A digital rendering depicts one of Airbus’ ZeroE concept aircraft flying over Houston. (Photo: Airbus)
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury on Monday admitted that the global aviation industry’s goal of eliminating carbon emissions by 2050 may be in jeopardy, Bloomberg News reported.
“I don’t think we are wrong to pursue net zero by 2050,” Faury said during the third annual Airbus Summit, a sustainability-focused event at the company’s headquarters in Toulouse, France. “Maybe it’s going to take a bit more time, but let’s not be shy in the ambition.”
As the head of the world’s largest commercial aircraft manufacturer, Faury’s words hold weight. Like other manufacturers, Airbus has invested in alternatives to jet fuel such as hydrogen, which it believes could be combusted into fuel to power modified gas turbines, converted to electric power via fuel cells, or even used to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) or e-fuels.
But the manufacturer in February scaled back its ZeroE program, which has been developing four hydrogen-powered aircraft since 2020. Plans to test hydrogen propulsion systems on a modified A380 have reportedly been scrapped. And according to French labor unions, Airbus’ planned first flight of a hydrogen-powered commercial model in 2035 may be delayed five to ten years.
Faury said the manufacturer is capable of building its ZeroE concepts, but “we would be wrong to be right too early.” Without the regulatory framework and clean hydrogen production to support them, he said, the aircraft are not yet viable. The Airbus chief hopes to avoid a “Concorde with hydrogen,” referring to the short-lived supersonic passenger airliner.
In an opinion piece for Aviation Week, William Todts, executive director of the clean energy think tank Transport and Environment, called the ZeroE project “smoke and mirrors.” Airbus in January also paused development of its all-electric CityAirbus NextGen air taxi. Faury on Monday said Airbus’ next single-aisle jet will be “evolutionary rather than revolutionary.”
“We are absolutely convinced that this is an energy for the future of aviation,” he said, “but it’s just more work to be done.”
Airbus’ changing priorities come amid the backdrop of an industry that may not view hydrogen as the golden ticket it was once thought to be. In February, for example, a coalition of European airline industry groups issued its “Destination 2050” road map, which predicted hydrogen-powered planes will comprise half of the intra-European flight market by 2050. A 2021 version of that blueprint projected they would capture 100 percent of it.
However, Julie Kitcher, Airbus’ chief sustainability officer, said Monday that it would be foolish for the manufacturer to abandon its sustainability initiatives.
“Climate change is both a financial and a business risk, and so we are committed to the net-zero goal,” Kitcher said. “Our partners and also policymakers have made wide-ranging commitments, and with innovation, technology is on track to achieve progress towards these goals.”
Airbus on Monday also announced a three-year partnership with the Solar Impulse Foundation, to which it will lend its aerospace technology to study “pressing global challenges” facing the climate, such as the availability of clean water.
Bertrand Piccard, chairman of Solar Impulse, is working with Airbus engineers to build a hydrogen-powered, twin-fuselage aircraft for his Climate Impulse project. The initiative aims to fly the unique model on the first hydrogen-powered, nonstop, around-the-world flight in 2028.
“My job will stop in 2028, and then your job will start to make it happen on a commercial level,” Piccard said at the Airbus Summit.
Editor’s Note: This story first appeared on FlyingMag.com.
AirlineGeeks.com was founded in February 2013 as a one-person blog in Washington D.C. Since then, we’ve grown to have 25+ active team members scattered across the globe. We are all here for the same reason: we love deep-diving into the fascinating realm of the airline industry.
An American Boeing 787-8. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)
American plans to double down in a handful of long-haul markets later this year. With more Boeing 787s slated for delivery in the coming months, the Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier will expand service on some routes.
These additions include flights to Oceania, Europe, and South America, according to data from aviation analytics company Cirium.
Beginning on Dec. 18, the airline will add a fourth daily flight from Miami to Buenos Aires, Argentina. This add comes just days after LATAM announced plans to serve the market.
Flights between Dallas/Fort Worth and Sao Paulo will see a frequency increase from seven to 10 times per week from Dec. 3.
Europe Additions
The airline is extending its Dallas/Fort Worth to Dublin route, which will now operate through January 2026. Initially, this service was set to end for the season in October.
Flights from Philadelphia to Athens will end on Nov. 18, an extension from its originally planned October suspension date.
Hawaii and Pacific
Lastly, service from Dallas/Fort Worth to Kona, Hawaii, is set to resume after a nearly three-year pause. Flights will operate daily starting on Nov. 20 with a Boeing 787-8.
This route was among a handful initially suspended by the carrier due to Boeing delivery delays.
Beginning on Dec. 3, the airline will serve Los Angeles to Auckland, New Zealand, with a Boeing 777-200ER. A 787 previously served this market.
The 777-200 will add about 40 more seats per day between Los Angeles and Auckland.
Ryan founded AirlineGeeks.com back in February 2013 and has amassed considerable experience in the aviation sector. His work has been featured in several publications and news outlets, including CNN, WJLA, CNET, and Business Insider. During his time in the industry, he's worked in roles pertaining to airport/airline operations while holding a B.S. in Air Transportation Management from Arizona State University along with an MBA. Ryan has experience in several facets of the industry from behind the yoke of a Cessna 172 to interviewing airline industry executives. Ryan works for AirlineGeeks' owner FLYING Media, spearheading coverage in the commercial aviation space.
WestJet Encore De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 NextGen (Photo: Eric Salard, CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED)
WestJet may soon start hiring temporary foreign pilots for its Encore regional affiliate. The low-cost carrier continues to face a shortage of pilots, particularly in the left seat.
Under Canada’s temporary foreign workers (TFW) program, employers must show that no local workers are available for employment. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) – which represents pilots at WestJet and Encore – told CBC News that the company has already received government approval to hire foreign workers.
This process, a WestJet spokesperson said, is one of “multiple avenues” the airline is considering to deal with a shortage of Encore captains. However, the spokesperson stopped short of confirming whether its TFW application was approved.
“This application should never have been made,” said Capt. Tim Perry, president of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) Canada, in a statement to CBC. He added that the union has no issues with hiring permanent immigrants.
Encore is a wholly-owned subsidiary of WestJet, operating regional flights on behalf of the carrier. It operates a fleet of 41 Q400 aircraft, 12 of which are currently parked.
In June 2024, WestJet and Encore’s pilots ratified a new five-year contract. Specifics of the deal were not disclosed by ALPA, but the union said pay raises “set a new standard for regional pilots.”
Ryan founded AirlineGeeks.com back in February 2013 and has amassed considerable experience in the aviation sector. His work has been featured in several publications and news outlets, including CNN, WJLA, CNET, and Business Insider. During his time in the industry, he's worked in roles pertaining to airport/airline operations while holding a B.S. in Air Transportation Management from Arizona State University along with an MBA. Ryan has experience in several facets of the industry from behind the yoke of a Cessna 172 to interviewing airline industry executives. Ryan works for AirlineGeeks' owner FLYING Media, spearheading coverage in the commercial aviation space.
FedEx Orders Boeing 777 and ATR Aircraft, Delays MD-11 Retirements
FedEx Corp. has exercised options to purchase eight additional Boeing 777 freighters from Boeing and pushed back retirement of the tri-engine MD-11 fleet.
FedEx Corp. has exercised options to purchase eight additional Boeing 777 freighters from Boeing and pushed back retirement of the tri-engine MD-11 fleet in response to rising demand for international nonparcel freight service, the company said in third-quarter results.
On Friday, Toulouse, France-based ATR, a manufacturer of regional aircraft, announced that FedEx will acquire 10 extra ATR 72-600 turboprop freighter aircraft, with deliveries scheduled between 2027 and 2029.
FedEx said in Thursday’s quarterly filing that it has extended the retirement deadline for the full MD-11 fleet from 2028 until 2032. Boeing is expected to deliver three factory-built 777 freighters in 2026 and five in 2027. Chief Financial Officer John Dietrich said during a conference call with analysts that FedEx also recently bought two used 777 freighters from an undisclosed party.
FedEx currently operates 57 Boeing 777 freighters and has two deliveries from its 2018 order scheduled this year.
The decision to acquire more widebody cargo jets and hold on to the MD-11s is motivated by the need to replace legacy aircraft with more modern ones, the availability of Boeing jets at attractive prices and growth projections for international heavy freight, Dietrich said.
Growth in freight demand is largely a function of FedEx’s recent strategy to segregate its Express air network along product lines, dedicating a portion of the fleet to go after premium international air cargo that is traditionally consolidated and booked on airlines by freight forwarders.
“Given the demand that we’re seeing out there, particularly in the international economy [segment], we elected to extend the life of those aircraft,” Dietrich said of the MD-11s. “Those assets are mostly depreciated but have some useful life left in them and can support our profitable growth strategy. So if the demand environment doesn’t pan out, we also have the ability to accelerate any retirements on MD-11s.”
FedEx needs extra capacity after permanently removing 31 aircraft from the fleet last year, including nine MD-11s and 22 Boeing 757s, Dietrich said. The airline division has retired 20 MD-11s over the past three years and currently has 37 of the large freighters in service.
The fleet upsizing represents a change in thinking given that FedEx had excess aircraft following the expiration in September of its domestic air cargo contract with the U.S. Postal Service and that as recently as last year the company was downsizing the air fleet in response to a slowdown in parcel demand.
The express carrier had decreased total U.S. domestic flight hours by 24% in the second quarter, primarily due to a 60% reduction in daytime flying for the Postal Service. It expects to realize large savings, starting this quarter, by not having to dedicate more aircraft and other resources to meet service commitments when planes routinely weren’t full of letters and packages.
“Taking down the daytime network that supports the post office, that really increases our flexibility,” President and CEO Raj Subramaniam said.
FedEx has committed to buy 10 additional ATR 72-600 cargo aircraft to support regional feeder routes. (Photo: ATR)
The pivot appears directly connected to FedEx’s Tricolor strategy to streamline the air network and compete more aggressively for deferred cargo business as part of an enterprisewide campaign to remove $4 billion in permanent costs and improve profitability. Management has previously explained it intends to capture a larger share of the $80 billion airfreight market, where it currently has low-single-digit penetration, by reallocating assets, building a dedicated sales organization and investing in digital customer technology.
FedEx has spent 20 months building to the point of tackling the third-party airfreight market at scale.
Under the plan, a Purple network of aircraft and facilities is geared toward international express parcel shipments that move at night for next-day delivery. Those flights accept fewer large freight shipments to maximize sorting efficiency.
The Orange network operates off-schedule to carry heavy freight that doesn’t require maximum speed and is better suited for a truck-fly-truck delivery model than flying the entire trip. FedEx says it is targeting high-yield freight with similar characteristics to less-than-truckload freight – such as pharmaceuticals, perishables, electronics and automotive components – that is more profitable per pound than larger shipments of general goods. Flights are scheduled into primary and regional sortation centers during the daytime, when workers have more time to build dense pallets and then layer on small parcels or poly mailer bags with e-commerce orders to maximize capacity.
The White network is for low-priority shipments booked on commercial passenger aircraft by FedEx’s freight forwarding arm.
“Tricolor is driving better asset utilization. As we improve aircraft density and better leverage our surface network, we have a broad range of KPIs that we are tracking to measure our progress,” said Subramaniam. “We’re especially pleased that on a year-over-year basis, payloads across our air network are up 9% with a 5% improvement in density. This is a key objective of our tricolor operating model.”
Management said the changes are already having a positive impact, especially as trucking increasingly replaces flights to connect smaller markets with hubs.
The Express segment boosted adjusted operating income by 17% to $1.4 billion on a 2.7% increase in revenue during the third quarter, despite the negative impact of losing the U.S. Postal Service contract. Higher U.S. and international export volume buoyed results. International economy package volume increased 48% in the third quarter and airfreight average daily pounds increased 3% for International Priority Freight primarily due to continued growth in deferred air service and e-commerce.
The acquisition of 777 production freighters was influenced by the fact that FedEx hasn’t ordered any widebody aircraft in several years and Boeing was offering them at a good price because they are the last ones to be built before Boeing closes the 777 production line in 2027 so it can focus on a new freighter model, Dietrich said. The newer aircraft are more fuel efficient and require less maintenance than aging units.
As CEO of Atlas Air before joining FedEx, Dietrich purchased the last four 747-8 jumbo jet freighters Boeing produced. Atlas Air, the largest operator of 747 freighter aircraft in the world, took delivery of the final 747 in January 2023. “That turned out to be one of the best financial acquisitions for that company,” Dietrich said.
“These aircraft are in very high demand, and we didn’t want to let them go, for one. But our decision was really informed by both our MD-11 retirement plans, as well as our growth projections for the international freight market,” he explained.
Dietrich reiterated that the deal doesn’t depart from FedEx’s plan to contain capital expenditures, including a $1 billion target for aircraft in the upcoming fiscal year, as part of the effort to run a leaner organization and increase shareholder value.
“We’re planning to stay within that area of investment not only in FY 2026, but for the immediate years beyond, and these aircraft acquisitions are within that framework,” he said.
Feeder Fleet Upgrade
But FedEx isn’t only focused on large cargo aircraft.
The ATR order adds to a previous FedEx commitment for 30 aircraft. FedEx has received 23 aircraft so far and expects the remainder of the first order to be delivered by the end of 2026, according to its latest fleet update.
FedEx subleases the ATR fleet to partner carriers that operate smaller aircraft between smaller cities and hub airports to feed its mainline aircraft. The new ATR 72-600s are being acquired to replace older ATR 72 aircraft, of which FedEx operates 19.
The ATR 72-600 has a payload of about 10 tons. It can be optimized for bulk transport with nine vertical nets attached to the floor but also has a large cargo door, wide cross section and loading system to handle shipping containers, which are compatible with larger freighters.
Editor’s Note: This story first appeared on FreightWaves.
AirlineGeeks.com was founded in February 2013 as a one-person blog in Washington D.C. Since then, we’ve grown to have 25+ active team members scattered across the globe. We are all here for the same reason: we love deep-diving into the fascinating realm of the airline industry.
Air Marshal and Veteran Charged With Airline Wire Fraud
Dior Jay-Jarrett, a retired Marine and federal law enforcement officer, has been charged with wire fraud for orchestrating a scheme to defraud a major airline.
Aircraft on the ramp in Boston.
(Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)
Dior Jay-Jarrett, a retired Marine and federal law enforcement officer, has been federally charged with wire fraud for orchestrating a scheme to defraud a major airline of nearly $70,000 in free or discounted flights.
Jay-Jarrett served as a Federal Air Marshal with the Department of Homeland Security in October 2022.
According to a recently unsealed complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Jay-Jarrett allegedly falsified military deployment documents to claim military leave and get travel benefits from the unnamed airline without eligibility.
The fraud allegedly occurred from October 2021 until September 2024, during which time Jay-Jarrett utilized these benefits to take over 130 flights. He is accused of submitting falsified Marine Corps orders referencing deployments that never occurred, with endorsements from fictitious or retired military personnel.
One incident involved securing a “part time” baggage handler position with the airline under false pretenses solely for travel benefits. Jay-Jarrett posted on social media about having visited 13 countries in 2022, according to a Facebook post screenshot included in the filing.
Special Agent Aaron Greenberg stated in the complaint, “JAY-JARRETT’s false statements to Airline-1 were prohibited by [their] employment policies,” and he “took military leave because he was unable to work as a baggage handler in addition to his active military service.”
The investigation revealed Jay-Jarrett’s apprehensions when corporate security at the carrier initiated scrutiny over discrepancies in his employment, which ultimately led to the surfacing of this fraudulent activity.
The complaint stated that Jay-Jarrett confessed to drafting falsified orders, noting, “All they need is a pair of military orders.” He remains in custody.
“As alleged, Jay-Jarrett—a federal law enforcement officer who currently serves as a Federal Air Marshal for the Department of Homeland Security—racked up thousands of dollars in free or discounted flights while pretending to be deployed on military missions around the world,” said Matthew Podolsky, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, in a DOJ news release on Thursday. “He did so while simultaneously swearing an oath to protect and serve the public. Federal law enforcement officers are responsible for upholding our laws, and they will be held responsible when they break them.”
AirlineGeeks.com was founded in February 2013 as a one-person blog in Washington D.C. Since then, we’ve grown to have 25+ active team members scattered across the globe. We are all here for the same reason: we love deep-diving into the fascinating realm of the airline industry.
A Caribbean Airlines Boeing 737 (Photo: Caribbean Airlines)
Editor’s Note: AirlineGeeks is proud to present our ‘Livery of the Week’ series. Every Friday, a team member will share an airline livery, which can be from the past, present, or even a special scheme. Some airline liveries are works of art. The complexity associated with painting around critical flight components and the added weight requires outside-the-box thinking from designers. The average airliner can cost upwards of $200,000 to repaint, creating a separate aircraft repainting industry as a result.
Have an idea for a livery that we should highlight? Drop us a line.
Caribbean Airlines has undergone a notable evolution in its visual identity, particularly concerning its aircraft livery. In 2020, the airline initiated a rebranding effort, resulting in a refreshed logo and a modernized livery design.
A Caribbean Airlines Boeing 737-800 departing in the old livery. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Ian McMurty)
A key element of this rebranding was the retention of the iconic hummingbird, a symbol deeply connected to Trinidad and Tobago, often referred to as “the land of the hummingbird.”
The color palette of the carrier now prioritizes a purple color scheme across its fleet. The carrier currently operates a fleet of Boeing 737 and ATR aircraft.
Looking for a new airplane model? Head over to our friends at the Midwest Model Store for a wide selection of airlines and liveries.
Ryan founded AirlineGeeks.com back in February 2013 and has amassed considerable experience in the aviation sector. His work has been featured in several publications and news outlets, including CNN, WJLA, CNET, and Business Insider. During his time in the industry, he's worked in roles pertaining to airport/airline operations while holding a B.S. in Air Transportation Management from Arizona State University along with an MBA. Ryan has experience in several facets of the industry from behind the yoke of a Cessna 172 to interviewing airline industry executives. Ryan works for AirlineGeeks' owner FLYING Media, spearheading coverage in the commercial aviation space.
An exterior view of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport (Photo: AirlineGeeks | James Dinsdale)
Operations are set to resume at Heathrow Airport in London following a large-scale power outage that disrupted hundreds of flights.
According to a post on X by the airport on Friday, Heathrow aims to be fully operational again starting Saturday.
“Our teams have worked tirelessly since the incident to ensure a speedy recovery,” the post stated. “We’re now safely able to restart flights, prioritising repatriation and relocation of aircraft. Please do not travel to the airport unless your airline has advised you to do so.”
Another update on Heathrow’s website stated that the airport will run a “reduced operation prioritizing repatriation and relocation of aircraft.”
The roughly 14-hour outage was reportedly caused by a fire at the nearby North Hyde electrical substation, according to AP News. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire.
According to data from aviation analytics company Cirium, at least 1,300 flights at the airport have been affected by the outage on Friday. Around 1,200 total additional flights are scheduled to depart to and from Heathrow on Saturday.
Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said in an online statement Friday that the airport closure “will inconvenience a huge number of travelers.”
“We thank those affected for their patience as airlines focus on getting them to their destination as quickly and efficiently as possible,” he said. “This is yet another case of Heathrow letting down both travelers and airlines.”
“And that begs some serious questions,” Walsh continued. “Firstly, how is it that critical infrastructure—of national and global importance—is totally dependent on a single power source without an alternative. If that is the case—as it seems—then it is a clear planning failure by the airport. And, from that arises the question of who bears the costs of taking care of disrupted travelers.”
Walsh called for “a fairer allocation of passenger care costs” rather than having airlines alone “pickup up the tab when infrastructure fails.”
Until that happens, Heathrow has very little incentive to improve,” he said.
British Airways CEO Sean Doyle posted a video statement on X Friday saying the airline was “forced to effectively ground its flying operation” due to the outage.
“This is an unprecedented situation, and we have not seen a closure of Heathrow on this scale for many years,” he said. “Unfortunately, it will have a huge impact on all of our customers flying with us over the coming days.”
“Today, we were due to operate more than 670 flights carrying around 107,000 customers, with similar numbers planned over the weekend,” Doyle continued. “We have flight and cabin crew colleagues and planes that are currently at locations where we weren’t planning on them to be. This is because we had to divert flights that were in the air when it became clear we weren’t going to be able to land at Heathrow.”
Doyle said British Airways crews are legally limited to operating only a certain number of hours in order to ensure safety. This will cause a logistical issue of getting new crews in place to operate those aircraft once operations resume.
AirlineGeeks.com was founded in February 2013 as a one-person blog in Washington D.C. Since then, we’ve grown to have 25+ active team members scattered across the globe. We are all here for the same reason: we love deep-diving into the fascinating realm of the airline industry.
A Delta Boeing 767-300ER (Photo: Shutterstock | Nieuwland Photography)
Delta plans to expand service to Hawaii this winter, including a new route and additional frequencies.
Beginning on Dec. 19, the carrier will link its Salt Lake City hub and Kona, Hawaii. This route is not completely new to Delta’s network, having been briefly served between 2005 and 2007, per Cirium Diio schedule data.
The airline’s Salt Lake City to Kona service will operate seasonally through March 28. A Boeing 767-300ER will serve this market.
Delta’s new Salt Lake City to Kona route (Photo: gcmap.com)
The airline plans to bolster existing service to Hawaii. Seasonal flights from Salt Lake City to Maui will launch earlier on Oct. 6 at four times weekly and will increase to daily in November.
A second holiday-season frequency will operate on this route from Dec. 19 to Jan. 5 with a 767-300ER.
Service from Atlanta to Maui will start earlier than usual on Nov. 6, with an Airbus A330-300. This route was previously planned on a Boeing 767.
Atlanta–Honolulu will gain a second daily flight for the holiday peak between Dec. 19 and Jan. 5 on the 767-300ER.
Finally, Minneapolis to Honolulu flights will be operated with an Airbus A330-300 from Nov. 6 through Mar. 28.
Ryan founded AirlineGeeks.com back in February 2013 and has amassed considerable experience in the aviation sector. His work has been featured in several publications and news outlets, including CNN, WJLA, CNET, and Business Insider. During his time in the industry, he's worked in roles pertaining to airport/airline operations while holding a B.S. in Air Transportation Management from Arizona State University along with an MBA. Ryan has experience in several facets of the industry from behind the yoke of a Cessna 172 to interviewing airline industry executives. Ryan works for AirlineGeeks' owner FLYING Media, spearheading coverage in the commercial aviation space.
A Condor A330neo in Seattle (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Katie Zera)
Condor released its summer schedule for North America, which includes 12 destinations throughout the U.S. and Canada.
The German leisure airline is known for operating to a wide variety of destinations and routes, including two unique markets in North America, however, one of them will not operate in this year’s schedule.
Condor’s Unique Northern Cities
The first one, which will indeed operate for this season, is Anchorage in Alaska. Condor operates one of the state’s only nonstop flights to Europe with service three times a week on board the Airbus A330-900neo aircraft.
Anchorage and Frankfurt are nine time zones apart from each other, and with the westbound flight being roughly nine hours in scheduled length, there is a good chance it will land before taking off in each city’s local time.
The other unique flight the carrier operated in the past won’t be happening this season; Whitehorse in Canada’s Yukon Territory. Condor used to fly here with its Boeing 767-300 but they have since retired the aircraft type from its fleet as of March 2024.
The airline used to operate this route from Frankfurt, but currently, Whitehorse’s main runway is being repaved and is expected to be completed sometime in 2026.
The airport’s secondary runway is too short to accommodate the airline’s Airbus A330. However, according to an email from the Yukon government to CBC,“even once the runway is repaved, the airport may not be able to accommodate the Airbuses that Condor will be flying.”
Condor passengers wishing to go to Whitehorse can still go, but will now have to connect through Condor’s other western gateways in Canada, like Vancouver and Calgary.
Summer Schedule Additions
In addition to Vancouver and Calgary in Canada’s west, Condor also flies daily to Toronto, which is a year-round destination. Along with Toronto, other year-round destinations for Condor in North America include New York-JFK, as well as Miami and Seattle.
A Condor Airlines Airbus A330-900 arriving at the gate at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Fangzhong Guo)
Other than those four year-round destinations, this summer the carrier will also offer eight seasonal destinations; along with previously mentioned Vancouver and Calgary in Canada and Anchorage in the United States, These include Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Portland, Oregon.
Condor’s North American summer schedule (Photo: Condor)
All destinations listed will be served by the airline’s Airbus A330-900neo, which offers 310 passenger seats; 26 in business, 64 in premium economy, and 216 in economy. All of the seasonal destinations for Condor in North America will be restarting around the end of April into the beginning of May.
Joey has always been interested in planes for as long as he can remember. He grew up in Central New York during the early 2000s when US Airways Express turboprops ruled the skies. Being from a non-aviation family made it harder for him to be around planes and would only spend about three hours a month at the airport. He was so excited when he could drive by himself, the first thing he did with his driver's license was get ice cream and go plane spotting for the entire day. He graduated from Western Michigan University in 2022 with a B.S. in Aviation Management & Operations and a Minor in Business, and currently works for a major airline in his hometown.
Boeing Sued by Family of Deceased Whistleblower
The family of deceased Boeing whistleblower John “Mitch” Barnett has filed a lawsuit blaming the company for his suicide.
A Boeing 787-10 is towed in North Charleston. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Chuyi Chuang)
The family of deceased Boeing whistleblower John “Mitch” Barnett has filed a lawsuit blaming the company for his suicide.
The wrongful death lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina alleges that Boeing’s conduct towards Barnett “was the clear cause, and the clear foreseeable cause, of [his] death.”
Barnett, a 62-year-old Boeing quality manager, was found dead in his truck in Charleston, South Carolina, in March 2024. The cause of death was later determined to be suicide.
He had worked for Boeing for 32 years, including 17 years as a quality manager – approximately seven of which were at Boeing South Carolina.
He was suing Boeing under the provisions of the AIR21 Whistleblower Protection Program for alleged retaliation after he raised concerns about quality control issues for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner program.
John Barnett in a Netflix documentary (Photo: Netflix)
This was around the time Boeing production practices began undergoing increased scrutiny due to two fatal 737 MAX airplane crashes in 2018 and 2019.
The Federal Aviation Administration started investigations into the manufacturer’s quality control processes after a door plug flew off an Alaska 737 MAX 9 in February 2024, a month before Barnett committed suicide.
Prior to his death, Barnett had been scheduled to take a follow-up deposition regarding his 2020 whistleblower lawsuit against Boeing.
Barnett’s Family Blames Boeing
Wednesday’s 146-page legal complaint stated that Barnett had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder by a mental health counselor he was seeing in February 2017.
“[Barnett] reported feelings of sadness, hopelessness, sleep disturbances with nightmares, and an overwhelming sense that something bad was going to happen,” the complaint stated. “He feared further retaliation for reporting his complaints to OSHA and the FAA. He continued to fear that people would die due to improper work on the assembly line at Boeing.
“His fears were heightened as a result of the plane crashes and accidents that he already witnessed related to the same quality issues he had identified,” the complaint continued. “He expressed feelings of survivor guilt for being unable to convince Boeing to prevent these tragedies.”
In March 2017, Barnett took an early retirement from Boeing. The complaint stated that this was “due to his employment-related stress, as a result of being subjected to a retaliatory hostile work environment.”
The complaint includes a photo of a note Barnett wrote before his death. The note included several messages including:
“I pray those motherf*** that destroyed my life pay! I pray Boeing pays!”
“To my family and friends, I found my purpose! I’m at peace!”
“P.S. The entire system for whistleblowers protection is f*** up too!!”
The complaint stated that Barnett’s note “demonstrates the retaliation, harassment, and maltreatment he experienced at the hands of Boeing [that] caused his PTSD, which, in turn, caused his suicide and untimely death.”
“Boeing had threatened to break John and break him it did,” the Barnett family’s attorneys also wrote.
It further alleged there were other instances of Boeing Whistleblowers suffering retaliation. One individual named in the complaint was a product quality manager who resigned in 2016 due to a hostile work environment when insisting FAA regulations be followed.
Barnett’s family is represented by attorneys Robert Turkewitz, Brian Knowles, David Boies, and Sigrid McCawley.
Boies is a prominent U.S. attorney known for leading the federal government’s successful prosecution of Microsoft for antitrust law violations in 2001. He has more recently represented victims in cases against Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.
McCawley is a veteran attorney who has also represented victims against Epstein.
Barnett’s family is suing Boeing for an unspecified dollar amount in damages as well as funeral and burial expenses and legal costs.
AirlineGeeks.com was founded in February 2013 as a one-person blog in Washington D.C. Since then, we’ve grown to have 25+ active team members scattered across the globe. We are all here for the same reason: we love deep-diving into the fascinating realm of the airline industry.
