Pratt & Whitney to power Delta Air Lines’ 100 A321neos
Delta Airlines of the USA, who were pioneers with the Boeing 747, affectionately called ‘Jumbo Jet’, flew their first such aircraft into history with the last flight with company employees operating in December 2017. The Boeing 747, revolutionalised air travel and was the first twin-aisle airplane, with more than double the capacity of the largest commercial aircraft at the time. Delta’s 747s, introduced on a maiden voyage in 1970 from Atlanta to Dallas to Los Angeles, brought the first overhead luggage bins to the airline, as well as the first in-flight audio channels, dubbed ‘Deltasonic’, which featured the Beatles, Burt Bacharach and Beethoven. The Boeing 747 had seats for 370 passengers, including 66 in first class and six in those penthouse seats upstairs.
Over the years of production, Boeing manufactured some 1340 Jumbo jets which served with airlines throughout the Globe including Air India which took the delivery of its first Boeing 747237B in April 1971 of a total of 11 such variants, followed by the Boeing 747-437, some of which remain in service till today.
Pratt & Whitney, Delta Air Lines and Airbus Group have announced the selection of Pratt & Whitney’s Geared Turbofan (GTF) engine to power Delta’s order of A321neo aircraft. The order
Textron AviationInc launched its new twin-engine, high-wing, large-utility turboprop, the Cessna SkyCourier 408. FedEx Express, the world’s largest express transportation company and longtime Textron Aviation customer, has signed on as the launch customer for up to 100 aircraft, with an initial fleet order of 50 cargo aircraft and options for 50 more. Entry into service for the clean-sheet design Cessna SkyCourier is planned for 2020. Built for high utilisation operations, the Cessna SkyCourier 408 will be offered in cargo and passenger variants and feature a large cargo door and a flat floor cabin that is sized to handle up to three LD3 shipping containers with an impressive 6,000 pounds of maximum payload capability.