TGIF Video of the week--UA 757 landing in blizzard

UA Retiring "The Guppy" today! :(

Today United Airlines is retiring their Boeing 737 fleet.

This truly marks the end of an era, as they have been using 737s for the past 41 years! And I have fallen in love with their 737s, because I have practically grown up on them! Sure, I have said numerous bad things about the condition of their 737s (basically always dirty, and I usually find a way to hurt myself whenever flying on one!), but I grew up on them, and will miss them.

I wonder how UA's domestic fleet will be after today...they really don't have anything besides their A319/A320s, 757s and 767s for their domestic fleet....oh, I forgot, they will probably contract everything out to UAX. Won't it be a ton of fun riding a CRJ-700 (or -200!) for a 3 hour flight?

Anyways, I just wanted to mention today's event of UA's retirement of the 737!

Flickr Photo Credit: PSR Man

TGIF Video -- Amazing Air Asia!

This week's video is an energetic ad from the super-amazing Air Asia! Air Asia is an LCC based in Malaysia, and it over the past few years it has really taken off and expanded like crazy! This ad is a couple years old, but it shows the SPIRIT (Sorry, that is one of those things you do when you're a WN Nut-Case!) of Air Asia.

jetWhite....err, jetBlue reveals new livery--not much change!

Today, after us airline geeks have been speculating for so long, jetBlue came out with it's new livery....and, well.....not what all of us were expecting.

Sure, we have said that this change won't be huge, and we've speculated on items that they will change (such as their euro-white fuselage!)

They didn't do much, besides making billboard style titles, changing the color of the winglets, and taking out the "www." on their engines, so they could make "jetblue.com" in a larger font.

I'm happy with the increase of their font size for their fuselage though, but I am really disappointed that they decided to stick with the traditional "euro-white" that many airlines have been moving towards. I don't have much of an issue, because I still think that it does look really nice, but it would be cool if they could do something to set themselves apart! (and yes...I know, it would be additional money for them to paint in any other color besides white)

I think that this livery looks good, but I am really hoping that the tail design doesn't get applied to the entire fleet.....look at it! It doesn't even look finished!

Photo Credit: JetBlue Flickr Page

JetBlue to adopt new livery!

There is a rumor going around that JetBlue will introduce a new livery that will come out on Tuesday to commemorate their 10th anniversary, and it is expected to be a fleet-wide change.

I wonder what it will be? Will it be a fully revised paint job? or just a small alteration? (like what Air Tran did a few years ago) ....or will it be a blue tail, with a yellow circle and a bird??? (Lufthansa! ftw!...lol)

I actually really like their current livery, and don't see the need to change it. Hopefully they will add something more to their Euro-White fuselage though! :)

Flickr Photo Credit: TVL1970

TGIF Video -- Features

This week's video is a new Continental commercial that is really cool!

It makes CO seem to be very luxurious, and amazing!

United let's you pre-pay baggage fees

Trans States Airways is the first US carrier to buy the MRJ!

Today, Trans States Airways (A somewhat mid-sized US regional carrier operating for AA, UA, and HP) placed a firm order for 50 Mitsubishi Regional Jets (MRJs)

The MRJ can give about 800-2,000 nm of range (depending on engine variant), and can seat about 100 people.

The first flight for the MRJ, commercially operating for an airline, is expected to be in 2014! (assuming no delays)

Photo Credit: http://www.mrj-japan.com/

TGIF Video -- We're Still the One!

Frontier Airlines released a new commercial on their first day out of bankruptcy! It looks like Republic Airways will not stop Frontier's amazing commercials, and I am really happy to be seeing some new ones after about a year of no new content! :)

This commerical is just our favorite F9 animals singing a song, but it is still a great commercial!

Enjoy! :)

Docu-series "Fly Girls" set to take off on the CW!

The CW television network announced a partnership with Virgin America to produce a tv show called "Fly Girls", going over the lives of many Virgin America flight attendants. I wonder if this will be anything like any of the other shows following the lives of airline employees?

Does anybody remember "Airline" or "Flight Attendant Training School"? I was in love with those two shows! I don't really know how good this show will be, but I look forward to seeing it.

Since this show will air on the CW, instead of A&E or the Discovery Channel, I think this show will be targeted more towards women than aviation geeks. But I still wonder how exactly the day-to-day life of a Virgin America flight attendant goes, so I think this show can be successful.

A quote from the VX facebook page:

“This show is about real, down-to-earth young women who happen to have landed in an exceptionally glamorous, high-flying career filled with exotic locations and handsome strangers,” said Kristen Vadas, Senior Vice President, Alternative Programming, The CW. “We’re thrilled to be working with Virgin America for this unique peek into a whirlwind lifestyle that shows how tough it is to be grounded when you work 35,000 feet in the air.”

Photo Credit: Jaunted.com "Virgin America's First Flight: Flight Attendants"

American AAdds more destinations to ORD!

American Airlines has announced the addition of 57 new flights into Chicago!

While this is good for Chicago, these flights were possible due to a severe reduction in flights for St. Louis! American reduced 46 flights from STL, leaving it with only about 20 flights to 9 destinations. This is a huge setback for STL, as now they basically have no carrier hubbed there! (if you want to call what AA had a "hub")

Anyways, it should be interesting to see how UA reacts to this--considering they have gotten rid of most of their narrowbody fleet, and most of their hubs are being attacked by other carriers. But UA is currently serving many of the destinations AA has added, so this could play out well, and we may see some routes return to mainline service to compete with AA.

Thank You Southwest Airlines! :)

My birthday is in a few days, and today I recieved an uncexpected item in the mail from SWA's CS/RR dept!

They sent me a birthday card, and I am really appreciative of it! Not many people remember my b-day, and for an airline to remember my b-day, I got excited by that! (I am a total airline geek :)

Even though it is a small card, it is still a nice gesture that reminds me of the SOUTHWEST SPIRIT, and "awesomeness" of Southwest Airlines! It is nice gestures like this + the friendliness of their employees that makes SWA my #1 airline, and the airline I hope to work for after I finish my schooling! :)

Many companies today are probably not willing to spend the money to even send out nice gestures like this to their customers, so this is greatly appreciated! :)

I just wanted to say a big thank you to the friendly people at Southwest Airlines, and tell you guys how much I appreciate this nice gesture!

Little Airport

I got this video from Dan at "Things in the Sky", and I thought it was awesome, so I wanted to share it here.

It is basically somebody using a Tilt-Shift filter on a video camera, while going plane spotting....it is awesome! :)

TGIF Video # 6 -- Grab Your Bags, It's on

Southwest Airlines recently released new commercials for it's "Grab your

bags, It's on" ad campaign!

On Southwest Airlines, bags still fly for free! :)

I am still alive!!!

Hey guys,

I just wanted to let you all know that I haven't gone anywhere and died or anything....lol

I am very sorry for not updating this site for about a month! I have been extremely busy with other time commitments, but I will try to make an effort to get back to posting something daily, or at least every other day.

Thanks for your understanding,

-Jaspreet

Republic wins Frontier bid

Republic Airlines beat Southwest Airlines for the bid for Frontier Airlines....

more to be added later.

Southwest's 8/10 Conference Call

Hey Everyone,

One week ago Southwest Airlines finalized it's bid with the bankruptcy court for Frontier Airlines. This morning they put in a bid for $170 million! This is outdoing Republic's proposed bid of $108 million for Frontier Airlines. I don't know if RP will upgrade it's bid, or if it has been announced if they have yet, but I would think that they certainly need to! I imagine that it would be really hard to compete against Southwest in this scenario, due to Southwest's favorable cash situation.

I listened to the conference call today with Southwest employees Ron Ricks (VP Corporate Services) and Bob Jordan (VP of Strategy and Planning). There were many interesting points and questions brought up in this call, and I just wanted to share some of the items I found interesting.

Okay...we all know that the economy sucks, and people are traveling less...Why on earth would an airline be expanding?

As heard in the conference call, "

When other airlines zag, Southwest zigs"

.... Southwest knows that things will turn around and expanding now will position themselves better in the future. But they also know that all markets are not the same, which is the case of Denver (which is what WN will acquire with an F9 purchase). Denver remains a strong market for both business and leisure travel during this tough time, which is why Southwest wants to expand there--and an aquisition of Frontier will allow them to do so. Denver is also a huge airline market that needs a low-fare alternative. Sure Frontier is offering some low fares, but they didn't do that until after Southwest entered the DEN market, and right now they are not financially stable. Southwest believes that the people of Denver need a stable low-fare airline who can viably compete against United (who currently controls over 50% of the market)

Out of all of the carriers Southwest could purchase, why Frontier?

The reason Southwest is bidding to purchase Frontier Airlines is because they are in bankruptcy, and by filing for bankruptcy they put themselves in a position for anybody to come and bid for them. Some people say that Frontier is profitable, which is technically correct--but only with a bankruptcy cost structure that doesn't really work for many of their creditors. But Southwest says that it will look at and emulate some of Frontier's advantageous practices.

How long would it be before Frontier becomes Southwest?

Integration will slowly be rolled out during a 24 month period. On the first day Southwest will reduce the fleet size to 40, and within that 24 month period they will aquire 40 737s as they sell off Frontier's Airbus fleet.

What about Atlanta, Honolulu and the International Routes?

Southwest says that they will try and keep as many of Frontier's current routes as possible, and they intend to stay in the Atlanta market! They haven't made any speculation about what they will do with Atlanta, as they are currently focused on making the bid for Frontier successful at this time.

With regards to Honlolulu...NOPE! WN will not ETOPS equip their aircraft, and take the costs and other items that it will require to fly to Hawaii.

Mexico--Southwest says they will examine how Frontier is being successful in Mexico, and continue to serve Mexico! Yay!!!! If WN acquires F9, we can all enjoy peanuts on our way to Cancun! :)

Canada--They said that they will continue to serve as many markets as Frontier will serve today, so it can be assumed that they will continue to serve the US' neighbor to the north!

With regards to WN's codeshare agreements with Volaris and WestJet, this should not affect them at all.

Hopefully you enjoyed reading my summary and opinions about the Southwest Airlines conference call today!

Image from the Facebook group: "The last Frontier, Southwest Airlines becoming a whole different animal"

NYC Aircraft Collision

On Saturday there was a mid-air collision between a sight-seeing helicopter and a GA aircraft.

They were both flying below 1,100 feet, which means it was unmonitored airspace over the Hudson, which is why this crash occured. I am assuming that there will be new regulations that will be put in place in the aftermath of this crash.

Here are some snaps from a security camera facing the Hudson River that caught some of the collision.

Happy Virgin America Day!!!

Virgin America is turning 2 years old today! Congrats to them!

They fought hard and jumped through many obstacles to get into the skies, and now that they are; they have become really successful! They are one of the best domestic US airlines, and have revolutionized the way people travel...by actually making it entertaining and easy! Congrats to VX on turning two! :)

How are they celebrating? Virgin America CEO David Cush says in an email:

We had a very fun second birthday. We started with the Virgin America day at the Giants-Reds baseball game on Saturday and followed that with a barbeque for employees and their families yesterday. It was a fine weekend for all.

TGIF Video #5 -- We're All In This Together

This week's video is about the importance of customer service in the airline industry. It is from Southwest (the leader in customer service!), and it talks about relationships between employees, customers and the company. It is a really great video!

My Wings Collection

Every once in a while, I will try and show you some bits and pieces from my airline collections. Today, I want to show you some of the pairs of kids' pilots and flight attendant wings I have collected over the years.

The top row is made up of airlines that are no longer with us anymore, the middle row has UA, WN and AA. The bottom row has FedEx and the logo of the Kansas City Downtown Airport.

TGIF Video #4-- Change is Delta

Yay! We survived another week! To celebrate, here is a video from Delta Airlines, from their 2007 rebranding. It talks about all of the various changes they've made to become a stronger carrier post-bankruptcy.

WN BIDS FOR F9!!!!!!!!

I never thought this would happen, but Dallas based Southwest Airlines put in a bid for Denver based Frontier Airlines!

They said that each carrier would remain independent brands, but it should be interesting to see how this plays out!

http://www.blogsouthwest.com/blog/southwest-bids-frontier-airlines

Here are some quotes from Southwest's Executive VP, Ron Ricks.

Q. Obviously, we are in a tough economic environment. What makes this the right time for Southwest to seek to acquire Frontier?

A. We have always prepared in good times to weather the bad times and to be able to take advantage of a good opportunity, like this one, when presented to us. We have the cash, access to capital, and collateral that allows us to take advantage of this existing opportunity and synergies between Southwest and Frontier. We believe this is an opportunity to expand our network with legendary low fares, add jobs into Southwest, and boost competition in Denver as well as other cities with our low fares and high quality Customer Service.

Q: Final thoughts?

A: From a Customer perspective, nothing today changes at either carrier. This is merely a preliminary step in the process. There are many details to be worked through, but we are excited about the opportunity to submit a bid. We see a strong fit between our Company cultures, a mutual commitment to high quality Customer Service, and our similar entrepreneurial roots. We are confident that our bid, if successful, will boost low-fare competition and benefit consumers in Denver and other cities our expanded network will serve.

"Grey One"...errr..."Silver One" to be painted.

Southwest's "Silver One" 25th anniversary logo jet is set to recieve the standard Canyon Blue paint job. They are repainting it, because they don't think that it's current paint job is not doing it justice....and they are very correct in that assumption! It used to look cool when it was actuallysilver, but now that it's grey...it looks ugly! I understand why they changed it, it was because it took a lot of money to maintain the metallic color, so they painted it with a shiney grey color. That color faded, so they decided to put it into the standard Canyon Blue color scheme. It will carry a special decal to remind us of their 25th anniversary.

TGIF Video #3 -- The Best Care in the Air

Sorry for bringing this in a day late, I have been really busy with other stuff, but I will try to update this blog as often as I can!

This week's video is from Kansas City's favorite airline --Midwest. This was from before their MCI hub, when they were known as "Midwest Express".

It has a really cheesey song, but it's still a good ad!

Gary Kelley on CNBC -- Earnings reports

Southwest Airlines Co. CEO, Gary Kelley on the Q2 earnings.

My luggage tag collection

I collect pretty much everything with an airline logo on it, and one of the biggest items which I collect are airline luggage tags! Every time I go to the airport I always walk around the ticket counters and pick these up!

Here is a small part of my collection of luggage tags. First is my collection of domestic (US & Canadian tags)

Next is my collection of International & special luggage tags.

All of these luggage tags are special because they are ones I usually don't see, and all of them were given to me by friends, relatives, teachers and airlines.

The ones on the botttom are plastic luggage tags, and the three on the left are from Southwest, the Skybus one is signed by their former CEO, Bill Diffenderffer, and then I have a Delta one with their new logo.

The row above that is filled with airlines that are no longer with us: America West, Song, and Trans World.

Above that are two luggage tags that are pre-9/11. On top of those are my very special luggage tags, because they are from airlines I don't usually see, or they are really unique. The Virgin America tag is in that collection, because it is signed by former VX CEO Fred Reid on the back!

Then the top row is really special to my collection, because they are from airlines that are really hard to get in the United States-- Cathay Pacific, and Pakistan International. Then the blue tag to the right of the PIA one is probably the most unique in my collection. It is from the Original Frontier Airlines!

The Leaders: British Airways CEO Willie Walsh

An interview with BA CEO, Willie Walsh.

It is pretty interesting. He discusses his former job with Aer Lingus, and BA's current state.

TGIF Video #2 --Proud to bear the name American

Last Friday I brought you a commercial from my favorite airline--Southwest. Today I will share a video from another one of my favorite airlines, that is also based in Dallas--American!

It is one of the commercials they aired shortly after 9/11.

JetAmerica = Dead

While we were all expecting this day to come, and unfortunately it didn't come 2 days ago (otherwise I would've won the pool! lol, jk!)

I'm not really surprised about this though...a part of me wanted them to work out, but an airline that offered $9 fares, delayed start-up dates, and had slot-issues...umm...not gonna work!

Sorry to everybody who bought tickets with them! I guess you'll have to find a new airline to fly with!

Here is a quote from John Weikle, CEO of JetAmerica

"We are reluctantly suspending our public charter operations effective today...Finalizing the slots required to support our charter program at Newark has taken longer than expected and we have decided to suspend our flights in order to refocus on different markets."

I really wanted to see a ULCC work in the United States, but I guess not! (I really wish we had an American version of Michael O'Leary!...now that would be interesting!...I am not saying Mr. Weikle would be that person, but one day we should have one!)

http://consumerist.com/5317303/jetamerica-crashes-and-burns-business-plan+wise

If we could pretend to have your attention....

The safety information demonstration is presented on every flight....do you always listen to it???

I know that not all of you pay attention to it, but if you had these flight attendants on your flights, you certainly would!

Dave the rapping flight attendant's safety demo!

The safety demo presented by "Charlie and his two angels" - lol

Thanks to Sal for telling me about these videos!

"Mickey"

No...I'm not talking about the mouse! I'm talking about my hometown commercial airport, MCI! (among some of the locals it is known as "Mickey"!)

Every once in a while I will try to bring you guys some of my thoughts on various airports I have been to, where I will talk about ease of use, my thoughts about the airport, and the best locations to spot! This is my first report like this, and it will be over Kansas City International Airport (MCI/KMCI) .

Kansas City International Airport

Located in Missouri, 20 minutes away from Kansas City, MCI is a great airport. It has a "drive to your gate" design, which makes it one of the highest ranking airports in the country, in terms of ease-of-use.

The experience:

Checking in usually takes no time at all, and after you check in you walk to security, which is at most a 45 second walk from the check in desk!

Here is the view of when you step through the doors of MCI...your at the desk!

Security at MCI is very efficient, and it doesn't take too much time to go through security....but the TSA in Kansas City aren't always the friendliest people in the world!

Once you are in the gate area....you're on your own! There are VERY LIMITED food options! A couple of years ago there was NOTHING post-security, but now the airport has added little stations that sell food and beverage items, which are very expensive! (but what else is new? everything post-security at almost every airport is very expensive!)

I haven't visited all of the terminals yet, but a couple of years ago there were no bathrooms post-security, and to go to the restroom you had to get outside of security, and go through it again! I know that this has changed in some of the gate areas, such as the Southwest gates in terminal B, but I am not sure about the other airlines.

Shops, Terminal + Thoughts:

The shopping options at MCI are not very good....but who seriously goes to the airport to shop? There are several stores that offer the basics, like candy, magazines etc...oh, but you can find "The Wizard of Oz" items in various shops throughout the airport! --even though MCI is technically not in Kansas (it's in Missouri!)

The terminals at MCI are very easy to navigate....they are just big semi-circles! They are designed really nicely, and have huge windows in areas which provide a very good view of aircraft movements! The tile on the floor is especially nice! It isn't the cheap and disgusting tile you would see at every other airport, it is a nice shade of blue, and looks very professional!

As an airline geek, I do have to say...this airport sucks! This is a very spotter un-friendly airport! This is one of those airports that doesn't seem to like people who like aviation. There are no good spotting locations, and if you do go spotting, you will probably be approached by security. I really wish that they set up a program like some other airports have, to help promote aviation among the community. (I think LAX and YYZ have programs like this) But the movements here aren't good anyways...unless you are into seeing a bunch of Southwest, Midwest, and regional jets! ....although that seems to be a majority of the traffic, we do get aircraft such as the 757 from UA and AA, as well as MD-80s, 737s, and A320s from other airlines as well...

As you can see from this picture, it isn't always busy.

Even though spotting isn't the easiest or the best at this airport, the baggage claim areas have huge windows where you can watch planes taxi by! The windows cause discoloration of photos, and have really bad reflections, but if you are watching planes for the fun of it, it is still a good location!

The MCI Difference

I feel that there is one thing that Kansas City International Airport has that no other airport in the US has.....the best people! I have never run into a disgruntled employee at MCI, and everybody is very helpful. A good example of this was a couple of years ago I was coming back from a trip on Delta, I accidentally left an item on the aircraft, and didn't realize it. As I was walking out of the airport, a Delta employee came up to my family and handed the item back. I don't even know how he knew it belonged to us, but I was really happy that they made the effort and was able to return the item!

Kansas City International Airport also has "ambassadors" and there are a lot of them located throughout the airport. They are there to make sure everybody gets where they are going, and to assist anybody who needs help. They are really friendly, and are really fun to talk to! I've seen other airports with similar programs, but the people at MCI are a lot more friendly!

Conclusion

Overall Kansas City International Airport is one of the best I have ever been to! While to an airline geek, it sucks due to lack of interesting movements, it is still an amazing place. It is probably the easiest to use airport in the entire US, and the people are very nice.

Hopefully you enjoyed reading my thoughts about Kansas City International Airport! I will try to do more of these in the future, and if you want to write a report about your favorite airport and have it posted on here, contact me at ual757@gmail.com

YX EMB-190!!!!

The Midwest/Republic (in YX colors) has been spotted in Lisbon!!!!

It is on delivery inspection, so the rudder is missing! But I think that it looks good! (despite how I feel about how much they've changed in the past few years....but what can I do?)

Here is a link to a picture of it! --I couldn't post the picture on here, sorry about that!

http://www.airliners.net/uf/view.file?id=536976049&filename=phpqHuFkL.jpeg

United breaks Guitars

Every other travel related blog has posted this....so I guess I will also!

United Airlines passenger David Caroll had his guitar broken on a flight from Halifax to Chicago. He claims he and other passengers saw it being thrown around by the baggage handlers at ORD. United has said they wouldn't pay for the damages to the $3,500 guitar, so he created this catchy song about it! :)

Thanks to Rithvik for sending this in!

JetAmerica delays start date

JetAmerica has delayed the day it is going to begin its date of operations.

If you guys don't know about JetAmerica...here is a brief summary of what they are. They are a start-up airline that plans to offer nine seats for $9 on each flight. Their flights will be operated by Miami Air, and they are planning on selling seats as a public charter until they can become a fully independent part 121 carrier.

Anyways, Jet America was originally supposed to start July 13th, but now it is pushed to August 14th.

Why did they do that??? Well, they were having some slot issues with Newark.

Here is what they said in an email sent out to all of their customers who are affected:

Dear JetAmerica Customer, First, we thank you for your support in purchasing a ticket on Sun America d/b/a JetAmerica ("JetAmerica"). Unfortunately, however, you are receiving this notice to inform you that due to landing slot issues in Newark, that we are going to have to delay our first flights 30 days until August 14th.

When we started planning your flight months ago, we were not required as an Indirect Air Carrier to have landing and takeoff slots at Newark's Liberty International Airport; however, due to recent policy clarifications, even Indirect Air Carriers now have to have slots into and out of Newark. We just found out about this on May 30th and have been working hard to acquire the slots from the FAA and other airlines; but, as of today, not all the paperwork has been prepared for our signature guaranteeing our arrival and departure slots in July and early August.

I guess my plans of flying into the ever-so-interesting town of Toledo, Ohio for $9 before school starts are ruined.... :|

Nobody serves our republic like Republic!

While the old Republic Airlines of the 70's and 80's is history, the new Republic Airways is growing and making a ton of changes! They have a route network that can now serve our country a whole lot better because they recently bought out two of my favorite airlines: Midwest and Frontier!

While I didn't have many feelings for Frontier (besides loving their humorous commercials!), their buy out of Midwest really affected a lot of my friends.

A couple of my friends had parents who used to work for Midwest Airlines, and they were laid off due to the tough economic environment.

I've really seen Midwest go through some really drastic changes that I never thought would be happening. I never expected them to partner with Republic and to get rid of their 717s, but I guess that is what they need to do in order to survive.

A couple days ago an announcement came out that they will start using the EMB-135!!! Seriously? I'm sure it would look nice in the YX livery, but I am very sad to hear that they went from The best care in the air using a fleet of MD-80s and 717s, and now all they are using is a bunch of regional jets!!!

I really hope that Republic can fix YX and F9, and let them remain independant and strong brands!

TGIF video #1 -- Remember what it was like before there was sombody else up there who LUVed you?

Every Friday I will try to bring you a cool video.

I had to start off this with a video from my favorite airline -- Southwest! (if you couldn't tell by the banner at the top, I am a total Southwest nut!)

This is one of their early commercials from 1972, and it is one of my favorite airline commercials of all time!

Hello

Hey everyone!

This is my blog! I will be updating it shortly, but it will mainly be about aviation!

I will share what I know, and hopefully you all will provide me with some insight on the airline industry too! :)

I look forward to posting more on this blog!

-Jaspreet