LONDON – On behalf of the team here at AviationSource, we would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas.
It has been one hell of a year, especially in the aviation industry, with things from COVID to BREXIT affecting the way that everyone in the industry behaves!
By the end of this month, AviationSource would have been in operation for just eight months. And it has been a very quick eight months, to say the least!
We thought we would celebrate this Christmas by choosing 10 of our favorite highlights, based on the articles we have produced.
So without further ado, let’s get into it!
10. Having The Foothold in the U.S.A: Qatar Airways’ Continued Success Story – By James Field
Number 10 starts with the first article that we launched the website with, which was an exclusive interview with Mark Drusch, Qatar Airways Senior Vice President of Revenue Management, Alliances, and Strategy a few days before the launch of its Seattle route back in January 2021 to discuss the direction of the airline currently.
This piece looked back at when the airline launched services to Seattle in January 2021, the airline’s efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, and much more!
It remains clear that Qatar Airways has been consistently clear-cut when it comes to operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
And being that clear-cut has shown, as the airline is beginning to experience the fruits of those decisions before other carriers around the world are.
Its expansion in the U.S also shows that it is onto something in terms of alliance utilization with the likes of Alaska Airlines on the West Coast as well as American on the East Coast.
Adopting such a strategy has enabled the airline to assert its dominance more in that region, which will no doubt make the likes of Emirates and Etihad as the months go on.
9. Heathrow’s Third Runway: The Project That Never Got off the Ground – By Callum Tennant
At Number 9 comes a favorite analysis piece from Callum Tennant, who was a guest writer for AviationSource and has been featured in the likes of The Guardian, Travel Radar, and more.
This article examines the agonizing twists and turns of the expansion debate, the environmental concerns over expansion, and whether Heathrow will ever get a third runway.
The UK’s current Prime Minister and former Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, once famously said that he would: “lie down… in front of those bulldozers…. [to] stop the construction of that third runway.”
Environmentalists argue that expansion is immoral, illegal, and incompatible with UK commitments to reduce its emissions. However, Heathrow, the UK’s only hub airport, has been operating at full capacity for over a decade and argues that growth will be lost to rival European hubs without expansion.
Again, this was a piece that we launched the business with, as part of a series of many different analyses from different writers.
8. Pushing Tin in a Pandemic – A Look at ATC Operations in the UK – By Martyn Cartledge
The year is generally held as the approximate centenary of Air Traffic Control. Martyn Cartledge looks at ATC operations in the UK and talks with NATS about its operations in the wake of COVID-19.
Tucked away in large en route centers and behind the glass, we see in the Visual Control Rooms at the top of the world’s airports ATC towers, are quiet and calm groups of men and women moving aircraft around the skies and airport ramps.
But just how do they do this and how has the near annihilation of air traffic, not only in the UK but around the world affected operations?
This was a very insightful piece from Martyn and gave some good behind-the-scenes of air traffic operations, particularly at Manchester Airport.
7. The Industry’s Environment, Current and Future: A Discussion with Jon Ostrower – By James Field
Back in January 2021, AviationSource got to speak with the Editor-in-Chief of The Air Current, Jon Ostrower to discuss all things aviation as we take a look at the current and future environment of the industry.
Ostrower is an industry veteran when it comes to writing, with his career spanning over a decade, writing for the likes of FlightGlobal, CNN amongst others.
This was possibly one of my favorite interviews that I conducted as we went into a big dive into how COVID is affecting the aviation industry as well as the Boeing 737 MAX crisis, which was still ongoing at that time.
Big thanks to Jon for speaking to me about that! It was a lot of fun to interview and write!
6. Mini-Series with GE Aviation – By James Field
Another major milestone AviationSource hit was engaging in a mini-series full of interviews and articles based on GE Aviation, going all of the way from the Catalyst program in the general aviation sector to the commercial aviation side of the business.
You can find the links to each mini-series article below:
- GE Aviation’s Catalyst: A New Look into the Future of General Aviation Power
- The GE Aviation CF34: A Solid & Strong Engine for The Regional World
- CFM Presence: How The Emerging Engine War Opened Up A Large Market
- GE Aviation CF6: The Long-Haul Game Grows Longer Thanks to The Material Business
- The GEnx Engine: GE Aviation’s Workhorse To Keep Innovative Success Flowing to the Future
Unfortunately, we never got any time to speak to anyone about the GE9X program, but that is not surprising given how busy they probably are getting the engine ready for entry-into-service with the Boeing 777X.
5. The French bee of the Future: Talking New York, the A350 & Competition with CEO Marc Rochet – By James Field
AviationSource got to sit down with the airline’s chief executive officer Marc Rochet back in July to discuss the new route as well as how the airline is doing since the Editor-in-Chief James Field interviewed him two years ago at a different outlet.
Such a new route was New York-Newark, which was part of the airline’s overall expansion to the East Coast of the United States after having the West Coast in San Francisco already sorted.
We specifically talked about COVID, the new route, as well as the overall restrictions between France and the United States, which is something he was pretty vocal about.
He even hinted at the idea of potentially taking on the Airbus A321XLR in the future too.
4. Exploring the World of Pan Am’s Juan Trippe – An Interview with His Son Edward Trippe – By Luca Zocche
An absolutely incredible interview by Luca Zocche, who did some freelance writing for us, earlier this year where he got to sit down with the son of Pan Am’s Juan Trippe, Edward Trippe.
In this interview, they went into big depth about the philosophy of Juan and the airline’s success and failures.
This 30-minute interview was an absolute masterclass by Luca and he did an incredible job in interviewing Edward!
3. Alitalia/ITA’s Fleet Development: A Cheeto in a Flock of Seagulls – By Alessio Olivetti
The announcement of the new Italian flag carrier ITA for the leasing of 31 new-generation aircraft and the intended purchase of 28 all-Airbus aircraft went unsurprisingly unnoticed.
The 31 long-term leased aircraft from Air Lease Corporation (ALC) – 15 A220s, 2 A320neos, 9 A321neos, and 5 A330-900neos – will be delivered starting in 2022.
While the Memorandum of Understanding signed with Airbus SA would cover 28 aircraft to be delivered once the business plan is completed around 2025.
This analysis piece by Alessio goes into why ITA’s fleet development is not going to be what the airline expects, including all of the past dramatic woes of Alitalia placing a dent in the confidence of Italian aviation. A great read for sure!
2. Dubai Air Show Recap Day 5: Air Lease Turned Down Boeing 777X Freighter, Full Scores Revealed – By James Field
The Dubai Air Show was the first airshow that AviationSource has covered since its launch back in April.
Whilst the team wasn’t physically there, the Editor-in-Chief, James Field was up in the early hours of the morning to the early afternoon covering all of the order stories that came about at the airshow.
Make sure to check out that specific article linked so then you can remind yourself of the all-important order numbers as well as how the two big manufacturers did in the Airbus vs. Boeing fight.
1. A Better Service Than Legacy: Trip Report on JetBlue Across The Pond (+Photos) – By Thomas Saunders
Our #1 story goes to Chief Development Officer, Thomas Saunders, who ticked off the website’s first proper trip report, with it being testing out JetBlue transatlantic.
Saunders traveled from Gatwick to New York’s JFK and then JFK to Heathrow on the narrow Airbus A321LR and gave his thoughts on the economy side of the product.
Thomas also did a sterling job merging in some criticism about the way airports are handling passengers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the contrast that is ongoing between airlines providing amazing service to airports providing poor service as a whole.
And that is that!
There were definitely more incredible memories we could have showcased in this article. Trust me, it was hard to even whittle it down to 10.
An amazing thank you to everyone that has followed us since we launched operations in April! To be able to own a business that covers what we love is an absolute honor!
I would also like to thank our writing team, photographers, and even our guest contributors. You have molded this website to the position it is in now. So thank you!
As mentioned at the start of this piece, please be sure to consider subscribing, especially during the Christmas sale we have at the moment which is running until January 10 next year! Click here to subscribe!
Other than that, have an absolutely incredible Christmas and New Year, and we will see you guys in full force in 2022!
With Kind Regards
James Field
Editor-in-Chief
AviationSource Limited.
