The atmosphere inside the Admirals Club at SFO really feels like the city. I especially love the trees.
American Airlines (AA) has many clubs around the world and it takes something special for one to stand out and the new Admirals Club at San Francisco International Airport’s (SFO) new Terminal 2 does just that.
When walking in, you can tell this club is different. Straight in from the door is a sitting area with (fake) trees that feels like you are sitting at a cafe at some square in San Francisco. The colors, the furniture and even the fire place “captures the spirit and culture of the city,” Nancy Knipp, President of American’s Admirals Club explained to me while we sat under the trees. The club is designed to let passengers know that they are in San Francisco.
There is everything you would come to expect from a high-end lounge: luscious seating, free Wi-Fi, business center, bar, showers and free snacks. Having your flight delayed or being early is no big deal when you can hang out in this lounge.
The seating was very comfy and welcoming. No problem finding an outlet, they are everywhere.
The new club is a huge improvement from their old one at SFO — literally. The new club is about 95,000 sq feet and can now seat 165 people versus the 90 of the previous club.
If you do not have elite status with American Airlines, you can still get a day pass for the club for only $50. Not a bad deal if you have some time to burn in at the airport. The nice part of AA’s day pass is you have access to all their Admirals Clubs for the day, no matter their location. This is very handy if you have a stop or two during your trip.
Let’s get some block rock’n beats up at 30,000 feet. I think this is a fun and clever ad from Virgin America showing their fun, party-like atmosphere. If you like that one, you will like these as well:
What is cooler than flying on a new Boeing 747-8F? Fly in it with no gravity. It brings up reminders of the ‘ol vomit comet.
Although this looks like fun, it is all about serious testing. Taking the aircraft to her limits to make sure she is ready to start flying cargo around the world. Although watching the test crew go weightless is pretty awesome, I think seeing the wing bend is unreal. Learn more from Boeing’s website about this test.
Boeing lined up one of each of their airliner models at Boeing Field. Photo by Boeing.
The other day I had an interesting conversation with @JetCityStar via Twitter about aircraft and museums. It turned into us asking each other if we could have one type of each aircraft Boeing made, which ones would we want. Yes, we are both airline nerds and proud of it.
Although the conversation is a bit on the nerdier side, I felt the conversation was worthy of a larger audience and was interested in what other people thought about which aircraft best represented a certain type. So I put the question to you. If you were a museum and could one of each Boeing airliner made, which would you choose?
Please put your answers in the comments. Here are mine:
Boeing 707: Test aircraft that Tex Johnson did a barrel roll in.
Boeing 717: Eh.
Boeing 727: Very first Boeing 727-100 made (which is being restored at Museum of Flight)
Boeing 737: Don’t ask me why, but I would really want a USAir 737-200.
Boeing 747: First Boeing 747 that was delivered to Pan Am. I just love the Pan Am livery on the 747, it just seems right at home.
Boeing 757: Probably one that was for the Vice President.
Boeing 767: The Spirit of Delta, which is housed in Atlanta.
Boeing 777: I am not even sure.
Boeing 787: ZA001 in her livery. Entering a new era or airliner.
Boeing 787 Dreamliner for ANA in Boeing's factory. Photo by AirlineReporter.com.
Yesterday, I took a look how All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Boeing have worked together to prepare and train for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Today, we will explore how ANA directed some of the 787’s development and how their relationship with Boeing and other vendors will continue after they take delivery of the first Dreamliner.
ALL NIPPON AIRWAY’S INPUT
A large benefit of being the launch customer is that the airline gets to have influence over the development of the aircraft. ANA has been able to have a positive impact on the development of the 787 and Boeing has welcomed their input. Finding out how to make the 787 Dreamliner the best plane possible became a team effort. ANA reached out to employees throughout the company to determine what they would like to see in the new plane.
“ANA is much more than a customer for the 787 program. ANA has been a partner in helping us to make important decisions and in understanding our challenges and the solutions that have been developed,’ Scott Fancher, Vice President and General Manager of the 787 Program stated.
On many other aircraft, the front cockpit windows will open, allowing the crew to clean them if needed. The Dreamliner did not have opening windows, so ANA worked with Boeing to develop a window washer system, like you might find on a car that performs that function. ANA has also requested that Boeing develop oxygen masks that would better fit to the shape of Asian face.
EROS which is the manufacturer of the oxygen masks reviewed the data base to fit the various racial faces.
Most of the ideas proposed by ANA have been accepted by Boeing. ’œDuring our discussions, Boeing understood ANA’s requests,’ Mr. Kikuchi explained. ’œAlmost 70% of our unique requests have been implemented on the airplane.’
POST DREAMLINER DELIVERY
According to the most recent buzz, the first 787 Dreamliner is scheduled to be delivered to ANA as early as July 2011. Flight Global reports that the eighth 787 (ZA101) is currently set to be the first aircraft delivered to ANA, configured in a two-class, medium to short-haul set up. According to Boeing, they are not planning to sell the first three test planes, but do plan to sell the rest of the Dreamliners currently being used for testing.
Once Boeing hands over the keys of the first Dreamliner to ANA, the airline and aircraft manufacture will still have a very close relationship in continuing to assist with the development of the 787. For the first three months of ownership, Mr Kikuchi explained that Boeing and other vendors will support ANA strongly.
’œWe are working hard to finish our remaining requirementsand look forward to a grand celebration of our first delivery with our good friends from ANA later this year,’ Boeing’s Fancher said. ’œThat delivery will be the first of many and each will be an opportunity to work together and celebrate our mutual accomplishments.”
Boeing 787 Dreamliner ZA002 flying high with ANA livery. Photo by Boeing.
CONCLUSION
ANA is very pleased to be the first customer for the 787 and it shows. Much of their marketing has the Dreamliner prominently displayed and even their business cards have ’œ787, We Fly 1st’ printed on them.
All Nippon Airways already has a large presence with over 180 aircraft and over 70 destinations world-wide. They have flown many different types of aircraft since being founded in 1952; from DC-3s to Boeing 727s, they are no stranger to different aircraft types.
The Dreamliner will allow them to be the first to fly the next generation airliner and for many that is a very exciting prospect. It has to be even more exciting for the employees of ANA to know they have had such a direct impact with the 787’s development and that is something to be very proud of.
Talking to ANA About the 787 Dreamliner: PART 1 | PART 2 | BOTH
