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Simple Flying Aviation News Podcast
#284: Air Canada Crash Latest, United Airlines Introduces Couches In Economy Class & More
00:32:28
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- [00:05]
A
Hello, my name's Tom Boone.
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B
And I'm Channing Reed.
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A
Welcome to a brand new episode of the Simple Flying Podcast where we'll give you the lowdown on the latest news from the world of commercial aviation. Here's what we have for you this week.
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B
Coming up today, Tom will cover the latest developments in the ongoing investigation of the Air Canada crash at LaGuardia Airport before I talk about three aircraft United Airlines is primarily invested in to elevate its passenger experience.
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A
I'll then discuss the new seats coming to EasyJet and the opening of a new base, while Channing explores how the largest airline in Los Angeles is growing even more.
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B
And finally, Tom will share details on how Iran's Air Force One was reportedly destroyed.
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A
So now you know what's in store. Let's get on with the show. And I wanted to start with a fairly serious section. And we should acknowledge that this is an ongoing developing story involving the loss of life. So our thoughts are obviously with the families of those killed and everyone affected. And with that said, this is a significant aviation event and one that people in our community need to understand properly. And I should also add that it's very fast. The investigation is developing quickly. So what I say on the podcast today may not even be still the latest picture that we have by the time the podcast comes out. But without further ado, in the late hours of Sunday, March 22, an Air Canada Express CRJ900 operating as flight AC8646 from Montreal collided with a Port Authority fire truck while landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York. Both pilots were killed and 41 passengers and crew were taken to hospital, with dozens more treated at the scene. Now, here's what we know about the sequence of events. The flight had departed Montreal more than two and a half hours behind schedule and touched down at LaGuardia at 11:37pm local time. As the aircraft came down Runway four, a fire truck designated truck one was crossing the same Runway. The truck had been dispatched to respond to a separate incident, which was a United Airlines flight that had rejected its takeoff and requested emergency services due to an odor in the cabin. Now, as the truck crossed the active Runway, the Air Canada jet, traveling at over 100 miles per hour, struck it head on. The cockpit of the CRJ 900 was described by witnesses as obliterated. The aircraft tipped back on its tail and the truck was reduced to what was described as a mangled wreck. Audio from ATC captures a controller exclaiming, stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Truck one stop. A desperate call that unfortunately came too late. The on duty controller had reportedly been working alone, handling both ground and tower operations simultaneously while also managing the separate emergency the fire truck had been sent to One of the most extraordinary details to emerge in the days since is what happened to a flight attendant named Solange Tremblay. She had been seated in the jump seat behind the pilots for landing at the moment of impact. The force of the collision was so violent that her seat was reportedly physically ejected from the aircraft. She was found alive, still strapped into her seat more than 100 meters from the wreckage. And her daughter told French Canadian media that she had a guardian angel watching over her. It's by any measure a remarkable survival. Now, as happens with these things, the investigation is well underway and it's led by NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy. The first press conference, given before the full team had even arrived on site, carried its own troubling subplot. Homendy revealed that her agency's air traffic control specialist had been held up in a TSAQ for three hours before the team could get her through. NTSB staff had to, in Homendy's own words, beg airport security in Houston for help, which is a reflection of staffing and resource disruptions currently affecting airports around the US And I believe you touched on them last week, Channing but by the second update on Tuesday, both the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder had been sent to Washington for analysis. And Homendy identified two deeply concerning early findings. Firstly, the airport's collision warning system, known as asdex, which is specifically designed to detect Runway incursions and alert controllers, failed to trigger it was unable to alert. The second finding explains a key reason why Truck 1 was not equipped with a transponder. ASDEX works by integrating data from radar and transponder signals to build a real time map of everything moving on the airport surface. No transponder, no signal, no alert. The truck was essentially invisible to the system. Homendy was careful to stress that, as I've said at the start of the section, this is still very early days and that this accident, like nearly all aviation accidents, will ultimately be the result of multiple failures layering on top of each other. As she put it, we rarely, if ever, investigate an accident where there was a single failure. This is now the deadliest accident at LaGuardia in over three decades and the investigation will take months. But the early picture is already a deeply troubling one. Of course, readers will find the latest updates on simple flying.com yeah, absolutely as
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B
we continue to cover this investigation. And again, very unfortunate, every time we talk about a crash that involves fatalities, you can't help but think about the people that the loved ones of those that were on board and what they're going through right now. But again, that story about that flight attendant still in her jump seat with her seatbelt on, I don't know how much you can stress wear your seatbelt. That's a perfect example of how it literally can save your life. And so I'm sure that it's all very traumatic for that flight attendant as well going through that. So again, our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of those pilots and as well as everyone else who's going through and trying to piece everything together. But yeah, again, I think any, you know, type of, you know, saying what the cause is right now that would be speculation because again, this investigation is ongoing and we will learn more and of course report on more as we learn more information with that. But you know, there also has been some speculation on how safe LaGuardia is. We reported on this, I think it was last year of two delta connections CRJs that collided. So it's two events that involve a collision at the airport within a year. It does make you think about the safety of the airport and what we can do to make it more safe. So, yes, we will continue to follow that investigation, but we will switch gears and talk about United Airlines. And I'm just now wrapping up a two day event here at Los Angeles International Airport where United, just to sum it up, they spit out a lot of news and developments to US journalists. Yesterday I found myself sitting at my desk a little overwhelmed with all of the developments. Great news that United has, but from a storytelling perspective, it's like, oh my goodness, how am I going to get all this out? Similarly with this podcast, just because we don't want to spend all day talking about these developments, I'll do my best to sum it up. But United really working on elevating passenger experiences and also adding aircraft to its fleet as in fact more than 250 planes to its fleet that will be coming by April of next year. And so as a part of this elevate initiative, the carrier is primarily investing in three aircraft types to really transform flying for the future. Those planes include the Boeing 7879 Dreamliner, the Airbus A, A321neo, and a regional jet that has raised the eyebrows of some and maybe marks the return of this aircraft. Not necessarily a return, but elongating its life. If you will. I'll get into that in a minute. First, I want to talk about the 787 9. We reported on how United is working on debuting a brand new Premium Heavy Boeing 787 9. With that, they're also investing in the economy seats as well to bring premium opportunities to all passengers. And that means, I'm not sure if you've seen this development, Tom, yet, but the new economy couches, they're known as United Relax Row. They were officially unveiled at this event on Tuesday. And beginning next year, United is going to be the first airline in North America to offer such a seating option, essentially.
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A
Yeah, yeah, I did see this and it's funny because I was telling someone, I, I didn't realize at the time that they were United. I just saw this concept floating on the Internet and it was funny because for me, this concept of these couch seats is almost like 3D Blu Rays and 3D DVDs. You know, they keep appearing and people keep trying so hard to push them, but they never take off. So, you know, I'm personally, you know, I'm being a bit, a bit difficult, but I'm personally interested to see do they take off now that United's offering them?
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Yeah, I'm very interested as well, I think. Does Air New Zealand, they still have the sky couches?
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Yeah, Air New Zealand has the sky couch And I believe Ana has some rows on the back of their free A380s that fly to Honolulu.
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B
Okay, yeah. So Couchie. Yeah. Is it called, it's literally called Couchie
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Couch ii, Like Couchee.
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Oh, Couchy.
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I think I'm gonna check though, because it's gonna be awkward if it's not.
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B
Well, yeah. Okay, there you go. Well, United, they're calling their economy couches United Relax Row. It's their dedicated rows of three seats on board. It's gonna feature adjustable leg rests that fold up to 90 degrees, obviously making it into a bed. And this allows additional room for passengers to sleep, stretch, or enjoy their in flight entertainment. Now, Andrew Nosella, who United's executive vice president and chief Commercial officer, he said that the relax rows are designed for, ideally for families, but also solo travelers and couples can enjoy them as well. There will be up to 12 couches offered on long haul flights, but the average will be around 9. And it's actually not just going to be on the 787. United is planning on introducing relax rows on the 777 as well. And by 2030, the airline expects to have more than 200 aircraft with those Dedicated rows. One of the things that United stressed yesterday at this event was a lot of the announcements that they had. It's not something that's going to come years down the road. They're very focused on introducing things very quickly. This is an example of that. The other aircraft I wanted to talk about is the Airbus A321neo, and we know that United already operates that aircraft type, but they are working on introducing two different versions. This is the A321 Coastliners, and they're going to operate exclusively on transcontinental flights between Los Angeles, San Francisco and Newark. Those aircraft will boast a premium heavy interior with a brand new elevated Polaris all aisle access lie flat seat. It will also have a snack bar on board, which is something that Nocella has really been focused on. Yesterday he was telling all of us journalists how much he loves snacks. So the Coastliner will have a snack bar on board. It's also going to have a special livery with United's logo painted on the bottom of the fuselage. For the first time ever, passengers seated in Polaris class will have access to the Polaris lounge before their flight. Now, United has a total of 50 coastliners on order for 40 of which are expected to be delivered by April of 2028. This is really designed to compete with American's A321XLRs that they have that are going to slowly replace its A321T product that currently flies on transcontinental routes. So it'll be very interesting to see how these will compete once these Coastliners will enter service. In addition to the Coastliner, the United is also working on introducing the Airbus A321XLR to its fleet as well. In fact, it'll be the second US Airline to operate that aircraft, behind American. Now, this aircraft will be equipped with 32 premium seats and a larger snack bar than the Coastliner planes. In fact, Nosella was saying that they removed three seats from the original seating configuration on the A321XLR to include this very high profile, luxurious snack bar. I'm really now interested to experience this on board. I should also mention the 787 9. The Premium, a heavy layout also has a snack bar on board. Nonetheless, the A321XLR will replace the carrier's aging 757 to 2/00 on existing routes to Europe and South America beginning this summer. And then that last aircraft I wanted to mention, believe it or not, is the CRJ 200. And Tom, have you ever flown on this plane before?
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That is a really good question. And I'm gonna go with no. I think I've been on the 900 or the 800, but not the 200.
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That's fair. Yeah. I think I've also been on the 700 and the 900. The 200, I think scores the lowest in terms of passenger satisfaction. I have seen from a lot of people just on social media saying how much they do not enjoy flying on the CRJ200. Well, United is trying to change that narrative and they unveiled, officially unveiled the CRJ450. It's a redesigned version of the CRJ200. It's the first of its kind. It takes after the larger CRJ550, which is United's redesigned version of the CRJ700. One thing to note about this new plane is that it's going to offer a private jet like experience in a two class configuration with 41 seats. United first those overhead bins that they used to have. Well, actually this plane has never been offered in a two class configuration. But with the 450, United is putting first class in and they've removed those overhead bins. They replaced it with a large luggage closet at the front of the cabin. And this really is designed to provide an open and airy feel. And I went on board that plane yesterday and I have to say they, they exactly got what they were looking for. In terms of that, it does feel a lot more airy. Kind of does feel like a private jet a little bit. So it really is incredible. I did not feel like I was on a small plane in first class. But yes, this aircraft will also be equipped with Starlink. And that was another part of this event, this two day event. United is working on installing Starlink across its entire fleet. But the CRJ450 is expected to be in service beginning this fall under the United Express brand on short haul routes from Chicago and Denver. So very exciting news as United invests in these three aircraft. And again, we're expecting to see these come online very soon. But this, I want to say is just the tip of the iceberg of some of United's investments and initiatives. So if you want the full rundown, go to simplifying.com we have continuing coverage of this and how United is really planning on elevating that passenger experience.
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A
Definitely, definitely. Well, I wanted to stay in the trip sphere because like your United trip, this is one that I can speak to personally because I was actually there for it. So I want to talk about my trip on Monday, and it's not as exciting or glamorous as United, I would say, but it was still a very fun day because this week EasyJet had what could fairly what you could fairly describe as a big day for announcements. Two major things dropped simultaneously. Firstly, the airline revealed a new seat deal for its incoming A320neo family fleet and it officially opened its 11th UK base. This was at Newcastle International Airport. Now, it was on the inaugural flight from Luton up to Newcastle with the CEO Kenton Jarvis, and then attended the press conference that followed. So let me walk you through what was announced and what it means. We'll start with the seats because I think this is the more strategically significant piece. EasyJet has signed a deal with Miras Aircraft Seating, a Norfolk based manufacturer that specializes in slimline aircraft seats, to fit its incoming narrowbodies with a product called the Kestrel seat. This will go into 237Airbus, A320neo and A321neo aircraft that are due to be delivered from 2028 onwards. The headline benefit for passengers is 2 extra inches of legroom compared to what's currently in the fleet. But from EasyJet's perspective, the more interesting number is probably the weight saving. These Kestrel seats are around 20% lighter than the Recaro seats currently fitted across the existing fleet. And EasyJet says that this translates to more than 40,000 tonnes of CO2 saved per year across the fleet. And that's purely from the reduction in fuel burn from carrying less weight. So the question is, what about the passengers on the current fleet? Are they going to retrofit older aircraft or are they just going to suffer with less legroom? I put this to Kenton Jarvis directly at the press conference and his answer was clear. He said it is not the intention to retrofit and the reasoning makes sense when you say it out loud. Ripping out perfectly good, fully functional Recaro seats to replace them with something lighter would be expensive and operationally disruptive. The Kestrel seat is for the new aircraft for existing passengers. His message was that EasyJet already offers a comfortable seat pitch and comfortable aircraft and that messaging will continue. So if you're flying on an older EasyJet plane, the experience isn't changing anytime soon. But if you're boarding a new delivery from 2028 onwards, you'll notice the difference. Then there's Newcastle. The airport becomes EasyJet's 11th UK base, with three aircraft now permanently stationed there. That might not sound dramatic, but the operational uplift is significant. Having based aircraft means EasyJet can now run as many as 86 flights a week to 22 cities from Newcastle. And this is an 85% increase on last summer's operation. Previously, EasyJet was serving Newcastle, but doing it with aircraft and crew positioned from other bases, which is less efficient and limits what you can schedule. Having planes sleep there overnight changes the economics entirely. As I mentioned, I was at the launch event at Newcastle Airport where Nick Jones, the airport CEO, pointed out that the facility has invested 60 million pounds over the last two years in preparation for exactly this kind of growth. He talked about Newcastle Airport being a key economic driver for the Northeast, contributing over a billion pounds annually in gross value added and the EasyJet base adding hundreds of thousands of additional low cost seats, high quality jobs, and more inbound visitors. Now, my favorite part of the whole trip was that EasyJet leaned into the local identity in a way that I thought was quite fun. They partnered with Greggs and I'm just gonna ask you Channing, do you know what Greggs is?
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I was just about to ask, what is that?
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Greggs is a popular bakery chain in the United Kingdom that was famously based on in Newcastle and they are best known for their sausage rolls. To partner or to celebrate this, EasyJet partnered with Greggs to hand out free sausage rolls and dips from an airline catering trolley in the city center this week, with each dip flavor representing one of the new destinations. Sausage roll diplomacy, essentially. And that's exactly the kind of thing that gets people talking, though, to be honest, it works. I was even lucky enough to get a sausage roll on board at 32,000ft and I think this was the one thing that made the whole trip worth it.
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Did it taste better in the sky than on the ground?
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I couldn't tell you because they both tasted fantastic, but I was joking because I usually, and this is probably a shame point on a low point on the podcast, but I usually make a habit of trying to go to a Greggs when I'm in the uk and I was like, this time I landed in Luton at 11pm on the Sunday, then flew Luton to Gatwick, Luton to Newcastle Monday morning, and then was straight changing onto the Newcastle Paris flight to come home. So I was like, oh no Greggs this time. But then EasyJet surprised me.
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B
Yeah, next time I'm in the UK I'm gonna have to check it out. Never even heard of it. But, but that sounds very, very good, especially because I haven't had breakfast yet, so I'm hungry. That sounds like a great trip there. And some great news for EasyJet. I wanted to circle back really quickly and talk about United because it seems like there's a little bit of competition. Actually, United did not shy away from the fact that they are competitive. I'm actually learning of some competition that's happening here in Los Angeles. Just want to ment United said that it's the sixth or it's the number one airline at its six of its seven hubs and that includes, let me pull it up here, San Francisco, Denver, Houston, Chicago, Washington and Newark, which of course serves a New York metro area. That one hub that they're missing out on, Los Angeles International Airport. And the largest carrier there is Delta Airlines. And I thought this was interesting, Delta making an announcement that they are expanding their lead as Los Angeles largest carrier. This was published Yesterday at around 8:11am I'm assuming East coast time. So that would be 8:00am West coast time. And just a few hours after that, Patrick Quayle, who is United senior vice president of Global Network and Alliances, said, quote, put Delta on notice. Starting today we will be number one as well. So it seems like United is trying to beat out Delta, but nonetheless, Delta, I guess you could say that they're firing back or again they're establishing their lead. The carrier announced just on Tuesday that it is expanding its winter schedule that will bring more flights, more seats and more options for Angelenos, specifically heading to Florida, sunny and warm Florida. Now with the additions, Delta will offer 12 daily departures and over 2,300 daily peak day seats to Florida. Now that's its largest ever Florida schedule from Los Angeles. They say it's a meaningful enhancement to one of the airport's highest demand leisure routes. I will have to say as someone who does fly from Los Angeles to Florida a couple times out of the year, it is a very, very busy corridor, leisure corridor that is let's talk about these routes real quick. Try to sum it up for you. From Los Angeles to those key Florida markets, it includes new nonstop service to Palm Beach International Airport that's going to begin on November 20th and then expanding its existing service to Tampa Airport with three daily flights that's going to be operating year round beginning November 9th and then Orlando, which I want to say is I think that's their in terms of passenger capacity, their highest performer there, that is going to increase to five daily flights and that's also beginning on November 20, 2026. Now some of you might be wondering what plane is going to operate this route? Of course, none other than the state of the art Airbus A320. Neo Amy Martin, who's Delta's vice president of network planning, said, quote, los angeles is one of our most important global gateways and these additions give our customers more choice and flexibility across the network. With expanded Florida service and new routes to Hong Kong and Chicago coming this summer, we're continuing to build a network at LAX that meets our customers needs and reflects Delta's momentum in the region. Yes, those aforementioned routes to Hong Kong and Chicago, that's beginning June 6th and 7th, Delta will have daily nonstop service to Hong Kong and three daily flights to Chicago o'. Hare. Now, United and American, we've talked about that turf war in Chicago. United and American also have a hub here in Los Angeles. It looks like Delta is again trying to really establish its lead as the number one carrier. Currently it operates 166 peak day departures, has service to over 60 destinations and 20 international routes across Delta and its partner airlines. Then the service across its all top 10 lax demand cities includes New York City, Boston and Chicago again beginning in June of this year. Then it has the transcontinental service from Los Angeles to New York, Boston, Atlanta and Washington Reagan National Airport. So some exciting news for Delta here in Los Angeles, but I think we are going to be seeing that competition really heat up again as United is focusing on taking Delta's crown here in la.
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A
Definitely, definitely. I'm excited to see what comes up there. I had one last story that I wanted to come to to close out this week's show and I'm going to circle back to the Iran conflict, but from a slightly different angle than ones we've covered before. Amid everything happening in the region, one story did caught my eye that blends geopolitics with some genuinely fascinating aviation history. On March 16, the Israeli Air Force posted on X claiming it had destroyed the Iranian government's Airbus A340 300. The aircraft is often described as Iran's equivalent of Air Force One, and it was on the ground at Meherabad Airport in Tehran at the time. Now, the post, which was in Hebrew and included a satellite image of the airport, also included a photo of the A340, which carries the registration Ekopapa India Gua. The Israeli Air Force described the plane as having been used by former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior regime officials to conduct international travel, manage military procurement relationships and coordinate with what they called Axis countries. The statement framed the aircraft's destruction as the removal of a strategic asset, degrading the regime's ability to coordinate with foreign partners. What makes this Particularly interesting from an aviation perspective, though, is the history of this specific aircraft, because this A340 has had a life that most jets can only dream of. It was first delivered on February 11, 1999 to Air Canada, and at that point it was a fairly ordinary widebody on a fairly ordinary North American long haul network. That chapter lasted just three years and in early 2002 it passed to Air Jamaica where it served for around five years before moving on again. Turkish Airlines was next operating it between 2008 and 2012. Then it went to Airblue in Pakistan for a couple of years, followed by a short stint with Asian Express Airline in Tajikistan. Then in September 2015, it arrived in Iran. Initially it registered as Echopapa Alpha Juliet Alpha, where it was taken on by the Iranian government. It went through two further registration changes, first to Ekopapa Delta Alpha Alpha and then to Echopapa India Gua in mid 2018, which is the identity it reportedly still held at the time of the strike. So by the time it was sitting at Meherabad Airport in Tehran this month, the aircraft had served six different operators across five countries over more than 26 years. It started life carrying holidaymakers from Toronto and ended it, if the Israeli claim is accurate, as a head of state transport caught on the ground in the middle of an active conflict zone. That's quite a journey for a single airframe. Now, for some more context. The Iranian government fleet is not large. Beyond the A340, it reportedly includes an Airbus A321,202 British Aerospace Avro RJ8. These are the ones with the small aircraft with the wing over the body that has the four engines, the mini quad jets. And these are not cutting edge aircraft by any stretch, which speaks to the difficulty Iran faces in acquiring and maintaining government aviation assets under decades of international sanctions. Mehrabad Airport itself, where the strike allegedly took place, has become something of an aircraft graveyard, with Iranian forces reportedly moving aircraft and into its surroundings in an attempt to make them harder to identify from satellite imagery. All of this sits within the broader aviation picture we've already discussed. Iranian airspace completely closed to commercial traffic, global flight routes being redrawn, fuel costs rising, and the conflict now entering its fourth week with no clear end in sight. The destruction of the government's primary VIP transport, if confirmed, is another layer of escalation in a situation that continues to reshape the region in ways the aviation industry is still trying to absorb. Job It's a remarkable end to a remarkable aircraft story and a reminder that in aviation as in geopolitics, the past and present are never quite as separate as they seem.
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B
Absolutely. And so many aviation geeks, or even if you're not aviation geek, you somehow get partial to a plane and for that plane to not be around, I'm sure that there is some disappointment there. Yeah, that's great reporting, Tom. And we will continue again to follow the latest developments on the conflict in the Middle east as well. So keep a close eye on simplifying.com for all of our continuing coverage with that. But for now, that is going to do it for today's podcast. We hope you enjoyed it and we welcome any feedback you might have@editorialimpleflying.com for
- [32:11]
A
more great content, you can visit our website@simpleflying.com or find us on social media. Simply search for Simple Flying.
- [32:17]
B
And if you enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a rating on your favorite podcast player. Thanks for listening.
- [32:23]
A
Bye.