It was just over five years ago that I wrote a post lamenting the decline of the 747. I’m not here to suggest it should live on. After all, there are far more efficient airplanes with the right number of seats onboard these days. But I have a soft …
Category: 747
50 Years On, Boeing’s 747 Is Fighting for Survival – Popular Mechanics
I was asked to comment for a piece on the 50th anniversary of the 747. This celebration has turned into quite a bittersweet affair. It’s amazing to be able to say that an airplane (in some form) is …
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Air France-KLM Said to Weigh Changing Dutch Head for New Era – Bloomberg
This is a sad by-product of Air France finally gaining competent management. KLM boss Pieter Elbers has successfully kept KLM flying high, partially by keeping it as separate as possible from its drunken, …
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Norwegian’s creative accounting – Leeham News and Comment
As a reader noted in a comment on my last post about Norwegian, the airline’s results in 2017 were actually much worse than they appeared. (And they looked pretty bad before.) There’s still furniture to burn, so …
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Southwest’s Bullshit Lawsuit Over A Site That Made $45 Helping People Book Cheaper Flights – TechDirt
This guy is not happy with Southwest. It’s not that he had a bad flight. Nay. It’s this particular fight against a former website called SWMonkey that has him fired …
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Now what? KC Council’s airport vote creates chaos and betrays voters – The Kansas City Star
Do you hate local government? Here’s a story for you. If you recall, the good people of Kansas City overwhelming approved the new airport terminal, finally. But guess what? The …
As anyone who happens to be flying to or through Atlanta this week knows, it has not been a good week for Delta. The Sunday power outage in Atlanta forced airlines to cancel hundreds of flights and put holiday travel plans in limbo. Since it was an Atlanta problem, Delta …
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KLM Lets The Customer Decide… – Meanwhile at KLM
This is a really interesting read. KLM has one of the more aggressive social media strategies out there, and it has made itself available wherever travelers wanted to find the airline. But it only goes where people …
One of United’s last 747s comes to Houston once more before retirement – Houston Chronicle
It’s like I’m an addict who can’t quit the 747 tributes. But hey, the Houston Chronicle asked me for a comment when the 747 came through to say goodbye in Houston, so I had to …
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Airbus Corruption Scandal May Lead Straight to the Top – Der Spiegel
The language is a bit stilted, but this very lengthy exposé dives into the messy world of bribery and corruption at Airbus. It’s an ugly picture and one that I don’t fully understand. This …
You can’t call yourself an airline dork if you don’t love the 747, and I can imagine that many of you shook your head in dismay when you read the subject of this post. I’ll admit, it was hard to write those words. United has announced it has moved up …
Without question, the 747 was one of the more incredible advances in commercial aviation history. It was an enormous gamble by Boeing that really marked the beginning of modern, high capacity, long haul travel. (It’s also, in my opinion, one of the best looking airplanes around.) Sadly, but predictably, this …