that, “there has been no change to the customer who will take delivery of [L/N45].”

The last rumor is that United is planning to paint their Dreamliner in a special livery. Although it is likely, my bet is do not expect a revolutionary change. My guess is that the globe will still be apart of the 787 and that United is not planning on an entirely new livery for their entire fleet. I know there are some of you hoping that United will unveil an entirely new livery starting with the 787 Dreamliner, but they have spent millions on transitioning to the globe and I highly doubt they will work towards another look.

The livery rumors will have to remain out there for the time being. We might just have to wait until the big unveil, which at this time no one knows when it will be.

Sometimes I like to answer questions that I receive about airlines via email. Recently I found an email in my inbox that I would probably classify as an “angry rant.” As I posted before, I get a lot of letters from angry [...]]]>

My plane is sitting right there! Why won't you let me board?!

Sometimes I like to answer questions that I receive about airlines via email. Recently I found an email in my inbox that I would probably classify as an “angry rant.” As I posted before, I get a lot of letters from angry passengers who feel they have been greatly wronged by the airline and want their story heard. Even though I do not agree that this person experienced a huge life hardship, I think there are some clarifications of his situation, that I want to share.

Long story short, this person’s original flight was cancelled. He was working with a gate agent who explained that there was a flight that he might be able to make if  he ran for it and that he did.

When he arrived at the new gate he was told that the flight was closed and he couldn’t make the plane. Then he noticed that the airplane’s door was still open and felt the gate agent should let him on the plane. I can understand that it is a hard thing to see that your plane is sitting right there, not moving and you could just easily jump on.

The gate agent explained again that he is not able to allow the passenger board his flight, which caused him to have a seven hour delay before catching the next flight (I know, I told you it was going to be horrific). Although the passenger felt that the gate agent was playing some power game with him, that is not the case.

This scenario is not uncommon and if you haven’t experienced it, chances are you might have seen a passenger yelling at a gate agent about being let on to the aircraft. Heck, even Kevin Smith (of the “I am too big to fly on Southwest” fame) had some issues with this not too long ago with Virgin America. So why won’t the mean old airline let you on your flight? There are a few reasons…

First off, running an airline is very complicated. A small delay on one flight can snowball and affect passengers, crew and airports for hours and even days.

The FAA will not allow an airline to push back their flight until everyone is seated, each bag is stowed and the cabin door is closed. Before the cabin door is secured, the gate agent must get an accurate count of the passengers and physically hand that to the pilot before returning back to the terminal. Last minute calculations on weight distribution and fuel need to be done before the plane is ready to go.

Just because the aircraft’s door is open doesn’t mean it would be easy to open the gate door and let an extra passenger on board. Remember that there are many people that are already on the plane waiting to take off on time and they need to make their connections at other airports. Why should they all be delayed waiting for the flight crew to redo their counts?

Believe me, airlines and those that work for airliens (well a HUGE majority) are not evil people. Their goal is not to make your life a living hell. They need to run their business and to do that, sometimes, some people will be inconvenienced. It can be lame, but it is just the price of living this thing we call a modern  society.

AMERICAN AIRLINES FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY I am going to take a wild guess that probably most of you have heard the news that American Airlines has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. There are all sorts of stories out there, so I am not going to re-hash it all. The bottom [...]]]>

American Airlines Boeing 767

AMERICAN AIRLINES FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY
I am going to take a wild guess that probably most of you have heard the news that American Airlines has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. There are all sorts of stories out there, so I am not going to re-hash it all. The bottom line is I think this is a great opportunity for American to take a huge leap forward from being an old, out dated (in more than one way) legacy airline to being a slim-lined and successful carrier. Can they do it? I am not fully sure, but either is anyone else, so we will have to see how it will work out. I think that the airline was already on the correct path and this will allow them to speed up the process a bit.

Out of all the stories I have been reading on this, I would highly suggest checking out these two for more information: Brett Snyder’s story on CrankyFlyer.com and Terry Maxon who writes the Airline Biz Blog, via The Dallas Morning News.

United Boeing 757 and Continental Boeing 737 at LAX in August 2010.

UNITED AND CONTINENTAL AIRLINES GET ONE OPERATING CERTIFICATE

How do two merging airlines know when they are only one? The answer is not easy. It mostly depends on who you are and how you interact with the new airline. Yesterday, United announced that the post-merger airline was approved by the FAA to run under one operating certificate. Previously every Continental flight also had a United flight number. Now there will only be United flights and pilots will refer to all flights as “United,” to air traffic control even if it is an old Continental route.

“I would like to thank the teams at United, Continental, the FAA, the Department of Transportation and the many regulatory authorities around the globe who put tremendous time and effort into our achieving a single operating certificate,” said United’s president and chief executive officer, Jeff Smisek in a press release. “While we have much work ahead of us as we integrate these two great carriers, this is a significant milestone.”

Even though there is one operating certificate, passengers will still need to go to each individual airline’s website to book flights, change seats and check flight status. United is expecting to have only one system during the first quarter of 2012 and at that point, on the most part, Continental will cease to exist and the two airlines will function as one.

Boeing 737 MAX. Photo by Boeing.

BOEING TO BUILD THE 737MAX IN RENTON, WASHINGTON

Being based in Seattle, I was very excited to hear that Boeing will be building their next, next generation 737 MAX in Renton, WA (just south of Seattle). Boeing and the International Association of Machinists (IAM) have not always had the best relationship and it is nice to see that an agreement was reached. The union members still need to ratify the deal next week, but a four year contract and a $5000 holiday bonus should sweeten the deal. This agreement should also end the National Labor Relations Board lawsuit against Boeing for opening a 787 Dreamliner factory in South Carolina.

Previously, it would seem obvious that Boeing was to continue to build the 737 in Renton, but with the recent 787 factory being built in South Carolina, nothing was impossible. Boeing and the union conducted secret talks almost a year before the current contract was to expire and this agreement comes ten months before the old contract expires. This is great and a big round of applause for Boeing and IAM for making this happen.

Read more about the deal from Dominic Gates on the Seattle Times.

American Airlines Photo by Caribb

Alaska Airlines announced yesterday that they will operate 75 regularly schedule flights, using renewable bio-fuels starting tomorrow, November 9th. The maiden flight will leave from Seattle (SEA) to Washington, DC (DCA) and also Portland (PDX). The airline will fuel [...]]]>

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 with Mount Rainier in the background. Photo by Brandon Farris.

Alaska Airlines announced yesterday that they will operate 75 regularly schedule flights, using renewable bio-fuels starting tomorrow, November 9th. The maiden flight will leave from Seattle (SEA) to Washington, DC (DCA) and also Portland (PDX). The airline will fuel the aircraft using a 20% blend of biofuel made from used cooking oil.

Alaska is hoping that these flights will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 10%, which is equal to removing 26 cars from the road for a year. The impact of these few flights might seem minor, but if Alaska were to use the 20% biofuel mixture on all their flights, it would be the equivalent of removing 64,000 cars off of the road.

“This is a historic week for U.S. aviation.” Alaska Air Group Chairman and CEO Bill Ayer stated. “Commercial airplanes are equipped and ready for biofuels. They will enable us to fly cleaner, foster job growth in a new industry, and can insulate airlines from the volatile price swings of conventional fuel to help make air travel more economical. To the biofuels industry, we say: If you build it, we will buy it.”

The fuel mixture is being supplied by SkyNRG and made by Dynamic Fuels (who is in a partnership with Tyson Foods). These flights by Alaska are part of the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest (SAFN) initiative, which was launched in July 2010 by Alaska Airlines, Boeing, Portland International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Spokane International Airport and Washington State University to promote aviation biofuel development.

United Airlines's first commercial advanced biofuel flight using a Boeing 737-800 (N76516) takes off from Houston yesterday. Photo by United.

Although there is a lot of excitement in the northwest for Alaska’s first flight on Wednesday, United Airlines operated a scheduled flight using biofuels yesterday, the 7th of November. Flight 1403, a Boeing 737-800, left from Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Aiport (IAH) at about 10:30am local time for Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD).

“United is taking a significant step forward to advance the use of environmentally responsible and cost-efficient alternative fuels,” said Pete McDonald, United’s executive vice president and chief operations officer. “Sustainable biofuels, produced on a large scale at an economically viable price, can one day play a meaningful role in powering everyone’s trip on an airline.”

United also announced that they have signed a letter of intent to negotiate the purchase of 20 million gallons of biofuel per year, starting as early as 2014

United beat Alaska for a revenue biofuel flight by two days, but it is not clear when or if United will continue the biofuel flights. An email to United to get clarification on their future biofuel flights has not been returned by the time of posting this story.

Wednesday night, Boeing pulled out United Airline’s first 787 Dreamliner from the factory and off the final assembly line. The first 787 Dreamliner has already been delivered to the launch customer, ANA, but United will be the [...]]]>

United's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner is pulled out of the factory. Image from Boeing. Click for Larger.

Wednesday night, Boeing pulled out United Airline’s first 787 Dreamliner from the factory and off the final assembly line. The first 787 Dreamliner has already been delivered to the launch customer, ANA, but United will be the first North American airline to take delivery of the new aircraft.  From United’s press release: “While in final assembly, the aircraft moved through four factory positions, including the final aircraft body join, landing gear installation, weight-on-wheels testing and installation of interior components and systems. Over the next several months, the aircraft will move to the next phase of completion, which includes final cabin configuration, installation of engines and painting.”

United's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner gets pulled in front of the factory located in Everett, WA. Photo by Boeing. Click for larger.

United will configure their first 787 with 36 seats in BusinessFirst, 63 seats in Economy Plus and 120 seats in Economy. There was some speculation if United might be offering a special livery, but I doubt it. When I was on the factory floor recently, the tail was definitely a solid blue, which matches United’s current “new” livery. With United recently switching their brand over from the tulip to the globe, it wouldn’t really make sense for them to also introduce a special livery. Normally I am all for any livery that spices things up, but at this stage it would just cause brand confusion.

Nose show of United Airline's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner outside the factory at Paine Field. Photo by Boeing. Click for larger.

Although the exact date of delivery is unknown, United told AirlineReporter.com that they expect to get their first 787 during the, “second half of 2012.” It will be the first of 50 that the airline has on order.

This Monday, many will celebrate the first Boeing 787 delivery to All Nippon Airways (ANA).  ANA will become the first airline in the world receive and operate a Boeing 787, and United Airlines will be the first US operator  the 787.

Currently, United’s first 787 [...]]]>
All photos from Boeing/United. Click any for larger view

This Monday, many will celebrate the first Boeing 787 delivery to All Nippon Airways (ANA).  ANA will become the first airline in the world receive and operate a Boeing 787, and United Airlines will be the first US operator  the 787.

Currently, United’s first 787 is making its way through the Boeing factory in Everett. I was able to catch a glimpse of the airframe while taking a factory tour during a recent TweetUp, but was unable to take photos (Boeing does not allow photos on their standard factory tour). Luck for us, Boeing sent photos to United and the airline shared them on their FaceBook.

United is expecting to take delivery of their first 787s sometime in early 2012. United and Continental Airlines both previously had 25 on order and post merger, United will have 50. United plans to fit their 787s with 36 flat-bed seats in BusinessFirst, 63 extra-legroom seats in Economy Plus and 120 seats in standard Economy.

“We are proud to be the first North American airline to receive the 787, which will be a game changer for the new United and the industry,” said United Airlines President and CEO Jeff Smisek via a press release. “The 787 will be a very comfortable, customer pleasing aircraft, and with its range, fuel efficiency and superb operating economics, the 787 will allow us to enter new long-haul markets and also replace older, less-efficient widebody aircraft.”

United has not yet announced any flight schedules for their 787s, but plan to do so later in the year. Continental has previously announced a planned flight from Houston to Auckland non-stop using the 787.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is one step closer to starting normal operations around the world — that is a good thing. Saturday, August 13th marked the final flight needed to certify the 787 Dreamliner with Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines using the ninth test aircraft, ZA102. Certification testing will continue for 787s with GE [...]]]>

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is one step closer to starting normal operations around the world — that is a good thing. Saturday, August 13th marked the final flight needed to certify the 787 Dreamliner with Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines using the ninth test aircraft, ZA102. Certification testing will continue for 787s with GE engines. The nine test aircraft have flown just over 1,700 flights and more than 4,800 flight hours to perform more than 25,000 tests.

Test pilots have taken the aircraft to its limits and beyond to make sure the 787 is able to handle any possible future situation. “I’m used to landing the airplane 100,000 pounds overweight,” said Captain Mike Carriker , chief pilot for the 787 via Boeing’s website. “I’m used to flying it with the overspeed warning going on for hours on end or flying the airplane with an engine turned off.”

It is expected that ANA will take delivery of their first 787 (ZA101) sometime next month and then start flying the aircraft in Japan starting in October (and you can win tickets on one of the flights). Even though ZA101 is being prepared for delivery, to date it still has not flown. Boeing is not saying exactly when it will first fly, but I have been told that they will give notice, allowing fans the opportunity to catch a glimpse.

The video on this story from Boeing highlights the flight test program and has some pretty sweet footage. If the video is too serious for your taste and you need a little action, check out this 3D animation of a Boeing 787 vs an Airbus A380 put to Top Gun music found on FlightBlogger’s site.

United Airlines first Boeing 787 inside the Boeing Factory in Everett, WA. Photo from United.

Yesterday,  United Airlines also announced its first 787 (the 45th Dreamliner) started it final assembly phase of construction. United will be the first North American airline to receive a Dreamliner, currently schedule in early 2012. In a press release they announced that, “the first United 787 will be configured with 36 flat-bed seats in BusinessFirst, 63 extra-legroom seats in Economy Plus and 120 seats in Economy.”

Both United and Continental Airlines had 25 of the aircraft ordered, meaning the new United will receive 50 aircraft. The airline previously announced that they will operate their first flight from Houston to Auckland and aim publicize the 787′s precise schedule later this year.

“We are proud to be the first North American airline to receive the 787, which will be a game changer for the new United and the industry,” said United Airlines President and CEO Jeff Smisek. “The 787 will be a very comfortable, customer pleasing aircraft, and with its range, fuel efficiency and superb operating economics, the 787 will allow us to enter new long-haul markets and also replace older, less-efficient widebody aircraft.”

If you read my blog often, you know I try to remind people of the positive side of the airline business (sometimes it is harder than others). Each year airlines receive A LOT of complaints. Some are well deserved, while others are from [...]]]>

United Airlines Boeing 757 and Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 at SFO.

If you read my blog often, you know I try to remind people of the positive side of the airline business (sometimes it is harder than others). Each year airlines receive A LOT of complaints. Some are well deserved, while others are from people who have a warped sense of what is right and wrong.

Occasionally an airline will receive a positive letter and possibly a story of one employee who truly went out of their way. Some might think that letters like these get lost in a sea of other letters, but trust me, they do not. When touring many airline operation centers, they have a special place where they show off the positive letters and cards that they receive. Unfortunately the area is not too large, since not too many are sent. Let’s change that…

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE – LET AIRLINES KNOW WHEN THEY ROCK!

Next time you are flying and someone goes out of their way or is obviously passionate about their job, take a few moments to jot down their name and email the airline. Be sure to mention the airport, your flight, their name and any other details. It doesn’t need to be long, just enough to give some kudos. Not only will people at the airline love to hear it, but this could actually help the career of the employee.

Recently, I have experienced two such instances that I made sure to tell the airline about. The first was a United Airlines gate manager in Seattle. I was waiting to take a flight to Chicago and the early morning flight had been cancelled and my aircraft had been changed from an Airbus A320 to an A319 (smaller). This meant there were a lot of people and not enough seats. He did a great job of just being honest with people and keeping a sense of humor during the ordeal. Most people were smiling as the gentleman warmly welcomed them on the flight, even the people who didn’t make the flight seemed happy (they also for $400 on United).

The next was an Alaska Airlines gate agent in Los Angeles. I had a five hour layover and plenty of time to watch her keep her spirits up and welcome each passenger by name on each flight. She was also my gate agent and it is just nice to be welcomed by name on a plane even though I was flying economy.

If you are having difficulty finding who to send it to, it is okay to send it to me (david@airlinereporter.com) and I will make sure it gets to the proper people. Heck, even if you send them to the airline directly, send it to me anyhow, I love hearing positive stories and I might even post a few. If you are a Twitter user, share your stories and use the hashtag #AirlineLove (what the heck does that mean?).

Airlines and employees have to deal with a lot of crap, let’s remind them that there are still people out there who love airlines and see flying as a great experience. The ball is now in your court!

Image: iflysfx

Last Friday I showed off Boeing’s 360 view of a Boeing 737 (nicknamed the “gigaplane”) and asked how many photos it took to make this one of a kind view. When the first few “around 20,000″ answers started rolling in, I thought people were pretty good. Then I realized that other sites and even [...]]]>

Last Friday I showed off Boeing’s 360 view of a Boeing 737 (nicknamed the “gigaplane”) and asked how many photos it took to make this one of a kind view. When the first few “around 20,000″ answers started rolling in, I thought people were pretty good. Then I realized that other sites and even Boeing had covered the 360 view and stated it was “around 20,000.” I guess I cannot blame people for doing  research, but luckily the “real” answer is not an even 20k — I do not have that many prizes.

So what is the exact answer? According to Boeing it is 22,240.

There were a lot of guesses and I appreciate the involvement, but who got closest? Well, I am giving props to the two who were the closest: Ariff Shah from Moscow who was only off by 240 and Allen Cheng from Langley, BC who was off by 260. So what do they win besides uber props on the blog?

These are the fabulous prizes for the Boeing 737 360 giga-plane contest. Good stuff.

They will both be mailed the prizes above: three AirlineReporter.com stickers, one magnet of an ANA Boeing 737 and last, but surely not least a coffee cup holder I got during the first flight of the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental. For the average person, the paper coffee holder means nothing, but for the true aviation geek, this is gold.

The video above shows behind-the-scenes on the making of the gigaplane image created by Boeing. It seems that fans are not the only ones excited about the giga-image.  Rahsaan Johnson, the Director of United’s Communications told AirlineReporter.com, “Boeing is a great partner and the 737 is a great airplane, so we’re happy to join them in showing it off.”

A huge thanks to Boeing for creating and sharing this image with the general public — I hope we see more like it in the future.

Being a “frequent flyer” can be different for each person. Maybe you make a few flights down the coast each year or you see yourself flying around the globe weekly. Many airlines have a [...]]]>

United uber frequent flyer, Tom Stuker, gets a custom labeled bottle of wine from United President and CEO Jeff Smisek.

Being a “frequent flyer” can be different for each person. Maybe you make a few flights down the coast each year or you see yourself flying around the globe weekly. Many airlines have a way of treating their best frequent fliers like royalty, but who is the king of kings? I would have to say that Chicago based automotive sales consultant Tom Stuker, who reached 10 million mile status on United Airlines over the weekend, is undisputed frequent flyer king.

How much is 10 million miles in a lifetime? A lot — one heck of a lot. There are a handful of folks who have crossed the 3million mile mark on United, but no one has come close to Stuker’s 10 million. United can’t officially confirm it, but it appears that Stuker has flown more miles, as a passenger, than anyone else in history. To make the 10 million mark, Stuker has been a member of United’s Mileage Plus since 1982 and has flown almost 6000 flights, with 200 trips to Australia alone.

Honestly, when I was invited to celebrate Struker’s 10 millionth mile in Chicago, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I figured a person who flies so much might have a bit of a jaded view on air travel — boy was I wrong. Upon arriving to Chicago on United flight 942 from Los Angeles, Stuker was greeted by United’s President and CEO Jeff Smisek and a whole entourage of other people. Before he de-planed, it was quite the spectacle and people gathered around not knowing what they were watching. A few girls actually came up and asked if Justin Beiber was getting off the plane. Heh… no, but someone much cooler was — the girls did not seem that impressed.

Stuker was escorted to a special section in United’s Red Carpet Club to even more people waiting. A lot of nice words were said, but really Stuker’s speech was quite surreal. He was a truly genuine guy and multiple times had to stop because he was tearing up. It was obvious that he saw United as a part of his family and even though he has met so many people he was able to thank many by name — from the CEO to baggage handlers it was quite impressive. Even with all the miles flown, he still has a strong love for flying.

Probably the most powerful part was when he had a hard time talking about when United went through difficult times with bankruptcy and employees having to make great sacrifices to keep the company alive. He is happy to see United’s bright future after the merger and wants to continue working on his miles. Even after his 10 million miles flown, Stuker stated that United had never lost his bag — quite the impressive feat.

During the celebration he was given the first and only United Titanium Card for hitting 10 million miles. He was also given a few nifty other presents, but probably the best was getting his name put on the side of a United Boeing 747-400 (N127UA). You know you have made it in life, if your name ends up on the side of an airliner (at least by airline geek definitions).

Uber frequent flyers like Stuker have a very different flying experience than most travelers. They get VIP treatment that rivals, or even beats, flying on your own personal jet. Many of you might experience a gold (or some other precious metal name) membership which treats you pretty darn well, but it can’t compare to when you are invited to the airline’s totally VIP and secretive super mileage club.

Probably the best gift ever. United put Tom's name on the side of a Boeing 747-400 (N127UA).

From the second these uber elite passengers even think about flying somewhere, they have multiple people making sure their trip goes flawless. Waiting in lines becomes a distant memory and they have a team of people making sure that nothing goes wrong.

This moment is truly a special part of airline history and it was great to be a part of it. Even though I love flying, I am not sure if I would stay sane doing about 700,000 miles per year. So cheers to Mr. Stuker and United for passing this milestone and hopefully there will be many more miles to go.

CHECK OUT ALL 11 PHOTOS FROM THE UNITED AIRLINES EVENT

What’s in a name — a lot. Imagine you started an airline in 1926; one of the first in the world. You were uniting other airlines under one umbrella and came up with the name “United Air Lines.” Time marches on, [...]]]>

United Airways Airbus A310 with a clear "United" on the left side.

What’s in a name — a lot. Imagine you started an airline in 1926; one of the first in the world. You were uniting other airlines under one umbrella and came up with the name “United Air Lines.” Time marches on, but the name stays (mostly) the same. Other airlines are bought out, mergers happen and United Airlines becomes the world’s largest airline with 48,000 employees and operating about 3,300 flights per day. Now that is a big monster of an airline.

In 2005, while United Airlines was still a large airline, another airline was started in Bangladesh. When starting a new airline, there are a lot of choices when coming up with a name. Many people like to add the word “Air” to the location that the airline is based and call it a day. Unfortunately Air Bangladesh was an airline just going out of business at the time, so now what? United Airways!

For some reason this new airline decided to go with a name that sounds mighty familiar: United Airways. Just try to Google the airline’s website — even with quotes around United Airways gets me nothing. All that comes up is United Airlines. To finally find the website you have to search “United Airways Bangladesh” to get to their site.

According to Flight Global, United Airlines claimed that United Airways had violated their trademark and on June 24th a UK court ruled in favor of United Airlines. The court has demanded that United Airways change their brand and re-paint their aircraft with-in 35 days.

The livery and colors of United Airways are different enough from United Airlines, but just writing this post shows a major problem. Most of the time “United Airlines” is written as just “United” and people know what airline you are referring to. On the United Airway’s livery they have “United” printed on the left side of each aircraft, really causing some issues.

This could be a good opportunity for United Airways to change their brand before they get bigger. They have grown to a fleet of seven aircraft (two MD-83s, two ATR-72s, two Dash8s and one Airbus A310) and fly to international destinations in the Middle East and Europe.

This is not to say that United Airways isn’t a successful airline — probably their success is part of the problem. Around the world airlines come and go, but since it seems like this airline might survive, it is probably time for them to come up with a unique name.

Is this a story of big ‘ol bad United Airlines going after a smaller unknown airline? I do not think so. United Airlines spends a lot of money on their brand and it makes sense to defend it. Sometimes airlines can go a bit too far defending their name (I am talking to you ex-Northwest Airlines/Delta), but this case seems worth while.

Currently, United Airlines is not talking about the situation and an email to United Airways has yet to be answered.

Photo by Josh May via Airliners.net
used with permission

Most times I won’t cover stories that are picked up by the mainstream media, but I couldn’t help myself with this one. Yesterday late afternoon, United experienced a computer outage at their Phoenix facility. If you read most of the [...]]]>

With all the flights that United operates each day, is 15 really that big of a deal?

Most times I won’t cover stories that are picked up by the mainstream media, but I couldn’t help myself with this one. Yesterday late afternoon, United experienced a computer outage at their Phoenix facility. If you read most of the stories on this you would have thought hundreds of flights were cancelled and many lives were ruined.

According to the AP, the power outages lead “to widespread cancellations Friday night,” creating, “thousands of stranded travelers.” Hmm really? Well Friday night saw 15 flights cancelled and then today there have been an additional 16. United operates over 3000 flights per day and 15 out of 3000 would not really be my definition of “widespread.” Yes, many folks were delayed and still inconvenienced but the world was still spinning. I think when thunderstorms rolled through Chicago recently more flights were cancelled than this.

Of course, this matters more to someone if you are one of the stranded people. It just is troublesome when it seems the airline industry gets unfairly picked on when they are operating the most complex transportation system in the world. This is a multifaceted business and when you have an airline operating over 3000 flights and managing almost 700 aircraft, things will go wrong — that is just the nature of the business. It seems most people are willing to forgive other businesses that are far less complex for their mistakes, but rarely the airline business.

When I am frustrated by the airlines I try to stop and remember two things: 1) Lois CK video on airlines and 2) What my trip would have been like just 100 years ago. Things can always be worse.

This incident happed a few months back in in Greenville, Mississippi after the aircraft was painted to the new [...]]]>

To the untrained eye, one might not know what airline owns this Boeing 737. Lucky for us airline nerds, it is easy to tell that it is either a Boeing 737 with United or Continental livery.

This incident happed a few months back in in Greenville, Mississippi after the aircraft was painted to the new United Airlines livery. It had completed being painted and was about to be flown to Houston on a ferry flight. While taxiing out to the runway, the concrete collapsed under the left main gear, causing it to fold.

Luckily there were no passengers on board and both pilots were able to escape, uninjured, out the back of the aircraft.

It appears as though United didn’t want to be associated with a broken down aircraft on the taxi-way and they covered up all the identifiable markings. This is not uncommon for airlines to do when their aircraft become severely damaged.

I tried to get a status update on the aircraft from United, but at this time they have no comment. I have been trying to track down the registration number of this aircraft, but I have not had any luck. Super brownie points to anyone who can.