AvTalk Episode 236: Into the Airchive!

What this episode covers

On this episode of AvTalk, we chat with curator of theAirchive.net, Chris Sloan. United Airlines adds more aircraft to its order book, SAS will say hello to Air France+KLM and goodbye to Star Alliance, and Qantas is in more hot water thanks to an IT malfunction. This week’s highlights Air France+KLM will become a major shareholder in Scandinavian carrier SAS with a path to an eventual controlling stake. To begin, SAS will leave Star Alliance (of which it is a founding member) and join SkyTeam. United Airlines placed an order this week for 110 aircraft, topping up its 787 and A321neo order books. China Eastern said it’ll take 100 Comac C919s. Japan Airlines unveiled its new A350-1000 cabin while Alaska Airlines kissed its Airbus fleet goodbye. Chris Sloan has been collecting aviation memorabilia and ephemera for decades. His recent relaunch of theAirchive.net showcases the history of commercial aviation from its infancy to the latest and greatest that Boeing and Airbus have to offer. Step inside the Airchive with us as we explore the collection and find out how to contribute to the online museum. Qantas and Spirit Aerosystems both had a very bad week, but only one of them “left corpses lying on the tarmac.” Aeromexico had a much better week, announcing 17 new routes to the US. And in Russia, insurers have reached a settlement with SMBC Aviation for $700 Million over 17 planes stolen by the Russian flag carrier. And finally, Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport pulls out the time machine to ban a long list of noisy aircraft. Click here for a transcript of this week’s episode.