Tag Archives: Air Cargo

Kalitta Air’s Unlawful Mandate and False Accommodation Process

CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT v. KALITTA AIR, LLC, and CONRAD (“CONNIE”) KALITTA

Kalitta Air was named in a lawsuit filed yesterday for refusing to accommodate employees
exempt from the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Loyal mechanics, pilots,
dispatchers, and leaders who dedicated years of their lives to Kalitta have now lost their
livelihoods because they could not take the vaccine for medical or religious reasons. While
those employees had worked safely throughout the pandemic—and had the ability to
continue doing so—Kalitta ignored requests for reasonable accommodations to their
mandate.

Regrettably, the company’s policy is nothing more than an unlawful policy decision by
management that failed to follow federal anti-discrimination laws, the example of other
companies, CDC guidance, and common sense. Rather than follow the law, Kalitta chose to
hurt loyal employees and their families—all while claiming to be a “family” company.

While many have been able to find other work at companies that do not mistreat their
employees, some Kalitta workers are still without jobs for months and all of them have been
harmed by the company’s actions. We expect Kalitta to restore people’s livelihoods and
make right the damage they caused in illegally enforcing their vaccine mandate against those
unable to take the shot. We also hope that Kalitta will begin promoting an inclusive work
environment, free from further abuse, discrimination, and retaliation. Thank you.

Further media inquiries should be directed to:

John C. Sullivan
S|L Law PLLC
610 Uptown Blvd, Suite 2000
Cedar Hill, TX 75104
469.523.1351
john.sullivan@the-sl-lawfirm.com
https://www.the-sl-lawfirm.com

Analysis: Is the wind in the right direction for Amazon to snap up Atlas Air?

(Updated August 2019)

The Loadstar, a much respected and often analytically correct Air Cargo magazine has published an opinion piece on the ongoing drama and negotiations at Atlas Air, Southern Air and ATSG and Amazon.

The peculiar case of Atlas management and its increasingly poor relationship with its pilots is indeed confusing – unless, that is, it turns out to be a strategy that allows its executives to cash in big time via a smart trade sale to a key client, Amazon.

Read the entire article here…

Analysis: Is the wind in the right direction for Amazon to snap up Atlas Air?

944332E0-2455-4BF9-9327-811F2232A6E4The Amazon 737-800 Passenger to freighter conversions are finally being operated by Southern Air.

Growth would seem to be assured, except for the annoying part about paying pilots a fair wage. The bitterness amongst Southern Air and Atlas Pilots has reached new lows as it’s clear the mediocre attempt at “parity” last year was just another sleight of hand in a grand scheme to prevent a new contract at Atlas and Southern Air for the foreseeable future.

It is inconceivable that a large corporation would forfeit their entire work force by attrition unto their competitors staffing formulas but this is where things are at today. The Loadstar article written last year only seems more accurate than ever before.

Atlas / Southern 777Fs are reportedly being parked because of lack of crews. Meanwhile Atlas Air’s closest competitor is hurriedly staffing an entire 777F operation which is being launched with 4 tail numbers. Compare that to the 8 airframes under Southern Air‘s operation and that is half their fleet.

So to spell this out in laymen’s terms, the appearance on the surface is that Atlas is under marching orders to keep the 767 and 737 Amazon operations staffed while allowing their wide body fleets begin to go idle.

20170325_LDD001_0SOMETHING must be more valuable to Atlas’ executives than actual revenue flying airplanes. In this business, when the executives pass up assured GROWTH, that’s usually a signal that a bankruptcy or a merger or a sale is around the corner. Since in this case Atlas is very cash rich now, the smart money says it’s another merger or a sale vs. any kind of bankruptcy.

So the Loadstar basically just published what many of us have been observing now for the past 6 months or a year now. These are still great opportunities out there in Air Cargo for anyone else who can read the ti leaves.

hunter_killer

I for one have adjusted my course. The first airline to deploy pilot-less drones will be Amazon. Plan accordingly my friends!

/pau for now

Aerosucre 727 accident video from Puerto Carreño

Not too sure what happened here yesterday but these videos are crazy. It reminds me of at least two other recent incidents that thankfully did not crash.

The spotters on the ground had enough sense to get out of the way. Thankfully nobody was run over by what was somewhere near 190,000 pounds of not exactly flying aluminum. My prayers go out to the families of all involved.

A single engine failure should not have caused this airplane to crash. The investigators will probably focus first on the cargo manifests and maintenance records and move on from there if the obvious reasons get ruled out early.

These videos below will certainly help investigators quickly rule out “dead ends” as they investigate what happened yesterday in Colombia.

Here is the first point of view video shot from the departure end of the runway and port side of the Aerosucre 727.

Here is a second video shot from the other side of the dirt road, starboard side of the aircraft in view, also shows the crash.

The people are saying “the airplane lost a tire on the road” in the videos.

This airplane’s Colombian Registration # was: HK-4544 its serial number was CN: 21105. This was an ex Kitty Hawk airplane. Here is an old picture of it in Kitty Hawk colors before it was sold to Aerosucre.

These old Kitty Hawk 727s used to fly through Honolulu back in the 1990’s. They used to haul the fish out of Micronesia before Asia Pacific would take that business away. Here’s a picture of another Kitty Hawk 727 (not the one that just crashed in Colombia) parked next to another Kitty Hawk L-1011.

kh

Honolulu South Ramp in the 1990’s

It’s always hard for pilots to see airplanes we once flew in accidents. I have flown at least 5 airplanes that would go on to be crashed (that I know of). It is possible CN 21105 may have come through Honolulu but I still don’t have any photos of it.

Thats all for now

Much Aloha

 

boeing-737ng-cargo-cutawayThis morning Spectre Air Capital has announced they are ordering 15 conversions from Israeli Aerospace Industries IAI for deliveries beginning in 2017.

Of the 15 airframes, three are confirmed to be going to Air Incheon. The other 12 remain a mystery. Air Cargo News and American Shipper both have reported the same news.

Aircraft leasing giant GECAS has also entered the 737-800 passenger to freighter conversion market with an announcement of their first placement of two 737-800 P2F with Dublin, Ireland based ASL Aviation Group.

I have officially stopped keeping a tally on how many 737-800 freighters are on order now. This must be somewhere near the 50 airplane mark and is estimated to go into the hundreds over the next few years as there really is no other narrow body freighter that will be able to do what the NG Boeing narrow body can.

According to Jordan Jaffe from Spectre;

Spectre’s large B737NG freighter commitment follows its 20-aircraft Boeing 767-300ER programme collaboration earlier this year with aircraft trading partner Jetran, the majority of which will become freighters and be operated in support of e-commerce giants such as Amazon’s Prime Air and China-based Alibaba.

Jordan Jaffe, Spectre’s chief executive and co-founder, said: “Demand for express freighters is at an all-time high, with hundreds more required in the coming years to meet the demand created by rapid growth in e-commerce and expansion of the global middle class.

“The classic freighter feedstock is becoming increasingly scarce and overly expensive for their age. We intend to leverage our ability to purchase in fleet-sized transactions to offer next-generation freighters with attractive economics.”

What he is saying is exactly what this blogger has been saying all along. This airplane will effectively render all other 737 freighters obsolete, not to mention any still operating 727s and even the 757 which are all getting very very old. DC-9/MD8X freighters never really made a big impact. The old Pratt engines are fantastic but the corporate pencil pushers will always prefer the CFMs in the newer Boeing airplanes.

2059300

already obsolete, possible future as an “Aloha Tacos” lunch wagon?

Another big problem for these old airplanes will be the ADS-B requirements which will be mandatory by 2020. I am curious to see who the rest of these unannounced customers will be, or where they will find the pilots to fly all these airplanes.

Much Aloha

Amazing Job by Asia Pacific Airlines Guam 727 Drivers

One of the last 727 operators in the USA just made a picture perfect emergency landing on Guam a few days ago. The pilots did everything they could to get the nose wheel down and locked before landing. After exhausting all attempts to lock the nose gear down, the pilots brought the old classic “three-holer” to a graceful stop on Guam with only the main gear available. Impressive videos have made USA Today, England’s Daily Mail, even Russia Today.

Guam’s own Pacific Daily News has the best photos.

635920529749590470-Plane-landing-03

635920534149442674-Asia-Pacific-plane-04

635920529743974434-Plane-landing-02

Guam Daily Post has the best video I could find.

Excellent work Captain R! They should put you in charge of all operations immediately and double your salary. You are a positive example of how to save the day when things fall apart around you. GOOD JOB!

A nose gear up landing is not the worst thing that can happen to an airplane. This airplane can be repaired and be returned to flying rather quickly. Asia Pacific Airlines has crashed and fixed airplanes before. Back in May 2008, Asia Pacific’s N319NE overran the runway on Pohnpei and ended up on the reef in the lagoon. No video of that crash exists that I am aware of but first hand accounts from the engineer who was (in my opinion) wrongly blamed for the runway excursion, were quite dramatic to say the least. He told me that from his back seat, it looked like he was in a submarine diving under water. Thankfully, nobody was hurt in that crash either.

81160510

This airplane was quickly repaired and still flies for Asia Pacific Airlines to this day although, as of this writing it is AOG on remote PTKK (Chuuk Island FSM)

Asia Pacific Airlines now has zero operable aircraft flying. Their third 727 (N705AA) is undergoing an engine change and FAA certification for their replacement 757’s still eludes the airline.

The 737-800 freighter will be the perfect airplane to serve these Island Nations essential air cargo lifelines. Unfortunately, that airplane won’t be available until late 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

737-800 Freighter Update

Several developments over the past few months have prompted me to do an update post on the 737-800 Freighter. See my original post from 2014 here 737 Freighter Conversions.

Boeing 737 Passenger to Freighter Conversions

Boeing 737 Passenger to Freighter Conversions

Since the writing of that article, several STCs have been launched, Aeronautical Engineers Inc (AEI), IAI Bedek, Pemco and Boeing will all be producing 737-800 P2F conversions.

Best I can tell, AEI is leading the pack with 15 orders from Aviation Capital Group and 20 more orders from GECAS.

Boeing’s version of the 737-800 Freighter has two firm customers at this point. China Postal Airways has ordered ten, another Chinese start up YTO Express is buying the Boeing version but I can’t find any published numbers.

IAI Bedek has also applied for a license for the 737-700/800 however they have yet to announce any orders.

PEMCO has not announced any orders either but I do like that PEMCO may be offering a QC which have been very popular in the past with both scheduled and charter operators.

I will keep this site updated as any more orders are announced and especially when deliveries actually begin. I really like the 737-800 for several reasons such as ETOPS out of the box, and superior range and efficiency. The 737-800 Freighter is the ideal replacement for the 737-2/3/4 and 727-200’s currently doing the majority of the narrow body cargo work all around the world.

In Hawaii for example, Asia Pacific’s intended “upgrade” was to be a pair of 20+ year old Boeing 757s but FAA certification still eludes the operator eight months after delivery of the first bird. The 757 is not by any definition a “new” airplane and to be fair, some 737-800 P2F conversions will be only slightly younger, in the 15 to 18 year old age range. The 757 is overall a remarkably capable airplane, but they are not true next generation aircraft. The 738F will carry comparable loads to the 757 while using tons less fuel.

Sometimes a picture is worth 1000 words and instead of me going on and on and on, Boeing has produced some high quality images on their 737-800BCF page. I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

737BCF02

The 3700km max payload is roughly 2300 miles.

737BCF03

737-800BCF range rings are at max revenue payload.

GCmap is a great place to make your own range rings using any variety of parameters such as payload or locations such as KCVG or PHNL.

I suspect more announcements to be forthcoming in this arena. I know it is kind of a niche interest but if anyone else shares my enthusiasm for it, feel free to leave a comment and check back here often for any more updates.

Much Aloha

 

 

 

 

737 Freighter Conversions

Happy New Year!

In late 2012 the widebody air cargo market took a plunge. For the most part it has not recovered and remains stagnant.

photo (3)

As 2014 begins the narrow body “passenger to freighter” conversion market is heating up. Below are a quartet of articles that describe the market conditions today with special consideration to the 737 freighter conversions.

As legacy carriers across the planet re-fleet with 737-NG’s, the 737-Classic market has finally reached liquidation prices. Aircraft can be acquired for the price of engines and paint mostly.

Alaska and Ethiopian Airlines are demanding a 737-800 freighter to replace their aging 737-400’s. A 737-800 Freighter will change everything with increased range and 180 min ETOPS capability the 737-Classics do not have.

The race is on for this aircraft. Hopefully we find out soon who will be doing the STC for the 737-NG freighter conversion.

Freighter conversions

Narrow-bodies pace conversion market

A 737-800 Freighter may be closer than you think

Future Of 737NG Freighter Conversions Could Be Decided By Boeing This Year