An ATR-42 twin-engine turboprop operated by Conviasa has crashed about twelve minutes after takeoff from the airport in Guayana, Venezuela. The plane had at least forty-seven people onboard, and twenty-three passengers were taken to local hospitals. Of those, up to eleven have died. There are some conflicting reports about the number onboard, injured, and deceased, and we will update as more definite numbers come in.
We’ve never been particularly fond of fifty seater regional jets. They don’t have the comfort that we desire in an airline experience. It is not that we object to a smaller aircraft, but merely the idea that a smaller aircraft has to be a significantly less pleasant experience than a larger one.
JetBlue has announced an intention to fly from Newark Liberty Airport to Boston’s Logan Airport with four daily roundtrips effective May 2011. People often forget JetBlue is at Newark, but look at JetBlue in the New York area. Other than their hub at Kennedy Airport, they serve
Continuing its trend of going into overcrowded, delay prone airports it had previously avoided, Southwest Airlines announced it would be coming to Newark’s Liberty Airport. The effort is part of Continental and United’s effort to secure approval for their merger by agreeing to lease them 36 slots at the airport, which will allow for 18 daily roundtrips.
JetBlue Flight 262 from Long Beach to Sacramento, with 86 customers and a crew of 5 evacuated via slides upon landing due to a brake fire. Minor injuries have been reported and an estimated fifteen passengers have been taken to local hospitals.
Shareholders of United and Continental are set to vote on September 17th on combining the two companies.
Southwest responded to the NTSBs findings on the incident on Flight 2294 last July. For those of you who don’t recall, that was the aircraft that made a landing in Charleston, WV when a hole suddenly opened up in the fuselage. The photos at the time were disconcerting for anyone who flies. After all, we like to think of planes as solid objects, but they are metal tubes that we put under pressure.
We talked not long ago about the end of the Worldport at JFK. But it appears that American is set to counter Delta’s new expansion with its own. Even though it completed a multi-year megaterminal project at JFK which consolidated its operations from two terminals to one and was completed in 2007. American is talking about expanding its terminal make room for OneWorld Alliance members British Airways and Iberia.
The one hundred passengers who were on the JetBlue flight from Pittsburgh to JFK that was halted when their flight attendant slid the coop are receiving $100 vouchers for future travel from the airline.
466 deHavilland DHC-3 Otters were produced from 1951-1967, and it commonly used as a rugged bush plane, flying into more remote regions, and as a search and rescue aircraft. It was used by the Canadian, U.S., Australian, and other air forces for this purpose. It has a 9-10 passenger plus pilot capacity.
The head of EADS North American, Sean O’Keefe, confirmed onboard the crash that killed former Senator Ted Stevens, has survived, according to Reuters.
The NY Times is reporting that former Senator Ted Stevens has died in a small plane crash in Alaska last night. Five of the nine people onboard the DeHavilland DHC-3T are reported to have perished. The plane was on its way to a lodge near Lake Aleknagik. The North American head of operations for EADS and former administrator of NASA, Sean O’Keefe, was also onboar
Business Insider reports that a JetBlue Flight Attendant named Steven Slater activated an emergency slide, left the aircraft, got his car, and drove home.
Remember ExpressJet and its attempt to sell service under its own brand? Or perhaps you remember them through their relationship with Continental?
Well, now, SkyWest has announced that Atlantic Southeast Airlines, one of its brands, will buy ExpressJet. The new acquisition will be based at ASA’s home in Atlanta and will continue to serve both United and Continental hubs…probably good because both are merging themselves.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Delta Air Lines will be selling two of its regional airline subsidiaries, Mesaba and Compass.
We didn’t say much about the Spirit Airlines pilot strike, but part of that has been our silence in general of late. Things have been crazy here. But today, the strike is over…unofficially. The Airline has said flights will resume on Friday. The strike grounded Spirit Airlines for five days. The airline carries roughly 16,000 passengers a day, which is 1 percent of the domestic market.
While the Port Authority makes plans to demolish Terminal 6, Delta is looking to upgrade its facility. The Wall Street Journal reports that Delta might announce a definitive plan for its future at JFK airport.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs JFK Airport, wants to knock down Terminal 6, also known as the Sundrome. The PANYNJ announced the move in a press release in April, noting that the demolishing of the terminal would permit planning to begin on the expansion of JetBlue’s Terminal 5 to allow the airline to consolidate its international operations, which must currently arrive into Terminal 4.
Matt over at NYCAviation has a great article reporting on the runway renovation at JFK. We’ll all be very glad when it is done, and it appears to be on scheduled. Here are some highlights we gleaned from his article. For more check it out here.
Monrovia is back in Delta’s sights, with once weekly service planned from its Atlanta hub, via Accra, Ghana. Apparently, Roberts International Airport implemented measures to ensure its compliance with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization. We hope this means the TSA is satisfied with the security arrangements.
The Irish Aviation Authority has announced the closure of its airspace from 7:00AM to 1:00PM Local Time tomorrow, Tuesday, May 4th, 2010. Another volcanic ash cloud is heading south from Iceland will affect Ireland and parts of Scotland. There is nothing to indicate that the eruption is ending, and ash clouds like this might be a problem for a long time to come.
The New York Times reports that Continental and United Airlines agreed today to a merger that would create the world’s biggest airline. United is buying Continental, and the new company will be based in Chicago, and will have Jeffrey Smisek, Continental CEO, as the Chief Executive.
JetBlue announced today the schedule for its Washington-National(DCA) service, now that it has secured slots at the airport. Service will begin on November 1st, with seven daily flights to Boston, and one each to Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando.
As a courtesy, we’ve often reclined our seat as little as possible unless the person in front of us reclines theirs. So, perhaps we weren’t as uncomfortable with the idea when it was revealed that Spirit Airlines was installing “pre-reclined” seats. Using the term pre-reclined to describe a seat that does not move is like calling a door you’ve removed from its hinges pre-opened.
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The ash cloud getting you down? Remember, as Bob Ross said…clouds are very, very free. A special shoutout to regular listener Steven Frischling, of the Flying with Fish blog, who compared the delivery style of the Briefing with the Joy of Painting. Perhaps we should rename the Briefing to the Joy of Flying.