After a three-month break from mid January until late April,  an elaborate battery fix and two US test flights, the 787 is back in the air.

I have previously described the changes that are being installed by 300 Boeing technicians to the planes across the world. Interestingly, the Japanese authorities have insisted on additional alterations in addition to the changes mandated by the FAA. They have insisted ANA and JAL  install battery monitoring systems to monitor the battery performance and to carry out an inspection program to battery changes are working effectively. These additional precautions do not apply to any other airlines flying 787
Three questions:

1. Why has the US FAA not forced US carriers to do the same fix as the Japanese?
2. Why will the other six airlines in the world not have the same safety?</li
3. How will consumers feel about this?

 The timetable for the return of the 787 in date order:

Ethiopian Airlines - April 27th: Addis-Abba - Ethiopia

Ethiopian Airlines were the first to fly 787 Dreamliner since grounding with a two-hour incident free commercial flight (pictured below, at take-off). The CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Tewolde Gebremariam was on board. Their other three 787s are being retrofitted.

Associated Press

Qatar Airlines -  May 1st: Doha-Dubai

After operating its first Dreamliner flight Qatar Airways  announced the resumption of daily Boeing 787 services from London to Doha from May 15. The airline said it would expect compensation from Boeing for taking planes that “could not be used“. The airline was already expecting recompense for the three year delay in delivery. CEO Al Baker said:  “I still feel the aircraft should not have been grounded…I think there was reaction due to the unnecessary evacuation of a Japanese aircraft. People are too sensitive to what the social media says”. All five the airline’s Dreamliners will all be in service by May 31.

Al Baker also said: “We are short of airplanes. So we will look at … either purchase or lease of interim airplanes from Airbus or Boeing. We have not yet decided.”

Air India – May 16th: Domestic Flights

The Boeing team arrived in Delhi last Tuesday to fit the new system. The first two craft should be ready to fly by May 10 with the remaining four by the end of the month. The 787s would be required to go through test flights before they are certified by India’s civil aviation regulator and pilots will need to undergo retraining. The carrier will utilise the plane on domestic routes in India from Delhi to Bangalore, Kolkata, and Chennai.  On June 1st, it will start flying from Delhi to both London and Paris. Boeing have agreed to compensate Air India for losses incurred by the state-run carrier according to India’s civil aviation minister, Ajit Singh. Boeing will deliver more of the planes to the carrier over the next few months.

United Airlines – May 31st: Houston - Denver

As previously noted, United has already included the 787 in its schedule from May 31. The airline has indicated, however, they may start 787 flights before May 31st. On June 10th, the twice delayed Denver to Tokyo service will finally start along with Houston to London. On August 1st, the Los Angeles to Tokyo and the long awaited Houston-Lagos will start. This will be followed by Los Angeles to Shanghai on August 2nd.

All Nippon Airways -  June 1st: Tokyo – Frankfurt

During the grounding, ANA cancelled a 3601 flights at a cost of $US92 million. Boeing began installing the battery fix on five grounded 787 jets owned by launch customer All Nippon Airways on April 22. The airline is planning between 100 and 200 round trip test flights through May, before it starts carrying passengers again on scheduled flights. The test flights are intended to re-train 200 of ANA’s Dreamliner pilots after the three-month break. ANA is currently planning to restart 787 service on June 1 on  domestic routes and Tokyo to Frankfurt. On September 1st, it will fly between Tokyo and San Jose and Tokyo to Seattle.

Japan Air Lines – June 1st: Tokyo – Beijing, Singapore, San Diego and Boston

Like ANA, JAL’s 787 JAL will return after completing test flights and pilot re-training. JAL cancelled or reduced 766 flights during the grounding at a cost of 4.8 billion yen. Boeing had full-page advertisements in five national Japanese newspapers on Tuesday: “We express our deep gratitude towards passengers, airlines, suppliers and the investigating authorities in each country . . . for their support on the occasion of resuming operations of the completely modified 787,”

LAN – June 1st: Santiago - Lima and Los Angeles

This will be followed by Service between Santiago and Madrid and Frankfurt later in 2013.

LOT Polish Airlines – June 5th: Warsaw - Chicago

LOT’s January launch of this service turned into a nightmare when its plane was grounded at Washington DC after its first ever flight! The return trip complete with champagne and balloons had to be cancelled! On June 7th, the plane will be used between Warsaw and Toronto, followed by Warsaw to New York on June 30th. Speculation is rife that LOT may be in the sights of  Norwegian Air after their CEO Bjorn Kjos met with Polish government officials. Norwegian themselves will soon be a 787 user (see below).

The Timetable for New Users:

Thomson Airways -July 8th: Manchester - Florida & Glasgow – Cancun

Thomson Airways was initially due to receive the first of its 13 Dreamliners at the end of February. They are tipping a start date ready for the European summer.

Norwegian Air: Oslo - NYC and Bangkok

The airline has ordered three of the 787s. It has recently suggested that one of its forthcoming Boeing 787 Dreamliners may fly under an Irish flag for cost reasons. Norwegian  have also been rumoured to be considering a takeover of LOT.

 Hainan: September: Beijing – Chicago

China’s aviation regulator  is poised to grant approval this month for the 787  to begin commercial service with Chinese airlines.  Hainan has ordered ten but had suggested they may swap future 787 Dreamliners for the larger 747-8s because of the delivery delays. In the meantime,  they should get their first 787 within the next two months as it has already competed Boeing test flights.

China Southern: September: Domestic China

China Southern have also ordered ten of the 787 and three are sitting at the Boeing plants waiting for delivery. China Southern will become the first airline in the world to fly both the 787 and A380 concurrently. After launching on Chinese domestic services, the 787 will probably fly between China and European routes and also to Sydney and Melbourne and possibly Auckland.

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April 20th 787 Cleared to Fly!

March 30th: Boeing calls for 787s to fly

March 16th: 787 Battery Fix?

January 25th: The 787 Battery Fire: Step by step

January 18th: All 787s grounded- airline by airline

The FAA (the U.S. regulators) has approved the return of the grounded 787 Dreamliner to the air next week. The authority were clearly satisfied with Boeing’s fixes with US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood saying: “These changes to the 787 battery will ensure the safety of the aircraft and its passengers“. The manufacturer is saying while it does not know what caused the fire, it’s fixes will deal with 80 possible causes.

“Next week, the FAA will issue instructions to operators for making changes to the aircraft and will publish in the Federal Register the final directive that will allow the 787 to return to service with the battery system modifications. The directive will take effect upon publication. The FAA will require airlines that operate the 787 to install containment and venting systems for the main and auxiliary system batteries, and to replace the batteries and their chargers with modified components.”

It is unclear what Japanese regulators will do. They may accept the FAA decision or require additional information from Boeing or demand additions safeguards or require the manufacturer to undertake more test flights.

The F.A.A. approval which has been expected for the last few days, nonetheless came before the National Transportation Safety Board hearings next week on why the battery ignited on the Tarmac at Boston, USA back on January 7. The Board is also investigating to what extent any potential battery risks were underestimated. Officials from Boeing, Thales (battery system), GS-Yuasa (the battery manufacturer) and the FAA have been summoned to Washington.

The 50 jets owned  by seven airlines  will start flying in weeks.
Boeing has 300 technicians deployed in teams around the world to quickly install the modified batteries and other changes on these jets, a process that takes five days per plane. I listed the fixes in a post last month.

United will probably start May 31, as foreshadowed in my blog post last week from Houston to Denver.

ANA have also placed the 787 in their schedules from May 31.

Ethiopian and Qatar have said they want their 787s in the air as soon as possible.

The F.A.A.’s decision will allow Boeing to deliver many of the 34 completed 787s in Charleston and Everett, which airlines are waiting for.

Now let’s see how the passengers feel!

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April 6: 787 in weeks???

March 30: Boeing calls for 787s to fly

March 23:  787 Testing

March 16: 787 Battery Fix?

March 8: No 787 for a long, long time

February 23: Where can you find a 787?

February 16: 787 situation gets more serious

 February 9th: 787 Update- one flies, would you fly it?

  February 2: 787 still grounded

 January 25: The 787 Battery Fire: Step by step January 18: All 787s grounded- airline by airline

 January 12: 787 Safety “Concerns”

Seven airlines have fifty 787s grounded at airports across the world:

Tokyo Haneda, Japan: 12
Tokyo Narita, Japan: 7
Mumbai, India: 5
Houston, USA: 4
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia:4
Santiago, Chile: 3
Takamatsu, Japan: 2
Bangalore, India: 1
Boston, USA: 1
Chicago,USA: 1
Doha, Qatar: 1
Frankfurt, Germany: 1
Kumamoto, Japan: 1
London Heathrow, UK: 1
Los Angeles, USA: 1
Matsuyama, Japan: 1
Warsaw, Poland: 1

In addition, Boeing has about 20 undelivered 787s.

While, I know its pretty much inevitable, I am not a fan of this $11 billion merger. We know that:

• Merger will be completed by October, 2013
• American will be the world’s biggest airline
• It will have two per cent more air traffic than United Airlines
• AA will have 6,700 flights to 336 locations in 56 countries
• The airline will have 1000 planes
• The new workforce will be close to 100,000
• AMR creditors will own 72% of the combined airline and US Airways the other 28% of the ownership
• The American Airlines name will survive
• Headquarters will be in Dallas/Ft. Worth (US air is currently Phoenix, Arizona based)
• The airline will be part of One World
• Doug Parker of US Airways (and America West before that) will be the new CEO of the combined company
• Current CEO Tom Horton will be on the board as a non-executive until 2014
• Initially there will be nine hubs: Charlotte, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York JFK, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington

I would rather not see this further shrinkage of the US airline industry. This deal means that four mega carriers will control about 85 per cent of the US domestic airline traffic. My preference would be for International Airlines Group (British Airways/Iberia) to merge with American. Yes, it breaches current US airline ownership laws which still limit foreign ownership of US air carriers. It would diminish some trans Atlantic services but would create a very large global airline and maintain some competition in the US market. A market, which has already seen Northwest and Continental vanish.

Some questions from me:

• How long before the Phoenix hub goes. It is effectively sandwiched between the DFW and LAX hubs. It would make sense for traffic to be routed away from PHX in favour of those two AA cities.
• How long before Philadelphia is whittled down in favour of Miami and JFK. US has abandoned Pittsburgh and American exited St Louis
• Will the Reservations system be American’s Sabre or US Airways Shares ?
• Will American keep its brand new livery which will be on 73 planes by the end of 2013?
• Can CEO Parker repair the low American Airlines staff morale?
• Will AA service improve (I put American in the bottom ten airlines I have flown on)

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For many years, I refused to fly Delta. My re discovery of them has been a great experience and this recent almost perfect flight was confirmation that Delta have a lot to offer these days.

Booking 10 out of 10

The Delta.com web site is very straightforward and gave fare options for both First Class and Coach. The booking engine flows well, is logical and a pleasure to use. When making my seat selection, I chose 1C being the only seat left in the front row of First Class.

Check in: 10 out of 10

Delta has a great online check in system. It was a pleasure to use. Delta provided a range of fare options across their coach and First Class cabins.

During the check in process, when I looked at my seat options, I found 1D, the window seat in Row 1 was available so shifted across.I do like my window seat!

Boarding: 8 out of 10

Security lines were quite okay at this time of day at Columbus. With my First Class access, Boarding was a breeze.  Within minutes, I was settled in my seat and watching the rest of the plane board.

On Board: 10 out of 10

Jeff, the flight attendant in charge of First Class, welcomed us to the cabin soon after takeoff and took our meal orders. He was friendly for the flight and I appreciated bis hospitality.

I am not normally a fan of the 737 but up front was very pleasant. My seat was very comfortable. The whole  cabin was fresh and clean.  Effectively there were, three types of seating:

• First Class: 16 seats with a pitch if 38″ and a width of 20.5″ arranged 2-2
• Economy Comfort Class: 18 seats with a pitch if 35-36″ and a width of 17″ arranged 3-3
• Economy Class: 90 seats  with 31″-32″ and a width of 17″ arranged 3-3

Take off: 10 out of 10

We pushed back a little later than the 750 departure time at 755pm. We taxied very quickly to the runway and were off with no great fuss.

Entertainment: 8 out of 10

Delta have AVOD (Audio and Video on Demand) with TV, Movies and radio as well as the flight tracker. i enjoyed watching Modern Family and How I met your mother as I munched through dinner but thought that selections were a little limited and a regular flyer may get sick of the same episodes! The  AVOD system worked smoothly.

On board wifi was also available and worked well.

Meals: 8 out of 10

Having eaten First Class domestic meal offerings on American (lousy), United (abysmal) and US Airways (simply packets of snacks), Delta’s First Class meal was an amazing pleasure. The airline seems to still consider First Class as a real place. The first surprise was that any drink from the bar is available before the plane has left the ground. The second was that the airline used real table clothes and knives and forks!

When the actual meal arrived, we started with a tasty fresh salad. This was followed by an acceptable lasagne and finally a nice slice of chocolate cake.

Landing 10 out of 10

We landed at 2141, a minute later than planned. Disembarkation was very quick for me!

The Verdict

My Flight Rating: Overall 93% (5 out of 5).

My Overall rating of  Delta Airlines:  4.1 out of 5 (based on my 20 Delta flights)

Skytrax Rating of Delta : 3 star

Positives:   Staff, wifi, punctuality

Negatives:  Entertainment system

Would I fly them again?  Yes – very impressed. Keep this up!

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Virgin Australia A330 Per – Syd Business

November 11 is Remembrance Day across most of the previous British Commonwealth countries and  Vetrans Day in the USA. Wherever you are,  may all those who served in war be acknowledged today. My Grandfather was injured twice in World War One. .He enlisted in 1916 at the age of 22 and was sent to Europe. Shells and shrapnel caem close to narrowly taking him from us. So many of his friends were lost, however. Some lost as a result of the very shell that my grandpa survived.

Were my late Grandfather ear efforts successful? I would dearly love for him to know he made a difference.

We humans have till a long way to go, however, before we see total peace on this planet.My Grandfather, after his service, no longer saw war as the solution. Instead, he saw war as over rated. His memories of World War One were of sadness and horror.

This November 11, it would be good for us as humans to start to think about how we do away with the scourge of war which these days threatens our existence as a species. How much of the world are no go zones for travellers compared to 100 years ago? How many kids are struggling to survive? How much money do we spend? How many monuments, buildings and special places are lost in this environment?

I know I am dreaming but as John Lennon sang: It may be worth imagining. In the meantime: They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

I had settled into my bulkhead row at the front of the USAir economy section when one of the flight attendants approached me and explained that they were re-seating a passenger who had never flown before. Soon a middle aged woman was escorted to the seat next to mine. She was terrified. Every noise made her jump. She gripped the armrest tightly – and we had not left the gate. I introduced myself: “Martin”.  She responded: “Debby”. I said: “with an ie” or a “y”? She smiled with relief and said “y”.

Debby explained to me that her father had suddenly taken very ill and that instead of driving the distance, she had been forced to take this flight. So compounding my seat companion’s terror at flying was anxiety over what would be waiting for her at the hospital when she touched down. She was not convinced that the plane was going to make it. I told her that this was my 904th flight. I reminded her that I had survived 903 takeoffs – and 903 landings and that this one would be no different.

Safety Briefing

As soon as the briefing started, Debby grabbed the Safety Information card as instructed by the crew and followed it step by step. I pointed out the lifejacket. The woman on the other side of the aisle joined me in promising her it would be extremely unlikely it would  be used on this flight.

Take off: 9 out of 10

We left on time and were soon positioned on the runway for a very very smooth takeoff. The woman in 1B and I talked Debby through the takeoff. As the engines of the Canadian Regional Jet fired up she muttered: “Oh God”. She was amazed how quickly and easily we were in the air but would not glance outside staring straight ahead or sometimes looking at us.

On Board: 8 out of 10

The CRJ 700 plane had two classes: First Class with nine seats arranged 1/2 with  a 37″pitch and 21″ width.  Coach Class with seventy coach class seats arranged 2/2. Pitch: 31″ (not in the bulkhead row where I estimate the pitch had to be at least 40″) and width 17.3″.

Meals: 0 out of 10

After takeoff, a Flight Attendant came past to check on Debby and offer her a drink. Her soda came back in minutes, with some mixed peanuts. No one else in the Coach section was offered anything. First Class Passengers were provided witha  drink. I know there was limited time on this service but could not a small water bottle be given to every passenger on such a flight? In today’s flying with the transportation of water  through security banned and with some passengers connecting from short flight to short flight with little layover time, that water could be very welcome. Debby passed her peanuts onto me!

Entertainment: 0 out of 10

No wifi and no entertainment on board – not that I noticed spending the flight reassuring my new companion.

Landing 10 out of 10

We landed a little early. The landing was very smooth, much to my relief as I had promised Debby, the landing would be fine! I walked Debby to her next gate where she begged me to come on her next flight. I demurred and she gave me a hug and promised that she would pray for me. I hope your Dad is doing okay, Debby.

Booking 7 out of 10

USAir’s booking system was pretty simple. Only five steps. On the first screen, plug in what date, destination and origin cities and hit enter.  The next booking screen which gives you a table of  the “best matches” by price and schedule  is a little confusing as you then scroll down a large table of numbers. It would be good, to have some sort of ability to filter by one stop/non stop or by time or by price. Through the booking process,  you are asked to consider a US Airways Credit Card three times. I ended up paying with Paypal.  Confirmation was very quick.

Check in: 8 out of 10

Check in online was very easy. I picked up my boarding pass at the airport from the self service terminal which also worked very smoothly.

The Verdict

My Flight Rating: Overall 47% (2.35 out of 5).

My Overall rating of  Airline:   3.4 out of 5 (based on my 25  flights with them)

Skytrax Rating of USAir: 3 star

Positives:   Staff

Negatives:  Entertainment system, No wifi, nothing to drink (not even water)

Would I fly them again? ?

It has been ten years between visits to Norfolk, Virginia and the city has done some improving! I stayed near the Waterside Convention Centre which is next to the Marriott Hotel and handy to transport, restaurants and Macarthur shopping center.

Aesthetics: 7 out of 10

Norfolk is located at the junction of the Elizabeth River and Chesapeake Bay. The city is 237 kilometres (147.3 miles)  from Washington DC. The city’s location is very pretty built around the waterways.

The Norfolk downtown has had a major scrub up and the Granby Street area was unrecognisable compared to a decade ago. In the 1980s it was a dreadful drug haunt and now it is a really super restaurant and club destination. I had a meal at Rama Garden Thai Restaurant located in Granby St, which was superb.

The downtown is still surrounded by a ring of low income housing projects. Further afield, there are some lovely neighbourhoods including my favourite: the Ghent district about 5 kilometres (3 miles) from downtown

Liveability: 6 out of 10

Norfolk was declared to be the number one city in which to live in the South in 2005 by Money magazine. I am sorry I think Charlotte, New Orleans and Savannah are overall more interesting places to be. David Albouy rated the city as 54th out of 276 cities, in the USA for Quality of Life. The cost of living in Norfolk is approximately ten per cent cheaper than the US average. Average house prices are two per cent less than the National average and the median rental is  three percent less than the National average. Education, Crime, and Employment are all considered to be way worse than the National average, though.

Culture: 7 out of 10

The amazing Chrysler Museum of Art (located in the Ghent District),is one of the best art galleries in the USA.  The city is home to the Virginia Opera based at the Harrison Opera House in the Ghent District.There are a  number of good theatres.  The Naro Expanded Cinema is  a very cute cinema also, located in the Ghent district, which shows interesting films. There is a very good range of interesting international food restaurants.

Crime: 4 out of 10

The Crime rate in Norfolk is approximately double the US National average. Residents have a 1 in 17 chance of  being a crime victim. I didn’t feel unsafe at any time but I did notice the downtown streets on a weekday emptied fast and felt very empty.

Transit: 5.6 out of 10

Norfolk has a shiny new Light Rail system  called The Tide which opened in August, 2011.  It is ten minutes at peak times but only runs every 15 minutes during the rest of the day and evenings (come on guys aim for every ten minutes all the time).  It also stops running at 11pm (except on Fridays). One taxi driver, I spoke to, claimed that it had disrupted downtown traffic considerably. The Light Rail sadly does not connect either the airport,  Naval Station Norfolk (proposed) or Virginia Beach (also proposed) so it is not overly  useful for visitors.  Even so, the system is running at double the projected rider figures.

The rest of the transit system, operated  by  Hampton Roads Transit, is mostly bus based with a  ferry service. Airport access is very  limited.

Vibe: 7 out of 10

Despite the economic doldrums, Norfolks has a bit of buzz happening. The presence of the navy, the new nightlife venues,  the revitalised downtown and other key districts. It is worth a visit.

The Verdict: 67.6%

On my city ranking, I give Norfolk, VA a rating of 6.8 out of ten. Out of the 171 cities over 100, 000 people I have visited, it comes in at 128th. This is the same placing that I put Hamilton, New Zealand.

The Norfolk Top Ten

1. Chrysler Museum of Art (nice building, great collection, free entry and parking)
2. USS Wisconsin (one of the largest and last battleships ever built by the U.S. Navy)
3. Norfolk Naval Base (he largest Naval base in the world)
4. The General Douglas MacArthur Memorial, contains this World War Two hero’s tomb, a museum and research centre
5. Moses Myers House (one of the first brick homes built in Norfolk after the War of Independence)
6. Cape Henry Lighthouse (NB all visitors need picture ID to get in)
7. Norfolk Botanical Garden
8. Town Point Park
9. Hermitage Museum and Gardens
10. Hunter House Victorian Museum (Victorian house)

External Links

Visit Norfolk Tourism 

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I fly for the 280th time through Melbourne (Australia) airport! This is the airport I have used the most through my life. 280 check ins! Altogether, that is a lot of time in the security lines, shops and lounges!  As of today, my ten most visited airports are:

1.   Melbourne, Australia (MEL): 279 times.  4.3 out of 5
2.   Sydney, Australia (SYD):  248 times.   3.0
3.   Los Angeles, USA (LAX): 89 times.  1.8
4.   Auckland, New Zealand (AKL): 69 times.  3.2
5.  Adelaide, Australia (ADL) 69 times.  4.1
6.  San Francisco, USA (SF):  46 times.  4.0
7.  London Heathrow, UK (LHR): 41 times. 2.6
8.  Wellington, NZ (WLG): 36 times.  4.1
9.  Brisbane, Australia (BNE), 33 times. : 4.0
10.  Chicago O-Hare, USA (ORD): 29 times.  4.0

I was interested how many of these airports are amongst my least favourites. Often its not the airport but the destination that is important. I detest LAX but most Australian and NZ flights to the USA hub through this airport so I have ended up there more times than I would have liked.

Was amused by this sign in a New York Supermarket. Clearly a typo but it got me thinking.  How nice would it be to buy some for a friend who needs cheering up or for a grumpy fellow passenger or for ourselves when feeling stressed or down?

How about it, a dozen cheeries please!