In the comments some people are discussing Iranian F-14s and the lengths gone to keep them airworthy. I totally went down the wikipedia hole on this topic. Super interesting!
“As a result of this decision we have no substantial A380 backlog and hence no basis to sustain production, despite all our sales efforts with other airlines in recent years. This leads to the end of A380 deliveries in 2021,” said Airbus Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders. “The consequences of this decision are largely embedded in our 2018 full year results”.
“The A380 is not only an outstanding engineering and industrial achievement. Passengers all over the world love to fly on this great aircraft. Hence today’s announcement is painful for us and the A380 communities worldwide. But, keep in mind that A380s will still roam the skies for many years to come and Airbus will of course continue to fully support the A380 operators,” Tom Enders added.
Huh. I had Flightaware set up to alert me on the YYC-YYZ flight this afternoon as I assumed (incorrectly it appears) that the inaugural flight would be YYC-YYZ. The plane was here, the crew is here etc. Wonder why they chose to deadhead everything to YYZ again and operate back to YYC? One last familiarization opportunity? Better media coverage?
Bummer the weather is what it is today. I went out to watch the Atlas Air arrival and it was still in the clouds when it passed overhead. I suspect the same for the Westjet arrival. Nothing to see today unless you happen to be close to the airport.
Ugh, NTSB has released this info about the Atlas Air 767 freighter that crashed outside Houston:
"the NTSB has revealed that Atlas Air 767 Freighter flight 5Y3591 dove based on column input. The nose was pushed over by one of the pilots, along with taking the engines to full thrust. The dive continued at a 49 degree angle and reached 430 knots before impacting."
