American takes delivery of new 737s

photo by caribb

American Airlines has taken delivery of its first new planes since 2006 - seventy-six additional Boeing 737-800s. AA plans to use them to phase out out about a quarter of their MD-80 fleet, which are older, less efficient, and more prone to maintenance issues than the 737s. The new 737s will also carry more passengers (160) than the airline's previous 737s (sometimes as low as 134); this will be accomplished by a thinner divider between first class and coach and using thinner seats, which AA claims are more comfortable than the old ones. The galleys in coach class are also gone, since meals aren't served anymore in coach.

American is also going to base some of the new 737s out of its Chicago hub. Previously, it had kept almost all of its 737-800s flying out of its Dallas and Miami hubs, and kept the MD-80s at Chicago. But when the MD-80 faced serious mechanical issues last year, the airline was forced to scrub hundreds of flights at O'Hare. The introduction of 737s there should lower their reliance on a single aircraft type for the bulk of their domestic flying.

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SAS looks towards fleet renewal

photo by Larsz

ATW has reported that Scandinavian carrier SAS has announced that it will be looking to replace its fleet of Bombardier Q400s (like the one pictured above) as well as its sizable fleet of MD-80s. Last month, SAS made the decision to ground its fleet of 27 Q400s after three much-publicized crash landings in a six week period. Although Bombardier has repeatedly said that the Q400 is safe, SAS CEO Mats Jansson said in a statement that "confidence in the Q400 has diminished considerably" and that SAS "customers are becoming increasingly doubtful about flying in this type of aircraft.'' (Qantas, Austrian, and Horizon are three airlines with larger Q400 fleets, and as of right now, none have plans to ground their fleets, although Qantas did temporarily take its Q400 fleet out of service to perform safety checks.) Finding a suitable replacement for the Q400 is "a top priority," according to a spokesperson for the airline, and it is currently seeing "big interest from airlines all over the world" as it looks to sell off the Q400s.

SAS will also be looking to replace its 44-strong MD-80 fleet, and a spokesperson for the airline said that a decision could be made as early as the first half of 2008. SAS is split up into three divisions: SAS Sweden, SAS Denmark, and SAS Norway. (SAS Norway does not operate the MD-80.) Along with the MD-80, SAS Denmark operates A319s and A321s while SAS Sweden flies the Boeing 737-600 and 737-800. This might mean that SAS would order new airplanes from both the A320 and 737 families. SAS Norway, which acquired several Boeing 737-400s and -500s from its merger with Braathens, might also be looking at some newer 737 models as well.

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ILFC orders 63 Boeings

During the second day of the Paris Air Show, the International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) announced an order for 63 Boeing aircraft, worth about $8.8 billion at list prices. ILFC is ordering 50 more 787s, with deliveries starting in 2010 and ending in 2017. In addition, ILFC ordered ten 737s and announced that it was exercising options to order 787-8s and one 777-300ER.

This announcement makes ILFC the largest orderer of the 787 to date, with 74 airplanes ordered. It orders airplanes and then leases them out to airlines.

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Air France retires Boeing 737

photo courtesy albspotter

Yesterday, French carrier Air France retired the Boeing 737 after 25 years of service. According to a press release issued by the airline, Air France ordered twelve Boeing 737-200s in 1982 - the first aircraft ordered by Air France that required only two pilots.

Yesterday's flight was flown by F-GJND, a Boeing 737-500, which was delivered to Air France in December 1991 and flew over 34,500 hours four the airline. The flight, AF1703, was from Turin to Paris and was flown by Eric Monlouis, the head of the airline's 737 division.

Air France, which has operated the -200, -300 and -500 versions of the 737, now uses an all-Airbus fleet (comprised of the A318, A319, A320 and A321) on its short and medium haul routes.

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'Salmon-Thirty-Salmon' delivers exactly that

Edit (or Correction, not Perfection): TAB reader Cromely has pointed out that the freighter wasn't the one in the Salmon paint scheme but instead a converted freighter in regular livery. You can read the rest of his post here. The corrected post:

Alaska Airlines' famed 'Salmon-Thirty-Salmon', with a 120-foot long salmon painted on its fuselage, was met at Seattle-Tacoma Airport this morning by a Boeing 737-400 freighter carrying over 32,000 pounds of Copper River salmon onboard. Throughout the day, according to the company, Alaska will deliver over 160,000 pounds of Copper River salmon throughout the country on eight flights from Cordova, AK to Seattle, where the fish will then be flown out throughout the country.

Up until recently Alaska has relied on Boeing 737-200s to haul freight, but they were getting expensive (both in terms of fuel costs and maintenance), so with those gone, and newer Boeing 737s on order, Alaska was able to convert the -400s into freighters.

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