Boeing has formally dropped the ‘X’ suffix from its individual stretched 777 variants, although it will retain it for the overall family.
The US airframer is officially referring to the variants as the 777-8 and the 777-9, the company said during the Dubai air show.
But the combined family, it adds, will still be known as the 777X.
Large-scale models of the aircraft on display in Dubai feature the amended designation on the nose of the aircraft.
The change brings the branding of the long-haul twinjets into line with those of Boeing’s 787 family and the 747-8.
Boeing is intending to put the 777-9 into service in 2020 with the 777-8 following in 2022.
Flight Global
WOW Air to serve Los Angeles and San Francisco
Icelandic airline WOW will launch directs flights between Keflavík International Airport and Los Angeles and San Francisco in the summer of 2016. This will be the first time an Icelandic airline offers direct scheduled flights to Los Angeles.
The carrier will offer four weekly round-trips to Los Angeles and five round-trips to San Francisco, with connections to 18 destinations in Scandinavia, the U.K. and Continental Europe via Keflavík International Aiport in Iceland. WOW already offers direct flights to 3 destinations in North America: Boston, Washington and Montreal.
WOW is a low-cost airline that was founded in November 2011 and began its flight service in May 2012. The airline has grown rapidly and it’s estimated that 800,000 passengers will fly with WOW air in 2015 and double that in 2016.
WOW will use Airbus A330-300 planes for the long flight to the USA’s west coast. Their range is 11,300 km (6,100 mi). The distance between Keflavík Airport and San Francisco is 6.764 km (4.203 mi), and to Los Angeles it’s 6.940 km (4.312 mi).
The Airbus will be the largest plane used for scheduled flights by an Icelandic airline. It’s 63.69 m (208 ft 11 in) long and can carry up to 440 in an all-economy layout. WOW planes will be equipped with 340 seats, for added legroom and comfort, according to the airline’s founder and CEO, Skúli Mogensen.
WOW will start selling tickets to Los Angeles and San Francisco early 2016.
Iceland Magazine
Family kicked off jetBlue flight
A New York family of nine on its way to vacation in Punta Cana claims they were unfairly kicked off a JetBlue flight before it departed Tuesday, accusing a flight attendant of being short-tempered and calling them “animals” on the loudspeaker as they left the plane.
The family planned to take another JetBlue flight to Punta Cana on Wednesday. When contacted by Yahoo Travel, a JetBlue spokesperson said the flight attendant in question would not be punished. The airline doesn’t discuss specifics of passenger complaints but it did give the following statement:
“We love welcoming families on JetBlue, and we do so for thousands of families every day without incident. The decision to remove someone from a flight is never taken lightly and happens only if it is clear that the customer poses a risk to the safe and comfortable operation of the flight.”
A witness on the flight who asked not to be identified for this story said she filed a complaint to JetBlue about the flight attendant’s behavior. She told Yahoo Travel that the flight attendant was rude and “kept pushing” the family but did not recall hearing the “animal” comment.
Tal Kimchy of Palisades, N.Y., was boarding a JetBlue flight in New York’s JFK airport along with his wife, mother, brother, sister-in-law, and four children. He told Yahoo Travel that as they put their bags in the overhead compartment, a flight attendant asked Kimchy’s brother to step inside the aisle so others could pass.
Kimchy said his brother responded that he would step aside as soon as he could let his pregnant wife take her seat. She asked him if he was saying no.
“He said, ‘I’m not saying no, just give me a minute,’ Kimchy said of his brother. “At that time she said, ‘It’s my plane, and if you don’t like it, I can make sure you get off of it right now.’ He said, ‘Why, what did I do?’ She said, ‘You’re being a hostile passenger.”
Kimchy said the situation seemed to settle down and the family took their seats, when the flight attendant aggressively re-approached and asked his brother if he was “going to be good now.”
“He looked at her and said ‘I’m OK,’” Kimchy said. “She said, ‘Are you good?’ He said, ‘Isn’t OK and good the same thing?’ She said, ‘I need to know if I need to throw you off the plane.’”
Another flight attendant then approached to defuse the situation, and Kimchy began recording the interaction with his phone. The first flight attendant then went to discuss what happened with the pilot, and soon after, Kimchy’s brother was told he had to leave the plane and catch a later flight.
The rest of the family was going to continue the journey when after more discussion by JetBlue officials and airport police, Kimchy said, they were told they had to leave the plane as well because they were a security risk.
As the family left the plane, Kimchy said, “One of the flight attendants went on the loudspeaker and said, ‘Now that the animals have left, we can continue the flight.”
No one outside the family has repeated that claim.
The flight attendant involved in the dispute also left the plane and stayed behind when the flight took off. A JetBlue spokesperson said this was to keep the plane from being further delayed while the flight attendant gave a police report. No charges were filed.
Regarding the family, including his brother, being allowed to fly the next day on JetBlue, Kimchy said, “I don’t understand how he’s a danger today but he’s not tomorrow.”
Yahoo Travel