Prior to the blue, red, and yellow Southwest Boeing 737s that currently dominate the skies over the United States, there was another airline that flew colorful jets. Braniff International Airlines, founded in 1930 by Tom and Paul Braniff in Oklahoma, was created for the purpose of transporting mail and passengers up the United States from Dallas to Chicago with service to Tulsa, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Oklahoma City as intermediate stops. The initial flights were operated on Stinson SM-1s and…
On September 28th, Hong Kong-based airline, Cathay Pacific, received its 53rd and final 777-300ER from Boeing, making them the largest operator of the widebody aircraft in Asia. The aircraft, registered as B-HNR, arrived at its new base after completing a delivery flight from Everett, Washington under the callsign CX3339. Boeing began delivery…
Just yesterday at 4:45pm ET, Virgin Atlantic ferried G-VFAB "Lady Penelope" flew from Las Vegas to Goodyear for its final flight. The Boeing 747-4Q8 first became airborne on April 14th, 1994 and would go onto serve Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic for 21 years. The aircraft operated its last revenue flight as…
On September 25th, Boeing announced the completion of their most recent expansion project with the successful manufacture of a horizontal stabilizer in Salt Lake City, Utah. The horizontal stabilizer was built for a new Boeing 787, made up of composite materials that weigh less while still providing sufficient support to the…
This week Boeing has announced it will open a new completion center for its Boeing 737s in China. The new plant will be jointly run by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, known as Comac, and Boeing which will see the installation of interiors, painting, and ultimately the delivery of the narrow…
Continuing with their steady growth in Asia, United Airlines has announced new service, pending government approval, to Xian, China (XIY) from San Francisco (SFO). The flight would operate a seasonal summer schedule of 3x a week from May 10, through October 29 on a Boeing 787-8. "We are excited by…
With its biggest hub at Rome's Fiumicino Airport, Alitalia, Italy's national carrier, flies to destinations all over the world. However, the airline is very well known in particular for its Papal charters. While Alitalia was able to provide service for the Pope to travel to the United States, they won't be…
While the title of the article may seem deceiving, it is in fact true that two airlines have held the name PeopleExpress since 1980. One was a moderate success, while the other lasted just a few months. Both had the same goal of making flying affordable for the general public,…
After just under five years of leading one of the world’s biggest airlines, Jeff Smisek had resigned from United Airlines. The writing was on the wall after numerous years of lower than expected returns, unhappy customers and dissatisfied employees, with only needing a scandal with the Port Authority to seal the…
Finland's flag carrier, Finnair, is hoping to become the first airline to operate its Airbus A350-900XWB to the United States. The airline is expecting to begin service to New York's JFK in December, with discussions between the airline and the airport on-going, details are expected to be confirmed within the next…
