Sunday Reads: Our Most Notable Stories This Week

Hello and happy Sunday! With 2023 having now been in full swing for just over a week, there has been a lot to digest in the world of commercial aviation in the past seven days. With this in mind, let's look at some of this week's top stories.

Delta Air Lines To Offer Free WiFi On 80% Of Its Fleet From February 1st

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian announced this week that the airline would roll out free WiFi for all passengers on nearly 80% of its fleet, in partnership with cell phone carrier T-Mobile, starting February 1st. You can find out more here.

JetBlue Launches Daytime New York to London Heathrow Flight

JetBlue has announced its first daytime eastbound transatlantic flight. From March 25th, 2023, the US low-cost carrier will fly from New York JFK to London Heathrow during the day. Flights will be operated by JetBlue's Airbus A321LR aircraft, featuring the airline's award-winning Mint business class product. The new flight has been made possible by acquiring an additional slot pair at London Heathrow.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

LOT Polish Airlines Says Goodbye To Propeller Planes After 94 Years

LOT Polish Airlines recently celebrated its 94th birthday, having come into existence on December 29th, 1928. In the Polish flag carrier's early years, it flew propeller-driven aircraft from manufacturers such as Junkers and Fokker. Even with the advent of jetliners, LOT continued to fly propeller planes on its regional routes, but it has now transitioned to an all-jet fleet following its last Dash 8 flight.

Photo: LOT Polish Airlines

Turning An Old British Airways Boeing 747 Into A Working Flight Simulator

With the number of 747s in the sky continuing to decrease, it is always good to hear of more being preserved. One of the last British Airways Boeing 747-400 aircraft was partly saved from scrap in 2022. The upper deck and cockpit sections have been preserved and are now in use in Manchester as an events space and working flight simulator. Simple Flying took a look at how this was achieved.

Photo: The Deck 747

A Brief Guide To Flying On A Boeing 717 This January

Flying on a Boeing 717 in 2023 is difficult, as only three carriers worldwide operate passenger services with the aircraft. According to Cirium's Diio Mi tool, the three carriers with 717 flights are Delta Air Lines and Hawaiian Airlines from the United States, and Qantas (National Jet Systems). You can find out more in our article here.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 717 pushing back at ATL - Delta Airbus A330 taking off in background

Photo: Lukas Souza | Simple Flying

Southwest Airlines Passengers Block Row Looking For The Perfect Neighbor

Opinions seem divided on whether the antics of a couple traveling with Southwest Airlines in late November, before the holiday chaos, were fun, immoral, or merely incredibly annoying. A video has surfaced of two passengers blocking the seat between them while waiting for the 'perfect neighbor' to appear.