Alaska's newest special livery (Photo: Alaska 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.
In 2023, Alaska unveiled a new aircraft livery that celebrates its namesake state’s iconic salmon.
The Boeing 737-800 features a design created by Alaska Native artist Crystal Worl, incorporating traditional Northwest Coast form-line art.
Xáat Kwáani in the hangar. (Photo: Ingrid Barrentine | Alaska Airlines)
Named X̱áat Ḵwáani, meaning “Salmon People” in the Tlingit language, the aircraft honors the cultural and ecological significance of salmon to Alaska Native people. Worl’s artwork depicts the salmon’s life cycle and its connection to the land and people.
This is the first time an Alaska Airlines aircraft has been named in an Alaska Native language. The aircraft is registered as N559AS.
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 in February 2013 and has spent more than a decade covering the airline business. His work has been featured by CNN, WJLA, CNET, and Business Insider. His aviation experience spans airport operations, Part 135 regulatory compliance, and airline crew workforce planning, along with time behind the yoke of a Cessna 172 and interviews with airline executives. Ryan now serves as Group President of Firecrown Media’s Aviation Group. He holds a B.S. in Air Transportation Management and an MBA from Arizona State University and teaches Airline Management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Voepass ATR-72 aircraft (Photo: VOEPASS Linhas Aéreas, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons)
An ATR-72-500 has crashed in Brazil, according to early reports on social media. The aircraft — registered as PS-VPB — was operated by Brazilian carrier Voepass. The airline confirmed the accident in a statement Friday afternoon.
Per the carrier, the flight was planned to operate from Cascavel to Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos Airport. There were 58 passengers and four crew members onboard.
In a translated Facebook post, Voepass said it has “activated all means to support those involved.”
The aircraft first began service in 2010, joining Voepass’ fleet in 2022. Videos on social media show the turboprop aircraft involved in a spin before crashing. ADS-B data indicates the aircraft dropping by up to 24,000 feet per minute.
Vinhedo officials stated that noone onboard survived the accident, per The New York Times.
Ryan founded AirlineGeeks.com in February 2013 and has spent more than a decade covering the airline business. His work has been featured by CNN, WJLA, CNET, and Business Insider. His aviation experience spans airport operations, Part 135 regulatory compliance, and airline crew workforce planning, along with time behind the yoke of a Cessna 172 and interviews with airline executives. Ryan now serves as Group President of Firecrown Media’s Aviation Group. He holds a B.S. in Air Transportation Management and an MBA from Arizona State University and teaches Airline Management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Regional aircraft at New York LaGuardia Airport. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)
As companies that fly people from place to place, airlines are most often associated with aircraft. This means, of course, that the most visible jobs at airlines are pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, and ramp agents.
These roles are crucial to airlines and other aviation firms, who rely on their flight operations to stay in business. However, equally as important are the backdoor office jobs that ensure flights keep running smoothly. Airline management plays a number of critical roles in continuing growth over time.
Financial Planning
Airline margins are notorious for being razor-thin. The number one determinant for which airline a passenger chooses to fly is price, so companies need to keep costs as low as possible with just the right amount of upsell to ensure they can make money without losing ground to competitors. Knowing how to balance all the fiscal intricacies of an airline is an incredibly detailed, important job.
Financial planners are critical to airlines’ success because they have a keen eye for financial trends and predictions over the long term. They take a holistic view of a company’s fiscal health and consider a number of factors to determine how to best move forward. Being able to recognize themes and patterns makes adjusting to future possibilities easier, allowing airlines to ensure long-term stability.
Airlines hold quarterly calls to disclose their financial performance to shareholders and the public. Financial planners work diligently to prepare and perfect these reports, and they provide critical financial background information to other management personnel who are planning strategy updates based on the published results.
Financial planners prepare for airlines’ future to ensure their viability and success. Many airlines to date have failed due to poor financial decisions, and the biggest and best today are those whose financial planners ensure a steady, strong foundation for success.
Pricing and Revenue Management
Pricing flights is a fascinating subset of financial planning. Instead of looking at a complete fiscal picture, the pricing and revenue management department considers how much to charge passengers for flights.
A number of factors must be considered when determining how much to charge for a flight. Besides competition, airlines consider things like the day of the week a flight departs on, the departure’s time of day, how long a trip takes, how far in advance a ticket is booked, and more.
Broadly speaking, airline prices are broken down into a number of fare classes considering an array of factors. These fare classes tend to have notable trends based on flight bookings. For example, a flight will be bumped into a higher (more expensive) fare class when either a certain number of people book a ticket or when a flight comes within a certain time of departure. This means that two people sitting next to each other may have paid significantly different amounts for a flight depending on when they booked their ticket.
Again, airline financials are detailed and intricate, and determining how to price a flight is no exception. Pricing analysts decide how to set the price and fare classes for a given flight in order to maximize the revenue from each leg flown.
Crew Scheduling
Multiple crew scheduling debacles at multiple airlines over the last few years highlight the importance of seamless, efficient planning. Airlines need crews in the right place at the right time to keep flights running smoothly, and crews need to be able to move from one base to another (or from a base to an outstation) at a moment’s notice to pick up an airplane or sub for another crew.
Crew schedulers ensure that each flight can be fully staffed and ready for departure on time. They are in constant contact with line holders and reserve crew to keep track of where they are, and they must adjust quickly during cancellations, delays, and other irregular operations to ensure full, timely recovery to normal flight operations.
Pilot prepares aircraft for departure (Photo: Shutterstock)
Many airlines have made significant updates to their crew scheduling system over the years. Airlines have gone from paper time cards, consistent phone calls, and hand-to-hand turnovers to mobile apps that update instantly. Regardless of the expansion of technology, human crew schedulers are still essential to overseeing operations and responding to irregularities in the system.
Network Planning
The most important things airlines do is fly. An essential part of doing so is identifying which routes have the highest revenue potential long-term. Airlines must consider items such as passenger demand, aircraft availability, and important events or seasonal occurrences that impact demand.
The most successful airlines are often those that can corner niche routes and segments before their competitors. This can attract a specific, loyal customer base before other companies can, thereby setting a strong base for future continued growth.
Route planners use data from a wide variety of sources to identify which city pairs have the greatest untapped potential. They incorporate data such as the balance of leisure and business travel on each segment to identify not only which routes have the most demand but also which routes fit best into the entire network and fleet structure.
There are a wide array of management jobs available to those interested in non-crew aviation careers. Working in airline management can be incredibly rewarding and lucrative, without requiring the employee to be away from home for days or weeks at a time. Rather, they allow people the chance to work in the industry and pursue their passions in what some may consider a more stable, predictable lifestyle.
Looking for pilot jobs? FindaPilot.com posts new openings every day. Get a 20% discount on any plan. Just use the promo code AG20 when purchasing a plan. You’ll get a 20% discount on your first three months as a member.
John McDermott is a commercial pilot pursuing a career in professional flight. His passion for aviation began in an Ann Arbor bookstore with a tale of enemy pilots during World War 2, and he hasn't looked back. Besides flying and writing for AirlineGeeks, John volunteers with Professional Pilots of Tomorrow and travels whenever he gets the chance.
Delta, CrowdStrike Spar Over July Meltdown
The report states that the incident caused around 7,000 flight cancellations over the course of five days, leading to $500M in lost revenue.
A Delta Airlines Airbus A320 in Boston.
(Photo: AirliineGeeks | William Derrickson)
Delta responded to CrowdStrike’s letter shifting blame to the airline for allegedly mishandling its response to disruptions caused by a faulty update sent to Microsoft Windows operating systems in mid-July.
In a response letter to CrowdStrike attorney Michael Carlinsky, Delta attorney David Boies states that the software company has no basis to suggest the airline was responsible for the faulty software that crashed systems around the world.
“When the disaster occurred, dedicated Delta employees across the company worked tirelessly to recover from the damage CrowdStrike had caused,” Boies states in the letter. “Their efforts were hindered by CrowdStrike’s failure to promptly provide an automatic solution or the information needed to facilitate those efforts.”
Among several points addressed by Boies in his letter, he notably states that CrowdStrike showed no sense of urgency for the damage it caused, and the company’s offers to assist Delta were too late. Boies states that CrowdStrike’s offers of assistance during the first 65 hours of the outage simply referred Delta to CrowdStrike’s publicly available remediation website, which instructed Delta to manually reboot every affected machine.
“While CrowdStrike eventually offered a supposed automated solution on Sunday, July 21 at 5:27 pm ET, it introduced a second bug that prevented many machines from recovering without additional intervention,” Boies states.
As for CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz’s offer to support Delta CEO Ed Bastian, Boies states that Kurtz offered this assistance on the evening of July 22, and it was unhelpful and untimely.
“When made – almost four days after the CrowdStrike disaster began – Delta had already restored its critical systems and most other machines,” Boies states. “Many of the remaining machines were located in secure airport areas requiring government-mandated access clearance. By that time Delta’s confidence in CrowdStrike was naturally shaken.”
Additionally, Boies addressed claims that Delta’s IT technology was not up to par for handling the disaster.
“Delta rejects CrowdStrike’s misplaced attempt to shift responsibility for its failures to Delta’s ‘IT decisions and response to the outage,’” Boies states. “First, those ‘decisions and response’ had nothing to do with the cause of the outage. Moreover, for the last several years, including prior to and following its recovery from the Faulty Update, Delta’s operational reliability and customer service has led the airline industry. Delta has achieved its industry-leading reliability and service due, in part, to investing billions of dollars in information technology.”
Boies ends the letter demanding CrowdStrike “accept real responsibility for its actions” and compensate the airline for damaging its business, reputation, and goodwill.
The report states that the incident caused around 7,000 flight cancellations over the course of five days, leading to $380 million in customer refunds, $170 million in expense reimbursements and crew-related costs, and $50 million in estimated fuel expenses. This has impacted the airline’s projected year-over-year September quarter 2024 capacity growth by approximately 1.5 points.
“An operational disruption of this length and magnitude is unacceptable, and our customers and employees deserve better. Since the incident, our people have returned the operation to an industry-leading position that is consistent with the level of performance our customers expect from Delta,” said Delta CEO Ed Bastian, in a statement included in the 8-K form.
Bastian doubled down on previous litigation threats, stating in the form that Delta is pursuing legal claims against CrowdStrike and Microsoft to recover at least $500 million in damages caused by the outage.
Both CrowdStrike and Microsoft have denied Delta’s allegations of negligence for the software update that caused airline disruptions nationwide on July 19. Both companies also claimed that Delta had refused free assistance from their IT teams to help with the airline’s ongoing issues throughout the week of the outage.
The complaint alleges that nearly every airline had managed to recover and resume normal operations by the end of the week, except for Delta, which continued to cancel flights.
“On Monday, July 22, it was reported that Delta canceled more than 1,250 flights. These cancellations accounted for nearly 70% of all flights within, to, or from the United States that had been canceled on Monday,” Sauder Schelkopf’s website states. “No other US airline had canceled one-tenth as many flights.”
Additionally, the class action lawsuit alleges that Delta failed to give some affected passengers automatic refunds for canceled flights and oftentimes conditioned its offer of partial reimbursements to passengers on a waiver releasing Delta of all legal claims passengers have against Delta.
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.
Airbus celebrated a significant milestone on Thursday, rolling out its 500th aircraft manufactured in the U.S. from the company's facility in Mobile, Ala.
Airbus' 500th aircraft made in Mobile (Photo: Airbus)
Airbus celebrated a significant milestone on Thursday, rolling out its 500th aircraft manufactured in the United States from the company’s facility in Mobile, Ala. The A321neo, destined for Delta, marks a key achievement for the European manufacturer since establishing its U.S. assembly operations in 2015.
The company is currently expanding its Mobile facility with a third A320 Family final assembly line, scheduled to open next year. This expansion is expected to further bolster the company’s global production capacity.
“This 500th aircraft milestone belongs to our Airbus employees. Their relentless passion and hard work made this achievement possible,” said Daryl Taylor, Senior Vice President of Commercial Aircraft Operations for Airbus in the U.S., in a press release. “Our journey has also been supported every step of the way by our community, and by our customers who have put their trust in Airbus. We look forward to continuing to build safe, quality aircraft for our customers in the U.S. and Latin America.”
Delta has acquired over 130 aircraft produced in Mobile. Kristen Bojko, the airline’s vice president of fleet, praised the partnership with Airbus and the positive impact of the U.S.-built aircraft on the airline’s operations.
Local officials also expressed their enthusiasm for the achievement. Mobile County Commission President Randall Dueitt and Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson highlighted Airbus’ significant contribution to the region’s economy and job creation.
“Airbus has been a valued addition to the City of Mobile and a model employer where many local families have launched long rewarding careers with the world’s commercial aerospace manufacturing leader,” Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said. “Congratulations to everyone at Airbus for achieving this significant 500 aircraft milestone.”
With over 2,400 employees in Alabama, Airbus is a major employer in the state.
Ryan founded AirlineGeeks.com in February 2013 and has spent more than a decade covering the airline business. His work has been featured by CNN, WJLA, CNET, and Business Insider. His aviation experience spans airport operations, Part 135 regulatory compliance, and airline crew workforce planning, along with time behind the yoke of a Cessna 172 and interviews with airline executives. Ryan now serves as Group President of Firecrown Media’s Aviation Group. He holds a B.S. in Air Transportation Management and an MBA from Arizona State University and teaches Airline Management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
A Qantas 787 Dreamliner lifting out of Paine Field in Washington.
(Photo: AirlineGeeks | Katie Zera)
Australia’s flag carrier Qantas has decided to reroute its nonstop Perth to London flight. The decision to shift the service was taken in the interest of safety and as a precaution due to rising tensions in the Middle East.
The ultra-long service, launched in 2018, which previously operated nonstop through Middle East airspace will now operate via Singapore. The London flight, usually a 17-and-a-half hour service, will now refuel in Singapore. Then, as a precaution, the flight will follow an alternative route to London.
Return Flight Still Nonstop
The return flight from London Heathrow to Perth International Airport, however, will remain a non-stop service. The flight will take a readjusted route to Perth, avoiding flying over potentially risky areas. There will be no need to refuel en-route as prevailing winds will enable the aircraft to fly directly to Perth.
This is the second time this year that Qantas has been forced to reroute its flights due to tensions in the Middle East. In April, the Sydney-based carrier paused its nonstop route after Iran declared it would strike Israel for killing a senior Iranian commander in Syria.
The latest suspension follows Iran’s promise to retaliate for the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed by a suspected Israeli airstrike in Tehran on July 31.
Editor’s Note: This story was corrected on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 at 10:15 a.m. ET to properly reflect Qantas’ headquarters in Sydney.
Lorne is a South Africa-based aviation journalist. He was captivated and fascinated by flying from the day he took his first airline flight. With a passion for aviation in his blood, he has flown to destinations in all corners of the globe. Lorne has traveled extensively and lived in various countries. Drawing on his travels and passion for aviation, Lorne enjoys writing about airlines, routes, networks, and new developments.
A Frontier Airbus A321neo (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)
Frontier Airlines announced a major shift in its fleet strategy on Thursday. According to Reuters, the airline is abandoning plans to acquire the long-range Airbus A321XLR and deferring the delivery of several planned aircraft.
The airline previously held options to convert 18 A320neo aircraft into the longer-range A321XLR model. However, Frontier has opted to convert these orders into standard A321neo configurations.
In addition to this shift in aircraft type, the carrier has decided to delay the delivery of 54 Airbus aircraft scheduled for delivery between 2025 and 2028. The airline will now receive these planes between 2029 and 2031.
This news comes from Frontier exceeding analyst expectations for second-quarter profits. The airline reported a strong financial performance, driven by cost-cutting initiatives like network simplification and successful sale-leaseback deals. Additionally, Frontier achieved a lower cost per available seat mile (CASM) of 8.98 cents, a 6% year-over-year improvement.
Ongoing global economic uncertainty, coupled with rising fuel prices and inflationary pressures, necessitates a more cautious approach. The airline industry continues to grapple with supply chain disruptions and labor shortages that impact aircraft production and delivery timelines. Pushing back deliveries, Frontier says, mitigates risks associated with these challenges.
This decision aligns with similar moves by other carriers in a competitive market. Notably, JetBlue recently announced plans to delay the delivery of 44 Airbus aircraft.
Tolga is a dedicated aviation enthusiast with years of experience in the industry. From an early age, his fascination with aviation went beyond a mere passion for travel, evolving into a deliberate exploration of the complex mechanics and engineering behind aircraft. As a writer, he aims to share insights , providing readers with a view into the complex inner workings of the aviation industry.
First Day at the Office for New Boeing CEO
Kelly Ortberg starts his new role with a message to employees about ‘restoring trust’ with the public.
Kelly Ortberg started his new role as president and CEO of Boeing on Thursday. (Photo: Boeing)
Thursday marked the first day on the job for Kelly Ortberg, the new president and CEO of Boeing. Ortberg began the role with a message to Boeing employees acknowledging that the company will have to work hard to regain the public’s trust.
“Restoring trust starts with meeting our commitments, whether that’s building high-quality, safe commercial aircraft, delivering on defense and space products that allow our customers to meet their mission, or servicing our products to keep our customers running 24/7,” Ortberg’s message said. “It also means meeting our commitments to each other and working collaboratively across Boeing to meet our goals. People’s lives depend on what we do every day, and we must keep that top of mind with every decision we make.”
Boeing’s reputation took a tumble in the wake of the 2018 and 2019 737 Max crashes that were attributed to a design flaw, resulting in a 20-month FAA grounding of the aircraft and the January 2024 loss of a door plug during an Alaska Airlines flight.
The latter has been the topic of two days of hearings before the National Transportation Safety Board. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy noted that the agency still needs to determine how the jet (Alaska Airlines Flight 1282) left the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, missing four crucial bolts that held the door in place.
Ortberg will be based in Seattle, stating that it is important to be close to the place where the bulk of Boeing’s aircraft are made. William Boeing, the founder of the company, chose the Puget Sound because the first airplanes were made of spruce, and the area was rife with spruce forests. When aircraft manufacturing turned to metal, Boeing adapted, creating Washington factories in Everett, Renton and Seattle.
In 2001 when Boeing moved its headquarters to Chicago, and later Virginia, many industry experts suggested the aerospace giant’s focus had shifted from turning out quality products to increasing profit, even if it meant cutting corners. They also predicted that having the headquarters so far from the main factories would result in a degradation of product quality.
Ortberg announced he would be spending his first day on the job on the factory floor in Renton, “talking with employees and learning about challenges we need to overcome, while also reviewing our safety and quality plans.”
Ortberg, who brings more than 30 years of experience to his new role, vowed to be transparent with Boeing employees.
“Soon I’ll be visiting many of our sites and I look forward to meeting with teammates around the world,” his message to employees said. “In speaking with our customers and industry partners leading up to [Thursday], I can tell you that, without exception, everyone wants us to succeed.”
In addition to winning back the trust of the air traveling public, Ortberg will be faced with improving Boeing’s financial situation. The 737 Max crashes and door plug accident have sent the company’s stock prices into a nosedive.
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.
A British Airways Boeing 777 at London Heathrow. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)
British Airways is the latest airline to scale back service to China. The carrier said Thursday that it would “pause” service between London Heathrow and Beijing effective Oct. 26, 2024.
According to the Financial Times, the IAG-owned airline expects to suspend the route for at least a year. British Airways’ service to Beijing Daxing currently operates four times per week on a Boeing 777-200.
The London-based carrier will continue to serve Shanghai and Hong Kong. Last year, British Airways resumed service to both Beijing and Shanghai after a nearly three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Western airlines continue to face woes in the Chinese market, largely due to the closure of Russian airspace. Flights are forced to deviate around the airspace, which extends block times.
Ryan founded AirlineGeeks.com in February 2013 and has spent more than a decade covering the airline business. His work has been featured by CNN, WJLA, CNET, and Business Insider. His aviation experience spans airport operations, Part 135 regulatory compliance, and airline crew workforce planning, along with time behind the yoke of a Cessna 172 and interviews with airline executives. Ryan now serves as Group President of Firecrown Media’s Aviation Group. He holds a B.S. in Air Transportation Management and an MBA from Arizona State University and teaches Airline Management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
A Fiji Airways Airbus A350 aircraft (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)
Fiji Airways — the flag carrier for the South Pacific island of Fiji — recently announced new, nonstop flights between Nadi and Dallas/Ft. Worth. Flights are expected to begin on December 10 and will operate three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
The carrier plans to utilize one of its Airbus A350-900XWB on this 13-hour service.
Fiji Airways Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Andre Viljoen, said, “Introducing a direct service between Fiji and Dallas is a really exciting milestone for Fiji Airways, as we continue to increase Fiji’s connectivity with the United States and beyond offering our guests more travel options.”
Currently, the airline operates to Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Vancouver, and with the addition of flights to Dallas, the Fijian carrier will fly to five destinations in North America.
“The new Fiji-Dallas service is set to bring more than 1,000 passengers a week into Fiji alone, helping to bolster the nation’s tourism industry. The overnight flight will also offer our customers increased connections to North America from the South Pacific and beyond,”Viljoen added.
Airline’s Oneworld Alliance Membership
Fiji Airways’ introduction of flights to Dallas/Fort Worth comes roughly two months after the carrier announced it would be officially joining the Oneworld airline alliance in 2025. The carrier would be the alliance’s 15th full member, after previously holding status as an Oneworld Connect partner since December 2018.
Dallas/Ft. Worth is a major hub for American Airlines, a notable member of the airline alliance, and the new flight operations will allow the South Pacific to build upon its partnership with American.
Benjamin has had a love for aviation since a young age, growing up in Tampa with a strong interest in airplane models and playing with them. When he moved to the Washington, D.C. area, Benjamin took part in aviation photography for a couple of years at Gravelly Point and Dulles Airport, before dedicating planespotting to only when he traveled to the other airports. He is an avid, world traveler, having been able to reach 32 countries, yearning to explore and understand more cultures soon. Currently, Benjamin is an Air Transporation Management student at Arizona State University. He hopes to enter the airline industry to improve the passenger experience and loyalty programs while keeping up to how technology is being integrated into airports.
Sign-up for newsletters & special offers!
Get the latest stories & special offers delivered directly to your inbox
