AirBaltic loves its CSeries jets. The Latvian carrier is set to dramatically grow that fleet. Today’s deal with Bombardier, inked just over one year since the first CS300 arrived in Riga, adds at least 30 more of the type to its fleet.
Airplanes and Airports
Southwest teases further network growth, including Canada
Southwest Airlines’ plans to grow in to the Hawaiian islands are no secret, but they’re also not the only destinations further afield the company is considering. Among the possibilities: Canada!
A big boost for space-based ADS-B: NATS invests in Aireon
A big win today for aircraft monitoring and safety: Space-based ADS-B operator Aireon secured a $69 million investment from UK’s NATS to help fund operations. And the biggest winner might be Iridium, the satellite operator hosting the services.
Optimizing the east coast: United’s latest schedule shifts
United is moving around its east coast operations, shifting more connections to Dulles and away from Newark. Can the NYC-area hub hold up under the new schedule load? And will travelers really flock to the “better” connection opportunities on CRJ-200s??
Interisland service, mainland gateways announced for Southwest’s Hawaii service
Interisland service in Hawaii? You betcha! Mainland gateway details? We’ve got that, too. Southwest Airlines’ plans for island service continue to trickle out and the carrier is clearly not afraid to pick a fight.
American is "playing to win" with international route shake-up
“We very often don’t earn enough cash to cover the price of fuel on the flight.” That’s definitely not what you want to hear from the VP of network planning. For American Airlines, however, it is part of a major shift in international operations at its O’Hare hub.
S7 seeks smaller Sukhoi SuperJet
A new, smaller SuperJet is in the works from Russian manufacturer Sukhoi. The move helps Russian airline S7 expand its fleet of home-grown aircraft but could also contribute to an interesting competitive framework to the Airbus/Boeing duopoly.
DC airports get political, fight expansion
When politics are tightly intertwined in the operations of airports then perhaps it should not be surprising when the airport operators get political. In Washington, DC that takes the form of objecting to a proposed exemption to the perimeter rule at Reagan National (DCA). But does the logic hold up??
Handling the 787 Trent challenges
The Rolls Royce Trent 1000 Package C engines power nearly a quarter of the global Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet. And they all need extra inspections. Here’s how a few airlines are dealing with the disruptions to their operations.
JetBlue’s west coast push: More cities, daytime transcons
The west coast will soon see more JetBlue love. The carrier announced significant route and operational changes today, adding Blue cities and frequencies. The moves follow JetBlue’s launching a codeshare with JetSuiteX for some shorter west coast hops, also announced this week.