Boeing starts 787s Trent 1000 engines, juggles Qantas deliveries
Boeing planned on starting the 787′s Trent 1000 engines on Sunday to get the aircraft ready to move to the flight line. It’s also working with Qantas to juggle deliveries.
Boeing has done some 11th hour juggling of its 787 production positions to satisfy a Qantas demand for better delivery of its order for 65. The deal will ensure that QF low-cost subsidiary Jetstar will get 15 787-8s over 18 months from May next year to spearhead a major expansion program to Europe.
QF had threatened to defer some early 787s, but Jetstar now will get aircraft originally destined for some Chinese carriers and Northwest Airlines.
Pilots’ lives defy glamorous stereotype
Pilots’ lives may not be as glamorous as people may think. Entry-level pilots with the commuter airlines are paid very low, often no better than what a person at McDonald’s get paid.
The details of that world have surprised many Americans — the strikingly low pay for new pilots; the rigors of flying multiple flights, at lower altitudes and thus often in worse weather than pilots on longer routes, while scrambling to get enough sleep; the relative inexperience of pilots at the smaller airlines, whose training standards are the same, but whose skills may not be.
A prediction: Airfare by the pound
Want to pay less airfare? Start exercising. Some industry analysts “predict that the cost of flying eventually could depend on your weight.”
It’s likely, they say, because of simple physics: the more weight you bring on the plane, the more fuel that is needed to get you to your destination. And when fuel prices rise again, it might be time to hit the gym.
Robert Mann, an industry analyst and consultant in Port Washington, N.Y., envisions passengers being charged based on body and baggage weight, rather than simply by the seat.
