This Week’s Featured Link
Wizz Air moves routes from Abu Dhabi to Dubai – ch-aviation
I suppose this is what happens when one fiefdom relies on tourism and international business while the other can remain insular. It all just seems silly to me, because it’s just a different way of moving people — and COVID — around. But the big takeaway here is that… Wizz Abu Dhabi is obviously not doing well with the restrictions in place.
Image of the Week
Two for the Road
American Airlines Flight Attendants Reflect on Flying a Civil Reserve Air Fleet Mission – American Airlines Newsroom
It’s an Afghanistan kind of week down in this section. American put together a page with all the airline’s news pieces surrounding the deployment of the fleet to assist in the evacuation of Afghanistan. I find the nuts and bolts of the experience for commercial airlines fascinating here.
Delta continues to support CRAF mission; customers can donate miles to help Afghan evacuees – Delta NewsHub
American was not alone, of course. Here’s Delta’s rundown of what it was doing. These are fascinating reads, and there is great work being done on these missions.
7 comments on “3 Links I Love: Wizz Abu Dhabi, Aleutian Airways, CRAF Stories”
Thanks for sharing the occasional livery pictures. I don’t go out of my way to look for pictures like that (not a planespotter), but I’m always happy when they show up in my news and feeds, as I appreciate beautiful liveries that reflect an airline’s time and place, and which enhance planes’ natural curves. The blue racoon mask/speed stripe/tail swoop really looks good on that plane, and plays well with the icy blue waters around the Aleutians.
I know this blog leans a little more towards the serious and commercial side, but as an idea for a bit of a fun/filler/vacation post (or a good Twitter thread), I’d love to see a list of Cranky’s favorite airliner liveries, or perhaps an “award” (or “March Madness”-style poll-based “tournament”) for your/your readers’ favorite new livery of the year.
Thank you for sharing these moving stories of service by our fellow Americans for our newest countrypeople. May we all remember the American spirit of selflessness and limitless kindness and again share that with each other domestically.
I sometimes jokingly describe my job as “facilitating life events,” and flowery language aside, it’s true. There’s value in helping someone get to a wedding, funeral, job interview, etc.
But once in a while, we get to do really great things and be a part of history. These airlifts are just that.
That Aleutian Airways livery is the best looking new livery I’ve seen in ages! I with other airlines would take a hint from this photo, rather than doing the generic white plane with a tail swoosh thing.
The next time someone starts whining for “Open Skies,” let’s not forget the invaluable roll our airlines fill in CRAF. While we only activate CRAF rarely, it needs to be there when we need it, without begging foreign business and/or governmental interests.
At UA we have a pilot who is from Afghanistan and has been assisting with translating on some of these missions. His story was posted internally and it was very touching.
Crewing them has been crazy last minute and a bit of a rush lol.
https://twitter.com/united/status/1431398455868542986