Brussels Airlines Brings Flights to Washington

Last Tuesday, Brussels Airlines added a new design to the rainbow of tails of international airlines that fly into Washington Dulles International Airport. Announced in January, the Belgian carrier has begun flights five times a week between Brussels and Washington, using A330s. Flying as flight number 515, the flights will arrive at Dulles five days a week every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, as the second direct link between Washington and Brussels, the first being United's flight 950. Coming in at 7:30, the flights will also be one of Dulles' few evening international arrivals, meaning shorter wait times in customs.

Brussels Airlines is a member of Star Alliance, and because Washington is a major hub for United, also a Star Alliance member, it allows passengers a much smoother connection to reach many other cities in the US. Not only that, but in the other direction, flights leaving Washington can have passengers connecting to other Brussels Airlines destinations. During the summer season, passengers flying to and from the Belgian capital will fly Brussels', A332s and A333s, newly refurbished with more comfortable business and economy class cabins.

The new route is all part of Brussels' expanding long haul route structure. Last year, they added New York as their first transatlantic destination, making Washington its second destination in the Americas. According to CEO Bernard Gustin, over the last four years, Brussels Airlines has doubled its long haul fleet size from 4 to 8 aircraft and added 4 intercontinental destinations. "Washington is part of our strategy to operate the most important intercontinental destinations from Brussels Airport" Gustin said.

The A350 Flies for the First Time, Adding Fuel to the Fire in Widebody Race

After years of design, months of assembly, weeks of testing, and days of anticipation, Airbus' newest jet, the A350 took to the skies over Toulouse, France last Friday for its inaugural flight. A crew of 6 pilots and engineers flew the test flight, including Airbus' Chief Test Pilot Peter Chandler and A350 Project Pilot Guy Magrin, in front of hundreds of members of the media from around the world. Under the serial number MSN1, Airbus' A350 XWB test flight was completed successfully and went off without a hitch. "[The flight went] pretty well, the aircraft is in good shape," said Patrick Du Ché, Head of Development Flight Tests for the program. Friday's test flight kicks off a flight test program with around 2500 flight hours and 5 development aircraft. The French aircraft maker intends to have the first delivery to a customer in mid 2014 to Qatar Airways.

Labelled a "Boeing-Killer", the A350 XWB is Airbus' response to Boeing's radically designed 787 Dreamliner, which recently experienced problems with its battery system. The company says that its three models, the A350-800, -900, and -1000 each compete with a different Boeing widebody. The A350-900, the base variant, is built to compete with Boeing's 777-200ER in both range and capacity, but boasting a 25% reduction in fuel burn and operating costs. The A350-800, the shortened variant, is designed to compete with Boeing's 787-9 in range and capacity, but boasting an 8% reduction in fuel burn and operating costs. The A350-1000, the stretched and most troubled variant, aims to compete with Boeing's 777-300ER, its best-selling 777 model, but boasting 25% lower fuel burn and operating costs.

For quite a while after the launch of the A350, while the -800 and -900 variants wereselling like hot cakes, Airbus had trouble drawing new orders for the A350-1000, with customers citing that despite a much improved engine that Airbus added to the design two years ago, pushing back entry into service 18 months, the A350-1000 still does not compete with Boeing's bestselling 777 product, the 777-300ER. Recently however, starting with Cathay Pacific's order converting 16 A350-900s to -1000s and adding 10 more to their total, orders for the longest version of Airbus' new composite jet have been rolling in.

With the introduction of the A350, Airbus and Boeing are locked in a renewed battle for the wallets of international airlines who fly long haul flights. After many traditionally Boeing customers turned to Airbus' new jet to replace their aging first generation 777s, Boeing decided to officially launch its 777X program, a project that many inside the aviation industry had known a lot about already, in order to try to stop the bleeding of customers to rivals across the pond. Believed to be the catalyst for the official launch was the decision by British Airways to order 18 of the Airbus craft as part of their replacement program for their 747-400s. Boeing's 777X will include the -8X, the successor to the 777-300, the -8LX, the successor to the bestselling 777-300ER, and the -9X, which will be in a whole new class of capacity for twinjets, comparable to the 747. While these two companies are no stranger to competition in the widebody aircraft department, never before have the two models been so similar to each other.

Airlines and Their Relationships with Sports Teams

These days, almost every team in major professional sports leagues has an official airline. These official airlines put their name on the big screen at the stadium, appear on local advertisements boasting their status as the "official airline of your team", and sponsor merchandise promotions at the team's home venue. Normally, these are airlines that operate a hub at the local airport or at a nearby major city's airport. But that is just about where the similarities end. Different airlines have very different relationships with their sports teams; some relationships are intimate and rather exclusive and sometimes airlines will have so many teams, that they can number more than 30.

The reason airlines sponsor teams is to attach their name to local fans' favorite teams. In this day and age, here in America and around the world, people are very tightly connected to their favorite team, sometimes even giving their favorite players nicknames or using the pronouns we, us, and our when referring to their favorite team. Advertisers will pay top dollar to be associated with these cultural icons, and airlines are no exception. To an airline, associating with a team means that when fans go to book a flight, they're more likely to think of the airline that has giant billboards at their favorite team's home venue.

But some airlines are a lot less passive in their approach to marketing their brand to sports fans. Just in the US, airlines like JetBlue and US Airways have created special liveries for the teams they sponsor. Internationally, airlines like Air New Zealand and Turkish Airlines have also created special liveries for sports teams; Turkish has even painted the entire roster of FC Barcelona on the side of a 777-300ER. When people see their favorite team's logo flying through the sky, they will clamor to choose that airline the next time they fly, in hopes of being able to fly that special plane.

Other airlines host contests for the team, with the prize ranging from free round-trip tickets to one of their destinations to a season-long vacation following the team to every road game; Everyone loves free things, even if one of those free things is a cramped economy class seat in a plane flying 5 hours across the country, sandwiched between the crying baby and the person who talks too much. These airlines know that by tapping into the sports market, and properly engaging in their communities, they can potentially draw hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of fans, if they form as tight a bond with the fans in the same way the fans have formed a bond with their team, a challenge some airlines have mastered, while others have yet to come close to achieving.

Dreamliners Return to the Skies in Droves

This past week, dubbed Dreamliner week by yours truly, has seen four new airlines "re-inaugurate" 787 services, two airlines receive their first 787, confirmation that all 50 Dreamliners delivered before the grounding have been refitted with the improved battery system, and to top it all off, the first pictures surfacing of Boeing's first 787-9 in final assembly at their production facility in Everett. The Dreamliner flooded aviation news sites in the latter half of last week while Boeing and it's flashy new toy closed one tumultuous chapter and moved on to a new one with less drama and hopefully for Boeing, more cash.

On Saturday June 1st, two airlines put their 787s into commercial service. After more than a month of flight tests, Japanese carrier Japan Airlines put their birds back into commercial service, flying within Asia and to Boston and San Diego. Though ANA decided to push one inaugural flight forward a week, they also put the rest of their 787s back into the air on service in Asia and to San Jose and Frankfurt. LOT Polish also resumed service this weekend, sending their Dreamliner from Warsaw to New York. LAN, however, had originally scheduled its service resumption to also be this weekend, but have pushed back the date another month to July 1st, leaving them to be the last pre-grounding airline still grounded.

Friday, before three different airlines restarted their silent Dreamliner engines, two airlines started their engines and took off for the first time. British carrier Thomson Airways and China Southern Airlines both left Paine Field as brand new owners of their own Dreamliners. And China Southern will be starting commercial flights this week, flying from Guangzhou to Beijing starting Friday June 6th. Thomson on the other hand is not starting flights until late July.

All this comes after Boeing has confirmed that all 50 aircraft delivered before the grounding have been refitted with the brand new battery system. Photos have also surfaced of the first 787-9 in final assembly, with its stretched fuselage and "9" painted on the tail clearly visible. Besides the 787-9, fully painted -8s have coming out of the paint shop non-stop. So far, British Airways, Norwegian, and Hinian tails have all been spotted on the flight line in Seattle, waiting to be delivered. Norwegian and Aeromexico have both announced their inaugural routes. Paine Field should be very busy this summer.

The Toy Airport Set

Looking back, there have been so many things in my life that could have kickstarted a lifelong interest in aviation. For one thing, I had planes fly over my house every day, and still no interest was sparked until I was 15. My dad used to take annual business trips to Frankfurt and the whole family would go pick him up at the airport, and still no interest. I only flew for the first time when I was 8. But my favorite missed opportunity, if thats what you want to call it, was my toy airport set.

When I was about 5, I had a little toy airport set complete with a control tower, "gates", and planes. It even had little baggage trucks with the AA logo on the side. I had three little model planes, and although I don't remember the type, I do remember that there was an American, a Continental, and a Northwest jet. I would play with the set all the time, but somehow the fun never translated to the real ones. Only now, being an AvGeek, do I really wish I had it. But, of course, as with most of the toys I loved as a kid, I have no idea where it is.

I've come to realize that almost everyone has a favorite or cherished aviation related memory from when they were young. Maybe it's seeing a special plane fly overhead, or visiting an air and space museum. Maybe it's a first flight or a favorite toy. What sparked your inner AvGeek? Maybe the memorable event happened after you became an aviation enthusiast. Leave a comment below and tell your story of what fueled your interest in aviation.

What's Behind a Flight Number

Everybody, both occasional travelers and seasoned frequent fliers alike, notices a flight number at one point or another. Whether they're trying to check the status of their flight or identifying an odd or special sequence of numbers, fliers encounter flight numbers all the time as part of the travel experience. But what goes into the selection of those flight numbers? While the selection is a little bit random, the selection of flight numbers is not a completely arbitrary assignment as some may think. Each airline has its own numbering system, and while some have complex conventions, many have much simpler ideas for how to give flights their numbers.

A large number of airlines follow the traditional standard of eastbound and northbound flights receiving even numbers and westbound and southbound flights receiving odd numbers. Other airlines will have an odd flight number for outbound flights from the hub airport, and the return flight have an even number. In almost all cases, airlines chose to have the flight that returns to the hub airport have the next sequential number that follows the flight number that left the hub airport. If an airport has more than one flight per day, they will often have all flights have sequential flight numbers. Airlines also have a range system in which the range of numbers a flight number can be is determined by where the flight goes or if it is operated by a codeshare partner or regional affiliate. For example, Air Canada has flight numbers 0-99 operate to Asia Pacific, 100-199 is for domestic transcontinental, 200-299 for western domestic and so on.

Airlines will also assign special flight numbers to certain flights. For example, JetBlue's flight from New York to Bogota, Colombia (via Orlando) carries flight 1783 in honor of Simón Bolívar, the leader of Colombia's independence movement. One of Southwest Airlines' flights from San Antonio to Las Vegas flies as flight 711. Air Canada flies flight 88 to Shanghai because the number 8 is considered lucky in Chinese folk culture. While JetBlue and Southwest are the primary users of this method of special flight numbers, all airlines have some sort of special flight within their flight numbers. Almost all airlines operate a flight 1, a flight they operate as their flagship flight. Many international airlines operate their flagship between their home airport and London or New York.

Ethiopian Resumes 787 Flights Early

Christmas came early for Washington area plane spotters as Ethiopian flight 500 flew as a 787 from Addis Ababa to Washington via Rome, replacing the 777-200ER that had operated the route for more than four months. Previously, Ethiopian said they would resume 787 flights to Washington Dulles beginning May 17, but instead, on Tuesday of last week, they an announced the Dreamliner would be flying to Dulles starting the next day! Ethiopian will continue to connect Addis Ababa to Washington (via Rome) using their 787s until June 16, when they will switch the route back to 777-200ERs, with no word on when, if ever, the 787 will return to Dulles. But until then, Dulles is once again the only airport in the world to process daily flights by all three of the major new airplanes, the 787 Dreamliner, operated by Ethiopian, the 747-8 Intercontinental, operated by Lufthansa, and the A380 Whalebus, operated by Air France.

All Dreamliners Set To Return Flying

Two weeks ago, the FAA officially gave its approval to Boeing's redesigned battery system and lifted the grounding order on the 787 Dreamliner, and already, airlines are rushing to put their planes back into service. Since then, all eight airlines who fly the jet have announced schedules for resuming commercial service, two rushing to do so so fast that they are already flying passengers. Boeing has already dispatched teams to help airlines with the installation of the new system, and they say each fix takes approximately 5 days per aircraft. Boeing still expects to make good on its promise of delivering 60 aircraft by the end of the year.

Ethiopian was the first airline to restart flights, resuming service on a short route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, Kenya on Saturday the 27th, just 8 days after the grounding was lifted. Since then, the airline has resumed service to Dubai and Frankfurt, with London Heathrow to follow. Lusaka, Harare, and Mumbai are also expected to see service within the month of May.

The two Japanese carriers, JAL and ANA, are expected to resume commercial flights starting on June 1st, after both airlines complete several airworthiness tests on their aircraft. JAL's service is expected to be primarily international, while ANA will focus on its domestic network.

LOT Polish, the airline that needed its 787s the most, will not resume flights until June 5th on it's Warsaw-Chicago route. Two days after that, Warsaw-Toronto will be launched by the airline on 787 equipment.

Qatar Airways has also already resumed flights, first operating them between Doha and Dubai from May 1st, before operating long haul routes to London Heathrow on May 15th and Frankfurt on May 26th. Munich will also see Qatari 787s starting May 20th, with Zurich, Switzerland expected to see service June 1st.

United Airlines will run domestic flights beginning May 20th between Houston and Chicago, May 21st between Houston and Denver, and May 24th between Houston and Los Angeles. The airline will resume its international service beginning June 10th between Houston and London Heathrow, and between Denver and Tokyo Narita.

LAN Airlines will resume flights from Santiago de Chile and Los Angeles via Lima, Peru beginning June 1st. This was the only route LAN was operating using the 787 before the grounding. Santiago de Chile to Lima will begin July 8th.

Air India is expected to resume their 787 commercial flights on May 22nd, between Delhi and Kolkata, and between Delhi and Bangladore on the 24th. The airline's international service will resume June 1st to London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle.

Controversial Liveries

I've noticed something interesting in my days as an AvGeek, and that is the polarizing affect that liveries have. While there are some that most agree are good or bad, most aren't so cut and dry. Some liveries can result in totally different opinions. One person may call it great, while another will describe it as terrible. There are some, however, that are some that garner so much attention and controversy that in some cases, people lost their jobs. That's where this post comes in, where I'll be looking at what the brand designers did wrong, or in some cases, what got everybody talking.

American Airlines #newAmerican

Image courtesy of American Airlines

It's impossible to write a blog post on controversial liveries without including American Airlines' new livery. Unveiled on January 17, the new look features an overhaul on the eagle, a gray body and a billboard "American Airlines" across the side. But perhaps what was most heavily criticized by media and the average flyer alike was the tail. A very liberal interpretation of the American flag, the tail has gradient stripes instead of stars on a blue background along with only 11 stripes. While most realize the change was absolutely necessary, the tail is still a sore point for most of the aviation community.

Many were hoping that with the announcement made on February 14th of the merger with US Airways that incoming CEO Doug Parker would have the livery changed. However, Parker declined to give a definitive answer on the subject at the merger press conference and no announcement has been made regarding the livery since.

British Airways Utopia

Image courtesy of the public domain

In 1997, British Airways unveiled its new logo along with a new idea they called Utopia. The livery featured a white body with a navy blue belly beginning at the wing level. The tail however, featured one of 30 designs inspired by various countries the airline flies to. From Hong Kong to Africa, India to Romania, the tails were pieces of art. While many liked it, many also did not. Internationally, the idea recieved an overall neutral reaction, but in the UK, where British Airways' core customer vbase lies, the reaction was strongly negative.

In Britain, the new livery met strong resistance in multiple forms. Former British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher remarked with disgust, "We fly the British flag, not these awful things". Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic capitalized on the opportunity by painting the Union Jack on the tails of their aircraft under the marketing slogan of being Britain's "flag carrier", despite British Airways still legally being the flag carrier of the UK.

British Airways CEO Bob Ayling was dismissed from his position and was replaced by Rod Eddington in 2000. While not attributed only to the Utopia idea, the artsy tails were the most public and most heavily criticized decision Ayling made while CEO. In May of 2001, Eddington announced that all aircraft in the other 29 Utopia themes would be repainted in the Union Jack theme, ending a very short-lived attempt to promote Britsh Airways' brand identity abroad. The final aircraft bearing the scheme, an A320 operated by franchise partner BMed, exited the fleet in 2006.

The Week That Was

While not completely aviation related, I felt this past week had to have a post dedicated to it. The past week was such a tragic week all across America as two separate events killed a total of 18 and injured more than 300. The past week was also very newsworthy in the aviation field. This special blog post will consist of a paragraph summarizing the event along with a link to follow in order to read more on the story. Runway1R will return to its original format next week.

Bombs go off at the 116th Boston Marathon: At about 2:50 in the afternoon on Monday the fifteenth, two explosions occurred near the finish line of the 116th annual running of the Boston Marathon, killing three and injuring hundreds. Among the dead was an 8 year old child. The bombs are believed to have been constructed from pressure cookers, superheated to the point of bursting. All across America, tributes were paid to the city of Boston, among the most notable being the singing of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline", a Boston Red Sox tradition, at major league ballparks across the country, including at Yankee Stadium, home of their rivals. The week ended with a bang when the entire Boston area was shut down and everyone was told to stay indoors after the two suspects shot a police officer at MIT and robbed a 7-Eleven. The older one, 26 year old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed in the shootout and the younger one, 19 year old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, escaped on foot. Dzhokhar was eventually captured after an entire day of searching house to house in Watertown, Massachusetts, west of Boston.

Activity at two US airports halted: A day after the Boston Marathon Bombings, security was heightened at airports across the US, resulting first in a ground stop at Boston Logan because of a bag not checked on a flight from Philadelphia. Two people were removed from the flight. Just fifteen minutes later, an evacuation of the central terminal at LaGuardia in New York was ordered due to a suspicious package. A few hours later, a suspicious bag was found on airport property at Dallas/Fort Worth International in Founders Plaza and a bomb squad used robots to retrieve the bag. This incident however, did not affect flights at the airport.

Explosion in Texas kills 14 and injures hundreds: In the small town of West, Texas, ironically located in the eastern portion of the state, a fertilizer plant caught fire and exploded on Wednesday night, killing 14 and injuring nearly 200. Most of the victims killed in the explosion were first responders called in to fight the blaze and were still close to the building when it exploded. Amateur video emerged showing an already considerable sized blaze when suddenly, the building turned into an enormous fireball accompanied by a very loud bang.

American Airlines suffers computer failure: Tuesday, while the rest of the world was dealing with the aftermath of the bombings in Boston, American Airlines suffered a problem connecting to their reservations computer system. This eventually lead to a company wide ground stop; if people can't check in, they can't fly. The airline was forced to cancel more than 500 flights between it and its regional affiliate, American Eagle. The flight stoppage lasted approximately four hours before American was able to reconnect to its reservation system. The next day, the airline added new one off flights on the most heavily affected routes, including a 777 between Chicago O'Hare and Dallas/Fort Worth.

FAA clears 787 Dreamliner to fly: Three months and three days after the FAA issued the grounding of all Boeing 787s nationwide due to problems with the plane's electrical system, the regulatory agency lifted the ban on the Dreamliner and approved the modifications Boeing made this past Friday, April 19th. While this does mean the plane can fly, it does not mean it will reenter commercial service instantly. The airlines must refit their battery and electrical system, instructions for which Boeing must provide. Also, ANA, the largest operator of the jet says it wants to run at least 200 tests before putting the plane back in commercial service.

Sequestration to hit aviation industry: As expected, congress could not come to an agreement to stop the furloughs of thousands of FAA employees, including those who operate control towers at major airports. While we've known for a while that sequestration would affect air travel by closing towers at smaller airports and causing delays at larger ones, the effects have begun to kick in. Delays of more than an hour have already been reported in Los Angeles and New York, with more expected to come over the coming days. NYCAviation has published some tips to help you avoid and/or get through agonizing delays.