passenger seats

FAA gives passenger airlines 6-month extension for cabin cargo

Workers put boxes in yellow seat bags in the passenger cabin of a plane.

The Federal Aviation Administration has extended until the end of the year the exemption for U.S. commercial airlines to carry cargo in the main cabin when passengers are not present, citing an ongoing need to provide extra cargo lift capability while passenger traffic remains below pre-pandemic levels.

The trade group Airlines for America had requested a one-year extension for cargo-in-cabin flights, but the agency said in a Friday ruling that air travel is returning to normal and could soon...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/faa-gives-passenger-airlines-6-month-extension-for-cabin-cargo

Kenya Airways ditches Dreamliner seats to fit cargo

A white jet with red tail on take off with wheels still down. Kenya Airways.

Kenya Airways is preparing to operate the first Boeing 787 passenger plane with seats removed to increase space for cargo. 

Montreal-based Avianor in January delivered the first modified 787 Dreamliner to Kenya Airways and is currently pulling seats from the second aircraft, the companies announced this week. Avianor, an affiliate of DRAKKAR Aerospace & Ground Transportation, is the same aviation maintenance and repair company that repurposed four Boeing 777s and three Airbus A330 aircraft for...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/kenya-airways-ditches-dreamliner-seats-to-fit-cargo

Delta Air Lines adds mini-freighter flights to Europe, India

A big white jet with nose lifting off ground during takeoff on sunny day.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) commenced cargo-only flights with passenger aircraft between the U.S., Europe and India on Sunday to meet demand from business amid a severe shortage of transport capacity to move goods by air, the company announced Thursday.

The Atlanta-based carrier is operating passenger freighters daily between New York’s JFK airport and Madrid using a Boeing 767-400 to help customers in the fashion industry ship goods to the U.S. before the holidays. It also launched flights...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/delta-air-lines-adds-mini-freighter-flights-to-europe-india

Asiana reconfigures A350 passenger cabin with Airbus cargo pallet system

Boxes being loaded in overhead bins and on floor of passenger plane with no seats.

South Korea’s Asiana Airlines is the first airline to modify an A350 twin-aisle plane with a mini-pallet system developed by Airbus (CXE: AIR) to increase the efficiency of cabin loading amid a supply shortage for cargo airlift.

Engineers removed 283 seats and installed the cargo pallet system on the floor to firmly secure cargo loads, increasing cargo capacity by 5 metric tons to 23 tons, Airbus said in a recent news release. The process also includes the removal of in-flight entertainment...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/asiana-reconfigures-a350-passenger-cabin-with-new-airbus-cargo-pallet-system

21 Air gets creative, adds capacity with passenger freighter

A red-and-white jet comes in for landing with wheels retracted. 21 Air is a small cargo carrier that flies planes for DHL.

A small all-cargo airline is taking a unique approach to add capacity without the risk of ownership by entering a joint venture with a leasing company for passenger aircraft with the seats removed and contracting with a third-party carrier to fly shipments on its behalf.

21 Air, based in Greensboro, North Carolina, has been flying under its own license for four years. It owns and operates two Boeing 767-200 converted cargo planes with a 42-ton payload.

Like any small business, it faces the...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/21-air-gets-creative-adds-capacity-with-passenger-freighter

Korean Air jettisons passenger seats to up cargo capacity

Korean Air technicians inside a jet cabin lift out the last seats to make room for floor-loading cargo.

Projections that the capacity shortage in air cargo could last into next year and beyond are prompting some passenger airlines to spend money removing seats to make room for more boxes of goods.

Recent reconfigurations are taking place in Asia, with Korean Air the latest to take the plunge. 

About 150 aircraft around the world have had their seats completely removed to increase cargo volume, Glyn Hughes, global head of cargo for the International Air Transport Association said Wednesday during a...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/korean-air-jettisons-passenger-seats-to-up-cargo-capacity

Singapore’s Scoot strips seats for cabin cargo

Boxes tied down in the passenger cabin with netting after seats removed. from Scoot jet.

Scoot, the budget carrier of Singapore Airlines Group, has removed the seats from an Airbus A320 aircraft to help meet demand for more cargo capacity and optimize deliveries to smaller airports during the coronavirus pandemic.

The modification is noteworthy because the A320 is a single-aisle aircraft and most passenger planes being operated in cargo-only mode tend to be widebody types that can carry bigger loads on long international routes. It also demonstrates that large airlines aren’t the...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/singapores-scoot-strips-seats-for-cabin-cargo

Delta Air Lines cabins to go naked

A big white Delta jet with blue tail early in takeoff. Delta wants to take out some seats in planes to make way for cargo.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) is the only major U.S. airline that currently plans to take advantage of federal authorization to strip passenger aircraft of their seats and substitute boxes of cargo.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) a month ago issued an exemption for domestic airlines to operate aircraft with floor-loaded cargo in the cabin, but the determination came after an airfreight bubble. Industry watchers wondered whether rates were still high enough to justify the conversion...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/exclusive-delta-air-lines-cabins-to-go-naked

How Air Canada beat US airlines removing seats for cargo

Boxes of face masks and tied down with nets on the passenger cabin floor of plane after seats were removed. Air Canada was faster than U.S. airlines to modify planes for this type of cargo operation.

It took the Federal Aviation Administration two months to authorize U.S. airlines to remove seats from passenger aircraft for cargo purposes. Air Canada (TSX: AC) received its governmental OK in a week.

Industry urgency to innovate also was greater north of the border. Canada’s flag carrier was already flying cabin-loaded flights by mid-April, one month before U.S. carriers even applied through their trade association to remove seats from their airplanes.

The delay may have cost U.S. carriers...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/how-air-canada-beat-us-airlines-removing-seats-for-cargo

Cathay Pacific strips seats from 777 aircraft for cargo

A Cathay Pacific widebody jet, up close side view. Cathay Pacific is removing seats from a couple planes to increase cargo capacity.

After operating thousands of cargo-only passenger flights since late March, Cathay Pacific  has deployed two widebody aircraft with seats removed to maximize floor loading of cargo in the passenger cabin.

The Hong Kong-based airline removed the economy and premium economy seats from two Boeing 777 passenger planes to create more space for personal protection equipment and high-value products, it said in a cargo-oriented newsletter published Friday.

Cathay Pacific began flying the modified...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/cathay-pacific-strips-seats-from-777-aircraft-for-cargo

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