United Airlines is forging a more rational route map these days as it adds a slew of destinations.
One key aim is to funnel more flyers destinations through its large hubs and get them on their way via right-sized aircraft.
That means switching short-haul flights to destinations out of its hub at Washington Dulles, while longer-haul journeys depart New York/Newark Liberty International.
The airline says it’s “optimizing” Newark (EWR) and Dulles (IAD). By shifting short-haul traffic to Dulles and longer-haul operations to Newark, the carrier contends passengers will benefit.
There’s a new service from Newark to Hilton Head Island on the Atlantic Coast of the US as well as Pensacola on the Gulf Coast.
Much farther afield are new Newark-Anchorage nonstops. At the same time United is expanding flights to key business destinations, including St. Louis, Omaha, Richmond and Kansas City.
Shorter runs from Newark are being shifted to Dulles.
This means you won’t be able to fly United nonstop out of Newark anymore to Elmira, New York; Lexington, Kentucky or Manchester, New Hampshire.
Those flights migrate down the coast to Washington Dulles, which gets a new nonstop down the spine of the Appalachian Mountains to Asheville, North Carolina.
These moves could cut air traffic congestion delays, if only marginally, at runway-constrained Newark as larger aircraft displace some smaller commuter regional jets.
Even as it realigns Newark and Dulles, United is preparing to boost connectivity from of its West Coast U.S. San Francisco (SFO) hub.
From June 6, 2019, it will start flying nonstop from San Francisco to Eugene, Oregon; Madison, Wisconsin and Pasco/Tri-Cities area of Washington state.
Sometimes airlines lay on special service to meet the demand of select groups of flyers.
Consider what’s happening in February 2019 when United fields a 777-200ER between San Francisco and Barcelona to accommodate at least a slice of the demand generated by the 2019 Mobile World Congress, which is expected to attract some 107,000 attendees to that Spanish city in mid to late February.
The special flights depart San Francisco February 23 and 27 and return to San Francisco February 24 and 28. The Bay Area of northern California is heavily-populated by technology companies.
Mid-continent activity gets a boost as United launches service between its Denver hub and Charleston, South Carolina; Eureka California and seasonally, Fairbanks, Alaska.
The most luxurious Boeing 787 built, and operated by Chinese company Deerjet owned by the Chinese HNA Group is up for sale, according to Reuters.
Reported in Aviation24.be the 787 with seating for just 40 passengers, not the normal 300 plus the first 787 specifically designed as a business jet and is used by several heads of state and government, as well as the top HNA officials.
Everyone loves a great deal – particularly when it means fast-tracking to a higher level of a frequent flyer program and that is just what Qatar Airways is offering – Triple Qpoints.
As QR is a oneworld member, this is a great offer to getting fast-tracked to the higher FFP tiers.
For instance, taking one Sydney to London return in Business Class will fast-track you to QR’s Privilege Club Gold tier which is the equivalent of a oneworld Sapphire.
The offer is good for all the airline’s 150 destinations worldwide.
The deal is for a limited time and Privilege Club members can earn triple Qpoints in Premium Class and 50 percent bonus Qpoints in Economy Class.
All you need to do is book any Qatar Airways flight up to October 31, 2018, for travel between up to April 30, 2019.
To be eligible for the bonus Qpoints, you need to register by October 31, 2018, or at least 24 hours prior to travel, whichever is earlier.
To register, simply log in to your membership account and select “My offers” from the dashboard menu.
If you’re not a member you can enroll through via qmiles.com
*Terms and conditions apply. Please review at the time of booking.
Doubts have been expressed by one of the leading experts into the disappearance of MH370 into claims of a “third entity” being responsible for the plane’s fate.
Ghyslain Wattrelos, who lost family members, traveling on MH370, has claimed the possibility that a “third entity” could be involved.
French authorities continuing with their investigation have suggested new theories to explore. According to an AP story “in particular, the investigators found “inconsistencies” in the Malaysian investigation’s official report, and the presence of “curious” passengers, whom “we should continue to investigate”.
“Among them is a Malaysian traveler with a troubling profile: he was seated under the Satcom module, and proved to be an expert in aeronautics, according to Ghyslain Wattrelos and his lawyer,” the AP report said.
The French plan to visit Boeing and the FBI, after an earlier trip in September last year was canceled over what is termed after US authorities allegedly opposed the trip.
The suggestion is that this third person may have hacked into the satcom unit to disguise the plane’s flight path.
Responding to the allegations in the AP story Victor Iannello, one of the most respected independent experts into the disappearance of MH370 said in his blog “it’s not clear what additional information the French investigators expect to obtain while in the US. Boeing has cooperated with the Annex 13 investigation team and is unlikely to provide private French investigators with data that has not already been made public. Meanwhile, the FBI is unlikely to release information on matters related to ongoing or past investigations.”
Mr Iannello goes onto say that the mysterious “third entity” referred to by Mr Wattrelos that might be selling software capable of maliciously altering SATCOM data is also unknown, although there are a handful of companies in the US and Canada that supply hardware and software for designing, building, and testing parts of the Inmarsat network.
“Independent investigators that are studying this mystery are at an impasse. Although the overwhelming consensus is that MH370 did indeed crash in the Southern Indian Ocean, the considerable efforts of official and private investigators have not succeeded in locating the debris field on the seabed. The data we have, notably the satellite data, is imprecise, so additional data is needed to reconstruct the trajectory of the plane.”
Leading oceanographers suggest that the debris field lies just outside the area that has been searched to date.
Mr. Iannello adds that “there is always the chance that during Mr. Wattrelos’ visit to the US, some new evidence or insights will be uncovered that help us to better understand the disappearance and to find the plane.”
However, he says “more likely, the existence of helpful new information will be found in Malaysia.”
Another article published in the L’Essor, which is the unofficial and self-described French journal for the military police says that the investigators of the research section (SR) of the Gendarmerie Air Transport (GTA) are waiting for the green light from US authorities to travel to the United States related to the MH370 case.
The article says “the SR of the GTA is responsible for the judicial inquiry, opened in France, on the death of 239 people, including four French, aboard the Boeing 777 which disappeared on March 8, 2014, after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing.”
It adds that “the gendarmes work within the framework of an international rogatory commission launched in October 2017 by the French justice. A trip to the United States, scheduled for September, had to be canceled and French investigators are waiting for the green light from the US authorities.”
“The investigators want to check overseas if a US company sells software capable of reprogramming or even hacking the Satcom. This system is used by airlines to transmit messages about the state of the aircraft in flight and its communications,” says L’Essor
Mr. Iannello comments further saying “this story, if true, suggests that the French judiciary system, and in turn the military police that are assigned to the case, are seriously considering whether the Inmarsat data was corrupted by a malicious intrusion into the SATCOM onboard MH370. Considering that the Inmarsat data is consistent with the aircraft crashing in the SIO near the 7th arc and that the timing and location of the recovered parts from the aircraft also suggest that the aircraft crashed in the SIO, to doubt the Inmarsat data implies doubting the veracity of the recovered parts. This is the first time a government investigative body is known to be seriously considering a hack of the SATCOM combined with the planting of debris.”
“To say the least, most private investigators believe there are more productive avenues to pursue. However, an honest, competent investigation of any type is to be welcomed, and there is always the chance some new evidence or insights will be uncovered that help us to better understand the disappearance and to find the plane.”
Massive Cathay data breach. Photo: Cathay Pacific.
A massive data breach has seen hackers gain access to the personal details of up to 9.4 million customers of Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific.
The airline said the data accessed varied for each passenger but could include name, nationality, date of birth, phone number, email; address, passport number; identity card number, frequent flyer number, customer service remarks and historical travel information.
Also accessed were 403 expired credit card numbers and 27 credit card numbers with no CVV.
However, in another major embarrassment, according to The Times, the breach occurred seven months ago in March.
The airline said it had no evidence the information had been misused and the compromised IT systems were totally separate from its flight operations systems and had no impact on flight safety.
Cathay is the second airline to be hacked this year and appears to be one of the biggest airline breaches to made public to date.
The personal details of some 380,000 British Airways passengers were accessed after a data breach at the UK carrier.
UK media said at the time the information included credit card details, residential addresses, and email details but the airline said the hackers had not accessed itineraries or passport details.
Cybersecurity is becoming an increasing worry for airlines and other organizations. While industry officials say critical aircraft systems remain safe, there is an increasing risk of reputational damage or that ground operations may be compromised.
“We are very sorry for any concern this data security event may cause our passengers,’’ Cathay chief executive Rupert Hogg said in a statement.
“We acted immediately to contain the event, commence a thorough investigation with the assistance of a leading cybersecurity firm, and to further strengthen our IT security measures.
“We are in the process of contacting affected passengers, using multiple communications channels and providing them with information on steps they can take to protect themselves.
“We have no evidence that any personal data has been misused. No-one’s travel or loyalty profile was accessed in full, and no passwords were compromised.”
Cathay said it had notified the Hong Kong Police and other relevant authorities.
Anyone who believes they may be affected can contact Cathay Pacific through dedicated website infosecurity.cathaypacific.com, through a dedicated call center or via emailing [email protected].
“We want to reassure our passengers that we took and continue to take measures to enhance our IT security,’’ Hogg said.
The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines earlier this year called on the region’s aviation industry to co-operate on strengthening cyber-security as increasing digital connectivity makes it a bigger target for hackers.
IATA warned that even a best-case scenario involving an agreed transition from March, 2019 involved a high degree of risk and uncertainty.
It said a no-deal or “hard” Brexit outcome was likely to lead to “a significant disruption to air services”.
The industry lobby group called on the UK and the European Union to put in place contingency plans aimed at ensuring the uninterrupted continuation of air connectivity.
It also wants and a framework for regulating safety and security before the exit in March 2019 as well as policies and processes for efficient border management.
“These are the most critical areas because there are no fall back agreements such as the WTO framework available in a ‘no-deal’ Brexit scenario,’’ said IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac.
“Without any contingency planning being made transparent to the industry, the risks of not addressing these issues could mean chaos for travelers and interrupted supply chains.
“With less than six months to go, we have little more certainty than we did in June 2016.”
The lack of transparency concerning any contingency planning has left airlines completely in the dark as to what measures to take and de Juniac said both the EU and the UK had a responsibility “to the millions of their citizens who depend on reliable air transportation”.
“The goal should be a comprehensive air services agreement that does not step backwards from the connectivity existing today,’’ he said.
“But with the possibility of a ‘no deal’ Brexit still on the table this late in the game, it is now essential that the EU and UK civil aviation authorities plan for contingency arrangements to maintain a minimum level of connectivity, which is vital for people and for business.
“This has to be one of the most important Brexit considerations. A backstop contingency plan to keep planes flying after March must be published, and quickly.’’
Ryanair has also warned that air passengers face chaos unless urgent action is taken on Brexit.
More airline passengers will be flying in 2037 than currently live on the planet, according to the latest prediction by a major aviation industry group.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) anticipates in its 30-year passenger forecast that passenger numbers will grow at a compound annual rate of 3.5 percent driven by growth in the Asia-Pacific.
The Asia-Pacific region will drive the biggest growth with more than half the total number of new passengers over the next 20 years coming from these markets.
Growth in this market is being driven by a combination of continued robust economic growth, improvements in household incomes and favorable population and demographic profiles.
But the association warned that growth prospects for air transport and the economic benefits driven by aviation could be curtailed if protectionist measures are implemented by governments.
“Aviation is growing, and that is generating huge benefits for the world,” said IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac.
“ A doubling of air passengers in the next 20 years could support 100 million jobs globally.
“There are two important things that stand out about this year’s forecast.
“Firstly, we are seeing a geographical reshuffling of world air traffic to the East.
“And secondly, we foresee a significant negative impact on the growth and benefits of aviation if tough and restrictive protectionist measures are implemented,”
Among the changes:
China will displace the United States as the world’s largest aviation market (defined as traffic to, from and within the country) in the mid-2020s. The rebalancing of China’s economy towards consumption will support strong passenger demand over the long term.
Secondly, India will take 3rd place after the US, surpassing the UK around 2024.
Thirdly Indonesia is forecast to be a standout performer—climbing from the world’s 10th largest aviation market in 2017 to the 4th largest by 2030.
And Thailand is expected to enter the top 10 markets in 2030, replacing Italy which drops out of the ranking.
Low fares are headed to new destinations in Australia, Japan and China as long-haul, low-cost carrier AirAsia X looks to use efficient, new planes to ramp up growth.
New Australian destinations, Japan’s Fukuoka or Nagoya as well as second- and third-tier Chinese cities are set to be the first to benefit from the influx of fuel-efficient aircraft.
Longer-term destinations could include San Francisco and Los Angeles as well as possibilities in Europe.
The airline has orders for 100 A330neos and hopes to start taking them in 2019, subject to assurances about pricing and engine reliability.
It has ordered the bigger -900 version of the plane incorporating Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines and aerodynamic improvements such as composite Sharklet wingtip devices to boost fuel efficiency.
It is also evaluating the long-range version of the Airbus A321neo to target more destinations with a range of up to seven hours.
New services to Australia are in the pipeline and AirAsia X chief executive Benyamin Ismail confirmed he is involved in talks with authorities in Adelaide about adding the South Australian capital to the airline’s roster of Australian ports. It already flies to Sydney, Perth, Gold Coast and Melbourne.
AirAsia X CEO Ben Ismail.
“We’re keen on going to Adelaide,’’ he told AirlineRatings at the AirAsia’s RedQ headquarters in Kuala Lumpur this week. “I’m actually flying to Adelaide this Thursday to see the board of directors of Adelaide airport.”
Ismail said the airline could also look at destinations such as Cairns and Darwin if it decides to take on the A321neo LR.
Powered by CFM International’s LEAP-1A engines, the A321neo LR, is due to enter service in the fourth quarter of 2018 and is designed to carry up to 240 passengers 4000 nautical miles.
AirAsia revealed in August that it was evaluating the aircraft, which would allow it to profitably serve destinations unable to support A330 services.
But for now, the main focus is the airline’s bold gamble to move its flights from Melbourne’s main airport at Tullamarine to the Avalon airport, near Geelong.
“I think that is going really, really well,’’ Ismail said. “The loads are better than I expected and I think the team over there has done quite a good job in educating people that Avalon is not down in the woods.”
Other existing AirAsia X destinations will remain as is for now, although Ismail said he could re-evaluate services to Sydney because of difficulties selling seats in the low season.
“We’ve seen essentially that outbound traffic to Australia has declined a little bit, I’m not sure why, but we’re just going to see what’s there, especially out of Sydney,’’ he said.
“Gold Coast is doing OK.
“Perth is actually our star performer. We’ve actually cut down a lot of capacity from there.
“We went from 14 to seven because that market is very competitive — there’s Malindo, there’s MH (Malaysia Airlines) — and really we didn’t want to go into that fight.
“So we just focused on yield and moving loads up. Loads have been up and we’re making money on that route, which is great.”
Ismail said that Japan was a market in which AirAsia needed to grow and potential destinations included Fukuoka or Nagoya.
Another was China.
“I think in terms of the first-tier (Chinese) cities, we pretty much have it covered and now we’re trying to go into the second tier cities and the third tier cities,’’ he said.
The AirAsia boss said the plans were still fluid because they were subject to getting “the right incentives, the right deal, the right slots, the right timings”.
While noting flights averaging five to seven hours were a sweet spot for the airline, he did not rule out long-haul routes such as the US and Europe.
He noted aircraft would need to be reconfigured for longer flights with a bigger premium class, as much as doubling the current 12 seats, and more leg room in economy.
He downplayed London as a potential destination because of the highly competitive nature of the route but said the airline could look at potentially serving other cities such as Barcelona or Milan.
In terms of the US, Ismail said the airline’s existing route to Honolulu was “doing pretty well for us”.
“We’ve increased to daily now from four times a week,’’ he said. “I think with the neos coming in, if everything goes well, we can potentially touch San Francisco and LA and we’ll see how we go.
“It’s easier for us now because we’ve already got blanket approvals to go in so it’s great.”
Steve Creedy traveled to Kuala Lumpur courtesy of AirAsia X.
Virgin Atlantic has 17 Boeing 787-9s in its fleet, however, they are powered by Rolls Royce Trent engines which have corrosion issues and a number of the fleet are grounded awaiting replacement fan blades.
In fact, this is not the first time that Sir Richard has looked at the London-Perth non-stop.
In 2003, when in Perth to launch The West Australian’s Leadership Matters series he discussed the possibility of acquiring several ex-Air Canada four-engine A340-500s and flying the route.
These are the same aircraft that Singapore Airlines used at the same time to launch Singapore to New York nonstop.
However, when the fuel price soared the route became unviable and has only been restarted this month with the far more economical twin-engine A350-900ULR.
The last three Concordes taxi to the British Airways maintenenace base on October 24, 2003. Credit: BAA
The retirement of the Concorde in 2003 proved a gathering of eagles the likes of which the world will not see again.
Against a colorful October sunset, the five remaining operational Concordes came together for one last time on October 24 to acknowledge the fall of night for supersonic airline travel.
The arrival of BA002 from New York underscored a simple fact: those of us who had never flown on a supersonic airliner were unlikely to do so for a long, long time. Hard economics had consigned another dream of the 60s to the museums.
For former British Airways chief executive Rod Eddington, it was a bittersweet celebration and one he watched from the ground.
His decision to lay to rest the supersonic flagship after more than a quarter of a century of service was made all the more poignant by the knowledge the world would not see its like again for the foreseeable future.
It was not a decision he had expected to make so soon after taking the helm at BA in 2000 and it was a difficult one.
As the Australian-born airline veteran noted at the time, Concorde was an icon for both BA and Britain as well as “an aeroplane ahead of her time in every way”.
Sir Rod Eddington stands on the Concorde undercarriage. Credit: British Airways.
But 15 years on, he remains adamant the logic of the decision to ground the plane was irrefutable and that the aircraft’s time had come by 2003.
The timing, he told AirlineRatings in an interview to mark the anniversary, was the result of a combination of factors and not just the spectacular crash of an Air France plane in 2000.
These included the September 11 terrorist attacks, the fragility of age, falling demand and spiraling operating costs.
With a top speed of Mach 2 and a cruising altitude of more than 50,000ft, Concorde flew higher and faster than any other passenger aircraft. It flew faster than the world turned; faster, even, than a rifle bullet.
But it was a concept born in the cheap oil environment of the 1960s and the cost of moving a passenger 1km on the fuel-hungry 1960s technology aircraft was about eight times the cost of doing the same on a Boeing 777.
Its return to service also coincided with a startling 80 percent fall in use by the major corporate customers — bankers, lawyers and captains of industry — who provided its financial lifeblood.
BA had reduced Concorde services from two a day to one and was struggling to fill even that: the day BA announced it would be retiring the plane there were 20 passengers on board. And that was far from atypical.
This was partly due to a long period out of service after an Air France aircraft crashed in flames on take-off from Paris in July 2000,
Although he didn’t speak publicly about it the time, Eddington believes fears spurred by the New York terrorist attacks in September 2001 also contributed to keeping customers away.
The attacks caused a general downturn in the global aviation market but Eddington said some people were also worried the iconic plane could be a vulnerable terrorist target.
The final straw was a study of the aging aircraft by Airbus that recommended an enhanced maintenance schedule that added 20 million pounds ($US26m ) to an already expensive maintenance program worth more than 50 million pounds.
“As the aeroplane got older, the maintenance bill went up quite substantially as aeroplanes do,” Eddington said. “So the revenue went down and the maintenance bill went up.”
The decision ended a long battle to keep Concorde flying. Even after the Air France crash, no-one was keener than Eddington to keep the sleek, needle-nosed flagship flying.
Sir Rod Eddington
He and his staff battled for more than a year to finally satisfy the regulators who had grounded Concorde that it should return to service.
Everyone at BA worked hard to get the plane back in the air, introducing modifications that included lining the fuel tanks with Kevlar, new Michelin tires and reinforcement around some electrical leads running down the undercarriage.
Ultimately, it was not enough and more than five million Britons would tune in to a live telecast, joining thousands who turned up at Heathrow, to watch the aviation industry’s flirtation with commercial supersonic travel grind to halt.
Graceful to the end, Concorde bowed out from scheduled service with an understated, textbook touchdown rather than the window-shaking sonic boom that heralded its first flight in 1969.
The arrival of three Concordes in quick succession brought the British capital to a halt. The welcome from air traffic control as the historic final flight touched down at 4.05 pm London time — “The Eagles have landed. Welcome home” — echoed the words used in another monumental but abandoned technological feat, the Apollo moon landing.
The airliner’s six-month farewell program saw flights packed with people willing to part with thousands of dollars for a trip of a lifetime.
The final flights — from the US, Edinburgh and a return trip from Heathrow — carried staff, business leaders and celebrities such as actress Joan Collins and model Christie Brinkley.
Also on board BA 002 was an American who paid $US60,300 for the last two tickets on the final flight.
“We had three flights,” Eddington recalled. “We had one that came in from New York, the regularly scheduled service, we had a flight of staff who had won the lottery and the flight of all the old and bold who had been involved in the introduction of the aeroplane – the test pilots, the design engineers, the politicians.’’
The former BA boss says his view that Concorde was a remarkable aircraft has never changed.
“To think that you could have breakfast in London, get on Concorde, fly to New York and because the time difference was five hours and the flight was three- three and a half, you’d get to New York and have breakfast in New York,’’ he said.
“When we put ours back into service we invited a whole group of its regular customers in November 2001 I reckon. One of them was David Frost, a wonderful man.
“David said to me that he had a show in New York and a show in London, a television show he did live television in both cities, and the only way he could make it work was to fly Concorde.”
After BA and Air France jointly announced the decision to ground the Concorde fleet in April 2003, the French ended scheduled flights in May.
But the British carrier decided to keep flying commercially until October and Eddington, who flew in the plane half a dozen times, is still happy about that decision.
“We knew a lot of people had a Concorde flight on their bucket list so we kept operating for six months on the New York route,’’ he said.
“We also put some special fares in the market where people would travel Concorde one way and sub-sonically the other so they could have a taste of it.
“It was a six-month journey and a lot of people got to travel on it in that time and I was delighted for them.”
The loss of the supersonic flagship was deeply felt at the British carrier and Eddington said one reason for this was its close link with the airline’s brand.
“It was a terrific aeroplane, it was real Ferrari, and I think BA used it brilliantly,’’ he said. “Lord (Colin) Marshall, who was chairman for most of my time there, was fantastic and he understood how important Concorde was to the company and the brand.”
The aviation veteran also had high praise for the employees who crewed and maintained the supersonic jetliner.
“The men and women who looked after it and flew it in my view did the most wonderful job,’’ he said.
“When you went into the hangar and looked at the aeroplanes being serviced and maintained, you realized how iconic it was but you also realized how attached the people involved in its operation, in every way, were to it.
“I was no different to them.”
Although Concorde seemed to bring the shutter down on supersonic travel, companies such as Aerion Supersonic and Boom are now trying to revive the technology in the business jet and small airliner markets.
“I hope so, but I don’t know,’’ he said. “Again, the challenges that bedeviled Concorde — the sonic boom and the challenge of efficiency — remain, particularly when fuel prices are high.
“The whole focus both from the airframe manufacturers and the engine manufacturers has been to stick at Mach 0.8, Mach 0.85– somewhere in that range — and to just fly more and more efficiently.
“That’s in part because aviation’s very conscious of its global emissions and so there’s a desire to be more environmentally conscious.
“And by definition, that’s one of the reasons so many people can fly today. In real terms, airfares are much cheaper than they were when you and I first started flying.”
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