Video: Boeing 747 Cabin Interiors from the 1970s

Ready for some aviation nostalgia? This video showcases the interiors of Boeing 747 aircraft from the 1970s, "when flying was meant to be a memorable experience, when inflight service mattered, and when the Boeing 747 was the coolest plane to fly in..."

Airlines represented in the video: Air Canada, Air France, American Airlines, Braniff, Continental Airlines, Iberia, Japan Airlines, KLM, National Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Pan Am, SAS, TWA, and United Airlines.



If the video does not display or play properly above, click here to view it on YouTube.

Tip of the hat to YouTube user LakeNipissing for posting the video.

RELATED: Boeing 747 marks 40 years of flight.

First Boeing 777 Freighter delivered to launch customer Air France

Air France has taken delivery of the first Boeing 777 Freighter to go into service. The new B-777F, which is based on the 777-200LR Worldliner (Longer Range) passenger airplane, just received type certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) earlier this month. The delivery ceremony took place yesterday near Paine Field (see photo).

According to Boeing, the 777F is the world's longest-range freighter and features the lowest trip cost of any large freighter, with high cargo density and 10-foot (3.1-meter) interior height capability that complement the popular 747 Freighter family. The aircraft is powered by General Electric's GE90-110B1L and meets QC2 noise standards.

Providing cargo capacity normally associated with larger airplanes, the 777 Freighter can fly 4,880 nautical miles (9,038 kilometers) with a full payload of 226,700 pounds (103 metric tons), says Boeing. The new airplane is expected to progressively replace the 747-400 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) in the Air France Cargo fleet. Air France currently operates five 747-400ER Freighters and four 747-400BCFs.

While Air France Cargo is the launch customer for the 777F, Boeing reports that twelve customers have ordered a total of 73 of the new 777 Freighters.

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2,100 Delta employees volunteer for buyouts

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that 2,100 Delta Air Lines employees have volunteered to take buyouts as the carrier seeks to reduce its work force. The 'voluntary programs to adjust staffing' -- including early retirements and severance -- were announced by Delta in December in conjunction with its planned capacity reduction.

Last month, Delta said it was seeking to eliminate about 2,000 jobs, or about 2.7 percent of its workforce. Workers with at least 10 years of service whose age and seniority add up to at least 55 were offered a severance package that would include two weeks of pay for each year of service, plus travel privileges and health insurance for a specified period.

In a message to employees, Delta CEO Richard Anderson said, "Passengers, our customers, are not buying tickets at rates they were buying tickets a year ago. Obviously, we wish we didn't have to decrease our capacity, but we cannot fly our airplanes around at low load factors."

Colgan Air addresses speculation about Flt. 3407 accident

Colgan Air and its parent company, Pinnacle Airlines Corp., appear to be losing patience with all the speculation surrounding Colgan Air Flt. 3407, the Dash-8 Q400 that crashed last week near Buffalo. They are clearly annoyed that information made public by the NTSB has spawned so much theorizing and finger pointing by the media and the public at large, long before all of the facts about the accident are known.

Over the past two days, Pinnacle and its Colgan Air subsidiary have released a press statement and a FAQ Sheet (Frequently Asked Questions) in defense of the company, its crews, and its training program. Here is the main text of the press statement, issued yesterday:

Historically, NTSB investigations are confidential and involve a thorough determination of the facts before public statements are made. Colgan Air continues to cooperate in every respect with the NTSB as it conducts the investigation. As such, we will respect the integrity of the NTSB ongoing investigation by not commenting on specifics. However, we do feel compelled to comment on public speculation about potential causes of the accident.

Here are the facts about our operations. Colgan has instilled a systemic culture of safety throughout our organization that is rooted in significant investment in crew training, systems, leadership and equipment.

Our crew training programs meet or exceed the regulatory requirements for all major airlines. Our ground and air training is designed in coordination with the aircraft manufacturer, one of the most respected providers of aviation flight training and the Federal Aviation Administration utilizing state-of the-art training devices such as full-motion simulators, among others.

In addition, Colgan has committed significant financial resources to upgrade aircraft safety, efficiency and quality in recent years. The Q400 is a sophisticated, highly capable aircraft that is designed for cold-weather operations with a long, proven history of safe operations globally.

Captain Renslow had 3,379 total hours of flight experience and was Airline Transport Pilot rated, which is the highest level of certification available. That rating, combined with 172 hours of formal training on the Q400 aircraft, qualified him fully in accordance with all applicable Federal Aviation Regulations.

We continuously review our safety policies and training procedures as part of our everyday operations. In the wake of an accident, we are even more focused on ensuring our operations remain safe and have specifically reexamined our procedures for this aircraft. We have reinforced strict adherence to all of our flight operations policies, including flying during icing conditions.

Today the company issued a 3-page document - Frequently Asked Questions – Colgan Air Flight 3407. One item on that document clearly indicates the frustration of the airline's management in the face of massive media speculation about the cause of the accident:

If the process is supposed to be private until findings are determined, why am I seeing speculation about potential causes?

• a. Historically, NTSB investigations are confidential and involve a thorough determination of the facts before public statements are made.
• b. It’s important not to jump to conclusions, and instead focus on what is factual and released by the investigating team at the NTSB. Currently, the only absolute fact is that we do not know the cause of this accident.

Among other things, the FAQ describes Colgan Air's crew training methods at some length, with examples to illustrate. Also delineated in the FAQ are the qualifications, training, and number of flying hours of the two pilots who perished in the crash of Flight 3407. The FAQ even presents a justification for why Colgan Air flies the Q400.

The airline is in a tough position -- prohibited from commenting on specifics related to the accident itself while the investigation still is underway, yet catching flak from the media and the general public meanwhile. It's no wonder that Colgan Air feels compelled to do what it can to defend itself via these media releases.

Everyone wants to know what happened to cause the accident, yet few are patient enough to wait for all of the facts to emerge from the course of the investigation. Thus, every new tidbit of information revealed by the NTSB evokes a new round of speculation by the media and the huge cadre of armchair investigators who are all too ready to decide probable cause based on fragments of information.

Clearly this situation is vexing for the airline. And one can only imagine how rough all of this must be for the families of the crew and passengers who died in the accident.

RELATED: Click here to view all posts about Colgan Air Flt 3407 on Aircrew Buzz.

NTSB to hold public hearing on the US Airways Flight 1549 accident

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has announced that a public hearing will be held in conjunction with the investigation of the ditching of a US Airways Airbus A320 into the Hudson River in New York City in last month. The hearing, which will be held in Washington, DC, is expected to be scheduled for late spring or early summer.

In a press release issued a short time ago, NTSB Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker said, "Based on what we have learned so far about this accident, we know that many things went right. But no matter how many things go right, we've found that each accident presents safety issues that we can learn from - both to further our investigation, and ultimately, to make the skies even safer. This hearing will move us closer toward those goals."

The public hearing will focus on the following issues:

• Training of crew members on emergency procedures
• Certification requirements for the Airbus A-320 related to the structural integrity of the airframe during ditching
• Bird ingestion certification standards for transport-category turbofan engines
• New and developing technologies for detection of large groups of birds and procedures to avoid conflicts with birds in the general vicinity of airports

A list of those expected to testify will be released closer to the date of the hearing. The exact date has not yet been announced.

RELATED: Click here to view all posts about US Airways Flt 1549 on Aircrew Buzz.

9/11 flight attendant Cee Cee Lyles memorialized by her home town

Cee Cee Lyles, a United Airlines flight attendant who was killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, was honored by her home town of Fort Pierce, FL, yesterday. A post office in Fort Pierce was dedicated in her memory, in a ceremony conducted by Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL), and attended by family members, community leaders, and her fellow flight attendants.

Ms. Lyles was born and raised in Fort Pierce, FL. Prior to pursuing a career as a flight attendant with United Airlines, she was a Fort Pierce police officer for six years. She died at age 33, when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field outside Shanksville, PA.

A delegation from the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), of which Cee Cee Lyles was a member, attended the ceremony in Fort Pierce.

"Today's dedication of the Fort Pierce Post Office is a wonderful way to celebrate the professionalism and the memory of our flying partner and friend," said Patricia Friend, AFA-CWA International President. "Her memory will live on through the Fort Pierce community for generations to come."

Last year, Congress passed a resolution, sponsored by Senator Martinez and Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), which officially designated the local U.S. postal facility to be named in honor of Lyles. In 2003, Fort Pierce erected a bronze statue in Liberty Garden in Veteran's Memorial Park to memorialize the United flight attendant and Fort Pierce native.

Click here to read about the life of Cee Cee Lyles, from the archives of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

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Singapore Airlines, unions, discuss effects of planned capacity reduction

The management of Singapore Airlines has been meeting with union leaders to discuss how to mitigate the potential impact of the airline's announced capacity reduction on staff. Singapore Airlines plans to reduce its capacity by 11 per cent between April of this year and March of 2010.

The current capacity reduction plan will entail the decommissioning of 17 aircraft. Earlier, Singapore Airlines had announced plans to remove only four aircraft from their fleet.

According to the airline, talks between management and Singapore Airlines' three staff unions includes discussions of accelerated clearance of leave entitlements, voluntary leave without pay, voluntary early retirement and shorter work months.

Noting that Singapore Airlines "does not have a domestic operation to soften the blow from the slump in international air traffic," CEO Chew Choon Seng said 2009 is going to be a very difficult year for the airline.

"We have already taken action such as expanding and stepping up training and re-training programmes, and we will contemplate retrenchment only as a last resort, but we do not have the luxury of time and we need to agree and act on some measures quickly so that we can push back the point of retrenchment as far as possible and improve our chances of avoiding it altogether," Mr. Chew said.

"The Company will work with the staff and the unions in forging a consensus on the action plans. Together in cooperation, we will rise to the challenges confronting us and ride out the storm," Mr. Chew said, pledging that should cuts in salary become necessary, management would be the first to take them.

NASA Tailplane Icing Video

Ever since last week's crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 near Buffalo, interest in aircraft icing has been heightened. The NTSB reported that shortly before the accident, the crew had discussed "significant ice build-up" on the windshield and the leading edges of the wings of the aircraft, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400.

Some time ago, NASA produced a very worthwhile and instructive 23 minute video that provides information about ice-contaminated horizontal stabilizers. It presents a physical description of the tailplane icing problem, symptoms of ice contamination and suggested recovery procedures. NASA says this video was produced "as a result of insights gained from the NASA/FAA Tailplane Icing Program."

Here is the link to that NASA video: Tailplane Icing - on Google Video