AFV152
Chief Pilot, A330-200
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"Never say no, try anything twice"
Romania
2,308 legs, 6,581.3 hours
590 legs,
978.2 hours online
2,303 legs,
6,564.7 hours ACARS
2,589 legs, 7,318.7 hours total
9 legs dispatched, 17.6
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Posted onPost created on
October 30 2015 06:33 ET by Teodor Negru
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Hello all!
First - this is an updated repost of my thread in pilot questions back in september, which was left kind of hanging in the air. So, here goes:
Given that Aeroflot is part of Skyteam and AF/KLM have quite an extensive codeshare agreement with them, wouldn't it be nice to add some Soviet / Russian airplanes to our hangars?
Aside from the Sukhoi Superjet they currently fly, that I think would fit nicely in the regional jet program, there are some oldies but goldies that I would also like to have the chance to fly under the AFVA banner, like the Ilyushin Il-18, Il-62, Il-86/96, the Tupolev Tu-144, 154 and 204, and the Antonov An-2, 24 and 124.
There's no denying the Soviets made a lot of good planes, (and some of them not so good), and although most of them did not get to fly under the Skyteam logo, Skyteam current members from the eastern block did use them extensively (Aeroflot, Tarom, Czech Airlines, as well as Vitenam Airlines), and I think it would be sad not to acknowledge this part of aviation history.
At AFVA, we have a bunch of Aeroflot flights available through "find a flight" that in real world are flown with the Sukhoi Superjet; for instance, today's flight SU1270 SVO-KZN - see attached image (source: flightstats - http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightStatus/flightStatusByFlight.do?id=599714266&airline=SU&flightNumber=1270&departureDate=2015-09-15) - this still holds true, yesterday morning's flight to Nizhny Novgorod (GOJ) was flown with a SSJ (http://www.flightradar24.com/2015-10-29/05:53/12x/AFL1229/7d4df43).
Other routes flown with the SSJ that are available for AFVA pilots, as of July 2015 (source: http://www.routesonline.com/news/29/breaking-news/249702/where-does-the-sukhoi-superjet-fly-july-2015-network-update/?highlight=sukhoi)
Moscow (SVO) – Kazan (KZN)
Moscow (SVO) – Nizhny Novgorod (GOJ)
Moscow (SVO) – Perm (PEE)
Moscow (SVO) – Samara (KUF)
Moscow (SVO) – Tyumen (TJM)
Moscow (SVO) – Ufa (UFA)
Moscow (SVO) – Volgograd (VOG)
As for the other planes I mentioned, although they were not flown at any time by Delta, AF or KLM, they are an important part of other partener airlines' heritage. Also, at some point, some of the codeshares we have with Aeroflot, were actually flown with some of those planes: Aeroflot joined Skyteam in 2006, and it is not only possible but highly probable it codeshared with skyteam members before that (though i have no hard evidence). Aeroflot retired the Il-86 in 2006, the Tu-134 in 2007, the Tu-154 in 2009 and the Il-96 in 2014; the Tu-204 was retired in 2005, but it might have been used on routes codeshared before joining Skyteam.
For instance, the Il-96 was used in 2010 on the SVO-UUS (Sakhalinsk) route; i don't know if that was codeshared back then, but it is now. The Il-96 was also used in the winter 2013-2014 on the SVO-TAS (Tashkent) route; I have in my logbook a flight TAS-SVO in dec 2013, so it was codeshared for sure then: http://www.routesonline.com/news/29/breaking-news/232386/aeroflot-adds-ilyushin-il96-service-to-tashkent-in-w13/ (my flight is SU1871, so it is the exact codeshared flight that the Il-96 was flying and not another one)
So it was, and still is, possible to fly with an AF/KLM ticket on Russian metal, and if this is the only reason keeping us from adding russian planes to our hangars, it should be no more.
Please, share what you think.
Best wishes,
Ted
Teodor NegruChief Pilot, A330-200
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AFV611
Senior Captain, B737-800
OLP
Joined on January 22 2011
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UK
7,232 legs, 12,901.7 hours
419 legs,
601.0 hours online
6,996 legs,
12,331.1 hours ACARS
18 legs,
107.1 hours event
7,919 legs, 14,092.8 hours total
0 legs dispatched, 2.0
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Posted onPost created on
October 31 2015 16:25 ET by Paul Hale
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