Amid a climate of tension following the attacks in Paris and the armed attack of a Mali hotel popular with foreigners, a French flight to the US deflected right route to return to Paris .
A Boeing 777-200 of Air France from Paris to San Francisco made a U-turn while flying over the Channel, as revealed air traffic control radars. It made several loops, before returning to France less than an hour after takeoff. The pilot did not report an emergency, it remains unclear why this change of route.
However, the passengers of the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris have been warned that all flights between Paris and the United States were canceled following the attack by an armed commando in a hotel in Mali on Friday 20 November. Some 12 members of the French airline staff there were held hostage before being evacuated. Moreover, the flight that would link Paris to Bamako was canceled.
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Delta Air Lines purchase 11 used 77Es
Delta has signed on to bring in eleven 777-200ERs, formerly operated by Singapore/Scoot. This adds to the 18 current 777-200ER/LRs in the Delta fleet. A largely unnoticed but significant fleet addition.
Tie this to Delta’s mentioned intention to feed China Eastern’s hub at Shanghai, along with their recent request to get back an Haneda slot recently released to American, and there is no question that Delta is going to continue to double-down on Asian growth. Given the expected growth – particularly in China-US traffic – it’s solid strategy.
Delta’s fleet planning bears watching. They have 12 remaining 747-400s, which is a number similar to the 777s just acquired. There’s a good chance that within the next 18 months, there will no longer be any 747s in US scheduled passenger fleets. United is the only other operator, and neither it nor Delta have shown any public interest in the 747-8.
Unlike American and United, Delta apparently is not a big proponent of the 787. It still has 20 787-8s on the books at Boeing, but given that the deliveries are not scheduled for another 4-5 years, it’s not real likely that these may see Delta colors. Certainly, it’s not likely that -8s are in the cards.
On the other hand Delta may be waiting to get performance numbers from the 787-10 and could switch orders. Or, it’s possible that Airbus has already filled that need with the A-350s that Delta has coming.
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American Airlines flies Pope Francis
American Airlines (and previously TWA) has the honor for the seventh time of transporting Pope Francis from Washington D.C. to New York City, Philadelphia and back to Rome.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops chartered the airliner to American Airlines to carry the Pointiff to the different destinations in the U.S. The aircraft selected is a Boeing 777-200ER (Registration N776AN / MSN 29582 / LN 215) to carry the pontiff.
The Vatican City State does not have a specific airplane designated for the Pope, neither operates a special jet specifically earmarked for the Pope. Instead, often relies on Italy’s flag carrier Alitalia, which takes an aircraft out of its normal passenger operations schedule for this purpose. The selected aircraft is a common passenger airliner and does not have any special VIP fitting. Once concluded the journey, the aircraft returns to its normal operations.
The Pope’s flight is often nicknamed Shepherd One by the media, while the actual callsign is Volo Papale (papal flight in Italian), followed by a flight number.
According to American Airlines, employees often cite the papal flight as a career highlight. The airline selected the crew of Shepherd One from different locations (including Miami, Dallas / Ft. Worth, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Tulsa and Raleigh / Durham), representing different faiths and persuasions.
Pope Francis is the fourth pope to visit the United States. The first was Pope Paul VI, who visited United Nations Headquarters in New York on October 4, 1965, 50 years ago, while the Pope who logged more visits to the U.S. was John Paul II with seven times. According to AA, this is the 7th time the company (including TWA) has carried the Pope.
2015: American Airlines: ADW-JFK-PHL-Rome (Pope Francis) – 777-200
1999: TWA: STL-Rome (Pope John Paul II) – 767-300
1995: TWA: EWR-BWI-Rome (Pope John Paul II) – 767-300
1993: American Airlines: DEN-Rome (Pope John Paul II) – 767-300ER
1987: TWA: Eleven-day, nine-city tour (Pope John Paul II) – 727 & 747
1979: TWA: Six-day, six-city tour and ADW back to Rome (Pope John Paul II) – 727
1965: TWA: Rome-JFK-Rome (Pope Paul VI) – 707
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