Category Archives for Aircraft.
A brand new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 had a piece of its tail fall off enroute from Seattle to Chicago on Monday. The plane landed at 6:13 p.m. local time and remained on the ground overnight. It had only been in revenue service for four days, made sixteen passenger flights, and had been registered to Alaska for just a week.
When airlines purchase planes new they usually pay about 50% of ‘list’ price. But what about used aircraft? And how do airlines actually pay for their purchase?
A receipt has surfaced for an actual used aircraft acquisition – Swift Air’s $8 million 2014 deal for then-29 year old ex-US Airways Boeing 737-400 registration N418US.
A picture of an aircraft wing with more speed tape on it than I’ve ever seen in my life has been making the rounds in social media, under the caption “This is my last time flying with Spirit Airlines!!!!!”
This is not a Spirit Airlines aircraft.
The FAA took to social media to tell airline passengers not to fully charge their lithium ion battery-powered devices, like phones and laptops, if they don’t need the full charge for the flight. This is because, the government agency says, “a full charge may increase the chances of a fire.”
Aircraft lavatories have been getting smaller and smaller, as airlines try to squeeze in more seats. They can get a half an inch per row with less padding in the seats. They’ve been removing closets and making the galleys where flight attendants work smaller. That’s ok, they’re serving less food too, so there’s less to store there. And they’ve been making the bathrooms smaller too.
The Biden administration plans to do something about that, in the name of accessibility.
Pilot unions will fight against this, and as far as replacing them today there’s probably no one willing to push that button. But the technology will arrive that will make travel safer replacing a human at least as co-pilot, even if full automation is farther off.
When you see arguments that the U.S. ought to model Europe and Airbus in its own economy, that’s not really an argument about Airbus or Boeing it’s an argument by former conservatives who want to use the tools of government towards their own end, so are putting out content to give their switch greater intellectual grounding.
Mexican President ‘AMLO’ refused use of his government’s VIP-configured Boeing 787-8, and had it stored in the Southern California desert. After years of trying, the plane has finally been sold to the government of Tajikistan for approximately $92 million. That means it can no longer join the fleet of a planned reboot of Mexicana Airlines.
A woman who wound up sufficiently ill to be hooked up to a drip was told by her doctor “never choose the fish on a plane.” Is this true? Should you avoid fish dishes in the air?
Boeing revealed a defect in parts that have been used in Boeing 737 MAXs since 2019 – potentially affecting most of the aircraft that have been built since the model was grounded after two crashes.
Safety judgments about the MAX are predicated on this being the most scrutinized aircraft in history. How could they have missed this?
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
