Tag: customers (Page 31 of 32)

Boeing, Aeroflot Announce Contract on 777 Passenger Cabin Modifications

September 3, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

MOSCOW, August 30, 2019 — Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Aeroflot, today during the Moscow Air Show, announced a contract to modify passenger cabins on 18 of the Russian flagship carrier’s 777-300ER’s.

“Aeroflot is widely recognized as a premium service airline. Designing a new Boeing 777 interior, we aim to enhance our premium quality at every class of service – business, comfort and economy. An updated interior will take Aeroflot to new heights,” said Andrey Chikhanchin, chief financial officer of Aeroflot.

Boeing will perform engineering work and supply component kits for the planned cabin interior reconfiguration.

“It’s a great honor that a leading Russian carrier selected Boeing solutions,” said Stan Deal, president and chief executive officer of Boeing Global Services. “Aeroflot is an experienced 777 operator and we are pleased to provide them with the expertise that will support their implementation, long-term strategic growth and development plans.”

Aeroflot is Russia’s flagship carrier and a proud member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance. Aeroflot serves 159 destinations in 54 countries. Aeroflot’s 249-strong fleet is the youngest of any airline worldwide that operates more than 100 aircraft. In 2018, Aeroflot carried 35.8 million passengers (55.7 million passengers as Aeroflot Group including subsidiaries).

Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading provider of commercial airplanes, defense, space and security systems, and global services. As the top U.S. exporter, the company supports commercial and government customers in more than 150 countries. Boeing employs more than 150,000 people worldwide and leverages the talents of a global supplier base. Building on a legacy of aerospace leadership, Boeing continues to lead in technology and innovation, deliver for its customers and invest in its people and future growth.

AirAsia Inks Major Deals with Airbus

August 30, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

AirAsia X orders 12 more A330neo and 30 A321XLR aircraft

AirAsia X, the long-haul unit of the AirAsia Group, has finalised a firm order with Airbus for an additional 12 A330-900 and 30 A321XLR aircraft. The contract was signed by Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, Chairman, AirAsia X Berhad and Guillaume Faury, Chief Executive Officer, Airbus in Kuala Lumpur today, in the presence of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Chief Executive Officer, AirAsia Group, who was present at the signing, said: “This order reaffirms our selection of the A330neo as the most efficient choice for our future wide-body fleet. In addition, the A321XLR offers the longest flying range of any single-aisle aircraft and will enable us to introduce services to new destinations. Together, these aircraft are perfect partners for long-haul low-cost operations and will allow us to build further on our market leading position in this fast-growing sector.”

Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, Chairman of AirAsia X Berhad, said: “Today’s announcement is testament to our confidence and commitment to longer haul air travel. This is the future of our long-haul operations. The A330neo’s revolutionary new features and modifications will move our long-haul service sectors up to a higher level and allow AirAsia X to look at expanding beyond the eight-hour flight radius, such as to Europe, for example.”

Guillaume Faury, Chief Executive Officer, Airbus commented: “AirAsia X has been the pioneer of the long-haul low-cost model in the Asia-Pacific region. This new order for the A330neo and A321XLR is a true endorsement of the Airbus solution to meet mid-market demand with a combination of single-aisle and wide-body products. This powerful solution will provide AirAsia X with the lowest possible operating costs to expand its network and enable even more people to fly further than ever before.”

The new contract increases the number of A330neo aircraft ordered by AirAsia X to 78, reaffirming the carrier’s status as the largest airline customer for the type. Meanwhile, the A321XLR order sees the wider AirAsia Group strengthen its position as the world’s largest airline customer for the A320 Family, having now ordered a total of 622 aircraft.

AirAsia X currently operates a fleet of 36 A330-300s on services to points within the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East. In addition, in August, the first A330neo joined the fleet of AirAsia’s Bangkok-based long haul affiliate, AirAsia X Thailand. The aircraft is the first of two leased A330neos joining the airline’s Thai affiliate by the end of the year.

The A321XLR is the next evolutionary step from the A321LR which responds to market needs for even more range and payload, creating more value for the airlines. From 2023, it will deliver an unprecedented Xtra Long Range of up to 4,700 nm – 15% more than the A321LR and with 30% lower fuel burn per seat compared with previous generation competitor aircraft.

The A330neo is a true new generation aircraft building on the A330’s success and leveraging on A350 XWB technology. It incorporates the highly efficient new generation Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, and a new higher span 3D optimised wing with new Sharklets. Together these advances bring a significant reduction in fuel consumption of 25% compared with older generation competitor aircraft of a similar size. The A330 is one of the most popular wide-body families ever, having received over 1,700 orders from more than 120 customers.

Bell 505 Jet Ranger X Fleet Surpasses 20,000 Flight Hours

August 30, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Fort Worth, TX (28 August 2019) – Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, announced the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X has surpassed more than 20,000 flight hours. Bell has delivered 200 aircraft to customers operating the aircraft spanning six continents.

Since the first delivery in 2017, the global fleet has logged more than 20,000 hours, marking one of Bell’s fastest growing accumulation of flight hours of any current commercial platform.

“Our Bell 505 operators rely on the aircraft to perform from the beginning of each day to when their mission is complete,” said LaShan Bonaparte, program director, Bell 505 and Bell 429. “Logging more than 20,000 flight hours is very impressive for an aircraft in service less than three years. This achievement is a testament to the Bell 505’s performance and our customer’s confidence in the aircraft.”

With a speed of 125 knots (232 km/h) and useful load of 1,500 pounds (680 kg), the Bell 505 is Bell’s new five-seat aircraft designed for safety, efficiency and reliability using advanced avionics technology. It incorporates proven dynamic components, advanced aerodynamic design, a dual channel FADEC Turbomeca Arrius 2R engine and best-in-class value.

For more information, visit the Bell website.

Get Your Commemorative Pass for Final MD-80 Flight

August 30, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

American Airlines is retiring its fleet of McDonnell Douglas MD-80 fleet to Roswell, New Mexico, Sept. 4. We understand what the iconic aircraft means for our customers and our team members. To help commemorate this historic day, we have created a special retro American Flight 80 boarding pass. Personalize, print and display your pass today.

United Airlines Announces MileagePlus Miles Never Expire

August 28, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

CHICAGO, Aug. 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — United Airlines announced that effective immediately, MileagePlus award miles never expire, giving members a lifetime to use miles on flights, experiences, hotels and more.

“We want to demonstrate to our members that we are committing to them for the long-haul and giving customers a lifetime to use miles is an exceptionally meaningful benefit,” said Luc Bondar, vice president of loyalty and president of MileagePlus at United. “Our MileagePlus program provides customers more ways to earn and use miles than any other U.S. airline. More customers used miles to book award trips in 2018 than in any year before, and we expect with today’s announcement that even more will use miles to travel the world in the years to come.”

United continues to enhance its award-winning MileagePlus program, making it more beneficial for customers. Highlights include:

Recently announced partnership with CLEAR that includes free or discounted CLEAR membership pricing for U.S.-based MileagePlus members.
Award travel to more destinations than any other U.S. airline with service to more than 1,300 destinations through United and Star Alliance partners, and ability to book award travel on United and all Star Alliance partners through the United mobile app.
Most low-priced economy award availability of any global U.S. airline.
Everyday opportunities to use miles starting as low as 1,000 miles for eGift cards when purchasing through MileagePlusX.

Every customer. Every flight. Every day.

In 2019, United is focusing more than ever on its commitment to its customers, looking at every aspect of its business to ensure that the carrier keeps customers’ best interests at the heart of its service. In addition to today’s announcement, United recently announced that customers on all domestic flights can now choose from three complimentary inflight snack items, announced that luxury skincare line Sunday Riley will make products exclusively for United customers to experience in amenity kits, released a re-imagined version of the most downloaded app in the airline industry, introduced ConnectionSaver, a new tool dedicated to improving the experience for customers connecting from one United flight to the next and made DIRECTV free for every passenger on 211 aircraft, offering more than 100 channels on seat back monitors on more than 30,000 seats.

Azul Announces Nonstop Service Between Fort Lauderdale and Belo Horizonte, Brazil

August 26, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Three weekly flights starting December 16 – the only nonstop from South Florida to Belo Horizonte

SAO PAULO, Aug. 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — The city of Belo Horizonte, the state of Minas Gerias and its surrounding cities are now more connected than ever from South Florida. Azul, the largest airline in Brazil in terms of daily departures and destinations served announced today nonstop service from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Belo Horizonte in Brazil. Tickets are on sale across all Azul sales channels for the three weekly flights beginning December 16, 2019.

Belo Horizonte will be the fourth city served nonstop in Brazil from Fort Lauderdale. This makes Azul the largest Brazilian airline to serve South Florida in terms of destinations served. In addition to these nonstop destinations, Azul customers can conveniently connect to our 94 daily departures to 38 nonstop destinations from Belo Horizonte. Not only customers in South Florida, but all along the East coast from Boston to Raleigh, customers can connect in Fort Lauderdale to Brazil via our interline and codeshare partners in the US.

Fort Lauderdale is the second U.S. destination being served from Belo Horizonteafter Orlando. With the addition of this new flight, the State of Minas Gerais will have six weekly frequencies to the United States onboard our Airbus A330 aircraft, which accommodates up to 298 passengers.

“This announcement further strenghtens our position as Florida’s leading carrier serving Brazil. Together with our interline and codeshare partners, Azul offers unparalleled service from the entire United States, to more than 100 destinations in Brazil. We are sure our customers in the US will enjoy the award winning A330 widebody service, voted several times as the best Business class, and the best Economy class in South America” says Abhi Shah, Azul’s Chief Revenue Officer.

Service from Fort Lauderdale to Belo Horizonte will be operated by A330 widebody aircraft that feature the award winning Azul Business, Azul Economy Extra and Azul Economy. Each seat features inidivual in-seat IFE along with our award winning customer service.

British Airways Pilots to Strike for 3 Days in September

August 24, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

LONDON, Aug 23 (Reuters) – British Airways pilots are to go on strike for three days in September, their union said on Friday, in a dispute over pay that could disrupt the peak summer holiday season.

Last month, the pilots overwhelmingly voted for industrial action and the airline, which is part of IAG, failed in a court bid to stop them.

“The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) has today given notice to British Airways that it will call on its members to strike on 9th, 10th and 27th September 2019,” the union said in a statement.

“It is clear, following discussions with members over the last few days, that BA’s most recent offer will not gain the support of anywhere near a majority of its pilots.”

British Airways said the strike action was unjustifiable as their pay offer was fair and that the strikes would destroy the travel plans of tens of thousands of customers.

“We are now making changes to our schedule. We will do everything we can to get as many people away on their journeys as possible,” the airline said in a statement.

“However, it is likely that many of our customers will not be able to travel and we will be offering refunds and re-bookings for passengers booked on cancelled flights.”

The airline said it was exploring options to supplement its fleet with aircraft and crew from other airlines, known as wet-leasing, and working with partner airlines to schedule larger aircraft to take more customers.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Stephen Addison)

Alstom Completes 100th ‘Make-in-India’ Metro Trainset

August 5, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

05/08/2019 – Alstom India continues its noteworthy innings in India by rolling out the 100^th ‘Make-in-India’ metro trainset today from its state-of-the-art rolling stock manufacturing facility in Sricity, Andhra Pradesh. The delivery of the centurion trainset to Kochi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL) also marks completion of the Kochi Metro order for 25 trainsets by Alstom. Kochi operates a 100% ‘Make in India’ metro fleet entirely custom-built at the flagship manufacturing facility at Sricity.

The facility was set up as Alstom’s first global manufacturing centre for rolling stock in the Asia-Pacific region. This plant commenced operations in November 2013 and delivered its first metro trainset to Chennai Metro Rail Corporation (CMRL) in February 2014. The facility currently employs more than 600 employees and has a production capacity of 240 cars per year. The factory is currently scaling up to double production capacity and also introducing latest industrial technologies.

Till date, Alstom’s Sricity facility has made on-time deliveries of more than 420 metro cars for its Indian and international customers. This includes delivering completely indigenous trainsets to metro rail corporations of Chennai, Lucknow, Kochi and Sydney (its first international order).

Speaking on this occasion Alain Spohr, Managing Director for India and South Asia, said “We have hit a century by delivering the 100th trainset. This milestone signifies many things, but most importantly, it is a vote of confidence of our customers in our capabilities to deliver world class, custom-made solutions. This achievement has been possible by our belief in our Indian talent that includes more than 4200 team members working across various locations in India. We are confident to reach greater heights with our commitment to ‘Make in India’ and aligning our business goals with the country’s vision.”

In just six years since its commencement, Sricity facility has cemented its position as a manufacturing hub for Alstom’s domestic and international clients. The supply chain is close to being 75% domestic to ensure localised manufacturing. Locally, it is also a preferred workplace due to its regular employee development and inclusive programmes with more than 10% of the staff strength being women in various roles as supervisors, planners, engineers etc.

Before end of this year, the facility will commence production for 248 metro cars (31 train sets of 8 cars each) for Mumbai Metro Line 3, 212 metro cars (106 train sets of 2 cars each) for Montreal Metro (Réseau express métropolitain) and 10 more train sets for Chennai Metro, which is already under execution.

Southwest Airlines Schedule Revision and MAX Update

June 13, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Southwest Airlines continues to await guidance from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the impending 737 MAX software enhancements and training requirements. We are encouraged by the reported progress and proposed path forward for returning the aircraft to service, and we remain confident that, once certified by the FAA, the enhancements will support the safe operation of the MAX.

In April, we revised our flight schedule by removing the MAX through Aug. 5 to offer reliability to our operation and stability for our Customers during the busy summer travel months. With the timing of the MAX’s return-to-service still uncertain, we are again revising our plans to remove the MAX from our schedule through Sept. 2.

By proactively removing the MAX from scheduled service, we can reduce last-minute flight cancellations and unexpected disruptions to our Customers’ travel plans. We will proactively contact all Customers whose itineraries will be impacted by the revision to offer them maximum flexibility and re-accommodate them well in advance of their travel date. The revision will proactively remove roughly 100 daily flights from our schedule out of our total peak-day schedule of more than 4,000 daily flights.

We offer our apologies to our Customers impacted by this change, and we thank them for their continued patience.

AirAsia in Talks to Buy Proposed New Airbus A321XLR

May 31, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

May 31 (Reuters) – Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia is in negotiations to buy a proposed new longer-range version of the best-selling Airbus A321 passenger jet, two people familiar with the matter said.

Airbus has begun tying up customers for the A321XLR ahead of a possible formal announcement of the modified version at the Paris Airshow in June, though the timing of any deal between Airbus and AirAsia remains unclear.

Airbus declined to comment. AirAsia was not available for comment.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; editing by Richard Lough)

AirAsia X orders 12 more A330neo and 30 A321XLR aircraft

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