Brussels Airlines' fleet renewal

[Homo Aeroportus]

Well, the good news is that OO-SFC is back from MAN where she spent more than 3 months.
I saw her arriving on Saturday evening, still wearing the classic BeeLine livery.

SN long haul fleet indeed shows a nice aero-diversity :
= Four (4) birds with the classic BeeLine. OO-SFC, -D, -E, -G.
= One (1) bird with the half-tail BeeLine. OO-SFF.
= Two (2) birds with the Smarties. OO-SFH and -X.
= Two (2) birds wearing the livery of another airline. OO-SFB and -J.

The addition of OO-SFP will bring the colour of another brand, making it a fleet of 10 with 5 different liveries.

There are also two (2) different cabin configurations in this fleet with the black duck Juliet having 7 more seats in Premium Economy and 19 seats less in Economy than the other aircraft.
If I’m not mistaken OO-SFP, née D-AIKG, has also another configuration : 42/28/195. With 49 seats less in full eco, chance for an upgrade for some ?
I can see the nightmare of a couple of years ago coming back for the check-in agents.

H.A.

[convair]

Winter is the more calmer time but almost no A330 was in maintenance. Now there are several even one for painting. Paint cannot wait?

The fact that SFC spent more than 3 months at MAN certainly didn't help. However, one might question the programming skills of the SN/LH teams.

And, btw, no SN l/h plane was under maintenance during last year high season.

[lumumba]

Apparently, the A330neo will be too noisy when landing and will not meet the future noise caps at BRU.
On long thin routes to Africa, triangular flights are "accepted". Or acceptable ?

That's really a pity because this would be (A330NEO)the perfect plane to replace the A330CEO cheaper with a very well known plane to use in difficult conditions.

[convair]

SN long haul fleet indeed shows a nice aero-diversity :
= Four (4) birds with the classic BeeLine. OO-SFC, -D, -E, -G.
= One (1) bird with the half-tail BeeLine. OO-SFF.
= Two (2) birds with the Smarties. OO-SFH and -X.
= Two (2) birds wearing the livery of another airline. OO-SFB and -J.
The addition of OO-SFP will bring the colour of another brand, making it a fleet of 10 with 5 different liveries.

There are also two (2) different cabin configurations in this fleet with the black duck Juliet having 7 more seats in Premium Economy and 19 seats less in Economy than the other aircraft.
If I’m not mistaken OO-SFP, née D-AIKG, has also another configuration : 42/28/195. With 49 seats less in full eco, chance for an upgrade for some ?
I can see the nightmare of a couple of years ago coming back for the check-in agents.

H.A.

Well, with such a diversity assumed for so many years, one may ask why bother to repaint/homogenize them at all. Pax might find it odd and be desoriented to see the Kaleidoscope disappear.

[Atlantis]

It s not beacause an aircraft is not flying that it's free to go somewhere else to be painted. OO-SFP is simply having some work done to be ready to integrate the SN fleet. No there is no time to go to the paintshop, this aircraft is needed at the homebase asap

D-AIKG was flying at SN before it went to LH. Not much work has to be done to integrate it back. It was only a few years ago. It had the same registration as it received now.

As there is now a hurry, it only shows that the planning of LH was a mess. They used the plane till the very last moment bcs they are by themselves in shortage.
And now they will deliver the plane in LH livery with an SN sticker.

This is very bad brand image.

The new route to Nairobi is only in June, but as there is a hurry now means bad planning.

Cancelling routes to The States is not good. NY is one of the best performing LH destination ex-BRU. I would not be surprised if the 2 destinations to The States will be cancelled and taken over by UA. They are more reliable.
LH is where they earn money.

High time for a clean up in the LH fleet during next Winter

[lumumba]

It s not beacause an aircraft is not flying that it's free to go somewhere else to be painted. OO-SFP is simply having some work done to be ready to integrate the SN fleet. No there is no time to go to the paintshop, this aircraft is needed at the homebase asap

D-AIKG was flying at SN before it went to LH. Not much work has to be done to integrate it back. It was only a few years ago. It had the same registration as it received now.

As there is now a hurry, it only shows that the planning of LH was a mess. They used the plane till the very last moment bcs they are by themselves in shortage.
And now they will deliver the plane in LH livery with an SN sticker.

This is very bad brand image.

The new route to Nairobi is only in June, but as there is a hurry now means bad planning.

Cancelling routes to The States is not good. NY is one of the best performing LH destination ex-BRU. I would not be surprised if the 2 destinations to The States will be cancelled and taken over by UA. They are more reliable.
LH is where they earn money.

High time for a clean up in the LH fleet during next Winter

But it could be a good idea to withdraw Brussels Airlines planes from the Atlantic market anyway this market is shared and these frequencies could be take over by United so you release planes for the African market.

[oldblueeyes]

Who is flying may be an issue for employees seeking a trip to the US. In a JV where both partners share cost and profits it's equal.

And it's a fair share - UA and AC are bringing additional TATL planes in the game, SN is bringing more in Africa.

Of course, not everything that has a business rationale is a right fit for local egos and aspirations.

[lumumba]

Who is flying may be an issue for employees seeking a trip to the US. In a JV where both partners share cost and profits it's equal.

And it's a fair share - UA and AC are bringing additional TATL planes in the game, SN is bringing more in Africa.

Of course, not everything that has a business rationale is a right fit for local egos and aspirations.

You can't base your company on the fact that your employees want to fly to one destination and not another!

But what is certain is that you cannot use planes or crews from Air Canada or United to fly to Africa from Brussels.

[JOVAN2]

Well, the good news is that OO-SFC is back from MAN where she spent more than 3 months.
I saw her arriving on Saturday evening, still wearing the classic BeeLine livery.

SN long haul fleet indeed shows a nice aero-diversity :
= Four (4) birds with the classic BeeLine. OO-SFC, -D, -E, -G.
= One (1) bird with the half-tail BeeLine. OO-SFF.
= Two (2) birds with the Smarties. OO-SFH and -X.
= Two (2) birds wearing the livery of another airline. OO-SFB and -J.

The addition of OO-SFP will bring the colour of another brand, making it a fleet of 10 with 5 different liveries.

There are also two (2) different cabin configurations in this fleet with the black duck Juliet having 7 more seats in Premium Economy and 19 seats less in Economy than the other aircraft.
If I’m not mistaken OO-SFP, née D-AIKG, has also another configuration : 42/28/195. With 49 seats less in full eco, chance for an upgrade for some ?
I can see the nightmare of a couple of years ago coming back for the check-in agents.

H.A.

There was a time that German organization and Grundlichkeit were considered top of the world.

Now many Deutsche companies in chaos:
Deutsche Bahn, Volkswagen with their software,
Many chemical companies, ...

The mess with the small SN long haul fleet is also symptomatic.
Expect more streikes, and more PAX running away.

[Atlantis]

Well, the good news is that OO-SFC is back from MAN where she spent more than 3 months.
I saw her arriving on Saturday evening, still wearing the classic BeeLine livery.

SN long haul fleet indeed shows a nice aero-diversity :
= Four (4) birds with the classic BeeLine. OO-SFC, -D, -E, -G.
= One (1) bird with the half-tail BeeLine. OO-SFF.
= Two (2) birds with the Smarties. OO-SFH and -X.
= Two (2) birds wearing the livery of another airline. OO-SFB and -J.

The addition of OO-SFP will bring the colour of another brand, making it a fleet of 10 with 5 different liveries.

There are also two (2) different cabin configurations in this fleet with the black duck Juliet having 7 more seats in Premium Economy and 19 seats less in Economy than the other aircraft.
If I’m not mistaken OO-SFP, née D-AIKG, has also another configuration : 42/28/195. With 49 seats less in full eco, chance for an upgrade for some ?
I can see the nightmare of a couple of years ago coming back for the check-in agents.

H.A.

There was a time that German organization and Grundlichkeit were considered top of the world.

Now many Deutsche companies in chaos:
Deutsche Bahn, Volkswagen with their software,
Many chemical companies, ...

The mess with the small SN long haul fleet is also symptomatic.
Expect more streikes, and more PAX running away.

In general you can see that German companies are behind. They are still not up to date with technology, still wants everything on paper and not digital. A lot of masks are falling off now. Germany is not Germany what they always pretended. And this became more visible after Merkel.

But, what really p***** me off is the fact that they use SN as a trash bin. The Belgians are way too soft. Do we see this also at Austrian or even Swiss or Lufthansa itself? Ohh no no, they are proud on their brand and it had to be correct. No 5 different liveries on their planes.

Strong leadership is missing. It's not because they came with money that you have to accept to starve now.

The success of SN is partially also the success of BRU. But something is ongoing.

[TimTam]

I would like to react to a few comments from different members.
Five different liveries is bad for the airline's visibility
Given the apparently planning mess, would it not just have made more sense not to grant "priority" to a new (in my not humble opinion on this one) livery.
The previous one was OK and at other airports, many passengers often stop to watch (and sometimes photograph) the Tintin livery.
Of course, with additional (how many exactly ? two or three) aircraft entering the fleet, could they still have been in the previous livery ? Yes, if you did not go for a new livery, which imho, was not a priority and not worth the extra costs. Same perhaps for the uniforms. Haven't seen them yet but I have not flown SN recently. Next fly with them will be on 22 March.

[TimTam]

Furthermore, Germany is in a recession. Germany has become a country like many others. It is no longer a role model. A Greek colleague said to me already some time ago : if the problems with BER airport had happened in Greece, the Germans would have said, of course it's Greece ! No it was Germany !

[Boavida]

But, what really p***** me off is the fact that they use SN as a trash bin. The Belgians are way too soft. Do we see this also at Austrian or even Swiss or Lufthansa itself? Ohh no no, they are proud on their brand and it had to be correct. No 5 different liveries on their planes.

Exactly!!

It shows again they don't care about the SN brand (or SN as a whole). 5 different liveries, come on! Brand consistency and visibility: zero.

I'm sick of the fact that LH Group -still- keeps treating SN like an unwanted child, unlike LX and OS. No livery disasters at LX or OS, they even get brand new A350/B787! SN can wait till the 25 year old A330 fall apart...

I so regret the fact that SN ended up in the LH Group...

[TimTam]

Initially it was a good idea. But good ideas can turn into a nightmare when a new boss takes over.

[TimTam]

As to my ego and aspirations, SN already under LH management, said : we want to offer a uniform service between the US and Africa. So, we will continue to fly to the US.
In the current geopolitical environment, I would rather fly SN accross the Atlantic than a US carrier. Remember the Pan Am 747 which exploded over Lockerbie ? Who was behind it ? Lybia.
Which could now easily be replaced by the country of the ayatollahs.

[JOVAN2]

Initially it was a good idea. But good ideas can turn into a nightmare when a new boss takes over.

We. An only hope that Spohr gets the same fate as the Boeing CEO recenrly.
Out
But hopefully without a leaving-behind-a-disaster-bonus.

[Atlantis]

Initially it was a good idea. But good ideas can turn into a nightmare when a new boss takes over.

The new boss took over. Kept SN and BRU very small but forgot to cover the East part of Germany. Over the border in Poland you have a very strong player LOT, also Star Alliance, and is expanding each year. New B787, extra B737 max, extra Embraer and now they took the decision to buy and renew the existing fleet of Embraer by the newest ones.

The other thing what p****** me off lately, and this time regarding to BRU is the only thing you can hear is green, green, green. Everything has to be green, sustainable, etc. Each day in and out. The core business, attracting carriers, growing, is really far away. Sleep modus under the green. Green washing.

Where is the nice, real aviation from years ago? Far away. Just like in The Netherlands.

[TimTam]

On a slightly positive note, in the interview obe referred us to, Boxberg's answers had much more substance than previously. She has learned, but is still under the orders of the Big Boss.

[JOVAN2]

On a slightly positive note, in the interview obe referred us to, Boxberg's answers had much more substance than previously. She has learned, but is still under the orders of the Big Boss.

Dorothea is a Spohr disciple. Like Christina before.. so many years lost...so many opprtunities gone...so much business lost...

[Atlantis]

On a slightly positive note, in the interview obe referred us to, Boxberg's answers had much more substance than previously. She has learned, but is still under the orders of the Big Boss.

Ohh yes, he decide. First profit. But you can't make profit or bigger profit if you don't invest. And I mean real investment.

Boxberg was repeating the same as during previous interviews. The only difference is that the A220 could be a replacement of the A319 especially during Winter or for adding extra frequencies and the A321neo.